Part 1: GSM Air Operations
- GSM system overview
- The cellular concept and objectives
- GSM architecture and protocols
- 2G, 2.5G, 3G and 4G evolution
- RF signal propagation and range estimation
- Base station (BS) to mobile station (MS) propagation
- Cell frequency reuse analysis and C/I
- Signal penetration into buildings
- Handoff strategies
- Digital modulation and coding for GSM
- ASK, FSK, and PSK modulation analysis
- GMSK properties for GSM use
- Error detection and correction
- Voice and data channel coding in GSM
- Speech coding, complexity, and quality
- GSM speech coding process and receiver performance
- GSM TDMA and physical channels
- Time slots and their use within a frame
- Frame structures and hierarchy
- Physical channels and their properties
- Uplink and downlink timing
- GSM logical channels
- Broadcast channels (BCH): Broadcast control, frequency correction, synchronization
- Common control channels (CCCH): Paging, random access, access grant
- Dedicated control channels (DCCH): Stand-alone dedicated control channels
- Associated control channels (ACCH): Slow and fast
- Traffic control channels (TCH): full rate, half rate, cell broadcast
- GSM burst family: Mapping logical channels to physical channels
- Normal
- Frequency correction
- Synchronization
- Access
- Dummy
- Call process and progression
- GSM location based services (LBS)
- Positioning fundamentals
- Overview of the global positioning system (GPS)
- Cell system positioning
- GSM LBS operation
- GSM reliability and jamming
- Security threats: disclosure, integrity, denial-of-service
- GSM security overview
- GSM vulnerabilities
Part 2: General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
- Introduction
- GPRS traffic models
- GPRS data services and protocol stack
- GPRS network architecture
- Mobile station modes and classes
- Packet control unit (PCU) and channel codec unit (CCU)
- Serving and gateway nodes
- GPRS protocol structures
- Mobility management and routing
- Mobile station states: Idle, ready, standby
- GPRS medium access control (MAC)
- GPRS radio link control (RLC)
- GPRS logical link control (LLC)
- GPRS on the GSM air interface
- GPRS logical channels
- GPRS multiframe
- Mapping GPRS logical channels to the GSM physical channels
- Error control and retransmission strategies
Part 3: Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
- Introduction
- Limitations of GPRS
- EDGE traffic models and protocol stack
- EDGE modulation and coding
- Modulation: 8-PSK properties
- Soft decoding
- Hybrid ARQ
- Error detection
- Error correction
- EDGE air interface protocols
- Medium access control (MAC)
- Radio link control (RLC)
- Link adaptation schemes
- Optimization methods
- Course Recap, Discussion, and Evaluations