Abstract: Methods for carrying out an authentication check in a mobile telephone system in which an authentic base station serves a plurality of mobile stations. A prior method carried out a unidirectional check from the base to a calling mobile, permitting a false base to carry out a false authentication check by collecting a number of so-called RAND-Response pairs. To avoid this problem, another unidirectional, base-to-mobile, authentication check and an authentication check from the mobile to the base are carded out. In one embodiment, only the bi-directional authentication check is carried out.

Abstract: A synchronizing method in a mobile radio system which operates with Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) but which lacks global time reference for all base stations and mobiles in the system. The inventive method is intended for ciphered transmission of data and speech in accordance with a given ciphering key (E2). When handing-over a call, the ciphering synchronism is lost. In accordance with the method, subsequent to hand-off (the time t.sub.2), the take-over base station (BS2) signals non-ciphered information (S1) to the mobile (MS) disclosing the number of frames (R1-R13) which shall pass until ciphering can again be commenced, calculated from a given frame (R1). Call information is transmit the following frame (R2), this information now being ciphered with the aid of a ciphering key (E1) different to the original key. This other ciphering key consists of a periodic bit sequence having a period which is equal to one frame interval.

Abstract: A method and system in which the control channels of an associated base station directly correspond to certain time slots of a radio channel frame, which also includes time slots being utilized for traffic channels. The time slots being utilized as control channels are marked with uniquely defined control channel indicators which include unique Sync Words and unique control channel identification words. The mobile station recognizes the uniquely defined control channel indicators and identifies those particular time slots as control channels so as to distinguish from the time slots which are not being used as control channels.