Cellular System Infrastructure
Early wireless systems had a high-power transmitter, covering the entire
service area. This required a very huge amount of power and was not
suitable for many practical reasons.
The cellular system replaced a large zone with a number of smaller
hexagonal cells with a single BS (base station) covering a fraction of the
area. Evolution of such a cellular system is shown in the given figures, with
all wireless receivers located in a cell being served by a BS.
Wireless devices need to be supported for different types of services, the
wireless device could be a wireless telephone laptop with wireless card,
personal digital assistant (PDA), or web enabled phone. For simplicity, it
could be called an MS.
In a cellular structure, a MS (mobile station) needs to communicate with the
BS of the cell where the MS is currently located and the BS acts as a gateway
to the rest of the world. Therefore, to provide a link, the MS needs to be in
the area of one of the cells (and hence a BS) so that mobility of the MS can
be supported. Several base stations are connected through hard-wires and
are controlled by a BS controller (BSC), which in turn is connected to a
mobile switching center (MSC).
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Several mobile switching centers are interconnected to a PSTN (public
switched telephone network) and the ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)
backbone. To provide a better perspective of wireless communication
technology, simplified system infrastructure for cellular system is shown in
the figure:
A cellular system requires a fairly complex infrastructure. A generic block
diagram in shown in the figure:
A BS consists of a base transceiver system (BTS) and a BSC. Both tower and
antenna are a part of the BTS, while all associated electronics are contained
in the BSC.
The HLR (home location register) and VLR (visitor location register) are two
sets of pointers that support mobility and enable the use of the same
telephone numbers worldwide.
The AUC (authentication center) unit provides authentication and encryption
parameters that verify the user's identity and ensure the confidentiality of
each cell.
The EIR (equipment identity register) is a database that information about
identity of mobile equipment. Both AUC and EIR can be implemented as
individual stand-alone units or as a combined AUC/EIR unit.
The HLR is located at the MSC where MS is initially registered and is the
initial home location for billing and access information.
In simple words, any incoming call, based on the calling number, is directed
to the HLR of the home MS where the MS is registered. The HLR then points
to the VLR of the MSC where the MS is currently located.
Bidirectional HLR-VLR pointers help in carrying out various functionalities, as
illustrated in the figure:
The VLR contains information about all MS visiting that particular MSC and
hence points to the HLR of the visiting MSs for exchanging related
information about the MS.
Such a pointer allows calls to be routed or rerouted to the MS, wherever it is
located. In cellular systems, a reverse direction pointer is needed that allows
traversal of many control signals back and forth between the HLR and VLR
such bidirectional HLR-VLR pointers help in carrying out various
functionalities.
