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A mobile station (MS) comprises all user equipment and
A mobile station (MS) comprises all user equipment and software
Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications.
The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
needed for communication
Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
with a mobile network
A cellular network or mobile network is a telecommunications network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless and the network is distributed over land areas called ''cells'', each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (suc ...
.
The term refers to the global system connected to the mobile network, i.e. a mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
or mobile computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
connected using a mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile network, mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartp ...
adapter. This is the terminology of 2G systems like GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...
. In 3G systems, a mobile station (MS) is now referred to as user equipment In the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), user equipment (UE) is any device used directly by an end-user to communicate. It can be a hand-held telephone, a laptop computer equipped with a mobile b ...
(UE).
In GSM, a mobile station consists of four main components:
*Mobile termination
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ...
(MT) - offers common functions such as: radio transmission
Transmission or transmit may refer to:
Science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual tra ...
and handover
In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transf ...
, speech encoding and decoding, error detection and correction
In information theory and coding theory with applications in computer science and telecommunications, error detection and correction (EDAC) or error control are techniques that enable reliable delivery of digital data over unreliable communi ...
, signalling
A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology.
In ...
and access to the SIM. The IMEI
The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is a numeric identifier, usually Unique identifier, unique, for 3GPP and iDEN mobile phones, as well as some satellite phones. It is usually found printed inside the battery compartment of the ph ...
code is attached to the MT. It is equivalent to the network termination
A Network Termination Device (NTD), network termination (NT), or NTE (for network termination equipment) is a customer-side network interface device used by the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN). Network termination devices provide m ...
of an ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...
access.
*Terminal equipment
In telecommunications, the term terminal equipment has the following meanings:
* Communications equipment at either end of a communications link, used to permit the stations involved to accomplish the mission for which the link was established.
* ...
(TE) - is any device connected to the MS offering services to the user. It does not contain any functions specific to GSM.
* Terminal adapter (TA) - provides access to the MT as if it were an ISDN network termination with extended capabilities. Communication between the TE and MT over the TA takes place using AT commands.
*Subscriber identity module
A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)A SIM card or SIM (subscriber identity module) is an integrated circuit (IC) intended to securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are u ...
(SIM) - is a removable subscriber identification token storing the IMSI, a unique key shared with the mobile network operator and other data.
In a mobile phone, the MT, TA and TE are enclosed in the same case. However, the MT and TE functions are often performed by distinct processors. The application processor
Application may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks
** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...
serves as a TE, while the baseband processor
A baseband processor (also known as baseband radio processor, BP, or BBP) is a device (a chip or part of a chip) in a network interface controller that manages all the radio functions (all functions that require an antenna); however, this term ...
serves as a MT, communication between both takes place over a bus using AT commands, which serves as a TA.
See also
*GSM procedures
GSM procedures are sets of steps performed by the GSM network and devices on it in order for the network to function. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is a set of standards for cell phone networks established by the European Telecomm ...
* Radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
* Radiocommunication service
Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...
References
{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Mobile telecommunications user equipment Telecommunications equipment Telecommunications infrastructure 3GPP standards