GPRS Notes
GPRS Notes
GPRS - Overview
General Packet Radio System is also known as GPRS is a t hird-generat ion st ep t oward int ernet
access. GPRS is also known as GSM-IP t hat is a Global-Syst em Mobile Communicat ions Int ernet
Prot ocol as it keeps t he users of t his syst em online, allows t o make voice calls, and access
int ernet on-t he-go. Even Time-Division Mult iple Access (TDMA) users benefit from t his syst em
as it provides packet radio access.
GPRS also permit s t he net work operat ors t o execut e an Int ernet Prot ocol (IP) based core
archit ect ure for int egrat ed voice and dat a applicat ions t hat will cont inue t o be used and
expanded for 3G services.
GPRS supersedes t he wired connect ions, as t his syst em has simplified access t o t he packet dat a
net works like t he int ernet . The packet radio principle is employed by GPRS t o t ransport user dat a
packet s in a st ruct ure way bet ween GSM mobile st at ions and ext ernal packet dat a net works.
These packet s can be direct ly rout ed t o t he packet swit ched net works from t he GPRS mobile
st at ions.
In t he current versions of GPRS, net works based on t he Int ernet Prot ocol (IP) like t he global
int ernet or privat e/corporat e int ranet s and X.25 net works are support ed.
Key Features
Following t hree key feat ures describe wireless packet dat a
The always online feature - Removes t he dial-up process, making applicat ions only one
click away.
An upgrade to existing systems - Operat ors do not have t o replace t heir equipment ;
rat her, GPRS is added on t op of t he exist ing infrast ruct ure.
An integral par t of future 3G systems - GPRS is t he packet dat a core net work for 3G
syst ems EDGE and WCDMA.
Goals of GPRS
GPRS is t he first st ep t oward an end-t o-end wireless infrast ruct ure and has t he following goals:
Benefits of GPRS
GPRS benefit s t he users in many ways, one of which is higher dat a rat es in t urn of short er access
t imes. In t he t ypical GSM mobile, set up alone is a lengt hy process and equally, rat es for dat a
permission are rest rained t o 9.6 kbit /s. The session est ablishment t ime offered while GPRS is in
pract ice is lower t han one second and ISDN-line dat a rat es are up t o many 10 kbit /s.
Easy Billing
GPRS packet t ransmission offers a more user-friendly billing t han t hat offered by circuit swit ched
services. In circuit swit ched services, billing is based on t he durat ion of t he connect ion. This is
unsuit able for applicat ions wit h burst y t raffic. The user must pay for t he ent ire airt ime, even for
idle periods when no packet s are sent (e.g., when t he user reads a Web page).
In cont rast t o t his, wit h packet swit ched services, billing can be based on t he amount of
t ransmit t ed dat a. The advant age for t he user is t hat he or she can be "online" over a long period
of t ime but will be billed based on t he t ransmit t ed dat a volume.
GPRS - Applications
GPRS has opened a wide range of unique services t o t he mobile wireless subscriber. Some of t he
charact erist ics t hat have opened a market full of enhanced value services t o t he users. Below are
some of t he charact erist ics:
Mobility - The abilit y t o maint ain const ant voice and dat a communicat ions while on t he
move.
Immediacy - Allows subscribers t o obt ain connect ivit y when needed, regardless of
locat ion and wit hout a lengt hy login session.
Localization - Allows subscribers t o obt ain informat ion relevant t o t heir current locat ion.
Using t he above t hree charact erist ics varied possible applicat ions are being developed t o offer t o
t he mobile subscribers. These applicat ions, in general, can be divided int o t wo high-level
cat egories:
Corporat ion
Consumer
Communications - E-mail, fax, unified messaging and int ranet /int ernet access, et c.
Location-based applications - Navigat ion, t raffic condit ions, airline/rail schedules and
locat ion finder, et c.
Ver tical applications - Freight delivery, fleet management and sales-force aut omat ion.
Adver tising - Advert ising may be locat ion sensit ive. For example, a user ent ering a mall
can receive advert isement s specific t o t he st ores in t hat mall.
Along wit h t he above applicat ions, non-voice services like SMS, MMS and voice calls are also
possible wit h GPRS. Closed User Group (CUG) is a common t erm used aft er GPRS is in t he market ,
in addit ion, it is planned t o implement supplement ary services, such as Call Forwarding
Uncondit ional (CFU), and Call Forwarding on Mobile subscriber Not Reachable (CFNRc), and closed
user group (CUG).
GPRS - Architecture
GPRS archit ect ure works on t he same procedure like GSM net work, but , has addit ional ent it ies
t hat allow packet dat a t ransmission. This dat a net work overlaps a second-generat ion GSM
net work providing packet dat a t ransport at t he rat es from 9.6 t o 171 kbps. Along wit h t he packet
dat a t ransport t he GSM net work accommodat es mult iple users t o share t he same air int erface
resources concurrent ly.
GPRS at t empt s t o reuse t he exist ing GSM net work element s as much as possible, but t o
effect ively build a packet -based mobile cellular net work, some new net work element s,
int erfaces, and prot ocols for handling packet t raffic are required.
Therefore, GPRS requires modificat ions t o numerous GSM net work element s as summarized
below:
When eit her voice or dat a t raffic is originat ed at t he subscriber mobile, it is t ransport ed over t he
air int erface t o t he BTS, and from t he BTS t o t he BSC in t he same way as a st andard GSM call.
However, at t he out put of t he BSC, t he t raffic is separat ed; voice is sent t o t he Mobile Swit ching
Cent er (MSC) per st andard GSM, and dat a is sent t o a new device called t he SGSN via t he PCU
over a Frame Relay int erface.
The Gat eway GPRS Support Node act s as an int erface and a rout er t o ext ernal net works. It
cont ains rout ing informat ion for GPRS mobiles, which is used t o t unnel packet s t hrough t he IP
based int ernal backbone t o t he correct Serving GPRS Support Node. The GGSN also collect s
charging informat ion connect ed t o t he use of t he ext ernal dat a net works and can act as a packet
filt er for incoming t raffic.
The Serving GPRS Support Node is responsible for aut hent icat ion of GPRS mobiles, regist rat ion
of mobiles in t he net work, mobilit y management , and collect ing informat ion on charging for t he
use of t he air int erface.
Internal Backbone
The int ernal backbone is an IP based net work used t o carry packet s bet ween different GSNs.
Tunnelling is used bet ween SGSNs and GGSNs, so t he int ernal backbone does not need any
informat ion about domains out side t he GPRS net work. Signalling from a GSN t o a MSC, HLR or EIR
is done using SS7.
Routing Area
GPRS int roduces t he concept of a Rout ing Area. This concept is similar t o Locat ion Area in GSM,
except t hat it generally cont ains fewer cells. Because rout ing areas are smaller t han locat ion
areas, less radio resources are used While broadcast ing a page message.
SubNet work Dependent Convergence Prot ocol (SNDCP) and Logical Link Cont rol (LLC)
combinat ion used in bet ween t he SGSN and t he MS. The SNDCP flat t ens dat a t o reduce t he load
on t he radio channel. A safe logical link by encrypt ing packet s is provided by LLC and t he same
LLC link is used as long as a mobile is under a single SGSN.
In case, t he mobile moves t o a new rout ing area t hat lies under a different SGSN; t hen, t he old
LLC link is removed and a new link is est ablished wit h t he new Serving GSN X.25. Services are
provided by running X.25 on t op of TCP/IP in t he int ernal backbone.
Service Precedence
Reliabilit y
Delay and
Throughput
high
normal
low
When t here is net work congest ion, t he packet s of low priorit y are discarded as compared t o high
or normal priorit y packet s.
Reliability
This paramet er signifies t he t ransmission charact erist ics required by an applicat ion. The reliabilit y
classes are defined which guarant ee cert ain maximum values for t he probabilit y of loss,
duplicat ion, mis-sequencing, and corrupt ion of packet s.
Delay
The delay is defined as t he end-t o-end t ransfer t ime bet ween t wo communicat ing mobile
st at ions or bet ween a mobile st at ion and t he GI int erface t o an ext ernal packet dat a net work.
This includes all delays wit hin t he GPRS net work, e.g., t he delay for request and assignment of
radio resources and t he t ransit delay in t he GPRS backbone net work. Transfer delays out side t he
GPRS net work, e.g., in ext ernal t ransit net works, are not t aken int o account .
Throughput
The t hroughput specifies t he maximum/peak bit rat e and t he mean bit rat e.
Using t hese QoS classes, QoS profiles can be negot iat ed bet ween t he mobile user and t he
net work for each session, depending on t he QoS demand and t he available resources.
The billing of t he service is t hen based on t he t ransmit t ed dat a volume, t he t ype of service, and
t he chosen QoS profile.
GPRS - MS Classes
Mobile St at ion Classes t alk about t he globally-known equipment handset which is also known as
Mobile St at ion (MS) and it s t hree different classes. This equipment , more popular as handset , is
used t o make phone calls and access dat a services. The MS comprises of Terminal Equipment
(TE) and Mobile Terminal (MT).
TE is t he equipment t hat accommodat es t he applicat ions and t he user int eract ion, while t he MT
is t he part t hat connect s t o t he net work.
In order t o t ake advant age of t he new GPRS services, we need new GPRS enabled handset s.
There are t hree different classes of GPRS t erminal equipment s:
Class A
Class A t erminals can manage bot h packet dat a and voice simult aneously. Which means, one
needs t wo t ransceivers, as t he handset has t o send or receive dat a and voice at t he same t ime.
This is t he main reason why class A t erminals are high-priced t o manufact ure t han class B and C
t erminals.
Class B
Class B t erminals do not play t he same role like Class A. These t erminals can manage eit her
packet dat a or voice at a t ime. One can use a single t ransceiver for bot h, result ing in t he low cost
of t erminals.
For example, If a user is using t he GPRS session (like WAP browsing, file t ransfer, et c.) t hen t his
session is halt ed if he or she receives a call. This t erminal does not allow bot h t he sessions act ive
in one go. This backlog needs rect ificat ion t hereby giving t he user a facilit y of bot h receiving a
call and maint aining t he dat a session.
Class C
Class C t erminals can manage eit her only packet dat a or only voice. Examples of class C t erminals
are GPRS PCM/CIA cards, embedded modules in vending machines, and so on.
Due t o t he high cost of class A handset s, most handset manufact urers have announced t hat t heir
first handset s will be class B. Current ly, work is going on in 3GPP t o st andardize a light weight
class A in order t o make handset s wit h simult aneous voice and dat a available at a reasonable
cost .
Each PDP address is anchored at a Gat eway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), as shown in figure
below. All packet dat a t raffic sent from t he public packet dat a net work for t he PDP address
goes t hrough t he gat eway (GGSN).
The public packet dat a net work is only concerned t hat t he address belongs t o a specific GGSN.
The GGSN hides t he mobilit y of t he st at ion from t he rest of t he packet dat a net work and from
comput ers connect ed t o t he public packet dat a net work.
St at ically assigned PDP addresses are usually anchored at a GGSN in t he subscriber's home
net work. Conversely, dynamically assigned PDP addresses can be anchored eit her in t he
subscriber's home net work or t he net work t hat t he user is visit ing.
When a MS is already at t ached t o a SGSN and it is about t o t ransfer dat a, it must act ivat e a PDP
address. Act ivat ing a PDP address est ablishes an associat ion bet ween t he current SGSN of
mobile device and t he GGSN t hat anchors t he PDP address.
The record kept by the SGSN and the GGSN regarding this association is called the PDP
context.
It is import ant t o underst and t he difference bet ween a MS at t aching t o a SGSN and a MS
act ivat ing a PDP address. A single MS at t aches t o only one SGSN, however, it may have mult iple
PDP addresses t hat are all act ive at t he same t ime.
Each of t he addresses may be anchored t o a different GGSN. If packet s arrive from t he public
packet dat a net work at a GGSN for a specific PDP address and t he GGSN does not have an
act ive PDP cont ext corresponding t o t hat address, it may simply discard t he packet s.
Conversely, t he GGSN may at t empt t o act ivat e a PDP cont ext wit h a MS if t he address is
st at ically assigned t o a part icular mobile device.
Mobile-originated message - This pat h begins at t he GPRS mobile device and ends at
t he host .
Network-initiated message when the MS is in its home network - This pat h begins at
t he host and ends at t he GPRS mobile device.
Network-initiated message when the MS roams to another GPRS network - This
pat h begins at t he host of visit ed net work and ends at t he GPRS mobile device.
The GPRS net work encapsulat es all dat a net work prot ocols int o it s own encapsulat ion prot ocol
called t he GPRS t unnelling prot ocol (GTP). The GTP ensures securit y in t he backbone net work
and simplifies t he rout ing mechanism and t he delivery of dat a over t he GPRS net work.
Mobility Management
The operat ion of t he GPRS is part ly independent of t he GSM net work. However, some
procedures share t he net work element s wit h current GSM funct ions t o increase efficiency and t o
make opt imum use of free GSM resources (such as unallocat ed t ime slot s).
An MS can be in any of t he following t hree st at es in t he GPRS syst em. The t hree-st at e model is
unique t o packet radio. GSM uses a t wo-st at e model eit her idle or act ive.
Active State
Dat a is t ransmit t ed bet ween an MS and t he GPRS net work only when t he MS is in t he act ive
st at e. In t he act ive st at e, t he SGSN knows t he cell locat ion of t he MS.
Packet t ransmission t o an act ive MS is init iat ed by packet paging t o not ify t he MS of an incoming
dat a packet . The dat a t ransmission proceeds immediat ely aft er packet paging t hrough t he
channel indicat ed by t he paging message. The purpose of t he paging message is t o simplify t he
process of receiving packet s. The MS list ens t o only t he paging messages inst ead of t o all t he
dat a packet s in t he downlink channels. This reduces bat t ery usage significant ly.
When an MS has a packet t o t ransmit , it must access t he uplink channel (i.e., t he channel t o t he
packet dat a net work where services reside). The uplink channel is shared by a number of MSs, and
it s use is allocat ed by a BSS. The MS request s use of t he channel in a random access message.
The BSS allocat es an unused channel t o t he MS and sends an access grant message in reply t o
t he random access message.
Standby State
In t he st andby st at e, only t he rout ing area of t he MS is known. (The rout ing area can consist of
one or more cells wit hin a GSM locat ion area).
Idle State
In t he idle st at e, t he MS does not have a logical GPRS cont ext act ivat ed or any Packet -
Swit ched Public Dat a Net work (PSPDN) addresses allocat ed. In t his st at e, t he MS can receive
only t hose mult icast messages t hat can be received by any GPRS MS. Because t he GPRS
net work infrast ruct ure does not know t he locat ion of t he MS, it is not possible t o send messages
t o t he MS from ext ernal dat a net works.
Routing Updates
When an MS t hat is in an act ive or a st andby st at e moves from one rout ing area t o anot her wit hin
t he service area of one SGSN, it must perform a rout ing updat e. The rout ing area informat ion in
t he SGSN is updat ed, and t he success of t he procedure is indicat ed in t he response message.
A cell-based rout ing updat e procedure is invoked when an act ive MS ent ers a new cell. The MS
sends a short message cont aining t he ident it y of t he MS and it s new locat ion t hrough GPRS
channels t o it s current SGSN. This procedure is used only when t he MS is in t he act ive st at e.
The int er-SGSN rout ing updat e is t he most complicat ed rout ing updat e. The MS changes from
one SGSN area t o anot her, and it must est ablish a new connect ion t o a new SGSN. This means
creat ing a new logical link cont ext bet ween t he MS and t he new SGSN and informing t he GGSN
about t he new locat ion of t he MS.
Transparent - No securit y aut horizat ion/aut hent icat ion is request ed by t he GGSN.
Non-transparent - In t his case, GGSN act s as a proxy for aut hent icat ing.
The GPRS t ransparent and non-t ransparent modes relat e only t o PDP t ype IPv4.
Transpatent Mode
Transparent access pert ains t o a GPRS PLMN t hat is not involved in subscriber access
aut horizat ion and aut hent icat ion. Access t o PDN-relat ed securit y procedures are t ransparent t o
GSNs.
Access point - Defines an APN and it s associat ed access charact erist ics, including
securit y (RADIUS), dynamic address allocat ion (DHCP), and DNS services.
Access point list - Defines a logical int erface t hat is associat ed wit h t he virt ual
t emplat e.
Access group - Defines whet her access is permit t ed bet ween t he PDN and t he MS.
The SGSN and GGSN regist er all possible aspect s of a GPRS user's behaviour and generat e billing
informat ion accordingly. This informat ion is gat hered in so-called Charging Dat a Records (CDR)
and is delivered t o a billing gat eway.
Time - Dat e, t ime of day, and day of t he week (enabling lower t ariffs at offpeak hours).
Final destination - A subscriber could be charged for access t o t he specific net work,
such as t hrough a proxy server.
Location - The current locat ion of t he subscriber.
Bearer service - Charging based on different bearer services (for an operat or who has
several net works, such as GSM900 and GSM1800, and who want s t o promot e usage of
one of t he net works). Or, perhaps t he bearer service would be good for areas where it
would be cheaper for t he operat or t o offer services from a wireless LAN rat her t han from
t he GSM net work.
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