CHAPTER 7
Architecture of a Wireless
Wide-Area Network (WWAN)
7.1 Introduction
A wireless network does not operate in isolation; it uses the services of public
switched telephone networks (PSTNs) to make or receive calls from wireline
users. A number of functions is required to support the services and facilities in
a wireless wide-area network (WWAN). The basic subsystems of the WWAN
are: radio station subsystem (RSS), networking and switching subsystem (NSS),
and operational and maintenance subsystem (OMSS) (see Figure 7.1). The
radio subsystem is responsible for providing and managing transmission paths
between the user equipment and the NSS. This includes management of the
radio interface between the user equipment and the rest of the WWAN system.
The NSS has the responsibility of managing communications and connecting
user equipment to the relevant networks or other users. The NSS is not in direct
WWAN
RSS NSS OMSS
UE External Service
Network Provider
User
RSS: Radio Station Subsystem
NSS: Network and Switching Subsystem
OMSS: Operational and Maintenance Subsystem
UE: User Equipment
Figure 7.1 Model of a WWAN system.
193
194 7 Architecture of a Wireless Wide-Area Network (WWAN)
contact with the user equipment, nor is the radio subsystem in direct contact
with external networks. The user equipment, radio subsystem, and NSS form
the operational part of the WWAN system. The OMSS provides the means for
a service provider to control them. Figure 7.1 shows the model for the WWAN
system. In the WWAN, interaction between the subsystems can be grouped into
two main parts [3]:
• Operational part: External Networks ⇔ NSS ⇔ RSS ⇔ UE ⇔ User
• Control and maintenace part: OMSS ⇔ Service Provider
The operational part provides transmission paths and establishes them.
The control and maintenance parts interact with the traffic-handling activity
of the operational part by monitoring and modifying it to maintain or improve
functions.
In this chapter, we present the architecture of a WWAN and discuss subsys-
tem entities and their roles. We also look into the frame and channel structure
and point out the role of different logical channels used in the GSM. We then
describe how information is processed in the GSM. We conclude the chapter with
a brief description of services available in the GSM900. More detailed discussion
of WWANs will be given in Chapter 15.
7.2 WWAN Subsystem Entities
Figure 7.2 shows the functional entities of a WWAN and their logical interaction.
A brief description of these functional entities is provided below [1,10,11].
7.2.1 User Equipment
The user equipment (UE) consists of the physical equipment used by the sub-
scriber to access a WWAN for offered telecommunication services. Functionally,
the UE includes a mobile terminal and, depending on the services it can support,
various terminal equipment and combinations of terminal equipment and termi-
nal adaptor (TA) functions (TA acts as a gateway between the terminal equipment
and mobile terminal) (see Figure 7.3). Various types of mobile stations, such as
a vehicle-mounted station, portable station, or handheld station, are used [7].
Basically, a mobile station can be divided into two parts. The first part contains
the hardware and software to support radio and man-machine interface functions
and is available at retail stores to buy or rent. The second part contains terminal/
user-specific data in the form of a smart card (subscriber identity module (SIM)
card), which can effectively be considered a sort of logical terminal. The SIM
card plugs into the first part of the mobile station and remains in it for the dura-
tion of use. Without the SIM card, the mobile station is not associated with any
user and cannot make or receive calls (except possibly an emergency call if the
network allows). The SIM card is issued by the mobile service provider after
7.2 WWAN Subsystem Entities 195
G Other
OMC VLR MSC’s
VLR
B D
Abis A C
UE BTS BSC MSC HLR AuC
Um F
RSS E
Other Other
EIR
MSC Network
A, B, C, . . . ,G Interfaces
Abis: Interface between BTS and BSC MSC: Mobile Switching Center
AuC: Authentication Center OMC: Operations and Maintenance Center
BSC: Base Station Controller RSS: Radio Station Subsystem
BTS: Base Transceiver Station UE: User Equipment (MS)
EIR: Equipment Identity Register VLR: Visitor Location Register
HLR: Home Location Register
Signaling links
Data + Signaling links
Figure 7.2 WWAN reference model.
MT0
TE1 MT1
TE2 TA MT1
S
TE3 MT2
R
Um
Mobile Station (MS)
MT: Mobile Terminal
TE: Terminal Equipment
TA: Terminal Adaptor
Um: Air interface
R, S: Interfaces
Figure 7.3 Functional model of a mobile station.
196 7 Architecture of a Wireless Wide-Area Network (WWAN)
subscription. This type of SIM-card mobility is analogous to terminal mobility,
but it also provides a personal-mobility-like service within the WWAN.
A mobile station has a number of identities, including the international mobile
subscriber identity (IMSI), the temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI), the
international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), and integrated services of digital
network (ISDN) number. The IMSI is embodied in the SIM. SIM contains all
subscriber-related information stored on the user’s side of the radio interface.
• International Mobile Subscriber Identity: The IMSI is assigned to a mobile
station at subscription time. It uniquely identifies a given mobile station.
IMSI is transmitted over the radio interface only if necessary. IMSI contains
15 digits and has:
1. Mobile Country Code (MCC) — 3 digits (home country)
2. Mobile Network Code (MNC) — 2 digits (home network)
3. Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (MSIN)
4. National Mobile Subscriber Identity Number (NMSI)
• Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity: The TMSI is assigned to a mobile
station by the visitor location register (VLR). The TMSI uniquely identi-
fies a mobile station within the area controlled by a given visitor location
register. A maximum of 32 bits can be used for TMSI.
• International Mobile Equipment Identity: The IMEI uniquely identifies the
mobile station equipment. It is assigned by the equipment manufacturer.
The IMEI contains 15 digits and carries:
1. Type of Approval Code — 6 digits
2. Final Assembly Code — 2 digits
3. Serial Number — 6 digits
4. Spare — 1 digit
The Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) contains: IMSI, authentication key (Ki),
subscriber information, access control class, cipher key (Kc), TMSI, information
about additional services, location area identity (LAI) and forbidden networks list.
7.2.2 Radio Station Subsystem
The radio station subsystem (RSS) is the physical equipment that provides radio
coverage to prescribed geographical areas, known as cells. It contains equipment
required to communicate with the user equipment. Functionally, an RSS con-
sists of a control function performed by the base station controller (BSC) and a
transmitting/receiving function carried out by the base station transceiver (BTS)
system. The BTS is the radio transmission/receiving equipment and covers a cell.
An RSS can serve several cells and can have multiple base station transceivers.
7.2 WWAN Subsystem Entities 197
The base station transceiver contains the transcoder rate adapter unit
(TRAU). In the GSM TRAU, the speech encoding and decoding is carried out,
as well as the rate adaptation function for data. In certain situations TRAU is
located between the base station controller (BSC) and the mobile switching center
(MSC) to gain an advantage of a more-compressed transmission between the BTS
and the TRAU. Interface between the BTS and BSC is Abis. The interface between
the user equipment and radio station subsystem is air interface (Um).
7.2.3 Network and Switching Subsystem
The NSS includes the main switching functions of the WWAN, databases
required for the subscribers, and mobility management. Its main role is to
manage the communications between the WWAN and other network users [8].
Within the NSS, the switching functions are performed by the mobile switch-
ing center (MSC). Subscriber information relevant to provisioning of service
is kept in the home location register (HLR). The other database in the NSS is
the visitor location register (VLR), which maintains data required for mobility
management.
The MSC performs the necessary switching functions required for the user
equipment located in an associated geographical area, called an MSC area. The
MSC monitors the mobility of its subscribers and manages necessary resources
required to handle and update the location registration procedures and to carry
out the handoff functions. The MSC is involved in the interworking functions to
communicate with other networks such as PSTN and ISDN. The interworking
functions of the MSC depend upon the type of the network to which it is con-
nected and the type of service to be performed. The call routing, call control, and
echo control functions are also performed by the MSC.
The HLR is the functional unit used for management of mobile subscribers.
The number of home location registers in a network varies with the characteristics
of the network. Two types of information are stored in the HLR: subscriber infor-
mation and part of the mobile information to allow incoming calls to be routed
to the MSC for the particular mobile. Any administrative action (such as changes
in service profile, etc.) by a service provider on subscriber data is carried out in
the HLR. The HLR stores IMSI, MS ISDN number, VLR address, and subscriber
data (e.g., supplementary services, etc.).
The VLR is linked to one or more MSCs. The VLR is a functional unit
that stores subscriber information, such as location area, when the subscriber
is located in the area covered by the VLR. When a roaming user enters an MSC
area, the MSC informs the associated VLR about the UE; the UE goes through a
registration procedure that includes the following steps:
• The VLR recognizes that the UE is from another network.
• If roaming is allowed, the VLR finds the UE’s HLR in its home network.
198 7 Architecture of a Wireless Wide-Area Network (WWAN)
• The VLR constructs a global title from the IMSI to allow signaling from the
VLR to the UE’s HLR via the PSTN/ISDN networks.
• The VLR generates a mobile subscriber roaming number (MSRN) that is
used to route incoming calls to the UE.
• The MSRN is sent to the UE’s HLR.
The information included in the VLR is:
1. MSRN
2. TMSI
3. LAI where the UE has been registered
4. data related to supplementary services
5. MS ISDN number
6. IMSI
7. HLR address or global title (GT)
8. local UE identity, if used
The NSS contains more than MSCs, HLRs, and VLRs. In order to set up a
call, the call is first routed to a gateway switch, referred to as the gateway MSC
(GMSC). The GMSC is responsible for collecting the location information and
routing the call to the MSC through which the subscriber can obtain service at
that instant (i.e., the visited MSC). The GMSC first finds the right HLR from the
directory number of the subscriber and interrogates it to obtain user information.
The GMSC has an interface with external networks for which it provides a gate-
way function. It also has an interface with the signaling system 7 (SS7) network
for interworking with other NSS entities.
7.2.4 Operation and Maintenance Subsystem (OMSS)
The OMSS is responsible for handling system security based on the validation of
identities of various telecommunications entities. These functions are performed
in the authentication center (AuC) and equipment identity register (EIR). The
AuC is accessed by the HLR to determine whether a UE will be granted service.
The EIR provides UE information used by the MSC. The EIR maintains a list of
legitimate, fraudulent, or faulty UEs.
The OMSS is also in charge of remote operation and maintenance of the
network. Functions are monitored and controlled in the OMSS. The OMSS may
have one or more network management centers (NMCs) to centralize network
control.
The operations and maintenance center (OMC) is the functional entity
through which a service provider monitors and controls the system. The OMC
provides a single point for maintenance personnel to maintain the entire system.
One OMC can serve multiple MSCs.
