Some GSM system parameters are listed in the table

below:

Multiple Access Method TDMA / FDMA

Base station to mobile frequencies (MHz) 935-960 (basic GSM)
Mobile to base station frequencies (MHz) 890-915 (basic GSM)
Depleting FDD
Channel spacing, kHz 200
Modulation GMSK
Portable TX power, maximum / average (mW) 1000 / 125
Power control, handset and BSS Yes
Speech coding and rate (kbps) RPE-LTP / 13
Speech Channels per RF channel: 8
Channel rate (kbps) 270.833
Frame duration (ms) 4.615

System architecture
Figure 4 below shows the GSM system architecture, which consists of the switching
system, the base station system and the user equipment.
The functional entities are briefly explained as follows:

MS Mobile Station. The MS is the physical equipment used by a subscriber, most often a
normal hand-held cellular telephone.

BTS Base Transceiver Station. The BTS comprises the radio transmission and reception
devices, and also manages the signal processing related to the air interface.

TRAU the Transcoder Rate Adaptor Unit. The TRAU (not shown in the above figure)
functionally belongs to the BTS. The TRAU enables the use of lower rates (32, 16 or 8
kbps) over the A-bis interface instead of the 64 kbps ISDN rate for which the MSC is
designed. The TRAU can be located at the BTS, the BSC, or (immediately in front of) the
MSC.

BSC Base Station Controller. The BSC manages the radio interface, mainly through the
allocation, release and handover of radio channels.

BSS Base Station System. The BSS consists of a BSC and one or more BTSs.

MSC Mobile Switching Centre. The MSC is basically an ISDN-switch, coordinating and
setting up calls to and from MSs. An Inter-Working Function (IWF) may be required to
adapt GSM specific rates to that used in a particular PSTN/ PLMN.

VLR Visitor Location Register. The VLR contains all the subscriber data, both
permanent and temporary, which are necessary to control a MS in the MSCs coverage
area. The VLR is commonly realized as an integral part of the MSC, rather than a
separate entity.

AuC Authentication Centre. The AuC database contains the subscriber authentication
keys and the algorithm required to calculate the authentication parameters to be
transferred to the HLR.

HLR
Home Location Register. The HLR database is used to store permanent and semi-
permanent subscriber data; as such, the HLR will always know in which location area the
MS is (assuming the MS is in a coverage area), and this data is used to locate an MS in
the event of a MS terminating call set-up.

EIR Equipment Identity Register. The EIR database contains information on the MS and
its capabilities. The IMEI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is used to interrogate
the EIR.

GMSC Gateway Mobile Switching Centre. The GMSC is the point to which a MS
terminating call is initially routed, without any knowledge of the MS's location. The
GMSC is thus in charge of obtaining the MSRN (Mobile Station Roaming Number) from
the HLR based on the MSISDN (Mobile Station ISDN number, the "directory number" of
a MS) and routing the call to the correct visited MSC. The "MSC" part of the term
GMSC is misleading, since the gateway operation does not require any linking to a MSC.

SMSG
This is the term used by [MOU92] to collectively describe the two Short Message
Services Gateways described in the GSM recommendations. The SMS-GMSC (Short
Message Service Gateway Mobile Switching Centre) is for mobile terminating short
messages and SMSIWMSC (Short Message Service Inter-Working Mobile Switching
Centre) for mobile originating short messages. The SMS-GMSC role is similar to that of
the GMSC, whereas the SMS-IWMSC provides a fixed access point to the Short Message
Service Centre.

Interfaces

The previous figure also shows the GSM interfaces; they are briefly explained below.
terminating call set-up.

Um The air interface is used for exchanges between a MS and a BSS. LAPDm, a
modified version of the ISDN LAPD, is used for signaling.

Abis This is a BSS internal interface linking the BSC and a BTS, and it has not been
standardized. The Abis interface allows control of the radio equipment and radio
frequency allocation in the BTS.

A The A interface is between the BSS and the MSC. The A interface manages the
allocation of suitable radio resources to the MSs and mobility management.

B The B interface between the MSC and the VLR uses the MAP/B protocol. Most MSCs
are associated with a VLR, making the B interface "internal". Whenever the MSC needs
access to data regarding a MS located in its area, it interrogates the VLR using the
MAP/B protocol over the B interface.

C The C interface is between the HLR and a GMSC or a SMS-G. Each call originating
outside of GSM (i.e., a MS terminating call from the PSTN) has to go through a Gateway
to obtain the routing information required to complete the call, and the MAP/C protocol
over the C interface is used for this purpose. Also, the MSC may optionally forward
billing information to the HLR after call clearing.

D The D interface is between the VLR and HLR, and uses the MAP/D protocol to
exchange the data related to the location of the MS and to the management of the
subscriber.
E The E interface interconnects two MSCs. The E interface exchanges data related to
handover between the anchor and relay MSCs using the MAP/E protocol.

F The F interface connects the MSC to the EIR, and uses the MAP/F protocol to verify
the status of the IMEI that the MSC has retrieved from the MS.

G The G interface interconnects two VLRs of different MSCs and uses the MAP/G
protocol to transfer subscriber information, during e.g. a location update procedure.

H The H interface is between the MSC and the SMS-G, and uses the MAP/H protocol to
support the transfer of short messages.
.
I the I interface (not shown in Figure 1) is the interface between the MSC and the MS.
Messages exchanged over the I interface are relayed transparently through the BSS.

Logical and physical channels

GSM distinguishes between physical channels (the timeslot) and logical channels (the
information carried by the physical channels). Several recurring timeslots on a carrier
constitute a physical channel, which are used by different logical channels to transfer
information - both user data and signaling. The GSM traffic and associated control
channels are illustrated in Figure 7 below.
Common channels
The forward common channels are used for broadcasting bulletin board
information, paging and response to channel requests. The return common
channel is a slotted Aloha type random access channel used by the MS to request
channel resources before timing information is conveyed by the BSS, and uses a
burst with an extended guard period.

Dedicated point-to-point channels.

The dedicated point-to-point channels are divided into two main groups, the
dedicated signaling channels and the traffic channels. The dedicated signaling
channels are used to set-up the connection, and the traffic channel of a variety of
rates is used to convey the user information once the session is established. Both
channel types have in-band signaling: SACCH for e.g. link monitoring and
FACCH for time-critical signaling during e.g. a handover. The FACCH "steals"
the entire traffic burst for signaling.

These logical channels are defined in GSM:

TCHf Full rate traffic channel.

TCH h Half rate traffic channel.
BCCH Broadcast Network information, e.g. for describing the current control channel
structure. The BCCH is a point-to-multipoint channel (BSS-to-MS).
SCH Synchronization of the MSs.
FCH MS frequency correction.
AGCH Acknowledge channel requests from MS and allocate a SDCCH.
PCH MS terminating call announcement.
RACH MS access requests, response to call announcement, location update, etc.
FACCHt For time critical signaling over the TCH (e.g. for handover signaling). Traffic
burst is stolen for a full signaling burst.
SACCHt TCH in-band signaling, e.g. for link monitoring.
SDCCH For signaling exchanges, e.g. during call setup, registration / location updates.
FACCHs FACCH for the SDCCH. The SDCCH burst is stolen for a full signaling burst.
Function not clear in the present version of GSM (could be used for e.g.
handover of an eight-rate channel, i.e. using a "SDCCH-like" channel for other
purposes than signaling).
SACCHs SDCCH in-band signaling, e.g. for link monitoring
The signaling protocols between the MS and BTS, between the
BTS and BSC, and between the BSC and the MSC.

The CM, MM and RR layers together correspond to layer three in the ISO OSI protocol
suite

CM The Communication Management (CM) layer consists of setting up calls at

the users' request. Its functions are divided in three: Call control, which
manages the circuit oriented services; Supplementary services management,
which allows modifications and checking of the supplementary services
configuration; Short Message Services, which provides point-to-point short
message services.

MM The Mobility Management (MM) layer is in charge of maintaining the

location data, in addition to the authentication and ciphering procedures.

RR The Radio Resource (RR) Management layer is in charge of establishing and

maintaining a stable uninterrupted communications path between the MSC
and MS over which signalling and user data can be conveyed. Handovers
are part of the RR layers responsibility. Most of the functions are controlled
by the BSC, BTS, and MS, though some are performed by the MSC (in
particular for inter-MSC handovers.).

Info available at:

http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/L.Wood/constellations/tables/gsm.html