What is GSM?

Short form of Global System for Mobile Communications, is a wireless network system A standard for digital cellular mobile communications International roaming arrangements are enabled among mobile network operators, by providing the subscribers to use their personal mobile phones anywhere in the world. GSM is considered as second generation mobile, as signaling and speech channels are digital The carriers can be replaced without replacing mobile phones. The ubiquity of GSM implementations is also enabling the switching between network operators, who can choose equipment from many GSM equipment vendors. GSM pioneered low cost SMS implementation The GSM standard includes a worldwide emergency telephone number feature.

Explain the services offered by GSM. The services offered by GSM are ISDN compatible GSM allows synchronous data and asynchronous data to be transported as bearer service, one of the telecommunication services offered by GSM, and forms ISDN terminal The data could be either transparent service or nontransparent service Telephony is one of the services offered by GSM, which an emergency and the service provider is notified by dialing 3 digits By using appropriate fax adaptor, G3 fax service is supported One of the features of GSM is Short Messaging Service Certain services, namely supplementary services are provided on top of teleservices or bearer services by GSM, such as, caller identification, call forwarding, multiparty conversations, barring outgoing calls and call waiting.

What is the maximum data rate supported by a GSM system? The maximum data rate supported by a GSM system is 9.6 kbps. However there are extensions to GSM standard to improve throughput. GPRS is one of the extended GSM service. The extended standards of GSM allows theoretical data rates on the order of 114 Kbit/s, but with throughput closer to 40Kbit/s in practice.

Explain the following techniques in GSM: a.) Sectorization of a cell b.) Frequency Re-use c.) Transmitted Power Control d.) Discontinuous Transmission a.) Sectorization of a cell Sectorization is a process to cut down equipment costs in a cellular network. It influences in traffic load and cell size Sectorization reduces co-channel interference, when applied to clusters of cells The maximum traffic capacity of sectored antennas is more than omnidirectional antennas.

b.) Frequency Re-use Frequency re-use is the key factor of cellular network ability for increasing both coverage and capacity. Different frequencies are utilized by adjacent cells; however problem does not arise to determine the cell sufficiently far apart using the same frequency. Reuse distance and the reuse factor are the two elements that influence frequency reusability The frequency is 1/K, where K is the number of cells that cannot use the same frequencies for transmission.

c.) Transmitted Power Control Transmitted power control is one of the technical mechanism used within some networking devices TPC is used for preventing too much unwanted interference among wireless networks The central idea is to automatically reduce the transmission output power used, when other networks are within the same range. TPC reduces interference problems and increases the battery capacity The power levels of a single mobile device can be reduced by 6dB

d.) Discontinuous Transmission Discontinuous Transmission, also known as DTX in short is a method of momentarily powering down a mobile set when there is no voice input to the set. The overall efficiency of a wireless voice communication system is optimized by DTX. Each speaker in a two way conversation speaks slightly less than half of the time. The workload of the components in the transmitter amplifiers are made easy and reduces interference.

Which uplink/ downlink spectrum is allocated to following? a.) GSM 900 b.) DCS 1800 a.) GSM 900: Uplink spectrum is 890.2914.8 and downlink spectrum is 935.2959.8 b.) DCS 1800: Uplink spectrum is 1710.21784.8, and downlink spectrum is 1805.21879.8 Name the algorithms used in following: a.) Ciphering b.) Authentication a.) Ciphering The algorithm 129-EEA3 and 128-EIA3, 3GPP Confidentiality and Integrity Algorithm is used for ciphering in GSM b.) Authentication The algorithm by name A3 is used for authentication in the GSM systems This algorithm is used in implementing Subscriber Identity Module . Name the algorithms used in following: a.) Ciphering b.) Authentication a.) Ciphering The algorithm 129-EEA3 and 128-EIA3, 3GPP Confidentiality and Integrity Algorithm is used for ciphering in GSM

b.) Authentication The algorithm by name A3 is used for authentication in the GSM systems This algorithm is used in implementing Subscriber Identity Module . Explain the following: a.) Equalisation b.) Interleaving c.) Speech coding d.) Channel coding a.) Equalisation: An adaptive equalizer is employed by a GSM receiver for overcoming the impact of non-ideal channel characteristics which are caused by multipath propagation. Adaptive equalizer is required because the channel characteristics are often changing fast. Tuning the for each time slot is done by the equalizer. b.) Interleaving: Time diversity in a signal communication system is obtained by using Interleaving. The possibility of losing whole bursts will be decreased by interleaving Total 456 bits from convolution encoder, including 20ms of speech, is subdivided into eight blocks. Each block consists of 57 bits. All these blocks are transmitted in consecutive time slots. Enough information is available in 7 blocks, in case one of the blocks is lost due to burst errors. This enables whole segment recovery by using error correction.

c.) Speech coding: Speech coding is all about turning voice into digital form Speech is inherently analog, as GSM is a digital system. The digitization is employed by ISDN, and the current telephone systems that are used for multiplexing voice lines, with high speed trunks, optical fiber lines is done by Pulse Code Modulation(PCM) The PCM output is 64 kbps, which is too high over a radio link in feasibility The 64kbps signal is redundant The algorithm used in conventional cellular is Vector Sum Excited Linear Predictive speech compression.

d.) Channel coding The data rate for the radio channel is 270 kbps The data rate is split into 8 full rate or 16 half rate traffic channels, along with signaling channels In order to have the maximum chance for detecting and correcting errors, the code is complex in a typical propagation path Forward Error Correction is applied in order to get the speech coder encryption, coding and interleaving in a sophisticated way The data is sent as bursts in 577 mus time slots. Each contains 116 encrypted bits Every TDMA frame consists of 8 or 16 time slots Transmit time slots are staggered, so that at some instant the mobile station will not receive the same instants while transmitting, which enables the simplifying the filtering requirements

At least one spare slot between transmit and receive is available with this scheme.

What is frequency re-use? Frequency Reuse: Frequency Reuse is one of the techniques for improving capacity and spectral efficiency Commercial wireless systems are based on Frequency Reuse, that involves the partitioning of an RF radiation area into cell segments. A frequency that is far enough away from the frequency in the bordering segment is used by one segment of the cell. Similar frequency is used at least two cells apart from each other. This practice enables various cellular providers to have several customers for a given site license.

What are the interfaces between thee following?a.) BTS and MS b.) BTS and BSC c.) BSS and MSC d.) TRAU and BSC e.) BSC and PCU a.) BTS and MS Base station subsystem is a segment of cellular telephone network that is responsible for setting signals and traffic between mobile phone sets and network switching subsystems. Transcoding of speech channels are carried out by BSS. BSS allocates radio channels to mobile phones, paging, transmission and reception over the air interface and many other tasks that are pertaining to the radio network.

b.) BTS and BSC Base Station Controller provides the intelligence behind the BTSs. A BSC conrolls hundreds of BTSs. Allocation of radio channels, receiving measurements from the mobile phones are some of the major task handlings by BSC. BSC controls BTS to BTS. BSC acts as a concentrator in which many different low capacity connections to BTSs will become reduced to few numbers of connections towards the mobile switching center. BSC provides the required data to operation support subsystem(OSS) and also to the performance measuring centers BTS supports the key features like, frequency hopping, sectorization, and GPRS. The expansion and upgradation in the field are the features emphasized during its design. The power output of BTS is up to 80W.

c.) BSS and MSC BSS will send the called number to MSC(Mobile Switching Center) MSC checks the VLR and queries BSS for allocation of resources for the cell Then MSC routes the call to GMSC

Switching nodes for base station controls is done by MSC

d.) TRAU and BSC TRAU (Transcoder and Rate Adaptation Unit) is an entity to perform a transcoding function for speech channels and RA(Rate Adaptation) for various data channels. BSC and TRAU does not demand specific environmental conditions to perform operations. With this the operator has an option for placing any one or both units at a central location. BSC supports various BSC-BTS configurations like star, multidrop and loop, and star configurations towards TRAU TRAU is a stand alone unit which could be located close to a MSC(Mobile Switching Center), which enables the optimum utilization of 16 kbit/s channel sub multiplexing and saves line costs.

e.) BSC and PCU The Packet Control Unit is an adaptor / handler unit which enables GPRS and EDGE functionality within Radio Access Network. The BSC from the GSM network is connected with packet core by PCU Motorola PCU is based on certain industry standards like Compact PCI and is highly scaleable.

Explain: a.) Cell Splitting b.) WPS c.) MA d.) MAIO a.) Cell Splitting b.) WPS The wireless equivalent of the Government Emergency Telecommunications Services is referred to WPS. WPS provides access based on the priority to wireless telephone service during emergencies Certain governing bodies such as authorized federal, officials of state and local, and certain key private sector officials can be put first in line for an open cellular channel by dialing 272 just before entering the number being called It is T-Mobile, which began offering an initial operating capability in New York and Washington and had it deployed later. The process of dividing the radio coverage of a cell site within a wireless telephone system into new cell sites is known as Cell Splitting Additional capacity within the region can be achieved by using Cell Splitting

c.) MA The Absolute Radio Frequency Carrier Number is used in hopping sequence pattern are determined by certain contents of the test sets Mobile Allocation Table. The hopping sequence beginning point is known as Mobile Allocation Index Offset. The first entry of Mobile Allocation is corresponds to zero.

An MA table is a list of ARFCNs. They present in Cell Allocation Table which shares the same frequency band A separate MA table is allocated for each frequency band.

d.) MAIO Mobile Allocation Index Offset is applied to same timeslot of different TRX. Every time slot will have a separate / different MAIO, as they are using the same HSN In case all time slot have the same HSN, a their sequence need to be started at different frequencies The MAIO will set the index of the sequence for each timeslot. The HSNs do not run the same pseudo random sequence at the same moment.

Explain: a.) Synthesised Frequency Hopping, b.) Base Band Frequency Hopping, c.) Cycling Frequency Hopping a.) Synthesised Frequency Hopping The GSMs number of frequencies is 124 When the operators do not have enough frequencies, the range to be used is CDS 1800 Frequency hopping is used when the frequencies used are more with high interference. Frequency hopping is utilized to equalize interference for the frequencies that are used in their range. One of the frequency hoppings is Synthesised Frequency Hopping Synthesized hopping allows the transmitter to change its frequency based on time slots. Because of this process SFH is known as fast hopping.

b.) Base Band Frequency Hopping Base Band Frequency Hopping is one of the frequency hopping techniques. Time division multiplexing mapping is used in BBFH BBFH is supported by a base station having a broadband transceiver Physical channels are permitted by BBFH based upon mobile subscribers communication with the base station. In this, static transceiver frequencies are used while operating with broadband transceiver. This method is an exclusive of switching communication signals between transceivers.

c.) Cycling Frequency Hopping In Cycling Frequency Hopping, the frequencies are changed, in every TDMA frame. For ex: f1,f2,f3 . Where f1,f2,f3 are frequency hopping sequence numbers The specified setting parameter is HSN. Hopping Sequence Number is set to 0 in a cyclic sequence hopping The sequence of frequencies starts from the lowest absolute frequency number in a set of frequencies specified for a specific channel group, to highest absolute frequency number.

Explain: a.) HSN b.) DTX c.) DRX TRX

a.) HSN Hopping sequence number is utilized, to spread the interference between all cells that uses the same hopping TCHs The correlation between closely located cells can be avoided by using HSN HSN of zero corresponds to the cyclic hopping sequence, and 1 through 63 corresponds to various pseudo random patterns.

b.) DTX Discontinuous Transmission is one of the methods which is based on the advantage of the fact that a person speak less Nearly 40% of time in general conversation, the transmitter is turned off during silence periods Mobile phone power conservation is an added benefit of DTX Voice Activity Detection is the most important component of DTX DT X distinguishes between voice and noise inputs. The transmitter is turned off when a voice signal is misinterpreted as noise. This causes annoying effect known as clipping is heard at the receivers end Comfort noise is created at the receiving end, in order to ensure the non-connection.

c.) DRX TRX DRX: DRX is referred as driver receiver. DRX performs the transmission and reception of signals Sends and receives the signals to or from higher network entities, as in base station controller in mobile telephony

TRX: The transceivers allows to serve several frequencies and different sectors of the cell Sends and receives signals from / to higher network entities.

What do you mean by following? a.) Erlangs b.) GoS a.) Erlangs Total traffic volume per hour / 3600 seconds is described by erlang For example, 60 calls in one hour and each lasting 5 minutes results the following: Minutes of traffic in an hour = Number of calls x Duration Minutes of traffic in an hour = 60 x 5 = 300 minutes Hours of traffic in the hour = 300 / 60 = 5 hrs The traffic figure = 5 erlangs

b.) GoS Grade of Service is a probability of a cell in a circuit group which is blocked / delayed for more than a specified interval GoS is expressed as a vulgar fraction / decimal fraction It is with reference to the busy hour at the time of greatest intensity of the traffic GoS may be viewed independently from the perspective of incoming vs outgoing calls The GoS is not essentially equal between source to destination pairs.

What do following mean? Why do we need them? a.) Location Area b.) Location Update a.) Location Area Location Area is a group of cells. The subscriber is paged in this area One or more base station controllers are used to serve each Location Area but by a single MSC. Each Location Area has a unique Location Area Identity number

b.) Location Update IMSI attach or IMSI detach location update process is to be performed whenever a mobile is switched on or off Each mobile is needed to report regularly its location at a given time of interval by using a periodic location update process A random location update is required, whenever a mobile moves from one location to another while not on a call Hence, the subscriber has reliability to access the network and freedom of mobility within the coverage area. .

Explain: a.) IMSI b.) TMSI c.) IMEI d.) MS-IDN. a.) IMSI b.) TMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity a unique identification that is associated with all GSM and UMTS network mobile phones The SIM inside the phone contains it as a 64 bit field. Used for acquiring certain details in Home Location Register or Visitor Location Register IMSI is rarely sent for preventing eavesdroppers to identify and track the subscriber on the radio interface. It is presented as 15 digit long number, where first 3 digits represent the Mobile Country Code and followed by the Mobile Network Code. Remaining digits are mobile station identification number within the customer base network

Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity for most commonly sent between the mobile and the network TMSI is assigned randomly by VLR to each mobile in the area The TMSI number is local for a specific local area, and need to be updated every time when the mobile moves to a new geographical area Paging a mobile is the key use of the TMSI The communication between the mobile and the base station is known as paging The emphasis of broadcast information is top set up channels for paging Broadcast mechanism is available in every cellular system for distributing broadcast information to a plurality of mobiles

c.) IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity is a number usually unique for identifying GSM,WCDMA and iDEN mobile phones It is generally printed inside the battery compartment of the phone. The number can be displayed on the screen by entering *#06# into the keypad on most of the phones A stolen phone can be stopped from accessing the network within the country, by using IMEI number for valid devices Unlike CDMA/MEIDs electronic serial number, the IMEI is only used for identifying the device and has no permanent relation to the subscriber The subscriber is identified by IMSI number, stored on the SIM card, which then can be transferred to any other handset

d.) MS-IDN Mobile Subscriber Integrated services Digital Network Number, a unique number identifying a subscription in a GSM / UMTS mobile network It is the telephone number of the SIM card in a mobile phone MSIDN and IMSI are important numbers used to identify a mobile subscriber MSIDN is used for routing the calls to the subscriber, where as IMSI identifies the SIM In the HLR, the IMSI is the key, and MSIDN is the number that is dialed for connecting a call to the mobile phone.

What do you mean by ARFCN? Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number, a code to specify a pair of physical radio carriers and channels within the spectrum that is allocated for cellular mobile communications ARFCN is used for transmitting and receiving on the UM Interface, one to uplink signal and one to downlink signal ARFCNs bandwidth is 270.833 kHz; channel spacing is 200 kHz in a given GSM band The uplink-downlink spacing is generally 45 / 50 MHz If Frequency Division Duplex is operated in the system, then the channel number is associated with both uplink and downlink radio channels ARFCN is 1-124 within GSM900 spectrum, 512-885 within GSM1800, 512-810 within GSM1900, are used.

What is power control? Power control is the intelligent selection of transmit power in a communication system for achieving best performance within the system The performance is depend on context and there are chances to include optimizing metrics like link data rate, network capacity, geographic coverage and range A higher transmit power translates into a higher signal power at the receiver The bit error rate will be reduces at the receiver of a digital communication link, by having higher signalto-noise ratio Higher transmit power provides more protection against a signal fade in a wireless fading channel.

Explain: a.)FDD b.)TDD a.)FDD Frequency Division Duplex is one of the techniques, in which one frequency band is utilized for transmitting and another used for receiving. To uplink the carrying data from mobile phones to the base station, one electromagnetic block spectrum is allocated Various blocks of spectrum is allocated to downlink carrying data from the base station to the mobile telephone hand sets

b.)TDD Time Division Duplexing, a 3GPP standardized version of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System networks. The designated mobile sends the data in a stipulated time and receives data from the BTS in another time The time is divided into various time slots and user sends data in few time slots and receives the data in the rest of the time slots Alternative downlink and uplink directions are used .

What do you mean by Extended Cell? Does it have any impact on the system? If yes, what? Extended cell feature enables the operators for extending the coverage without installing new cell cites Extended cell feature is designed specifically for providing covering in rural areas, where density of population is low and installation of additional cell sites New features can be deployed in coastal areas for providing GSM coverage in offshore waters Its impact is : The cell radius could be double or even more, based on the antenna, type of terrain and timing advance Indoor coverage is supported by GSM and could be achieved with the usage of picocell base station or an indoor repeater along with distributed indoor antennas.

What is 3G?

Definition: 3G, known as 3rd Generation, is a standard for mobile / cellular phones. It provides the services that fulfill the International Telecommunication Union specifications. The application services of 3G include wireless voice telephone, mobile internet access, video calls and mobile television all in a mobile environment. 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services 3G provides peak data rates of at least 200 KBits according to the IMT-2000 specification. Mobile broadband access of several MBits to laptop computer systems, smart phones is provided by latest 3.5G, 3.75G versions. 3G standards: UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System One of the 3G mobile telecommunications technologies, also being developed into a 4G technology. Most common form of UMTS uses W-CDMA as an underlying air interface. UMTS also covers Radio Access Network UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and Mobile Application Part (MAP). Users are authenticated via USIM cards (Universal Subscriber Identity Module).

CDMA2000 Also known as IMT Multi-Carrier (IMT-MC), uses CDMA channel access for sending voice, data and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The standards are CDMA2000 IX, CDMA2000 EV-DOR Rev.0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev.A and CDMA2000 EVRev.B. They are approved radio interfaces for the ITUs IMT-2000.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of 3G? Advantages of 3G: Overcrowding is relieved in existing systems with radio spectrum Bandwidth, security and reliability are more Provides interoperability among service providers Availability of fixed and variable rates Support to devices with backward compatibility with existing networks Always online devices 3G uses IP connectivity which is packet based Rich multi media services are available

Disadvantages of 3G: The cost of cellular infrastructure , upgrading base stations is very high Needs different handsets.

Roaming and data/voice work together has not yet been implemented Power consumption is high Requires closer base stations and are expensive Spectrum-license costs, network deployment costs and handset subsidies subscribers are tremendous.

How is 3G different from 2G? Packet data speed is higher in 3G, and it is up to 384 KBPS Voice and sms speed is also 384 KBPS in 3G 2G utilizes different switching techniques for voice and data, where as 3G uses single switching, irrespective of data 3G has at least 2MB of data link of a mobile, where in 2G the data rate is in KBPS 3G has WiMAX facility for faster VOIP and internet 2G uses GSM TDMA technology with narrowband 200Khz. 3G uses CDMA technology with broadband 5Mhz, with same frequency carrier and time.

Explain: a.) GPRS ( General Packet Radio Service): b.) GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications): c.) HLR (Home Location Register): e.) iDEN(Integrated Digital Enhanced Network): f.) i-appli GPRS ( General Packet Radio Service) Packet oriented mobile data service available to the users of 2G cellular systems. It is global system for communicating through mobile phones using GSM as well as in 3G systems. GPRS data transfer is charged per MB of traffic transferred, where as in circuit switching, data transfer is charged per minute of connection time GPRS is better packet switching service, as opposed to circuit switching. 2G cellular systems are combined with GPRS and known as 2.5G. Provides moderate speed data transfer by using unused TDMA channels, such as GSM.

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) Most popular standard for mobile telephony systems, originated from Groupe Special Mobile The ubiquity of GSM enables the international roaming arrangements among mobile phone operators. Both signaling and speech channels are digital, and thus GSM is considered as 2G mobile phone system. GSM standard benefited customers the ability to roam and switch carriers without replacing the hand sets and network operators. GSM implements low-cost implementation of Short Message Service

HLR (Home Location Register) For GSM and CDMA wireless networks Its responsibility is to authenticate and authorize subscribers and their services

iDEN(Integrated Digital Enhanced Network)

A wireless technology for Motorola It has the capabilities of digi-cellular phone, 2 way radio, alphanumeric pager and data modem / fax modem in a single network Operational bands are 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1.5 GHz iDEN is based on TDMA(Time Division Multiple Access) and GSM architecture For voice compression it uses Motorolas Vector Sum Excited Linear Predictors vocoder For delivering 64KBPS over a 25 KHz channel, it uses QAM modulation. iDEN is designed to serve the mobile user for accessing information quickly without carrying several devices.

i-appli i-appli is a Java environment based on CLDC. Handsets of NTT DoCoMos are utilizing i-appli It is similar to MIDP, however both APIs are incompatible.

xplain UMTS. UMTS stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems One of the emerging mobile technologies for 3G mobile phones. The main benefit of UMTS is, undoubtedly, its speed Current rates of broadband data transfer is 2MBits / second The speed of UMTS makes it possible to stream video that supports movie downloads and video conferencing. In a nut shell, UMTS provides almost all the facilities of a home computer system while on the move. UMTS combines the technologies like wireless, satellite which provides seamless transitions between WiFi and satellite.

What is 4G? A short name for Fourth Generation A stage of broadband mobile communications that supersede 3G 4G is expected to use radio spectrum in an efficient manner, and as a result, provides cable-modem transmission speeds to the end users. This feature enables high-quality streaming video Simultaneous connections to multiple high-speed networks, known as pervasive computing, are expected by 4G. Thus seamless handoffs are provided throughout a geographical area. Coverage enhancement technologies, like femtocell and picocell are expected to develop for addressing various needs of mobile users in homes, public buildings etc..

What is International Telecommunications Union and what are its functions? ITU is an intergovernmental organization

Telecommunications are developed by using ITU by public and private organizations. ITU is responsible for adopting regulations, international treaties and standards that governs telecommunications

Functions of International Telecommunications Union: Maintaining and extending the international cooperation for the improvement Rational usage of telecommunications, for promoting efficient use of technical facilities To harmonize the actions of nations.

What is CDMA2000? CDMA2000 is a Multi-carrier code-division multiple access version of IMT-2000 standard CDMA2000 is a 3G wireless technology. Worlds first 3G commercial system was launched by SK Telecom of South Korea using CDMA2000 1X CDMA 2000 supports mobile data communications at speeds from 144KBPS to 3MBPS The versions of CDMA2000 have been developed by Qualcomm and Ericsson There were 250,300,000 subscribes world for CDMA by March 2006.

What is CDMA? Explain the technology. CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access CDMA is a wireless technology used in transmission of signal from places with high Security and noise reduction. The principle of Spread Spectrum is used to work with CDMA. Spread signal is below the noise level noise and has no effect on the signal. CDMA does not frequency specific to each user. Instead, every channel uses the full available spectrum. Individual conversations are encoded with a pseudo-random digital sequence. CDMA always provides better capacity for voice and data communications CDMA is a common platform for 3G technologies Analog radio transmission technologies like Advanced Mobile Phone System were used in CDMA at the time of its inception A unique code is received by all mobile network users and is allowed continuous network access instead of intermittent and timed access.

Explain a.) CDMA One b.) CDMA2000 CDMA One CDMA one refers original ITU IS-95 CDMA wireless interface protocol. It is considered as a 2G mobile wireless technology The version IS-95A protocol employs a 1.25 Mhz carrier and data speeds up to 14.4 Kbps The version IS-95B support data speeds up to 115 kbps by employing 800 MHz / 1.9 GHz.

CDMA2000

Also known as IMT Multi-Carrier, a family of 3G mobile technology standards. Used for sending voice, data and signaling between cell sites and mobile pones The standards such as CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, are approved radio interfaces for ITU IMT-2000 CDMA 2000 is backward compatible with its previous 2G iteration IS-95.

Explain EDGE. EDGE is an acronym for Enhanced Data GSM Environment An improved wireless technology over GSM A 2nd generation cell phone technology EDGE is used for wireless data transfer via mobile phone connection Data transfer rates up to 4 times more than GSM networks With the advent of Blackberry and iPhone, faster data transfer is sought Using more sophisticated coding, usually without high end hardware, wireless carriers base stations are supported for data transfer speeds up to 384 KBPS EDGE is an alternative to replacing wireless technology, such as GPRS EDGE will eventually be replaced by 3G technology such as WCDMA.

Explain DECT. DECT is one of the wireless technologies, originated in Europe DECT was designed to interwork with various networks such as PSTN, ISDN, GSM etc. The initial standard. of DECT focused on developing air interface which is a radio link between cordless telephone and the base stations This standard plugged into the telephone socket and the standard protocols for handover between several base stations All these are connected to the same office switchboard, typically a PABX The first product of its kind was from Olivetti, was a wireless LAN type product, known as NET3..

Explain High Speed Packet Access. HSPA is a combination of 2 mobile telephony protocols High Speed Downlink Packet Access and High Speed Uplink Packet Access HSPA improves the performance of existing WCDMA protocols. HSPA provide increased performance by utilizing schemes of modulation and refining the protocols, through which the base stations and handsets communicate HSPA is used for better usage of the available bandwidth provided by WCDMA HSPA supports data rates of up to 14 MBit / s in the downlink HSPA supports data rates of up to 5.8 MBit / s in the uplink HSPA reduces the latency and increases up to 5 times more system capacity during downlink and twice more system capacity during uplink HSPA uses 16QAM for yielding higher bit rates

HSPA rollouts are achieved by implementing software upgrades to existing 3G networks. This gives HSPA a head start over WiMax.

Explain EV-DO/ EVDO. EVDO stands for Evolution Data Optimized EVDO is a 3G broadband technology used by Verizon, Spring, Alltel It provides typical download speeds of 600 to 1400 KBPS A personal broadband service for wide range of customers It is always On EVDO utilizes CDMA signals Users can be connected remotely for using email, downloading large files, spreadsheets etc. EVDO is relatively low cost with high capacity Allows rich web browsing and application usage Seamless roaming, internal internet connectivity without relying on others connection, accessibility to the corporate Virtual Private Network by customers are some of the advantages over WiFi .

What is the difference between CDMA and GSM? The important differences are: Data Transfer Speed: CDMA is faster than GSM. CDMA2000 downstream rate is 2 megabits / second, through EVDO, where GSM downstream rate is up to 384 kilobits / second, through EDGE technology

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards: SIM is tied to the network, rather than the actual phone. Phones with card-enabled can be used with any carrier of GSM Proprietary handsets are linked to one carrier only and not card-enabled in CDMA

Roaming: GSM carriers have wider coverage of more rural areas, where as CDMA may not cover rural areas compared to GSM carriers

International Roaming: GSM has facility to offer more international roaming, as the number of connections in world market dominate GSM network. CDMA phones do not have the capacity; however, there are more countries that use CDMA networks.

What is the importance of CDMA in todays cellular world? The transition to digital radio through the process of defining standards is implementing about 90% in the cellular industry. Smooth transition to digital standards is involved in CDMA technology. Most often, it can be viewed as improved and replacement technology of TDMA Moving towards 4G technology is compatible with CDMA technology .

What is WiMax? What data rate does WiMax provides? It is a protocol designed to provide an extension to wireless communication. In June 2001 IEEE formed a group called WiMax forum to define the WiMax standards. Its an IEEE standard 802.16 based technology, which enables a last mile delivery of broadband access. It provides wireless communication at a distance of around 50kms. WiMax would not replace Wi-Fi, but rather will fill in between hotspots and extend your Internet access on the go. What data rate does WiMax provides? Theoretically it is expected to provide data rate of around 74mbps, but in practice its much less at around 45mbps per channel. However as the channel is shared among multiple users, performance may be even low. IEEE standard 802.16 is expected to offer up to 1gbps of speed (ref: Wikipedia.org). What are the uses of WiMax? What are the advantages of WiMax? With a data rate of about 40mbps and coverage of 50 km WiMax can be used as an easy alternative for cable and DSL broadband connections. It can also provide services like IP telephony (VOIP) and IPTV (TV over internet protocol), and video conference. What are the advantages of WiMax? - Relatively higher data rates compared to 3G or such mobile standards - Wireless communication across city - Data rates comparable to cable or DSL connection - Lower cost of deployment - Much faster installation What is a WiMax gateway? How does WiMax works? It is a stand alone indoor device which is installed at a good reception area. It acts as a wi-fi access point for other devices such as home pc, VOIP handset etc. WiMax operators generally provide this gateway device or subscriber unit which communicates with base station and provides wi-fi access within home or office for device like laptop, Smartphone. How does WiMax works? WiMax combines the advantages of favorite Wi-Fi and a wide coverage of cellular network. It takes a best part of wi-fi networks the fast speed and broadband internet experience. WiMax is a WAN technology; service providers will deploy a wimax network that enables access over long distance. Coverage for a geographical area is divided into a series of overlapping areas called cells. Each cell provides coverage for users within that immediate vicinity. When you travel from one cell to another, the wireless connection is handed off from one cell to another.

Compare WiMax with wi-fi. -WiMax (IEEE standard 802.16) is primarily used to provide internet access to devices at long distance, covering many kilometers. Wi-fi (IEEE standard 802.16) is used to provide access to local networks, with limited distance. -WiMax uses licensed or un-licensed spectrum, whereas wi-fi uses unlicensed spectrum. -Wi-fi runs on media access controls CSMA/CA (carrier sense media access/collision avoidance) protocol which is connectionless, while WiMax uses connection oriented MAC protocol. Do we need special equipment to connect to WiMax networks? Yes. A separate device that connects to a WiMax network is required. These devices acts as a communication interface between your home devices (notebook, smart phones, and VOIP handsets) and WiMax antenna or tower. This is what we call a gateway device. At one end this device will communicate with a base station or tower with WiMax network and at other end it provides a wireless access point based service (generally an internet access) to internal devices. Intel had introduced some chips with inbuilt WiMax antennas; in smart phones HTC had released their WiMax enabled devices. With such devices you wont need additional device to connect to WiMax network. Do I need to set up the WiMax access point like I did for Wi-Fi? No. All you need is your WiMax enabled device and either a subscription or pay-as-you-go plan, or you can connect to a network maintained by a service provider offering WiMax service in your area. If your device is WiMax enabled then connecting to WiMax network is as simple as using internet on your mobile device. Even if you dont have WiMax enabled device, all you need is plug and play device (generally provided by service provider) that will do all required setup. What is base station? The central radio transmitter/receiver installed by service provider to broadcasts WiMax signals. These transmitters are typically mounted on towers or tall buildings. Cellular networks are based on the concept of cells (a logical division of geographical area), each such cell is allocated a frequency and is served by a base station. Base station consists of a receiver, transmitter and a control unit. Adjacent base stations use different frequencies to avoid crosstalk. Is WiMax secure? Yes, WiMax is a standard based design, and WiMax standards are well defined to provide much better and flexible security than wi-fi networks. -WiMax security stack supports two encryption standards one is popular DES3 (Data Encryption Standard) and other is AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).

-Additionally it requires dedicated security processor for base station. -It also defines minimum encryption requirements for the traffic and for end to end authentication. What frequencies are used by WiMax networks? Standards does not define any uniform global licensed spectrum for WiMax, however the WiMax forum has published 3 licensed spectrum profiles 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz, in an effort to drive standardization and decrease cost. Also plans for use of analog TV spectrum (700 MHz) await the complete deployment of digital TV. What are the limitations of WiMax? WiMax can not provide highest performance over 50 kilometers. As the distance increases, bit error rate thus reducing performance. Reducing distance to less than 1km allows a device to operate at higher bit rate. A user closer to base station gets better speed at around 30mbps. Also as an available bandwidth is shared between no of users, performance depends on number of active users connecting to that base station. So this needs a use of Quality of Service (QOS) mechanism to provide a minimum guaranteed throughput. Why we need WiMax technology? The simple answer is, for high speed broadband like internet access on the move. We have broadband connections that provide high speed networks, but are attached to LAN systems i.e. not portable. Wi-fi provides access to such systems but limited to a much shorter distance. Then we have cellular networks which provide internet access but their speed is limited and they are relatively costly. To overcome these problems we need WiMax or comparable technology. What is Piggybacking in context to Wi-Fi? Piggybacking is a term which states that something that is riding on the back of something else to complete his/her motive, just like similar to an idiom putting gun to anothers shoulder and performing the Hunting, so piggybacking is a term used to refer to access of a wireless internet connection by bringing ones own computer within the range of anothers wireless connection, and using that service without the subscribers explicit permission or knowledge. It is a legally and ethically controversial practice, with laws that vary in jurisdictions around the world. Piggybacking is an unauthorized tapping into anothers connection with a public utility. For e.g.- So piggybacking can be takes place like when I am accessing the wireless connection of my neighbor Wi-Fi without his/her knowledge by hacking his static ip address, then it would be possible for me to access the Wi-Fi connection of others. What are the recommended channels if you are setting up three WLANs and want minimum interference over there? There is a need of selecting the channels for setting up WLANs, to communicate; all the components of a Wi-Fi network must use the same channel. In the Wi-Fi network in infrastructure mode (using an access point), it depends on the channel set at the access point. For better results when using Wi-Fi, it is necessary to adjust the channel on the access point as well as configured on the client, to take the least use channel in your neighborhood.

To do this you can use software such as NetStumbler, which will list the neighborhood Wi-Fi networks and channels used. Note:- The channels most frequently used to select one as free as possible. So the recommended channels are as follows:Channel 1: 2.412 MHz Channel 2: 2.417 MHz Channel 3: 2.422 MHz Channel 4: 2.427 MHz Channel 5: 2.432 MHz Channel 6: 2.437 MHz You can choose from these channels while setting up the WLANs. How to crack Wi-Fi network, if you are using WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) Password with backtrack? The first line of defense of your Wi-Fi network is encryption, which encodes the data transmitted between your PC and your wireless router. WEP abbreviates for (Wireless Encryption Protocol) it is a less-secure protocol than WPA (Wireless Protected Access). Since WEP is relatively easy to crack, so you have to use the same form on all devices on your network. If you have an older router that supports WEP only youll be best safest if you use 128-bit bit WEP keys but also check the manufacturers Web site for a firmware update that will add WPA support. Two of the most popular programs used for actually cracking the WEP key are Airsnort and Aircrack. Airsnort can be used with the .dump files that Kismet provides; and Aircrack can be use with .cap files that Airodump provides. Differentiate between Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure topology and also explain with their advantages and disadvantages? Wireless networks typically work in one of two configurations: Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure. Ad-Hoc is Latin meaning for this purpose so these are the networks which are basically created for some purpose. So these are the group of workstations which communicate directly witch each other to exchange information. An Ad-Hoc network is also called as a peer to peer network. Here are some benefits of an Ad-Hoc network are:a) The possibilities with Ad-Hoc network are quite endless. b) Ad-Hoc networks are simple to set up. c) Ad-Hoc networks are inexpensive. d) Ad-Hoc networks are fast.

Disadvantages of an Ad-Hoc network are as follows:a) It is not able to get into the mainstream wired local area network. b) It needs more technology to support their reliability. c) As the network increases its speed slows down considerably. In Infrastructure mode, network includes an access point when the wireless clients connect to an access point, which in turn bridges to a network. Infrastructure network can pass information through a central information hub which can be both, hardware or software device on a computer. So under this devices in a wireless network are set up to communicate through an access point. An infrastructure network enables you to:a) In this you do not have to control over the path your data takes. b) Connect to a wired network. c) Extend your wireless networks range. d) Utilize roaming ability. Disadvantages for Infrastructure network are:1. Use of more wireless access points. 2. This increase the cost of implementing a wireless network solution. How do you secure a wireless network? Key points for securing a wireless network are as follows:a) Verify that your PCs software firewall is turned on, and that Windows file-sharing feature is off; its off by default in Windows XP with Service Pack 2. b) Never send bank passwords, credit card numbers, confidential e-mail, or other sensitive data unless youre sure youre on secure site: Look for the lock icon in the bottom-right corner of your browser, as well as a URL in the address bar that begins with https. Such sites build in their own encryption. c) Always turn your Wi-Fi radio off when you're not at a hotspot: Hackers can use it to create peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connections with your computer and access it directly. d) For better security, consider signing up for a paid subscription to a hotspot network such as Boingo or T-Mobile. Both companies provide connection software that encrypts your sessions automatically. By attaining these key points you can secure wireless network up to an extent. What are your preferred tools for WarDriving? Preferred tools for WarDriving are as follows:a) Kismet- Kismet is a 802.11b wireless network sniffer. It is capable of sniffing using almost any wireless card supported in Linux.

b) Airsnort- is one of the first tools to come out discovering insecurity of wireless network. AirSnort is a wireless LAN (WLAN) tool which cracks encryption keys on 802.11b WEP networks. AirSnort operates by passively monitoring transmissions, computing the encryption key when enough packets have been gathered. c) WEPCrack is Perl based tool. WEPCrack is a tool that cracks 802.11 WEP encryption keys using the latest discovered weakness of RC4 key scheduling. d) WaveStumbler is console based 802.11 network mapper for Linux. It reports the basic AP stuff like channel, WEP, ESSID, MAC etc. e) Aircrack yet another WEP cracking tool for Linux courtesy by divine. How can you configure Wi-Fi network and what are Wi-Fi Protocols? Basically there are many standards of Wi-Fi in the industry but some popular of them are 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g/n. With the support of these Wi-Fi protocols we can communicate/interact among the devices at the speed of 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz dual band communication. If we have Wi-Fi nic card so firstly we have to install their drivers and after installation if we have Wi-Fi access point then we can see the signal strength in the right corner below just open that and find the access point to connect, if access point is configured with the security, type the key to connect and enjoy the service. Wi-Fi is technically referred to as the 802.11 protocol. Over time, Wi-Fi has improved, giving rise to different variations of the protocol. 802.11a This version operates at 54Mbps. It is considered as the favorite wireless LAN protocol for IP telephony. How is UWB (ultra-wideband) different from Bluetooth, FireWire and Wi-Fi? UWB is Radio Frequency technology that transmits binary data, using low energy and short duration impulses over a wide spectrum of frequencies. It delivers data over 15 to 100 meters and does not require a dedicated radio frequency. For example, a UWB signal centered at 5GHz typically extends across 4GHz and 6GHz. At longer distances, UWB data rates drop considerably. Bluetooth:- The key difference among UWB and Bluetooth are of range, power, consumption and intended use. It is basically meant for short distances up to (10m). It is low power consuming than UWB. Since FireWire is meant to deliver high speed, it is also designed to work with high power drain services. It therefore can provide much more power to the devices that connect to it. It can deliver up to 60 watts of energy. So the only difference here is of power it uses more power than UWB. Wi-Fi really wasnt built to move audio and video, it was built for data traffic where if theres delay, while UWB is better suited for multimedia for a couple of reasons, i.e. for starters, its throughput for surpasses that of Wi-Fi. Who are the providers and what are the assets available for wireless? Some of the providers for wireless are as follows:a) Wireless Internet- Nationwide Coverage Unlimited b) Faster Internet on Mobile

c) New 3G BlackBerry d) Aircel Pocket Internet e) Reliance 3G Online Offer f) Cisco Managed Switches Brand assets are available here for wireless, brand assets can also be applied to m-branding. In particular, three of the assets can be targeted directly for improvement with the m-branding methods that are available today. These are brand awareness, brand associations and brand loyalty. Wireless networking, or Wi-Fi, can be used to connect computers in a home, and many cities are using technologies to offer free or low cost internet access to residents, what is another name for Wi-Fi? IEEE 802.11 is the official name for WIFI wireless specification. It is composed of more than 20 different standards (802.11a, 802.11b, etc), each of which have their own defining characteristics. Since not all standards operate on the same frequency, not all 802.11 devices are compliant with one another, so be sure to consider the compatibility when making your purchasing decision. So this is an alternative name for Wi-Fi which suits all the properties of the Wi-Fi and functioning as well. Wireless networking hardware requires the use of underlying technology that deals with radio frequencies as well as data transmission. The most widely used standard is 802.11 produced by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This is a standard defining all aspects of Radio Frequency Wireless networking. Can I mix wireless equipments from different vendors, elaborate on it? You can mix wireless equipments from different vendors, but the recommendation is that you should prefer only prescribed vendors, because most wireless networking hardware vendors support the 802.11 standard they can inter operate. However, we recommend verification as the standard is a fairly recent one, and does specify two different methods for wireless communications; Frequency Hopping (FH) and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS or DS), which are not interoperable. When purchasing wireless networking hardware from separate vendors be sure to obtain guarantees from the vendors that the hardware will interoperate and follows the standards. Within a short time we expect all new wireless cards, like ethernet cards, to become inexpensive, ubiquitous and totally interoperable. Also of note is that the latest version of the standard defines 11mbps and 5.5mbps networking, with support for the older standard 1mbps and 2mbps speeds. This provides some compatibility with different or older equipment. Note that this new standard covers DS-type Networks, not FH types. Software access points such as InterGate which uses the wireless interface of the host computer should have no compatibility issues with third party wireless hardware, as long as standards are followed. Typically wireless hardware is identified to the software as a network interface, and therefore can be used in the same way as any other network card. So you can choose them from different vendors but keeping these things in mind and then go ahead. If my computer is connected to wireless LAN, can it communicate with computer on wired LAN as well?

To do this you will need some sort of bridge between the wireless and wired network. This can be accomplished either with a hardware access point or a software access point. Hardware access points are available with various types of network interfaces, such as Ethernet or Token Ring, but typically require extra hardware to be purchased if your networking requirements change. If networking requirements go beyond just interconnecting a wired network network to a small wireless network, a software access point may be the best solution. A software access point does not limit the type or number of network interfaces you use. It may also allow considerable flexibility in providing access to different network types, such as different types of Ethernet, Wireless and Token Ring networks. Such connections are only limited by the number of slots or interfaces in the computer used for this task. Further to this the software access point may include significant additional features such as shared Internet access, web caching or content filtering, providing significant benefits to users and administrators. Is it true that Wireless networking is only good for laptop computer? Although wireless networking offers obvious benefits to users of laptops who move from location to location throughout the day, there are benefits for users of fixed position computers as well: So this is not such that wireless networking is only good for laptop computers but on preference basis it got more than fixed positions, as laptop computers are portable, flexible, ease to use and move. Many schools and businesses have unsuitable building layouts or walls that cannot be wired for various reasons making it difficult or impossible to build a wired network. Wireless networking in these environments is a very cost effective alternative also providing future flexibility. In cases where a small number of computers are separated from a main network a wireless link may be more cost effective than network cabling although the latter is perfectly feasible. Temporary wireless LANs can easily be created for exhibitions, school or business projects, all without any trailing cabling. What is Wi-Fi technology and over which frequency band it operates? Wi-Fi technology is a technology used for transmitting a signal using the 802.11 specifications works a lot like it does with a basic Ethernet hub: Theyre both two-way forms of communication, and they both use the same frequency to both transmit and receive, often referred to a half-duplex. WLANs used radio frequencies (RFs) that are radiated into the air from an antenna that creates radio waves. These waves can be absorbed, refracted, or reflected by walls, water, and metal surfaces, resulting in low signal strength. So because of this vulnerability to surrounding environmental factors, its pretty apparent that wire-less will never offer us the same robustness as a wired network can, but that still doesnt mean were not going to use or run the wireless or Wi-Fi. What are the different Wi-Fi generations and also explain any one? The IEEE 802.11 generation is actually only the earliest standard, allowing 1-2 Mbps of bandwidth. Amendments have be made to the original standard in order to optimize bandwidth (these include the 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards, which are also called 802.11 physical standards) or to better specify components in order to ensure improved security or compatibility. Name of Generation- 802.11a

Name- WiFi5 Description- The 802.11a standard (called Wi-Fi 5) allows higher bandwidth (54 Mbps maximum throughput, 30 Mbps in practice). The 802.11a standard provides 8 radio channels in the 5 GHz frequency band.