TELECOMMUNICATION

BASICS

Compiled by : Muntasirur Rahman Rumman , KUET, EEE- 2k3 Batch

What is Communication & Telecommunication?
Ans. Communication: The word communication may be defined as the exchange of information of
any kind by any means from one location to another location.
Other word, communication is the transfer of information over distance. Information can take many
forms, including picture, writing, speech, signal and so on.
Telecommunication: Telecommunication is the transfer of information over distance via transmission
media such as wire or optical fiber.
What is data, information & signal?
Ans. Signal: A signal is an event that changes with time and can be used to convey information as a
means to facilitate communication
What is base band Signal?
A signal with frequency content centered around DC. Typically the modulating signal for an RF carrier
What is Modulation & Demodulation?
Modulation: The process of coding and decoding information for transmission. For example, a voice
conversation is coded into binary bits (digital information), transmitted and then decoded at the
receiving end
Demodulation: Process of recovering the original modulating signal from a modulated carrier. The
original modulating signal is usually the information being transmitted, typically voice or data.
What is the significance of Modulation?
Ans. Modulation is Significant due to the following
1. To reduce antenna size
2. To reduce interference
3. To increase signal strength (S/N ratio or capacity of the system)
Why Microwave Frequency is used in telecommunication?
Ans. a) Signal should be strong enough for point-to-point transmission. If the frequency is below the
microwave range then point to point transmission is impossible
b) For better S/N ratio
What is up link & down link frequency?
Link: The radio connection between a transmitter and a receiver.
Downlink: The transmission path from the base station down to the mobile station.
Downlink
869 894 MHz
Uplink The transmission path from the mobile station up to the base station.
Uplink
824 849 MHz

What is the uplink & downlink frequency of GSM 900 & GSM 1800?
Ans. For GSM 900
Uplink
890 915 MHz
Downlink
935 960 MHz
Bandwidth
25 MHz
Carrier Separation
200 KHz
Radio Channel
125 ~ 124
Transmission Rate
270 Kbps (per time slot)
For GSM 1800
Uplink
1710 1785 MHz
Downlink
1805 1880 MHz
Bandwidth
75 MHz
Carrier Separation
200 KHz
Radio Channel
375
Transmission Rate
270 Kbps (per time slot)
CDMA (City Cell):
City Cell band
800MHz
Uplink
824 849
Downlink
869 894
Bandwidth
1.23 MHz
Mid frequency
824 + 30 x 283
=832.49 MHz
1st Carrier
283 (Carrier Number)
nd
2 Carrier
241
Modulation
QPSK
Sampling rate
8 sample / s
Bit rate
8 bit / sample
= 8 x 8 bit / s
= 64 bps
PCM
64 Kbps
64 Kbps Vocoder
9.6 kbps
What is Bandwidth & Beam width?
Bandwidth: The information-carrying capacity of a communications channel. Usually expressed in
Hertz (cycles per second) for analog circuits and in bits per second (bps) for digital circuits.
Beam width: The directiveness of a directional antenna. Define as the angle between two half power
points (-3 dB) points on either side of the main lobe of Radiation.
Why increased Bandwidth is necessary for proper Data Communication?
Ans. To increase the system capacity, more bit rate etc.
Which band of frequency used in Bangladesh for GSM?
Ans. 900 MHz & 1800 MHz

Give the data rate, bandwidth, bandwidth efficiency & Modulation used in GSM digital cellular.
Ans. In GSM- Digital Cellular
Data Rate
270kb/s
Bandwidth
200kHz
Bandwidth Efficiency
270/200 =1.35bits/sec/Hz
Modulation
Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (FSK with orthogonal
frequencies).
What type of modulation is used in CDMA & GSM?
Ans. The modulation technique QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) & GMSK (Gaussian
Minimum Shift Keying) is used for CDMA & GSM respectively. GMSK is a form of continuousphase FSK, in which the phase is changed between symbols to provide a constant envelope.
Consequently, it is a popular alternative to QPSK.
What are the main advantages of CDMA technique?
Ans. The main advantages of CDMA are as follows:
1. Increased capacity
2. Improved voice quality, eliminating the audible effects of multipath fading
3. Enhanced privacy and security
4. Improved coverage characteristics which reduce the number of cell sites
5. Simplified system planning reduces deployment and operating costs
6. Reduced average transmitted power, thus increasing talk time for portable devices
7. Reduced interference to other electronic devices
8. Reduction in the number of calls dropped due to handoff failures
9. Development of a reliable transport mechanism for wireless data communications
10. Coexistence with previous technologies, due to CDMA and analog operating in two spectra with
no interference
What is Channel Separation?
The distance between adjacent frequencies on either the uplink or downlink is called channel
separation
Channel separation is 200 KHz
Transmission rate
The transmission rate over the air is 270 Kbps
What is Duplex distance?
The distance between one uplink frequency and its corresponding down link frequency is called duplex
distance
What is Traffic and Earlang?
Earlang: An earlang is a unit of telecommunication traffic measurement. It means hours of traffic in
an hour. For example, if a group of users made 30 calls in one hour and each call had an average call
duration of 5 minutes, then the number of earlangMinutes of traffic in an hour = nos. of calls x duration
= 30 x 5
=150
Hours of traffic in an hour = 150 / 60
=2.5
So, traffic figure
=2.5 Earlangs.
3

In GSM (GP) assume that network traffic per subscriber is 16-mili earlang. Now network traffic 29000
earlang.
What is cell?
Ans. A cell is a basic unit of a cellular system and is defined as the radio coverage given by one BS
antenna system
What is transmission medium? Classify it. Where are these media mainly used in access or
trunk network?
Ans. Transmission media: The media through which signal is transmitted is known as transmission
media.
1) Copper wire
Access network
2) Radio microwave
Trunk & Access network
3) Optical fiber fiber
Trunk & Access network
4) Infrared
5) Microwave
Why optical fibers are so advantageous over other transmission media?
1. The light weight and no corrosiveness of the fiber make it very practical for aircraft &
automotive application
2. A single fiber can handle as many as voice channels as a 1500 pair cable can
3. The spacing of repeaters from 35 Km to 80 Km for fibers as opposed to from 1 Km to 1.5 Km
for wire is great advantageous
4. Fiber is immune to interference from lighting, cross talk and electromagnetic radiation
What is rectifier? What kind of voltage is used in telecommunication?
Ans. It is a device that employs two or more diodes to convert ac voltage into pulsating dc voltage.
DC voltage is used in telecommunication and its value is 48 volts.
Why negative system is used in transmission?
1. To eliminate higher harmonics
2. To ensure voltage stability
3. Less oxidization
What is guard band?
A set of frequencies or bandwidth used to prevent adjacent systems from interfering with each other.
Guard bands are typically used between different types of systems at the edges of the frequency
allocations.
What is sampling theorem?
Ans. Sampling theorem states that all information in the original signal will be include in the sampled
signal if the sampling frequency is greater than twice the highest frequency component in the original
signal (8 KHz > 2x 3.4 KHz)
What is the Nyquists theorem?
Ans. Nyquists theorem states that if B is the bandwidth of a transmission channel that carries a signal
having L levels, the maximum data rate is given by
R = 2B log2 L
If signal to noise ratio is S / N, the maximum data rate is given by
R = B log2 (1+S/N)
4

What is Nyquist rate?

The minimum sampling rate proposed by Nyquist for converting a band limited waveform to digital
pulses. The rate must be at least twice the highest frequency component in the waveform being
sampled.

What is SNR? What is the effect of it on transmission?

Ans. The ratio of the signal strength to the noise level is called the signal to noise ratio (SNR).
If the SNR is high (i.e. the signal power is much greater than the noise power) few errors will occur.
However, as the SNR reduces, the noise may cause symbols to be demodulated incorrectly, and errors
will occur.
What is PCM? Describe it?
Ans. PCM (Pulse Code Modulation): A modulation technique in which analog (sound) signal is
converted into digital (binary) signal
In a PCM technique the total amplitude range of a signal is divided into a number of standard levels
that is known as sampling. Then the magnitude of each sample is quantized by a process known as
quantizing and digitized by coding in binary for transmission over a transmission channel / medium.
What is handoff & Handover?
Ans. The process of transferring a call in progress from the current base station to another without
interruption as the user moves out of range of the current base station.
The passing of a call signal from one base station to the next as the user moves out of range or the
network software re-routes the call.
What is Hard Hand off & Soft hand off?
Ans. In a traditional "hard" handoff, the connection to the current cell is broken, and then the
connection to the new cell is made. This is known as a "break-before-make" handoff. Since all cells in
CDMA use the same frequency, it is possible to make the connection to the new cell before leaving the
current cell. This is known as a "make-before-break" or "soft" handoff. Soft handoffs require less
power, which reduces interference and increases capacity
What is soft handoff ?
A process of establishing a call connection simultaneously to two separate base stations in a CDMA
system. This technique allows the use of a dual path in the handoff region to improve performance.
Soft handoff can only occur between base stations using the same RF channel ie. CDMA.
Why call drop occur?
Call drop occurs due to the followings
1. 1.If Ec /Io goes bad
2. Hand off failure
3. If Rx level is poor
4. If FER is bad [frame error rate]
5. PN pollution [if more than four strong signal is present]

*** Why there are fluctuations in the signal (frequency) level in different places of the city and in
different times of the day?
Ans. The reasons that greatly affect the signal (frequency) level of wireless systems especially CDMA
are many but a few prime reasons are given below.
1) The first and foremost that affects the signal (frequency) level in any place is the subscriber
density. In engineering terms it is called Ec/Io. It means how far better your signal power is
than that of noise. This is created by the signals of other subscribers active in your region or
cell.
2) There is shrinkage of the coverage area of a cell for different numbers of subscribers present in
a cell area and thus the signal (frequency) level fluctuates in that at different times of the day.
3) The source of noise is not only the power radiation of subscribers but also from other sources
of noise. They are from Electronic machines elsewhere, Vehicles plying on roads & streets, Jet
engines etc.
4) The weather effect is also a prominent factor. Flashes of thunder, moisture affect the radio
(frequency) behavior and as a result signal (frequency) fluctuates.
5) The electro-magnetic wave travels in different paths (direct and reflected paths because of
Buildings and other elevations), that is called multi-path propagation in technical term. This
multi-path propagation causes different signal level in different time.
6) The metallic bodies of the transports reflect the electromagnetic radiation (frequency) and thus
the reflected radiation (frequency) interfere with the main signal (frequency) and produce
unwanted effects.
What is fading? What are the factors responsible for Fading?
Fading: The variation in signal strength from it normal value. Fading is normally negative and can be
either fast or slow. It is normally characterized by the distribution of fades, Gaussian, Rician, or
Rayleigh.
Fading of the RF signal is caused by several factors:
1. Multipath
2. Bad Line of Sight
3. Link Budget calculation
4. Weather conditions (Rain, wind etc.)
5. Interference
Flat fading-- A type of fading in a communications channel that attenuates or fades all frequencies in
the channel the same amount
What is Fresnel Zone?
The Fresnel zone is the area of a circle around the line of sight.
The Fresnel Zone is defined as follows:
R1= (lxD)
R: radius of the first Fresnel zone
l: wavelength
D: distance between sites
What is Fade Margin?
The difference between the Unfaded Receive Signal Level and the Maximum Receiver Sensitivity at
10 E-6 BER.

What is Antenna Gain?

Antenna gain is a measure of directivity. It is defined as the ratio of the radiation intensity in a given
direction to the radiation intensity that would be obtained if the power accepted by the antenna was
radiated equally in all directions (isotropically). Antenna gain is expressed in dBi.
What is Inter Symbol Interference?
Ans. Inter Symbol Interference (SIS) is defined as the interference arises when energy from one
symbol slot is spread out over neighboring symbol slots.
The channel introduces ISI when the RMS delay spread becomes an appreciable fraction of the bit
period (say greater than 10%).
What are the basic characteristics of Spread Spectrum?
Spread Spectrum: A transmission technique in which a pseudo noise code, independent of the
information data is employed as a modulation wave-form to spread the signal energy over a
bandwidth much greater than the signal information bandwidth. At the receiver the signal is dispread
using a synchronized replica of the pseudo noise code.
The basic characteristics of spread spectrum system as follows:
1. The carrier is an unpredictable, or pseudorandom, wideband signal.
2. The bandwidth of the carrier is much wider than the bandwidth of the data modulation.
3. Reception is accomplished by cross correlation of the received wide-band signal with a
synchronously generated replica of the wide-band carrier.
What is Roaming?
Roaming Within your home network, this means that your mobile phone automatically sets up
communication procedures with different radio base stations when on the move.
International roaming means that you can use networks other than your own when traveling abroad.

What is interference? Define adjacent channel interference & Co-channel interference.

(Interference in Mobile radio Channel)
Ans. Interference is the result of other man-made radio transmissions. For example in the ISM band at
2.4GHz a large number of systems co-exist, such as Wireless LAN, Blue tooth, Microwave ovens, etc
Adjacent channel interference: Adjacent channel interference occurs when energy from a carrier
spills over into adjacent channels
Co-channel interference: Co-channel interference occurs when another transmission on the same
carrier frequency affects the receiver. This will often arise from transmissions in another cell in other
network.
What is co-channel interference?
Unwanted interference within a radio channel from another transmitter using the same channel at a
different location. Co-channel interference is very common in a frequency reuse system and must be
carefully controlled to prevent problems.
What is the difference between PDH & SDH data transmission?
In SDH, data transmit byte by byte and in PDH, data transmit bite by bite
On what factors polarization depends?
Ans. Polarization depends on the orientation of the electric Field
7

What is Aliasing effect?

Ans. A type of signal distortion that occurs when sampling frequency of a signal is less that the
Nyquist rate.
What do you mean by EDGE?
Ans. EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment): A faster version of GSM is designed to deliver data
at rates up to 384 Kbps and enable the delivery of multimedia and other broadband applications to
mobile phone and computer users
What is Bluetooth?
A short-range radio technology developed by Ericsson and other companies that make it possible to
transmit signals over short distances between telephones, computers and other devices without having
to interconnect them with wires.
What is transport network? Classify them with definition.
Ans. Transport network is divided into two parts
Access Network (AN)
Trunk Network
Access network: Users are grouped together by being connected to the same switching node. E.g. the
local exchange is a AN
Trunk network: The trunk network connects ANs and Node Network (NNs) with other ANs & NNs
Write down different STM-N. What is the number of PCM (2 Mbps) can be carried by one
STM-1?
STM 1
155 Mbps (basic module)
STM 4
620 Mbps
STM 16
2.5 Gbps
63 PCM is carried by a STM 1
What are differences betn Circuit Switching and Packet switching?
Ans:
Circuit Switching
Packet Switching
n
1. Direct electrical connection bet the
1. No direct electrical connection
Communicating parties
2. Real time or Conversational interaction 2.Fast enough for real time or conversational
betn the parties is possible
interaction
3.Messages are not Stored
3.Messages are stored until delivered but not
filled
4. Switched path is established for the
4.The route is established dynamically for
entire conversation
each packet
What is common channel signaling (CCS)?
Ans. Separating out the signaling from the actual data being carried as referred to as common channel
signaling

What is the data rate of 24 & 30 channel of GSM 900?

Ans.

R = 2Blog22
= 2x24x200x log22
=9600 Kbps.
***The GSM network can be divided into three broad parts
1. MS (SIM- Subscriber Identity Module; ME- Mobile Equipment) The Mobile station is carried
by the subscriber.
2. BSS (Base Transceiver Station; Base Station Controller) Base Station Subsystem controls the
radio link with the mobile station
3. NSS (HLR, VLR, EIR, AuC, MSC) The Network Subsystem, the main part MSC perform the
switching of calls betn the Mobile users and betn mobile and fixed network users. The MSC
also handles the management operation
SIM Subscriber Identity Module provides personal mobility
BTS Base Transceiver Station houses the radio link (Transceiver) that defines a cell and handles the
R-link protocols with MS.
BSC Base Station Controller manages all radio related function such as radio channel setup,
frequency hopping MS handovers. The BSC is the connection between the MS and MSC.
NSS Network Station Subsystem
1. MSC provides the connection to the fixed networks, signaling between functional entities in the
network subsystem uses (SSS 7) signaling system number 7
2. The HLR & VLR together with MSC provides call routing and roaming capabilities of GSM.
HLR Contains all administrative information & current location of the mobile. Location means
signaling address of the VLR associated with the mobile station.
VLR contains selective administrative information from HLR necessary for call control &
provision of the subscriber services
4.
The EIR & AuC are used for authentication and security purposes
EIR is a database that contains a list of all valid ME on the network where each MS is identified by
its IMEI
AUC A protected database that stores a copy of the secret key stored in each subscriber SIM.
What do you mean by a) GMSC b) RBS c) SWR d) SDH?
Ans. GMSC (Gateway Mobile Switching Center): A gateway is a node used to interconnect two
networks. The gateway is often implemented in an MSC. The MSC is then referred to as the GMSC
RBS (Radio Base Station): RBS acts as the interface betn MSs and the network by providing radio
coverage from their antennae.
SWR (Standing Wave Ratio): The ratio of maximum current to minimum current along a transmission
line, as it is the ratio of maximum to minimum voltage. It is the measure of the mismatch betn the load
and the line. I t is the most important quantity calculated for a load.
SWR= Z0 / RL or SWR= RL / Z0
Where RL is the load resistance
SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy): A new structure for digital multiplexing. It is a standardized
byte interleaved multiplexing hierarchy for digital synchronous and plesiochronous signals for mainly
optical transmission. In SDH we find multiplexing levels and signal levels.

What is Switching & SONET/ SDH?

Ans. Switching: The process of interconnecting functional units, transmission channel or
telecommunication circuits for as long as it is required to convey signals is known as Switching.
SONET/ SDH: SONET/ SDH refers to a group of fiber optic transmission rates that can transport
digital signals with different capacities. (such as 1.5/ 2/ 6/ 34/ 45/ 140 Mbps within a transmission rates
of 155.52Mbps). It is defined by CCITU/ ITU-IS for world wide use and partly compatible with
SONET.
Bit rate of SONET
1.5 / 6 / 45 Mbps
Bit rate of SDH
1.5 / 2 / 6 / 34 / 45 / 140 Mbps
History of GSM:
The first digital cellular standard (GSM) is launched in 1991
In Sheba telecom
Uplink
900 905 MHz
Downlink
945 950 MHz
It started its operation in 25 June, 1995, Joint Venture by Bangladesh (Technology Resource Industries
51%) & Malaysia (Integrated Services Ltd. 49%)
What is OSI (Open System Interconnect)?
Ans. A reference model that describes a layered structure for modeling the interconnection and
exchange of information between users in a communications system. The 7 layers are
Application layer, Presentation layer, Session layer, Transport layer, Network layer, Data link layer,
Physical layer
Draw TCP/IP Stack.
TCP
IP
SNMP
Telnet

FTP
ICMP

TCP/ IP Stack
TCP/ IP is programmed for only raw data and converts it to logical data
Ping: Cant convert data it can recognize only
SNMP: it is capable to give information about the system. It allows only those things which is known
to it
NTP: it synchronizes all data base servers of any type
What is the interface between MS & BTS?
UM interface(gsm radio air)
Define Propagation & Propagation channel?
Propagation: The process an electromagnetic wave undergoes as it is radiated from the antenna and
spreads out across the physical terrain. See also propagation channel.
Propagation channel: The physical medium electromagnetic wave propagation between the transmit
and receive antennas, and includes everything that influences the propagation between the two
antennas.

10

Write down the name of the OSI layer on which the following instruments work?
Router - Network,
HUB - Physical,
Switch Network & Physical,
PC - Physical
What is cross talk?
The ability for unwanted information from one channel to "spill over" into an adjacent channel.
What is LOS?
A description of an unobstructed radio path or link between the transmitting and receiving antennas
of a communications system.
What do you mean by Path loss?
The amount of loss introduced by the propagation environment between a transmitter and receiver.
What is Diversity Channel & Frequency diversity?
Diversity Channel: A radio channel that not only introduces AWGN, but also the effects of multipath
and frequency selective fading.
Frequency diversity: The simultaneous use of multiple frequencies to transmit of information. This is a
technique used to overcome the effects of multipath fading, since the wavelength for different
frequencies result in different and uncorrelated fading characteristics.
What is C/I ratio?
Ans. The ratio of the carrier to the interference (from both sources) is called the carrier-to-interference
ratio (C/I). A certain C/I ratio is required to provide adequate quality transmission. Increasing the
carrier power at the receiver will increase the interference for other mobiles in the network.
What is baud (or signaling) rate?
The baud (or signaling) rate: The baud (or signaling) rate defines the number of symbols per second.
Each symbol represents n bits, and has M signal states where
M = 2n.This is called M-ary signaling
The maximum rate of information transfer through a base band channel is given by
fb = 2 W log2M bps
where fb =Capacity
W = bandwidth of modulating base band signal
The Nyquist bandwidth is the minimum bandwidth than can be used to represent a signal.

11

What is diffraction?
A propagation phenomenon that allows radio waves to propagate beyond obstructions via secondary
waves created by the obstruction. Classic types of diffractions are smooth earth and knife-edge.
Microwave / Electromagnetic Radiation: Power that radiated into free space is governed by the
characteristics of free space is known as the EM radiation.
EM wave propagates through free space at the velocity that is near about light velocity i.e. 186000
miles/ hr or 3 x 108 m/s or 3 x 105 Km/ S
VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)
The satellite is a microwave repeater, receiving signals from earth stations, amplifying them at
RF and retransmitting them to earth
To prevents interference the difference between uplink and downlink frequency is of about 2
GHz
These satellites are geostationary. They have the same angular velocity at the earth (i.e. one
complete cycle per 24 hours) and so they appear to be stationed over one on the glob
By the celestial mechanism the velocity depends on its distance from the earth and on whether
the satellite is in a circular on elliptical orbits
The actual orbital velocity of a geostationary satellite is 11000 Km/ hr or nearly 2 miles/s
INTELSAT (International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium)
INTELSAT 1, better known as Early Bird, was launched over the Atlantic in 1965; there were
only five earth stations to make use of the 66-telephone circuit it offered
Now there are over one dozen INTELSAT IV, IV-A, V-A satellites over the Atlantic, Indian
and Pacific Ocean
INTELSAT VI Satellites:
Launched in the late 1980
Capable of providing up to 20,000 telephone ckts each
TV services for international and domestic use
ISDN Channels
B Channel: Bearer, user data only. The B channel is a 64 kbps clear channel (i.e. no signaling
information) used for voice, data, text, image or video/ Graphics. Either circuit or packet switched
network
D Channel: Used for signaling information and can operate either 16 kbps or 64 kbps depending on
whether it is supporting two B channel. Also used for Telemetry, low speed packet data, alarm signal,
telephone-to-telephone text message
H Channel: There are three H channels all of which provides higher speed than the 64 kbps (B
channel) H 0; 384 kbps, H11, H12 used for video conferencing, high-speed facsimile packet switched
data. H11 speed 1.544 Mbps. H12 available only in Europe operate at 1.920 Mbps

12

Briefing on CDMA system by PBTL

Overview of network:
System information
Suppliers
Functional briefing of MS, BTS, BSC and MSC
Benefits of CDMA over GSM:
Bandwidth
Voice Quality
No Cross connection
Easy migration to 3G
High cell range
Coverage Issues:
Range of coverage
o Hand-set (0db gain)
o FWT (9~12db gain)
Hand-over
Sectorization
Metro- and District coverage
Situation at the edge of cell
Capacity Issues:
TCH limitation
Noise (due to high density of customers and external antenna)
Congestion due to capacity (BHCA)
Standard:
IS-95A
CDMA 2000
Complain Issues:
Low network at the edge of cell
High density of subscribers leading to high noise
Indoor/Outdoor scenario
Congestion with GP
Authentication
Zone Issues:
Zone defining
Roaming issues
R-UIM Issues:
Hand-set compatibility
Fraud cases of ESN
Similarities/dissimilarities with SIM
13

Write short note on Router, Vocoder &Transceiver?

Router: A data switch that handles connections between different networks. A router identifies the
addresses on data passing through the switch, determines which route the
transmission should take and collects data in so-called packets that are then sent to their destinations.
Vocoder: Refers to a voice encoder that is a device that codes and decodes the human voice (sound
waves) into digital transmission. Higher vocoder speeds offer enhanced sound quality
Transceiver: A transmitter and receiver contained in one package. A 2- way radio or cell phone is an
example of a transceiver.
Wireless Dictionary

2G
3G
3GPP
ACIR
ACLR
ACTS

Wireless dictionary

Second generation of wireless

communication systems.
Third generation of wireless
communication systems.
Third-Generation Partnership
Project (W-CDMA)
Adjacent
Channel
Interference Ratio
Adjacent Channel Leakage
Ratio
Advanced Communications
Technology and Services

Wireless Dictionary

Wireless dictionary

BCH

Broadcast Channels

BER

Bit Error Rate

BERT

Bit Error Rate Tester

bps

Bits per Second

BPSK

Binary Phase Shift Keying

BS

Base Station

BSC

Base Station Controller

ADC

Analog-to-Digital Converter

ADPCM

Adaptive Differential Pulse

BSIC
Code Modulation

Base Station Identity Code

AGC

Automatic Gain Control

BSS

Base Station Subsystem

AIN

Advanced
Network

BT

Bandwidth Time Product

AM

Amplitude Modulation

BTS

Base Transceiver Station

AMPS
ANSI

Intelligent

Advanced Mobile Phone

C/I
System
American National Standards
C/N
Institute

carrier-to-interference ratio
carrier-to-noise ratio
14

APC
ARDIS
ATM

Automatic Power Control

CAI

Advanced
Radio
Data
CBCH
Information Systems
Asynchronous
Transfer
CCH
Mode

Common Air Interface

Cell Broadcast Channel
Control Channel

AUC

Authentication Center

CDMA

Code
Division
Access

AWGN

Additive
Noise

CDPD

Cellular Digital Packet Data

BCCH

Broadcast Control Channel

CGSA

Cellular Geographic Service

Area

CIF

Common Intermediate Format EDGE

Enhanced
Evolution

CODEC

Coder/Decoder

Enhanced Full Rate

CPM

Continuous Phase Modulation EIR

Equipment Identity Register

CTIA

Cellular Telecom
Association

ESN

Electronic Serial Number

CW

Continuous Wave

FCC

Federal
Commission

DAC

Digital to Analog Converter

FCCH

Frequency Correction Channel

D-AMPS

Digital-Advanced
Phone System

FDD

Frequency Division Duplex

dB

deciBel

FDMA

Frequency Division Multiple

Access

dBd
dBi
dBm

White

Gaussian

EFR

Industry

Mobile

deciBels referenced to a
FER
dipole antenna
deciBels referenced to an
FH
isotropic antenna
deciBels referenced to a
FHSS
milliWatt

Data

Multiple

for

Global

Communications

Frame Erasure/Error Rate

Frequency Hopping
Frequency
Spectrum

Hopped

Spread

DCA

Dynamic Channel Allocation

FM

Frequency Modulation

DCCH

Dedicated Control Channel

FSK

Frequency Shift Keying

DCS-1800

Digital
Communications
GGSN
System - 1800

Gateway GPRS Support Node

DL

Downlink

Gaussian
Keying

GMSK

Minimum

Shift

15

DPM

Digital Phase Modulation

DQPSK

Differential Quadrature Phase

GPS
Shift Keying

DS

Direct Sequence

DSSS

Direct
Sequence
Spectrum

DTX

Discontinuous Transmission

HLR

Home Location Register

Eb/N0

Bit Energy-to-Noise Density

HSCSD

High Speed Circuit Switched

Data

IF

Intermediate Frequency

MSC

Mobile Switching Center

MSK

Minimum Shift Keying

N-AMPS

Narrowband Advanced Mobile

Phone System

NMC

Network Management Center

NSS

Network Switching Subsystem

IMEI
IMSI
IMT-2000
IMTS

GPRS

GSM
Spread

International
Mobile
Equipment Identity
International
Mobile
subscriber Identity
International
Mobile
Telecommunication 2000
Improved Mobile Telephone
Service

GSM 1800

General Packet Radio Service

Global Positioning System
Global System for Mobile
Communication
A digital network working on a
frequency of 1800 MHz.

Orthogonal Frequency Division

Multiplex
Operations & Maintenance
Center
Offset Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying

IN

Intelligent Network

OFDM

IP

Internet Protocol

OMC

ISDN

Integrated
Network.

ISI

Inter-Symbol Interference

OSI

Open System Interconnect

ITU

International
Telecommunications Union

PA

Power Amplifier

LAN

Local Area Network

PABX

LOS

loss of signal

PACS

LOS

line of sight

PAM

pulse amplitude modulation

LPA

linear power amplifier

PBX

Private Branch Exchange

LSB

Least Significant Bit

PCH

Paging Channel

MAC

Medium Access Control

PCM

Pulse Code Modulation

Services

Digital

OQPSK

Private
Automatic
Branch
Exchange
Personal
Access
Communications System

16

Personal
Network
Personal
Services
Personal
System

Communications

MIN

Mobile Identification Number

PCN

MMM

Mobile Media Mode

PCS

MMS

Multimedia
Service

PCS

MS

Mobile Station

PDF

Probability Density Function

MSB

Most Significant Bit

PIN

Personal Identification Number

PLMN

Public Land-Mobile Network

SMS

Short
Messaging
Service
(Service Management System)

PMR

Private Mobile Radio

SNR

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

PN

Pseudo-Noise

SS

Spread Spectrum

PRMA

Packet Reservation Multiple

SS7
Access

Signal System 7

PSK

Phase Shift Keying

Shared Secret Data

Messaging

SSD

Communications
Communications

Public Switched Telephone

TACS
Network
Quadrature
Amplitude
TAMS
Modulation
Quadrature
Phase
Shift
TCH
Keying

Total Access Communications

System
Temporary Mobile Station
Identity

RACH

Random Access Channel

TCM

Trellis Code Modulation

RAN

Radio Access Network

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

RF

Radio frequency

TDD

Time Division Duplex

RSSI

Received Signal
Indication

TDMA

Time Division Multiple Access

S/I

signal-to-interference ratio

TDTD

Time
Division
Diversity

S/N

signal-to-noise ratio

UHF

Ultra High Frequency

SCCH

Signaling Control Channel

UL

Uplink

SCH

Synchronization Channel

UMTS

Universal
Mobile
Telecommunications System

SDCCH

Slow
Dedicated
Channel

UWC

Universal Wireless Consortium

PSTN
QAM
QPSK

Strength

Control

Traffic Channel

Transmit

17

SDH
SDMA

Synchronous
Hierarchy
Space
Division
Access

Digital
Multiple

VHF

Very High Frequency

VLR

Visitor Location Register

VOIP

Voice Over Internet Protocol

SHF

Super High Frequency

SIM Card

Subscriber Identity Module

VPN
Card

Virtual Private Network

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium WLAN

Wireless Local Area Network

WAP

Wireless Application Protocol WLL

Wireless Local Loop

WCA
WCDMA
WDM

Wireless
Communications
WOS
Association
Wideband Code Division
WPABX
Multiple Access
Wavelength
Division
Multiplexing

Wireless Office Systems

Wireless Private
Branch Exchange

Automatic

18