A broadcast control channel (BCCH) is a point to multipoint, unidirectional (downlink) channel used in the

Um interface The Um interface is the air interface for the GSM mobile telephone standard. It is the interface between the mobile station (MS) and the Base transceiver station (BTS). It is called Um because it is the mobile analog to the U interface of IS ...

of the

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 ...

cellular standard. The BCCH carries a repeating pattern of system information messages that describe the identity, configuration and available features of the

base transceiver station A base transceiver station (BTS) or a baseband unit (BBU) is a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment (UE) and a network. UEs are devices like mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portab ...

(BTS). These messages also provide a list of absolute radio-frequency channel numbers (ARFCNs) used by neighboring BTSs. This message pattern is synchronized to the BTS frame clock. The minimum BCCH message set is system information messages 2–4, although other messages are normally present. The messages themselves are described in 3GPP Technical Specification 44.018. Any GSM ARFCN that includes a BCCH is designated as a beacon channel and is required to transmit continuously at full power.

References

GSM standard {{telecom-stub