The air interface:

This course is designed for those who are, or intend to be, involved in the planning, installation, provisioning or maintenance of mobile systems. It is suggested this course is studied as preparation for the GSM and UMTS courses in the PTT Mobile suite.

Prerequisites:

Before studying this course you should have a clear understanding of the structure of mobile networks, including the components of the core network. You should also be familiar with the terms authentication and authorisation. The PTT course MBA: Introduction to mobile systems covers these topics.

Course Aim:

Describe the communications between a mobile user's equipment and the fixed infrastructure provided by the mobile operator, that is, between a mobile and a base station.

Course objectives :

At the end of this course, the trainee will be able to:

Define the air interface, and explain how a radio wave is affected by its environment.

Explain the terms loss, gain, cochannel and adjacent channel interference and delay.

Describe types of fading, their causes and methods used to reduce their effects.

Explain the characteristics of data traffic and their impact on mobile networks.

Describe methods of providing access to and from a basestation by many mobiles.

Describe frequency bands in use, frequency allocation methods and considerations affecting how frequency bands are used.

Describe the need for and methods of implementing secure communications over the air interface.

Number of modules: 7
Approximate study time: 6 hours