The Functionality of the Mobile Switching Center (MSC)

Mobile switching Centre is a telephone exchange that connects mobile users to other mobile networks and other mobile users within the same network. It is situated between the base station and public switched telephone network were it receives all the communication from the base station pending there transmission to their destination points.

It is also a component of the 2G and 3G cellular network that approves or reject voice communication from one device to another and aids in managing roaming which is the use of cellular data services on a mobile device outside of the coverage area of the home network .It also facilitates passing of information via voice call, sms and supplementary services like fax. 

FUCTIONALITY:

Mobile switching Centre uses the Home Location Register(HLR) or a Visitor Location Register (VLR) and the device sim to authenticate the subscriber to determine whether they have permission to access the network and ensure that the subscriber gets charged properly for any services they use.

It’s basic operation entails checking the device ID’s and determine who can and can’t access the network services.T his authentication process depends on a secret key the device’s sim and the network HLR share.Using the key,the HLR creates a signed response (SRES) over a random number which is forwarded to the device and if the device response with the same signed response as the HLR, the mobile switching centre authenticates it. 

The mobile switching centre are also equipped with sophisticated monitoring capabilities enabling real-time surveillance of the network activities and call transactions. They also safeguard the integrity and confidentiality of the subscriber communication by proactively identifying and mitigating security threats. 

Mobile switching centre facilitates real-time prepaid billing and account monitoring thus ensuring accurate billing and also enhances networking security by detecting anomalous usage patterns or fraudulent activities. 

Mobile switching centre also plays a vital role in facilitating “Handover” whereby the cell structure of cellular networks enables mobile devices to stay connected to the network even as the move across large geographic areas in that the cells can efficiently hand off a connection to an adjacent cell when the device crosses the border between.The are also responsible for the termination of calls in that the mobile switching centre releases the allocated resources and updates the relevant database.

Mobile switching centre is therefore the backbone of communication most especially where mobile communication is involved due to the pivotal role it plays so us to ensure effective communication and transmission of data though a network to it destination without corruption of the initial message that the sender intended to send.