How Much Do You Know About GSM Technology?

Global System for Mobile (GSM): Overview, Significance, Components, and History

• GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communications, a 2G mobile phone system introduced in 1991 using TDMA communication technique.
• TDMA divides a single channel into different time slots, allowing multiple users to share a single channel without interference.
• Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) is an important feature of GSM that carries user identity and other information, allowing easy phone upgrades while retaining the same identity on the network.
• SIM also stores contacts and other items, enabling people to change phones easily, fueling the phone manufacturing industry and increasing mobile operator's ARPU.
• GSM network infrastructure consists of four parts: Mobile Station, Base Station Subsystem (BSS), Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS), and Operations Support System (OSS).
• Mobile Station is the device used by a subscriber to connect to the GSM network, including a cell phone, SIM card, and software.
• BSS communicates with mobile stations over the air interface, manages radio resources, and coordinates communication between Base Transmission Stations and NSS.
• NSS is the core of the GSM network, handling tasks such as call routing, mobility management, and network security, consisting of HLR, AuC, MSC, and VLR.
• OSS is a set of tools, processes, and applications used to manage the GSM network, including configuration, fault, performance, and security management.
• GSM was created in the 1980s by the Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) to develop a common cellular standard for Europe, focusing on supporting voice and data communications while being more secure and efficient than existing analog systems.
• The first GSM network was launched in 1991 by Radiolinja in Finland, followed by other European countries, making GSM the dominant cellular standard in Europe by the mid-1990s.
• In the late 1990s and early 2000s, GSM spread to other parts of the world, including Asia and Africa, with advanced features like SMS messaging and GPRS data transfer.