Radio Network GPRS/EDGE Concept and Parameters

Introduction to GPRS
General Packet Radio Service
GSM Evolutionary Step Interfaces GPRS Network & Concept Parameters

GSM Evolutionary Steps

GPRS Interfaces
TE R MT Um BSS A MSC/VLR D HLR E C SMS-GMSC SMS-IWMSC SM-SC

Gb

Gs

Gr Gd Gc

SGSN

Gn Gp

SGSN Gf

Gn

LAN SW / IP BB

Gn

GGSN

Gi

PDN

TE

Gn DNS

Gn CG

Gn LIG

GGSN

EIR

Other PLMN

Signaling Interface Signaling and Data Transfer Interface

Why Gs and Gd interface:

Gs interface: Brings support of combined procedures (LAC /RAC Updates, Attach) used for A and B type mobiles.

Avoids additional signalling load on the radio interface.

Gd interface: Gives the possibility to sent short messages (SMS) via the SGSN. Important decrease of radio signalling channel load

Why Gs Interface:
MSC PSTN

BSS

Gs Interface
SGSN GPRS Backbone IP Network GGSN Internet

Class B MS GPRS attached

Circuit switched paging via GPRS Speech call Speech call

GPRS Network & Concept- Overview

Host 131.44.15.3

MSC

PSTN

BTS

BSC

GPRS Core

Host 155.222.33.55

SGSN

GPRS Backbone IP Network

GGSN

Internet

Shared GSM and GPRS Infrastructure

GPRS Infrastructure

IP World

GPRS Entry Network and Network Elements

LIG (Legal Interception Gateway)

SS7

DNS (Domain Name Server)

BSS

FR Network SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node)

LAN switch

CG (Charging Gateway)

BG (Border Gateway) Firewall OMC Firewall

GGSN (GPRS Gateway Support Node) Firewall Firewall Internet or Intranet

Inter-PLMN network

GPRS Network Elements and Primary Functions

SGSN Mobility Management MS Authentication Ciphering Interaction with VLR/HLR Charging and statistics

GGSN Secure interfaces to external networks Charging & statistics IP address management

Domain Name Server Translates IP host names to IP addresses Makes IP network configuration easier In GPRS backbone SGSN uses DNS to get GGSN and SGSN IP addresses Two DNS servers in the backbone to provide redundancy Legal Interception Gateway Enables authorities to intercept subscriber data and signaling Chasing criminal activity Operator personnel has very limited access to LI functionality LI is required when launching the GPRS service

Border Gateway Interconnects different GPRS operators' backbones Enables GPRS roaming

Charging Gateway CDR consolidation

Forwarding CDR information to billing center

GPRS Mobile Terminal Classes

Class C Class B Class A
GPRS only
(or manually switched between GPRS and speech modes)

GPRS and Speech (not at same time)

(Automatically switches between GPRS and speech modes)

BSC

GPRS and Speech at the same time

BTS

GPRS Mobility Management Mobile States

GPRS Attach/ Detach

Idle
"Off"
READY Timer Expiry STANDBY Timer Expiry

Ready
"Active"

Standby
"Idle"
Packet TX/RX

MS location not known. Subscriber is not reachable by the GPRS NW.

MS location known to RA Level. MS is capable of receiving Point-to-Multipoint data and being paged for Point-to-Point data

MS location known to Cell Level. MS is transmitting or has just been transmitting. MS is capable of receiving Point-to-Point data and Point-to-Multipoint data.

Connecting to the GPRS Network

GPRS Attach
Attach Request Attach Accepted

Connects to the GSM network checking authentication and updating mobile location. Subscriber Information is downloaded from the HLR to the SGSN

Establishing a PDP Context

PDP (Packet Data Protocol) Context Activation
PDP Context Request

155.131.33.55

Gets an IP address from the network Initiated by the MS Contains QoS and routing information enabling data transfer between MS and GGSN

PDP Context Activation - 1 Accessing the HLR

(1) MS sends "Activate PDP Context Request" to SGSN Access Point Name PDP Type (IP) PDP Address (empty == dynamic) QoS & other options (2) SGSN checks against HLR Access Point Name Dynamic / static IP address QoS

HLR

BTS

BSC

2.
SS7

1.
APN= "Intranet.Ltd.com"

SGSN
DNS

GPRS Backbone IP Network

Access Point
Intranet GGSN

Internet

APN (Access Point Name): Reference to an external packet data network the user wants to connect to

PDP Context Activation - 2 Finding the GGSN

(1) SGSN gets the GGSN IP address from DNS APN maps to the GGSN IP address

BTS

BSC

SGSN

1.
GPRS Backbone IP Network

DNS

2.

Access Point
GGSN

(2) SGSN sends "Create PDP Context Request" to GGSN PDP Type (IP) PDP Address (if empty=> dynamic address) Access Point Name QoS
Intranet

Internet

DNS (Domain Name Server): Workstation database to map logical names to IP addresses

PDP Context Activation - 3 Access Point Selection

BTS

BSC

SGSN
DNS

Access Point Name refers to the external network the subscriber wants to use Physical/logical interface in GGSN Access Point configuration in GGSN defines where to connect the user If a dynamic address is requested, this is allocated by the GGSN

APN="Intranet.Ltd.com" GPRS Backbone IP Network GGSN Internet

Intranet

PDP Context Activation - 4

Context Activated

BTS

BSC

2.
SGSN

(1) GGSN sends "Create PDP Context Response" back to SGSN (2) SGSN sends "Activate PDP Context Accept" to the MS SGSN now ready to route user traffic between MS and GGSN

GPRS Backbone IP Network GGSN Intranet

1.
Internet

Link adaptation and GPRS Coding Schemes

Coding Scheme
CS1
CS2 CS3

Payload (bits) Data Rate per RLC block (kbit/s)

Data Error Correction

181
268 312

9.05
13.4 15.6

CS4

428

21.4

More Data = Less Error Correction

Link Adaptation
Needed for selecting

the optimum channel Coding Scheme (CS) for a particular connection The selection is based on channel quality estimates How it works: 1. 2. 3. Collect measurements and make an estimate of the channel quality Compare the results with thresholds Make decision to change or maintain the current CS

The decision is done by statistical testing methods based on the BLER measurements.

Impact of C/I on Throughput

25

20

User Data Throughput (Kbit/s)

15

10

CS- 1 5 CS- 2 CS- 3 CS- 4 0 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 C / I ( dB )

Radio interface summary for EDGE

In GSM, including GPRS, we are using GMSK modulation In EDGE we have new modulation: 8-PSK This modulation change allows higher data rates in air interface Due to higher speed in air interface, modifications needed in A-bis interface (dynamic A-bis pool, ADAP pool) New re-sending algorithm: Incremental Redundancy (IR) PCU orders BTS to send relevant RLC block indifferent MCS than the original RLC block Link adaptation: same idea than in GPRS, more steps (2 versus 9)

GPRS & EGPRS coding schemes

MCS-1

GPRS has four coding schemes, CS-1...4. All use GMSK. EDGE has nine modulation and coding schemes, MCS-1...9. MCS-1...4 use GMSK, MCS-5...9 use 8-PSK modulation Operator can set the MCS to start with E.g. always start with MCS-9
CS-1 20 CS-2 30 CS-3 36 CS-4 50

22 MCS-2 28 MCS-3 37 MCS-4 44 MCS-5 56 MCS-6 74

RLC/MAC block (radio block)

redundancy from channel coding RLC data block, number of octets

MCS-7 56 MCS-8 68 MCS-9 74 74 68 56

EGPRS Modulation and Coding Schemes

Coding scheme Data rate for 1 TSL MCS-1 8.8 kbit/s MCS-2 11.2 kbit/s MCS-3 14.8 kbit/s MCS-4 17.6 kbit/s MCS-5 22.4 kbit/s MCS-6 29.6 kbit/s MCS-7 44.8 kbit/s MCS-8 54.4 kbit/s MCS-9 59.2 kbit/s
Number of Abis TSLs

This is also requirement for GSM FR voice

2x 2x 2x

2x
3x 4x 5x 5x

GPRS Cell Selection and Reselection

GPRS mobile cell selection / reselection the same than the Circuit Switched idle mode cell selection

Cell is selected autonomously by the mobile MS uses C1 and C2 parameters for cell
selection/reselection (SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE

3)

GPRS handover is called as cell reselection Cell reselection can be done during the data connection
C1 C2

GPRS optimization by Radio Network Planning

How can we optimize/improve GPRS performance as Radio Network Planners:
Plan sufficient capacity/territory Plan coverage/cell re-selection parameters for dominant coverage areas On optimized GSM speech network is already well optimized for GPRS from the radio performance point of view