Article written by John Scourias, with comments in maroon by Tom Farley
Pages: Table of Contents (1) (2) (3) (3A) (4) (5) (5A) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)
6. Conclusion and comments
In this paper I have tried to give an overview of the GSM system. As with any overview, and especially one covering a standard 6000 pages long, there are many details missing. I believe, however, that I gave the general flavor of GSM and the philosophy behind its design. It was a monumental task that the original GSM committee undertook, and one that has proven a success, showing that international cooperation on such projects between academia, industry, and government can succeed. It is a standard that ensures interoperability without stifling competition and innovation among suppliers, to the benefit of the public both in terms of cost and service quality. For example, by using Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) microprocessor technology, many functions of the mobile station can be built on one chipset, resulting in lighter, more compact, and more energy-efficient terminals.
Telecommunications are evolving towards personal communication networks, whose objective can be stated as the availability of all communication services anytime, anywhere, to anyone, by a single identity number and a pocketable communication terminal [25]. Having a multitude of incompatible systems throughout the world moves us farther away from this ideal. The economies of scale created by a unified system are enough to justify its implementation, not to mention the convenience to people of carrying just one communication terminal anywhere they go, regardless of national boundaries.
The GSM system, and its sibling systems operating at 1.8 GHz (called DCS1800) and 1.9 GHz (called GSM1900 or PCS1900, and operating in North America), are a first approach at a true personal communication system. The SIM card is a novel approach that implements personal mobility in addition to terminal mobility. Together with international roaming, and support for a variety of services such as telephony, data transfer, fax, Short Message Service, and supplementary services, GSM comes close to fulfilling the requirements for a personal communication system: close enough that it is being used as a basis for the next generation of mobile communication technology in Europe, the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS).
Another point where GSM has shown its commitment to openness, standards and interoperability is the compatibility with the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) that is evolving in most industrialized countries, and Europe in particular (the so-called Euro-ISDN). GSM is also the first system to make extensive use of the Intelligent Networking concept, in in which services like 800 numbers are concentrated and handled from a few centralized service centers, instead of being distributed over every switch in the country. This is the concept behind the use of the various registers such as the HLR. In addition, the signalling between these functional entities uses Signalling System Number 7, an international standard already deployed in many countries and specified as the backbone signalling network for ISDN.
GSM is a very complex standard, but that is probably the price that must be paid to achieve the level of integrated service and quality offered while subject to the rather severe restrictions imposed by the radio environment.
IEC tutorial on International Intelligent Networks is here: http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/intern_in/
Although dealing with conventional cellular, this IEC tutorial will give you a good understanding of the Wireless Intelligent Network or WIN:
http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/win/
Are there any comments you have on this introduction to GSM? Please send them in. Thanks for reading. Tom Farley
Pages: Table of Contents (1) (2) (3) (3A) (4) (5) (5A) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14)
