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Glossary

Will Greenberg edited this page Feb 9, 2024 · 25 revisions

ANR

Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) is a procedure for a cell to detect neighboring cells. A cell performs ANR by instructing UEs to detect and measure the cells around them and report back their results.

Further reading: https://www.sharetechnote.com/html/Handbook_LTE_ANR.html

GSM

The oldest cell network still widely used, AKA 2G. Only supports calling/texting, but in 2.5G data was introduced.

3G

Improved on GSM by having faster data rates and some improved security. AKA UMTS or CDMA2000.

BCCH

Broadcast Control Channel

DCCH

Dedicated Control Channel

SCH

Shared Channel

MBMS

Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

PCCH

Paging Control Channel

LTE

Long-Term Evolution standard. Offers significant improvements to 3G in security and performance. AKA 4G or WiMax.

5G

Next-generation standard, aka 5G New Radio.

LAC

In GSM, Location Area Codes are IDs given to individual Location Areas.

TAC

In 4G, Tracking Area Codes are IDs given to individual Tracking Areas.

EARFCN

E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number is a carrier frequency identifier ranging from 0-65535. Each EARFCN uniquely identifies an LTE band and carrier frequency.

Further reading:

PCI

Physical Cell ID is an identifier for LTE cells. The ID is designed to allow UEs differentiate between neighboring cells, minimize interference between them, and are assigned by network operators in a way to prevent collisions.

In LTE, the PCI is a 9 bit value from 0-503, and in 5G it's a 24 bit value from 0 to 1007.

Further reading:

Paging

Paging is the mechanism for a network to send data to a UE.

Further reading:

RACH

Random Access Channel is the first message from UE to eNB when you power it on.

Further reading:

RAN

The cellular radio access network (RAN) refers to the wireless portion of the network that connects the mobile phones to the core network through cells.

from [1]

eNodeB

Base stations are called eNodeB in LTE.

RRC

Radio Resource Control manages the connection between a phone and a base station (eNodeB) [1]

NAS

Non-Access Stratum manages the connection between a phone and the core network's MME. [1]

MME

Mobile Management Entity manages mobility management and user authentication in 4G LTE [1].

IMSI

International Mobile Subscriber Identity, connected w/ a user's SIM card

IMEI

International Mobile Equipment Identity, correlated w/ a mobile device

TMSI

Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, a more temporary type of IMSI generated by UEs

CGI

Cell Global Identity

MCC

Mobile Country Code

MNC

Mobile Network Code

SIB

System Information Blocks (SIB) are data sent by cells containing tons of different of information relevant to the UE. There's 13 types of SIBs in LTE, each with different purposes and payloads. They contain cell and administrative area identifiers, MCC and MNC, and radio channel info required for the phones to connect to the network [1].

Further reading:

SINR

Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio = (S / (N + I))

RSRP

Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP). See https://www.cablefree.net/wirelesstechnology/4glte/rsrp-rsrq-measurement-lte/

RSSI

Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). See https://www.cablefree.net/wirelesstechnology/4glte/rsrp-rsrq-measurement-lte/

RSRQ

Reference Signal Received Quality. See https://www.cablefree.net/wirelesstechnology/4glte/rsrp-rsrq-measurement-lte/

UE

User Equipment (UE) refers to a mobile device, such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other wireless device that's used to access the network (https://inseego.com/resources/5g-glossary/what-is-ue/). Uniquely identified with an IMSI and IMEI.

Sources

[1] https://api-depositonce.tu-berlin.de/server/api/core/bitstreams/99520397-8b47-4ea4-acd6-2b17c9a78bd4/content

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