GSM mobility management using an intelligent network platform

PhDAbstract not availabl

Mobile network design : Orange UK 2G to 3G mobile backhaul evolution

The research presented in this thesis is focused on the evolution of a GSM/GPRS (2G) cellular mobile network to UMTS (3G) and then subsequently, HSDPA. The particular technical area of research relates to the mobile backhaul network which provides the connectivity between radio cell sites which support the wide area radio coverage, and the mobile network operator’s core network. Due to the evolution of UMTS with HSDPA, the research covers the initial UMTS network rollout and then addresses the evolution of this infrastructure to support mobile broadband communications, through the introduction of HSDPA as a network upgrade. The two research questions being addressed are therefore: •How is it possible to evolve a GSM/GPRS mobile backhaul network to support a converged GSM/GPRS and UMTS cellular mobile service? •How is it possible to ensure scalability of the converged backhaul network given the introduction of HSDPA and associated mobile broadband data growth? The starting point of the research is an established GSM and GPRS commercial network in the UK and the study is based on the design of the Orange network and focused on the period 2000 to 2010. During this period the author was working as Principal Network Designer within Orange and had overall responsibility for the strategy, architecture and design of the UK mobile backhaul network. The thesis provides a detailed explanation of the novel network design that was adopted and how it was evolved throughout the ten year period covered by the research. The research proves that the original static TDM approach was not suitable for UMTS and therefore the outcome was the introduction of an ATM network with optimisation based on traffic class rt-VBR over protected STM-1 transmission links. HSDPA drove further traffic growth and resulted in an evolution of the solution to ensure massive scalability was supported through the migration to Carrier Ethernet and implementation of pseudo-wires. In addition, to providing a technical description of the network design, the thesis also aims to provide a historical record of the technologies and equipment used during this period of rapid change within the UKs mobile networks

User interface of a GSM capacity optimisation tool

Kapasiteettivaatimukset moderneissa matkapuhelinverkoissa, kuten GSM/EDGE, kasvavat koko ajan johtuen lisääntyvästä datapalveluiden käytöstä. Näkyvyyden puute mahdollisissa kapasiteettiongelmissa eri BSS:n alueen pullonkauloissa, mukaan lukien Radio, Abis/EDAP, PCU ja Gb-rajapinnat, saattavat aiheuttaa ongelmia koko verkon suorituskyvylle. Keskitetty ratkaisu, jolla voidaan analysoida ja optimoida erilaisia verkon kapasiteettialueita perustuen verkon oikeisiin mittauksiin, lisäisi näkyvyyttä koko verkon yli tapahtuvassa kapasiteettianalyysissä. Koko verkkoa tutkittaessa pitää myös olla mahdollista syventää yksittäisen osa-alueen analyysia. Mittausten perusteella voidaan luoda sääntöjä, joilla helpotetaan ongelmien tunnistamista ja korjausta. Käyttäjän tarpeiden ja tavoitteiden ymmärtäminen ja hyväksyminen auttaa käyttäjävaatimusten luonnissa. Tässä diplomityössä on kuvattu käyttäjävaatimuksia GSM/EDGE-verkkojen kapasiteettianalyysiin liittyviin tarpeisiin Nokia Siemens Networksin OSS:ssä. Vaatimuksista voidaan koota tehtävänkuvauksia, jotka auttavat muuten huomaamatta jäävien käyttäjävaatimusten tunnistamisessa. Tämän diplomityön tärkein anti liittyy monimutkaisen kokoonpano- ja suorituskykytiedon visualisointiin. Tällaisen tiedon visualisointi vaatii useita eri esitystapoja. Looginen verkkorakenne vaatii puumaisen rakenteen, jolla voidaan kuvata verkkoelementtien välisiä riippuvuuksia. Tarvitaan myös tapa kuvata maantieteellinen informaatio ja mittausdata samassa näkymässä. Lisäksi tarvitaan keino visualisoida tarkempaa kokoonpano- ja suorituskykytietoa taulukkorakenteena tekstimuodossa. Nämä tarpeet ja toiminnallisuudet kumpuavat käyttäjän tarpeista eri kapasiteettianalyysin osa-alueilla. Erityisesti suunnittelussa on huomioitu eri näkymien välinen yhteistoiminta, jonka tulee tukea koko kapasiteettianalyysiä. Suunnittelussa on painotettu myös mahdollisia tulevaisuuden laajennuskohteita kuten runkoverkko, WCDMA, WiMax sekä muiden valmistajien verkkoratkaisut.The capacity requirements for modern mobile networks build on top of technology like GSM/EDGE are increasing as the usage of data services is growing. The lack of visibility of possible problems in bottlenecks in the BSS domain, including Radio, Abis/EDAP, PCU and Gb-interface, can cause degradation to the whole network capacity throughput. A centralised solution to analyse and optimise the different network domains through real network measurement would increase the visibility of the overall edge-to-edge chain of capacity network. From this edge-to-edge analysis, a drilldown further to the actual root cause is also needed. Based on the measurements particular rules can be created for each domain that can help in identifying and correcting the actual problems. Understanding and accepting the user goals and needs help in the creation of user requirements. In this thesis, the user requirements for GSM/EDGE capacity related needs for Nokia Siemens Networks OSS are described. The user requirements can be used to create workflows that can identify gaps related to individual user requirements. The main contribution of this thesis is to clarify issues related to visualisation of complex data associated to configuration and performance management of the network. This requires many different visualisation channels. Logical network structure requires a tree-like view to be able to visualise relationships between different network elements. A view to present geographical information and performance data related to the network elements on map is also needed. The last visualisation channel required needs to present configuration and performance attribute related information in a table like form. The needs and functions of all these views are derived from the user needs related to capacity analysis in different domains. The main emphasis of different views is in the inter-working functions to support the overall workflow of capacity optimisation. The expandability of the solution should also be stressed to allow future capacity network analysis domains like core network, WCDMA and WiMax and even other vendors besides Nokia Siemens Networks

Simulating Road Traffic for Generating Cellular Network Logs in Urban Context

Viimastel aastatel on hakanud mobiilside andmestik paeluma aina rohkem teadlasi erinevatelt teadusdistsipliinidelt. Need andmed aitavad mõista inimeste käitumis- kui ka liikumismustreid. Mitmed mobiilsusandmestikud (nagu näiteks Call Detail Records mobiilside andmed) ning GPS andmed näitavad inimeste liikumissagedust ja -põhjusi.Need andmestikud sisaldavad endas väärtuslikku informatsiooni ühiskonna kohta. Töödeldud informatsiooni saab kasutada mitmel otstarbel. Teadlased saaksid andmestiku põhjal planeerida teedevõrgustikke, paremini suunata inimestele reklaame arvestades nende paiknemist, luua uusi positsioneerimistehnoloogiaid, arendada rahvastikukontrolli tarkvara jne.Vaatamata tehnoloogilistele võimalustele on inimeste mobiilsusandmestikud väga raskesti kättesaadavad, sest need on kaitstud riiklike regulatsioonide poolt, kuna riivavad inimeste privaatsust. Teine tegur on mobiilioperaatorite enda huvi luua inimeste mobiilsusandmetel põhinevaid kommertslahendusi. Selline situatsioon ei innusta operaatoreid jagama äriliselt vajalikku informatsiooni kolmandate osapooltega. Antud magistritöö käigus näidatakse, kuidas sellest raskest probleemist üle saada arendades mobiilsidevõrgukäitumissimulatsiooni prototüüpi. Genereerides andmeid läbi erinevate teaduslike liikumismudelite, mida võimaldab meile liiklussimulatsiooni tarkvara.Uurimistöö tulemusena selgus, et selline lähenemine on resultatiivne ja omab mitmeid laienemisvõimalusi. Täheldati mitmeid võimalusi koostööks teiste uurimisvaldkondadega, et muuta genereeritavaid mobiilsusandmeid reaalelule sarnanevateks. Mobiilsidevõrgu käituvussimulatsioon on näidanud suurt potentsiaali ning arendamise käigus avaldusid võimalused, mida algselt ei osatud oodata. Mainitud mobiilsidevõrgu käituvussimulatsioon on integreeritud eksisteeriva liiklussimulatsiooni tarkvaraga, mis on vabavara ning mida on võimalik laialdaselt konfigureerida. Liiklussimulatsiooni tarkvaraskasutatavad inimkäitumise mudelid põhinevad erinevate teadustööde tulemustel ning seetõttu mobiilsidevõrgu käituvus- ning liiklussimulatsiooni sümbioosi tulemusel genereeritud andmed on märkimisväärse väärtusega.In the last years, the use of mobile phone data logs start to attract a lot of researchers’ attentions from various disciplines. Those logs help the scientist to understand and predict human behaviour. The mobility logs, like Call Detail Records and GPS data, show where to people commute, how often do they commute and, usually, those logs also say why. These logs hold knowledge about our society, from that data the knowledge could be extracted and used for multiple purposes. The scientists could analyse through the movement how to plan the road infrastructure, generate target advertisement based on forecasting peoples displacement, new positioning technology, population control software, etc. But there are limits on the people's mobility data. Those information logs are heavily protected by the government privacy data laws to protect the personal rights. Additionally, the mobile operators are interested in their own commercial solutions and therefore their interest to share vital information is low. Here, in this thesis, we show that this cumbersome problem can be over-stepped by prototyping a cellular network behaviour simulator to generate the logs for us through different scientific commuting models inherited from the traffic simulation program.The result of this thesis reveals that this approach is feasible and shows multiple expansion possibilities how to produce even more real-life like mobility logs. The development of the cellular network behaviour simulation has shown huge potential and even bigger possibilities than predicted in the beginning. Since, our cellular network behaviour simulation is integrated with already existing open-source, highly configurable, road traffic simulator basing on the scientific human behaviour models produce with considerable value data

Secure interoperation of wireless technologies

Tremendous emphasis has been placed on wireless technologies recently and it is expected that mobile communications will become an even bigger key driver for growth and innovation in the near future. The purpose of this paper is to study the securing, development, integration and implementation of an always on, always available, and accessible from anywhere secure wireless communication environment. Our analysis of the different wireless technologies reveals that a number of obstacles have to be managed before truly transparent wireless public data consumer offering is available. Our concern revolves around the technical development and implementation efforts of integrated wireless technologies enveloped with management processes of change and evolution. Wireless technologies have influenced our daily lives and will undoubtedly continue to play a significant role in the future. This dissertation focuses on the interoperation of wireless technologies, exploring, evaluating and presenting representations of secure, fully integrated wireless environments. The purpose is to find a cost effective, open, viable, sustainable consumer orientated high data speed offering which not only adheres to basic security requirements but surpasses it. By bringing the network to the subscriber we generate an “always-on” and “always-available” solution for data requirements fulfilling an ever increasing human demand for access to resources anywhere, anytime. A background literature of various wireless technologies, techniques and value added services is provided. An approach for the securing of critical content over wireless links in chapter seven provides a basis for access by position concepts presented in chapter eight. This secure approach to location-aware mobile access control is an essential security enhancement in the integration and interoperation models illustrated in chapter nine. These models, appropriately named SWARM 1 and SWARM 2 (System for Wireless and Roaming Mobility), illustrate different approaches to achieving a secure, fully coherent, consumer orientated, wireless data communications environment.Dissertation (MSc (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2003.Computer Scienceunrestricte

Etude des performances et optimisation d'un réseau d'accès par satellite pour les communications

La croissance rapide du trafic aérien et les besoins en nouveaux services notamment pour les passagers imposent l'introduction de nouveaux moyens de communication pour les avions avec une bande passante globale fortement accrue. Les satellites sont appelés à jouer un rôle important dans ce contexte, non seulement en complément des systèmes terrestres pour les services « cockpit » (services ATM, Air Traffic Management) mais aussi pour les services « cabine » (In-Flight Entertainment). L'objectif de la thèse est d'étudier l'architecture d'un système satellite supportant l'ensemble de ces services, en se focalisant sur l'architecture du terminal embarqué à bord des aéronefs. L'architecture retenue repose sur des liaisons DVB-S2/DVB-RCS normalisées par l'ETSI. Cette option permet d'utiliser efficacement l'importante bande passante disponible en bande Ka pour les services mobiles aéronautiques (allocation primaire) ou en bande Ku (allocation secondaire). Ces normes ont été conçues pour les applications multimédia (Broadband Satellite Multimedia). Le défi est alors d'utiliser de telles liaisons satellite pour des services aux caractéristiques et besoins fortement hétérogènes. Par ailleurs, l'utilisation de la bande Ka n'est pas concevable sans l'activation de techniques de lutte contre les affaiblissements (FMT – Fade Mitigation Techniques). L'utilisation d'une marge statique conduit à une perte importante de capacité. Les techniques FMT reposent sur une évaluation dynamique du bilan de liaison et permettent une modification de la forme d'onde. Le système utilise ainsi la forme d'onde la plus efficace spectralement pour chaque terminal et maximise la capacité globale du système. Par contre, chaque terminal observe une modification de la ressource allouée au fil du temps. L'objectif de la thèse est de concevoir une architecture au niveau terminal qui permette d'exploiter les liaisons DVB-S2/RCS afin de fournir les services passagers (Internet et téléphonie mobile de type GSM/UMTS) et un canal haute fiabilité pour les services aéronautiques. Deux approches ont été retenues. La première repose sur une application du modèle ETSI BSM (Broadband Satellite Multimedia) en couches séparant strictement les couches dépendantes satellite et les couches indépendantes satellite. Les simulations de cette architecture montrent que les liaisons ne peuvent être utilisées de façon efficace sans une interaction entre couches afin de tenir compte de l'évolution de la capacité disponible. La seconde approche consiste en la concentration de la gestion de la ressource et la gestion de la qualité de service dans la même couche protocolaire. L'idée de départ est d'utiliser la méthode d'encapsulation générique Generic Stream Encapsulation (GSE). GSE a été conçu pour la projection des paquets de couches supérieures à l'intérieur des trames DVB-S2. GSE tient compte de la taille variable des trames DVB-S2 et introduit une capacité de multiplexage entre différents flux (identification de fragments). Sur cette base, une gestion de l'accès est introduite pour gérer la liaison DVB-RCS au format MF-TDMA. Nous introduisons ainsi une utilisation conjointe de GSE, d'une politique de service différentiée et de flux de signalisation inter-couches (« cross-layer »). Les performances des deux approches sont étudiées à l'aide d'un modèle de simulation développé à l'aide du logiciel OPNET Modeler (simulations à événements discrets). Les résultats obtenus démontrent le meilleur comportement de la seconde architecture avec une meilleure utilisation de la ressource et des performances de transmission satisfaisant les objectifs

On the design, implementation and experimental evaluation of a novel gateway architecture for the GSM Short Message Service

Congestion and capacity pi'ohIens of the existing mobile communication networks of the late eighties resulted in the demand for a brand new mobile telephony standard. Competition amongst the various existing standards implementation was fierce and lead to the availability of a plethora of incompatible networks and very little hope for the establishment of a global technology geared up to the expectancy of the users. Paging network were widely used as a cheaper alternative to voice enabled networks and were Offering users the ability to receive textual information while on the move. Bridging the gap between the paging world and the mobile communication world was essential. The Global System for Mobile communications was designed as the European answer. The European alternative was promising a feature rich, secure and truly global system with the added ability to handle two-way paging like functionalities with the Short Message Service (SMS). The success of a new service such as SMS relies heavily on its adoption by a majority of users. which in turn is mainly a consequence of the availability of software application gateways. In the mid nineties a Sheffield based software company realising the market needs teamed up with the University's research department to produce the first commercially available gateway architecture for the SMS. The resulting work is described in this thesis. The first part of the analysis examines the architecture of' a (ISM network and the building blocks of the SMS. The technical implementation is described and the fundamental properties examined such as roaming. routing, protocol limitations, usability and interoperahility problems. The specification and design of the gateway architecture is then addressed with an emphasis on character set conversion, routing and queLicing issues. The implementation details are then examined with a description of each of' the modules. The performance of the gateway is examined with the implenientation of a test bed fed by traffic generated by customers. The issues examined were: identification of bottlenecks, protocol efficiencies and an analysis of the chosen queueing model implementation. The second part of the analysis presents the results obtained from the measurements taken for a period of a year. Arm analytical model was formulated to validate the results from the measurements. The comparison revealed the ability of the model to simulate the behaviour of the gateway under medium to heavy loads and highlighted the areas that would be most affected by optimisation. The important factors limiting throughput and quality of service were di scoverecl in the capacity of the connections to network operators and policy chosen for the message queues. An alternative queueing discipline is proposed that would lead to increased fairness offered to the wide variety of applications connected to the gateway and the network operators through a single link of' known capacity. Interactive conversations such as quizzes and gaines based are offered low latency while more bandwidth demanding ones such as mass voting applications benefit from very high throughput. The overall gateway,architecture described was the first one of its kind and consequently each of its module was designed and implemented from scratch. As a result Dialogue (Tommnunicatmons benefited l'i'omn the novelty and head start needed in a fierce competitive market to position itself as a market leader ]it mobile applications and services, competing with global companies such as Logica. Ericcson or Microsoft

A Formal Object Model for Layered Networks to Support Verification and Simulation

This work presents an abstract formal model of the interconnection structure of the Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (OSI-RM) developed using Object-Oriented modeling principles permitting it to serve as a re-usable platform in supporting the development of simulations and formal methods applied to layered network protocols. A simulation of the object model using MODSIM III was developed and Prototype Verification System (PVS) was used to show the applicability of the object model to formal methods by formally specifying and verifying a Global Systems for Mobile communications (GSM) protocol. This application has proved to be successful in two aspects. The first was showing the existence of discrepancies between informal standard protocol specifications, and the second was that communication over the layered GSM network was verified. Although formal methods is somewhat difficult and time consuming, this research shows the need for the formal specification of all communication protocols to support a clear understanding of these protocols and to provide consistency in their implementations. A domain for the application of this model is mobile cellular telecommunications systems. Mobile Communications is one of the most rapidly expanding sectors of telecommunications. Expectations of what a mobile cellular phone can do have vastly increased the complexity of cellular communication networks, which makes it imperative that protocol specifications be verified before implementation

Designing information systems' applications for public transport system in Singapore

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN