There is a variety of tasks that need to be undertaken when a phone is turned on. It actually
takes a few seconds from switching the phone on until it is ready for use. Part of this process is
registration, and there are several aspects to this. The first is to make contact with the base station,
and then the mobile has to register to allow it to have access to and use the network.
In order to mak e contact with the base station, the mobile uses a paging or control channel.
The name of this channel and the exact way in which it works will vary from one cellular standard
to the next, but it is a channel that the mobile can access to indicate its presence. The message
sent is often called the ‘attach’ message. Once this has been achieved, it is necessary ...