Network Structure of the GPRS/UMTS

Network Structure of the GPRS/UMTS






MS: mobile station
RAN: radio access network
CN-CS: core network-circuit switching
CN-PS: core network-packet switching
BSS: GSM base station subsystem
UTRAN: UMTS terrestrial radio access network
BTS: base transceiver station
BSC: base station controller
NodeB: UMTS base station
RNC: radio network controller
SGSN: serving GPRS support node
GGSN/FA: gateway GPRS support node/foreign agent
CG: charging gateway
HA: home agent
BG: border gateway
DNS: domain name server
AAA: authentication, authorization and accounting
UAP: UMTS access point

 A GPRS/UMTS network consists of the following parts:

• Mobile station (MS): user equipment capable of originating and receiving calls over the air interface. To handle data services, the MS establishes a logical link with the packet switched (PS) domain.
• Radio access network (RAN): handles all radio related functions.
• Core network-circuit switching (CN-CS): provides circuit services and connects to external circuit switched networks, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
• CN-PS: provides packet data services and connects to external public data networks (PDNs), such as the Internet.