TRANSCODER IN GSM

A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for The award of the degree in Bachelor of Technology In Electronics and Communication Engineering At BSNL, RTTC MYSORE. Submitted by

CH.V.SANKARA SARMA 09100861

Under the valuable guidance of Mr. V.V.HEGDE SUB DIVISIONAL ENGINEER Mr. T.RAVI TECHNICAL GUIDE & OPERATIONAL GUIDE

K L UNIVERSITY
Green fields, Vaddeswaram, Guntur Dt.522 502

ABSTRACT:

The transcoder converts standard 64-Kbps PCM speech into 13 Kbps (full rate speech) carried by the GSM air interface. The process is reversed in the opposite direction where 64-Kbps PCM speech is converted back into 13-Kbps full rate speech. When transcoding is implemented at BTS, each 13-Kbps speech channel from the GSM air interface is converted by the transcoder at the BTS to a 64-Kbps PCM timeslot to BSC. This configuration is shown in Figure 9.9(a). When transcoding is not done at the BTS, the 13Kbps digitized speech produced by the transcoder is padded with extra bits and can be carried on 16-Kbps channels. Four of these can now be supported by a single standard 64-Kbps channel and transported to the BSC. Similarly, four 16-Kbps channels can be carried over a single 64-Kbps channel between the BSC and MSC when the transcoder is not used at the BSC.

KEYWORDS:

PCM---------PULSE CODE MODULATION BSC---------BASE STATION CONTROLLER BTS----------BASE TRANSCIEVER STATION MSC----------MOBILE SWITCHING CENTER

INDEX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION..04 FUNCTIONS OF TRANSCODER05 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE07 LOGICAL CHANNELS.08 LOGICAL LINKS..10

TRANSCODER
INTRODUCTION:
The transcoder converts standard 64-Kbps PCM speech into 13 Kbps (full rate speech) carried by the GSM air interface. The process is reversed in the opposite direction where 64-Kbps PCM speech is converted back into 13-Kbps full rate speech.

When transcoding is implemented at BTS, each 13-Kbps speech channel from the GSM air interface is converted by the transcoder at the BTS to a 64-Kbps PCM timeslot to BSC. This configuration is shown in Figure 9.9(a). When transcoding is not done at the BTS, the 13-Kbps digitized speech produced by the transcoder is padded with extra bits and can be carried on 16-Kbps channels. Four of these can now be supported by a single standard 64Kbps channel and transported to the BSC. Similarly, four 16-Kbps channels can be carried over a single 64-Kbps channel between the BSC and MSC when the transcoder is not used at the BSC.

If we locate the transcoder at the BTS or at the BSC, only a single channel of voice can be carried over a 64-Kbps PCM channel. Similar savings can be achieved when a 2-Mbps link is used for transporting the data from the BTS to the BSC and subsequently to MSC. Here instead of transporting 30 digitized 64-Kbps voice, we can carry 120 speech channels over 2-Mbps link when the transcoder is not located at the BTS or at the BSC. Thus, the most effective placement of the transcoder is at the MSC. The channel efficiency, therefore, is maximized if the transcoder is located at the MSC. Although the most desirable location for the transcoder is at the MSC and the least desirable is at the BTS, it is technically possible to locate the transcoder at the BTS as well as at the BSC.

The first task carried out by the BSS, on information coming from MSC is Transcoding

Why transcoder ?? To reduce the rate at which the traffic (voice/data) is transmitted over the air interface Functions of XCDR Interfacing Transcoding Switching

INTERFACING The serial link carrying the information from MSC to the XCDR must meet the correct interface and termination points at XCDR. Serial links carrying information leaving the XCDR going to the BSC must be interfaced correctly. Formatting of the information must also be undertaken by the interface prior to placement on to the link.

TRANSCODING The primary function of transcoder and date-rate adoption. A Transcoder Rate Adoption Unit provides this function called TRAU function. 3 kbps data Information about Control information for channel coders and Call status information such as DTX on or off during call The algorithm used is RPE-LPC-LTP (Regular Pulse Excited Linear Predictive coder Long Term Predictor Loop) Speech is divided into 20 msec samples, each of which is encoded as 260 bits, giving a total bit rate of 13 kbps

Uplink TRAU data (received by XCDR) Used frame type (speech or data). Used channel type (full or half rate). Coded speech or user data. DTX information. Intermediate 8 or 16 KBPS rate adoption (half rate). Transparent and non-transparent bearer service notification. Framing and ordered time alignment information to synchronize the transcoder with the channel codec.

Downlink (Generated by RXCDR)

Used frame type (speech or data). Used ordered channel type (full or half). Coded speech or data. DTX information. Intermediate 8 or 16 KBPS rate adaption (half rate). Transparent and non-transparent bearer service notification. Framing information. Used time alignment.

SWITCHING Speech and data information from a trunk cct coming into the XCDR must be routed to the correct BSC. A unit called a kilo port switch (ksw) provides for this function.

OPERATION AND MAINTANENCE: Collects faults and operational problems from the XCDR site and report them to OMC collects errors report from XCDR boards and sends to BSC enable the BSC to perform MSC about XCDR.No direct signaling link between XCDR and MSC.

TRAFFIC CHANNELS: Traffic Channels are used to send Speech or Data Traffic Channels are used for Up/Down link

There are 3 different traffic channels they are: TCH /F(Traffic Channel Full rate) TCH /H(Traffic Channel Half rate) TCH /EFR(Traffic Channel Enhanced Full rate

Two blocks of 57 bits contain voice data

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One TCH is allocated for every active call. While call is in progress if there is degradation in quality of current channel, BTS may shift the communication to another TCH on a different Carrier and/or Timeslot

A full rate TCH carries 13 kbps voice data, and Half rate TCH carries a 6.5 kbps voice data

TCH Multiframe: 26 Frames 120 ms 24 carry speech, 1 idle, 1 SACCH

Framing Structure:
1 Frame = 8 bursts = 8*0.57692=4.616 ms 1 Control Ch. Multiframe = 51 TF = 234.6 ms 1 TCH Multiframe = 26 TF = 120 ms 1 Superframe = 51 * 26 CCH MF = 1326 TF = 6.12 sec 1 Superframe = 26 * 51 TCH MF = 1326 TF = 6.12 sec 1 Hyperframe = 2048 superframes = 2715648 TDMA frames = 3 hrs. 28 mins. 760 ms. Multiframe is used for distribution of logical channels Superframe is used for Mobile synchronization Hyperframe is used for Signalling procedures and Ciphering

CONTROL CHANNELS: Intended to carry signaling and synchronisation for network management messages and channel maintenance task. Broadcast Channel BCH Common Control Channel CCCH

Broadcast Channel:

Transmitted by the BTS and are intended to provide sufficient information to the mobile station for it to synchronize with the network. Uses Timeslot 0 on a channel, in Downlink Informs the mobile station about specific parameters it need to identify the network or to gain access to the network It will transmit LAI and 6 cell id .

Common Control Channel:

They support the establishment of a dedicated link between a mobile and base station . CCCH shares Timeslot 0 with BCH on a Multiframe CCCH consists of PCH, RACH and AGCH

Paging Channel PCH

BTS calls individual MSs within its cell on this channel. PCH carries IMSI to page for Mobiles in the cell. PCH is Downlink channel
Random Access Channel

It is used by the MS to request a dedicated channel from the network. It is mapped into the random access burst and contains the first message sent to the BTS. . RACH uses timeslot 0 on reverse BCH channel on uplink Access Grant Channel (AGCH ) MS gets information from the BTS on which dedicated channel it should use for its immediate needs. The information about the timing advance also comes on this channel. It is a downlink channel

Logical Links:

Operation and Maintenance Link (OML) Message Transfer Link (MTL) Radio Signaling Link (RSL)
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XCDR to BSC Link (XBL)

Operation & Maintenance Link (OML):

Uses X.25 protocol. Load software. Load Configuration Parameters. Send Messages to and receive messages from the BSS. Collect statistics from BSS. Fault/event management

Message Transfer Link (MTL):

Requests for initial connection. Any change in the attributes in the call connection. Handling Handovers.

Radio Signaling Link (RSL):

Link between BSC and BTS. LAPD implemented on TS1 over E1 interface. 1 64kbps can support up to 120TCH. Carries following information:
Call setup messages. Paging messages. Statistics. Alarms. Remote login. Handover. Code and database information.

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XCDR to BSC Link (XBL):

Reports failed traffic circuits at RXCDR to the BSC. If RXCDR traffic circuits fail, the BSC disables the circuits by sending blocking messages to the MSC. If there are internal RXCDR circuit faults then BSC blocks traffic channels associated with that XCDR board. Maximum of 4 XBLs.

Cell Broadcast Link (CBL):

A CBL link can be configured between the BSC or RXCDR and the Cell Broadcast Centre (CBC). This is used for downloading messages to broadcast along with other necessary information such as repetition rate and number of broadcasts.

Base Transceiver Station (BTS):

The BTS is the Mobile Stations access point to the network. It is responsible for carrying out radio communications between the network and the MS. It handles speech encoding, encryption, multiplexing (TDMA), and

modulation/demodulation of the radio signals. It is also capable of frequency hopping. A BTS will have between 1 and 16 Transceivers (TRX), depending on the geography and user demand of an area The functions of a BTS vary depending on the cellular technology used and the cellular telephone provider. There are vendors in which the BTS is a plain transceiver which receives information from the MS (mobile station) through the Um air interface and then converts it to a TDM (PCM) based interface

Base Station Controller (BSC):

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Base station controller can be a part of base station system in a GSM/UMTS network. A single BSC can be support many BTSS. It is responsible for call processing, Interfacing with OMC,MSC,BTS and sometimes with MSC also .it is also connected with TRANSCODER, which can converts 16kbps into 64kbps

The base station controller (BSC) provides, classically, the intelligence behind the BTSs. Typically a BSC has tens or even hundreds of BTSs under its control. The BSC handles allocation of radio channels, receives measurements from the mobile phones, and controls handovers from BTS to BTS (except in the case of an interBSC handover in which case control is in part the responsibility of the anchor MSC

A key function of the BSC is to act as a concentrator where many different low capacity connections to BTSs become reduced to a smaller number of connections towards the mobile switching center (MSC) Overall, this means that networks are often structured to have many BSCs distributed into regions near their BTSs which are then connected to large centralized MSC sites.

The BSC is undoubtedly the most robust element in the BSS as it is not only a BTS controller but, for some vendors, a full switching center, as well as an SS7 node with connections to the MSC and serving GPRS support node (SGSN) (when using GPRS). It also provides all the required data to the operation support subsystem (OSS) as well as to the performance measuring centers.

A BSC is often based on a distributed computing architecture, with redundancy applied to critical functional units to ensure availability in the event of fault conditions. Redundancy often extends beyond the BSC equipment itself and is commonly used in the power supplies and in the transmission equipment providing the A-ter interface to PCU. The databases for all the sites, including information such as carrier frequencies, frequency hopping lists, power reduction levels, receiving levels for cell border calculation, are stored in the BSC. This data is obtained directly from radio planning engineering which involves modeling of the signal propagation as well as traffic projections.

BTS houses the radio transceivers (Radio hardware) that define a cell. Handles the radio-link protocols with the Mobile Station. Each BTS can support between one and sixteen transceivers depending on the density of users in the cell.

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BSC manages radio channel handovers. It consists of switching matrix terminal and trunk control units and processors to interface with O&M through x.25 setup. The BSC, as discussed, is connected to the MSC on one side and to the BTSs on the other. The BSC performs the Radio Resource (RR) management for the cells its control. It assigns and releases frequencies and timeslots for all MSs in its own area. The BSC performs the intercell handover for MSs moving between BTSs in its control. It also reallocates frequencies to the BTSs in its area to meet locally heavy demands during peak hours or on special events. The BSC controls the power transmission of both BSSs and MSs in its area. The minimum power level for a mobile unit is broadcast over the BCCH. The BSC provides the time and frequency synchronization reference signals broadcast by its BTSs.

The BSC also measures the time delay of received MS signals relative to the BTS clock. If the received MS signal is not centered in its assigned timeslot at the BTS, the BSC can direct the BTS to notify the MS to advance the timing such that proper synchronization takes place.

Kilo-port Switch:
KSW provides on board sub rate switching of 24kbps and 32kbps and standard 64 kbps channels. Up to 4 KSW boards may be interconnected allowing total capacity to be increased up to 4096 64kbps ports whether it is BSC or RXCDR. The maximum number of KSW per BSU is 2 and eight per one site. The TSW is a sub-equipped version of the KSW that does not include the circuitry required for sub rate multiplexing or third party conferencing.

TSW is to be used in place of KSW in the BTS sites only.

One KSW can provide switching for two fully occupied shelves with 16 GDP/XCDRs and up to three MSI/MSI2 each.

Dynamic Switch:
During a call set-up procedure,the MS is instructed to use a particular time slot on the air interface. This channel allocation is done by BSC GSM call processing software.
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 On the other hand, a terrestrial circuit is allocated by MSC. The function of the switch is to connect each BSC allocated channel to the correct MSC allocated circuit. Allows the BSS to perform handovers within a single BSS without involving the MSC

Terrestrial Interface:
Terrestrial interfacing between XCDR & BSC and BSC &BTS Provides correct formatting and impedance matching to the relevant physical link. The most common link types are 2.048 Mbits/s E1 link or 1.5Mbits/s T1 link

Generic Clock:
All timing reference signals. On board reference oscillator 16.384 MHz. Free Running Phase Locked. 2 per site. Redundancy.

Link Control Processor:

Maintains communications to each of the BTSs within the BSS and the MSC. Provides overall call mgmt. Within the BSS.
CONCULSION: Without using transcoder we cannot easily convert the 13bits defined speech to 64pcm speech. BIBILOGRAPHY: GOOGLE WIKIPEDIA GSM ARCHITECTURE BY ASHA MEHOTRA

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