sign in sign up
<<
Home , GSM, Mobile telephony

Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4

Review Article AJTL 2018,1:4

American Journal of Transportation and Logistics (DOI:10.28933/AJTL)

GSM and Mobile Trends

Damilola Fowora*, Oludele Awodele, Olakunle Olayinka and Oyebode Aduragbemi

Department of Computer Science, Babcock University, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

GSM is an important technology to the world today, ensuring *Correspondence to Author: the connectivity of billions of individuals across the world. In this Damilola Fowora paper, the subject of is addressed, we look at Department of Computer Science, the GSM technology detailing how it works and also look at the Babcock University, Nigeria structure it is comprised of. Also, we see the trends experienced in then network system and see how due to technological ad- vancement, the technology has grown to services billion of indi- How to cite this article: viduals today. Damilola Fowora, Oludele Awodele, Olakunle Olayinka and Oyebode Aduragbemi.GSM and Mobile Te- lephony Trends. American Journal Keywords: GSM, Telephony, Technology, Connectivity, Trends of Transportation and Logistics, 2018,1:4.

eSciPub LLC, Houston, TX USA. Website: http://escipub.com/

AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0001 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 Introduction operators to communicate with throughout Europe (Olumide.O & Abiodun.A, 2014). The Communication is an important aspect of European Standards everyday life, the advantages of digital Institute (ETSI) created the protocols and communication in today’s society are endless. communication standards for the second- Technological advancements in field of generation () digital communication cellular telecommunications as brought about an technology which is deployed for mobile phones. where anyone can be The 2G technology was first in July 1991 in connected to and have conversations in real . As at 2014, it has become the main time with anyone, anywhere in the world. The standard for mobile communication throughout GSM communications network has made a huge the world, with about 90% of the worlds contribution to the driving innovation and market share and also its bringing the world into an information age. The fully operational in over 219 countries (GSMA , Global System for Mobile Communications 2017). (GSM) can be described simply as a standard for digital communication, it is a digital system The GSM communication network architecture for mobile communication which was developed was developed to be compatible with Integrated to serve as a common standard for European Services Digital Network (ISDN) services. ISDN telecommunication systems but today has been services are a combination of network protocols accepted internationally (Pawar & Pawar, 2012). and also communication standards which allow for the simultaneous transmission of digital At the dawn of the , the GSM technology contents such as video, voice, text and other revolutionized the way individuals communicate forms of digital contents and these contents are with one another, it was a significant transition transmitted over the circuits of the public from the analog systems which could only switched networks which is called the accommodate a certain number of subscribers Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). and this limited the use of these analog systems. As at 2010 it was recorded that about out of a In the early 1970s, at Bells Laboratories in the world population of 7.6 billion, 3 billion are active United State of America, the concept of a mobile subscribers on various GSM networks and this network system which could be divided into number is expected to rise and surpass 5 billion cells was conceived, but this idea would take by the year 2018 (GSMA , 2017). These another decade to be fully available for achievement and popularity of the GSM commercial use. Scandinavia and the United technology can be attributed to the steady Kingdom were the two top nations in Europe that advancements in the field of digital pushed the rapid development of the analog telecommunication and also the gradual decline cellular telecommunication networks available, in the cost of acquiring both the infrastructural but towards the beginning of the 1990s it was equipment for setting up the networks and also seen that all these European nations operated the reduction in price of getting mobile devices using different standards and it was impossible (Sauter, 2011). for these standards to be able to share information among themselves. An example of What is GSM this is that some one in the The Global System for Mobile Communications cannot communicate with an individual in (GSM) originally referred to has the Groupe Scandinavia, and the this was due to two main Spécial Mobile is a communication standard reasons which are: which was developed by the European 1. The various telecommunication Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) equipment at the time were not designed in order to have a common standard for mobile

AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0002 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 to communicate outside the boundaries of are now connected via the IP-based broadband the nation in which they occupy. system. This is what is referred to has packet- 2. Also, the market for this switched networking (Willassen, 2003). telecommunication equipment was limited The GSM mobile network which was originally and not easily accessible to all. designed to perform as a circuit-switched These problems outline were needed to be network which acts similarly to the way a fixed solved in other for mobile telephony to achieve acts. When a call is initiated, wide spread usage especially over international the network system connects the caller with the boarders, the Conference of European Posts recipient via a network connection, this and Telecommunications (CEPT) which was the connection is exclusively for conversations. continental regulatory board for Before the call is passed through to the recipient, telecommunication for the whole of Europe it first passes through a switching centre, the made a decision to form a pan-European mobile centre using a switching algorithm which sets up cellular radio system in 1980 which would make the connection and assign a dedicated channel it possible for telecommunication operators to the call then the called parties are connected. across Europe to communicate across Once the call ends, the switching algorithms international borders (Selian, 2002). The radio simply clears the to system was initially called the Groupe Spécial allow for it to be available to other subscribers Mobile (GSM) and years later, after it was waiting to making a call (Alkharashi, 2016). This commercially to operators across the world, it approach of connecting calls is very similar to was renamed to Global System for Mobile the approach made by analogue fixed telephone communications. This new network cell-based line communication. It was not until the mid- (cellular) system had to met certain criteria, they 1980s that digital technology replaces the include the following: analogue systems in the switching centre. 1. Maximized the available spectrum has As a result of these shift from analogue to digital, efficiently has possible. today we no longer operate analogue network 2. It had to support international . systems. Mobile calls are no longer sent via 3. It had to support low cost availability of analogue lines, instead switching centres will network equipment. convert analogue signals gotten from 4. It had to provide quality voice services to subscribers into digital signals and the digital the consumer. signals are transmitted to the destination 5. It must be compatible with other existing switching centre where it is converted back to network systems such as ISDN, PSTN. analogue which is sent via cables and the 6. It must also support new network services destination subscriber. In some countries, the that would be developed. use of Integrated Services Digital Network How GSM Works (ISDN) is very much integrated to their GSM networks, this ensure that the transmission is GSM was originally designed to be purely a digitally transferred and then reconverted to circuit-switched network system which will analogue is done by the mobile phones of the create an exclusive and direct connection with consumer. two network users using a dedicated network channel. As technological advancement GSM network operate with geo- anonymity increased, many network nodes do not require allowing the user with flexible mobility. Thus, dedicated channels, due to the fact that it subscribers do not have a fixed dedicated line reduces the amount of connections that can be but rather a more dynamic network is operation made possible at any given time because there offering a duplex network service. The GSM is a limited number of channels. Networks nodes network is broken down into geographical cells AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0003 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 hence the name . Subscribers in 7) is one of the most important protocols a particular geo-cell communicate through the deployed by the ITU for the GSM network network element in that cell. In communication, it is used for call routing and other to ensure complete cellular coverage, with international roaming. the application of services, Network Structure of GSM subscribers can travel between cells with The GSM network structure defines the various different broadcasting equipment during a call. entities that form the GSM network. These In order to have a completely global network components have defined functions which system, an international body referred to as the enables an efficient GSM network operation. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is The GSM network structure can be divided into created in other to facilitate the standardization 4 main parts: of various telecommunication network 1. The (MS). processes, interfaces and also procedures. This standardization ensure that subscribers are not 2. The Subsystem (BSS). only limited to communicate with other 3. The Network and Switching Subsystem subscribers in their locality, it also ensures (NSS). international roaming for subscribers. As a result 4. The Operation and Support Subsystem of the standardization one of the most important (OSS). protocol in GSM telecommunication was created. The Signalling System Number 7 (SS-

Figure 1: GSM Network Structure. (Source: GSM Interactive, 2001)

Figure 2: Logical Description of the GSM Network Structure. (Source: Willassen, 2003) AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0004 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 The Mobile Station (MS). The Network and Switching Subsystem A mobile station consists of two main elements: (NSS) 1. The Mobile Terminal: This is the mobile The NSS is the core of the GSM network, it device used by the subscriber to access manages the communication between the network. subscribers engaging in the communication. It 2. The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM): The also manages ISDN services and so on. It also SIM is a which identifies the incorporates the data required to run the entire mobile terminal of the user. It is coded with network, it stores user information and manages the user information and this information is the mobility of the users. The various peculiar to just the user and it identifies components that make up the NSS include: individual users. Another benefit of using 1. The Mobile Switching Centre (MSC): This the SIM card is it ensures mobility of the is the core network element in the NSS. user. The SIM card is the only network The MSC ensures connectivity between element that is encoded with user subscribers and it also handles information. The user can change mobile communication between the parent terminal and also locations and still have network and other networks. access to the network via the SIM card. 2. The Gateway Mobile Services Switching The Base Station Subsystems (BSS) Centre (GMSC): This is a gateway network element that provide The is the interconnectivity between two networks. It communication link between the mobile terminal acts as an interface between the cellular and the core of the network. It acts basically has mobile network and the PSTN, it also a repeater and transmit user information for the handles routing of calls between various mobile terminal for processing at the core of the networks. network. The BSS takes charge of the 3. Home Location Register (HLR): The HLR transmission of signals and also the is a very important database to the reception also. It is divided into two parts: network. All user information is stored in it. 1. The Base Station (BTS): The It also determines what services can be BTS is made up of various , available to certain users. antennas and . The BTS ensures 4. Visitor Location Register (VLR): This is the cellular coverage in the GSM network. also a database on user information, it A BTS is placed per cell and the BTS is at contains user information from the HLR. the centre. The coverage a BTS has in a When a user enters into a new MSC particular cell is determined by its coverage location, the VLR associated to transmission power and this will also this MSC will request information about determine the size of the cell. the new subscriber to its corresponding 2. The Base Controller Station (BSC): The HLR. The VLR will then have enough BSC controls a collection of BTS and it information in order to assure the acts as the resource manager for these subscribed services without needing to BTS. The BSC handles inter BSC ask the HLR each time a communication communication, ensuring that the various is established. The VLR is always BSCs are not in isolation of each other. implemented together with a MSC so, the Services such as handover, control area under control of the MSC is also the frequency power levels, exchange area under control of the VLR. functions are handled by the BTS. 5. The Authentication Centre (AuC): The AuC is implemented for security reasons

AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0005 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 in the GSM network. It is used as an TDMA counterparts. Such systems point to encrypting and authenticating function in ‘CDMA 2000’ systems as equivalent to ‘’, the network. It validates user integrity and while for TDMA systems (including GSM), the identity of the users. -proposed W-CDMA standard 6. The Equipment Idesntity Register (): represents attainment of ‘3G’. CDMA-based The EIR contains information about the carriers believe that their migration path43 will mobile equipment in the network. It sores be more inexpensive than that of GSM/TDMA- information about all valid mobile based carriers, because many will have only to terminals and SIM cards. It makes it change channel cards in the base stations and possible to block certain mobile terminals upgrade the network as opposed to in case they are stolen or unauthorized to implementing entire network overlays. access the network. The advancements of the 2nd generation GSM 7. The GSMI Interworking Unit (GIWU): The systems include HSCSD (High Speed Circuit GIWU offers the transmission of data Switched Data), GPRS (General Pack Radio communication (Tutorials Point, 2017). Service), and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for The Operation and Support Subsystem GSM evolution) – all of which allow for higher (OSS) data transmission rates. The objective of GSM The OSS is the control and monitoring system advancements is to achieve UMTS, which is part that monitors the GSM network. It controls the of the ITU’s ‘IMT-2000’ vision of a global family traffic load on the network ensuring that the of ‘third-generation’ (3G) mobile network is not overloaded with traffic. It closely communications systems. monitors the entire network, offering reports on All of these 2.5 generation systems are now well the network operations. on their way to development and deployment – Trends and the question now is which one will be most relevant, versatile, cost effective, and able to The association between 2G and 3G can be cope with the demands of a complex seen in the migration process between these two telecommunications service landscape? Which standards of communication. The migration to system will succeed in effectively offering which 3G services from 2nd generation systems is a services? And, will these ‘half-steps’ toward complex field, depending on the starting point of elusive 3G-roll-out pre-empt the need for 3G the study; for example, CDMA-based systems itself, or just delay its introduction? have a very different road to IMT-2000 than

AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0006 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4

Trends in GSM Technology. (Source: Forrester Research)

Long Term Evolution (LTE) has propelled the amount of research on-going in the UK and world into an age of affordable, reliable and also elsewhere to develop candidate technologies to efficient data services, user experience is greatly deliver the vision of the future. (Sutton & improved; also improving the Tafazolli, 2015). has been on (QoS), giving room for more sophisticated a rapid journey since the launch of digital cellular applications requiring huge including systems in the UK some 20 years ago, Work on streaming services, mobile video blogging, TV Global System for Mobile Communications over IP, advanced gaming services and so on (GSM) started in 1982, prior to the introduction (ERICSSON, 2007). It can be described has the of 1st generation analogue cellular in the UK standard for high-speed . (Khalil, 2015). This standard is based on the GSM/EDGE and The goal of GSM was to provide a pan European UMTS/HSPA standards. The Long-Term system with international roaming between Evolution technology brings about so many member states, something which wasn’t beneficial advantages over previous possible with country-specific 1st generation technologies to both users and the network technologies. GSM delivered a standard which, administrators, these advantages can be in the early 1990s, was widely adopted, not just categorized into three major points; which are in Europe. The early GSM standards supported performance and capacity; simplicity and a wide Short Message Service and circuit switched range of terminals (Khalil, 2015). data, enabling users to connect laptops to The standard is developed by the 3GPP (3rd external data networks. The increasing demand Generation Partnership Project) and is specified for data, and in particular access, led to in its Release 8 document series, with minor the development of General enhancements described in Release 9. LTE is Service which introduced packet-switching the upgrade path for carriers with both capability to GSM running in parallel with the GSM/UMTS networks and CDMA2000 existing circuit switched network. networks. The different LTE frequencies and The introduction of 3G was based on the same bands used in different countries mean that only architecture as GSM/General Packet Radio multi-band phones are able to use LTE in all Service although with a new radio interface to countries where it is supported (Salford, Brun, support higher data rates and greater capacity. Eberhardt, Malmgren, & Persson, 2003). This was subsequently enhanced with High 5G technology is receiving lots of attention in the Speed Packet Access technologies. media even though the term 5G isn’t formally The big change to cellular network architecture defined yet; the formal definition will come from came with or Long-Term Evolution (LTE). the International Telecommunications Union in LTE is an all-IP network with no , the near future. There is, however, a significant voice is simply IP data with a high Quality of AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0007 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 Service applied and implemented. This move to years later (Statista, 2018). Although 5G will an all-packet based system enables a much- introduce new technologies, much will be an simplified network architecture and the use of an evolution of 4G LTE-Advanced and WiFi both of advanced Quality of Service and policy control which are developing to offer ever greater peak framework enables a wide range of new and and average user data rates and new and innovative services to be delivered. innovative services. 5G is expected to be standardised by the year 2020 and will be commercially deployed a few

Future Trends in GSM Technology. (Source: Sutton & Tafazolli, 2015)

Conclusion https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press_release/ number-of-global-mobile-subscribers-to-surpass- The GSM network is the fastest growing network five-billion-this-year/ till date, having billions of individuals connected 4. Khalil, A. W. (2015). Performance Evaluation of to it. In this paper we have been able to look at Real Time Traffic in LTE Networks. Institute of the GSM technology, give a detailed description Communiacation Technologies, 7(6), 19-24. on how it works and also see the trends currently 5. Olumide.O, O., & Abiodun.A, O. (2014). The Comparism of Time Division Multiple Access experienced in this field. The GSM technology (TDMA) (Global System for Mobile will continue to grow and develop due to the Communication, GSM) and Wideband-Code advancement experienced in the field of Division Multiple Access(W-CDMA)(Third telecommunication. Generation, 3G) System Based on Their Techniques. International Journal of References Computer Engineering Research, 3(2), 78-85. 1. Alkharashi, A. (2016). Wireless & 6. Pawar, A. S., & Pawar, A. S. (2012). Study Of THE Telecommunication. Open Access Jorunal, 8(4), GSM Network. International Journal of Advanced 56-60. Engineering Research and Studies, 13(7), 52-60. 2. ERICSSON. (2007). Long Term Evolution (LTE): 7. Salford, L. G., Brun, A. E., Eberhardt, J. L., An Introduction. New York: Ericsson AB . Malmgren, L., & Persson, B. R. (2003). Nerve Cell 3. GSMA . (2017, February 27). Number of Global Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Mobile Subscribers to Surpass Five Billion This from GSM Mobile Phones. Year, Finds New GSMA Study. Retrieved from Environmental Health Perspectives. GSMA Intelligence: AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0008 Damilola Fowora et al., AJTL, 2018; 1:4 8. Sauter, M. (2011). From GSM to LTE: An Introduction To Mobile Networks and (Vol. 2). West Sussex: Wiley. 9. Selian, A. (2002). 3G Mobile Licensing Policy: GSM Case Study (Vol. 2). Navada: International Telecommunication Union. 10. Statista. (2018, January 25). Number of Users Worldwide from 2010 to 2021 (in billions). Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/numbe r-of-worldwide-social-network-users/ 11. Sutton, A., & Tafazolli, R. (2015). The Future of Mobile Communications. ITP Journal Insight. 12. Tutorials Point. (2017, January 18). LTE Networks. Retrieved from Tutorialspoint: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/lte/lte_network_ar chitecture.htm 13. Willassen, S. Y. (2003). Forensics and the GSM mobile telephone system. International Journal of Digital Evidence, 5(4), 23-29.

AJTL: http://escipub.com/american-journal-of-transportation-and-logistics/ 0009