ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)

Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Alphabets and language-specific information (3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8)

RTS/TSGC-0123038v830

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 24-Jan-2010
• Technical Committee: 3GPP CT 1 - MM/CC/SM [lu] (formely CN1)
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 05-Jan-2010
• Completion Date: 25-Jan-2010

Standards Content (Sample)

Technical Specification
Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS);
LTE;
Alphabets and language-specific information
(3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8)

3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8 1 ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)

Reference
RTS/TSGC-0123038v830
Keywords
GSM, LTE, UMTS
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ETSI
3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8 2 ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)
Intellectual Property Rights
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (http://webapp.etsi.org/IPR/home.asp).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Foreword
This Technical Specification (TS) has been produced by ETSI 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The present document may refer to technical specifications or reports using their 3GPP identities, UMTS identities or
GSM identities. These should be interpreted as being references to the corresponding ETSI deliverables.
The cross reference between GSM, UMTS, 3GPP and ETSI identities can be found under
http://webapp.etsi.org/key/queryform.asp.
ETSI
3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8 3 ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 2
Foreword . 2
Foreword . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
3 Abbreviations and definitions . 7
4 SMS Data Coding Scheme . 8
5 CBS Data Coding Scheme . 11
6 Individual parameters . 13
6.1 General principles. 13
6.1.1 General notes . 13
6.1.2 Character packing . 14
6.1.2.1 SMS Packing . 14
6.1.2.1.1 Packing of 7-bit characters . 14
6.1.2.2 CBS Packing . 15
6.1.2.2.1 Packing of 7-bit characters . 15
6.1.2.3 USSD packing . 15
6.1.2.3.1 Packing of 7 bit characters . 15
6.2 Character sets and coding . 18
6.2.1 GSM 7 bit Default Alphabet . 18
6.2.1.1 GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension table . 19
6.2.1.2 National Language Identifier . 21
6.2.1.2.1 Introduction . 21
6.2.1.2.2 Single shift mechanism . 21
6.2.1.2.3 Locking shift mechanism. 21
6.2.1.2.4 National Language Identifier . 21
6.2.1.2.5 Processing of national language characters . 22
6.2.2 8 bit data . 22
6.2.3 UCS2 . 22
Annex A (normative): National Language Tables . 24
A.1 Introduction . 24
A.2 National Language Single Shift Tables . 25
A.2.1 Turkish National Language Single Shift Table . 25
A.2.2 Spanish National Language Single Shift Table . 26
A.2.3. Portuguese National Language Single Shift Table . 27
A.3 National Language Locking Shift Tables . 28
A.3.1 Turkish National Language Locking Shift Table . 28
A.3.2 Void . 29
A.3.3 Portuguese National Language Locking Shift Table . 29
Annex B (informative): Guidelines for creating language tables . 30
B.1 Introduction . 30
B.2 Template for Single Shift Language Tables . 30
B.3 Template for Locking Shift Language Tables . 32
Annex C (Informative): Example for locking shift and single shift mechanisms . 33
C.1 Introduction . 33
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3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8 4 ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)
C.2 Example of single shift . 33
C.3 Example of locking shift . 33
Annex D (informative): Document change history . 35
History . 36

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3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8 5 ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)
Foreword
rd
This Technical Specification has been produced by the 3 Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
The contents of the present document are subject to continuing work within the TSG and may change following formal
TSG approval. Should the TSG modify the contents of the present document, it will be re-released by the TSG with an
identifying change of release date and an increase in version number as follows:
Version x.y.z
where:
x the first digit:
1 presented to TSG for information;
2 presented to TSG for approval;
3 Indicates TSG approved document under change control.
y the second digit is incremented for all changes of substance, i.e. technical enhancements, corrections,
updates, etc.
z the third digit is incremented when editorial only changes have been incorporated in the specification;
ETSI
3GPP TS 23.038 version 8.3.0 Release 8 6 ETSI TS 123 038 V8.3.0 (2010-01)
1 Scope
The present document defines the character sets, languages and message handling requirements for SMS, CBS and
USSD and may additionally be used for Man Machine Interface (MMI) (3GPP TS 22.030 [2]).
The specification for the Data Circuit terminating Equipment/Data Terminal Equipment (DCE/DTE) interface
(3GPP TS 27.005 [8]) will also use the codes specified herein for the transfer of SMS data to an external terminal.
2 References
The following documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of the present
document.
• References are either specific (identified by date of publication, edition number, version number, etc.) or
non-specific.
• For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
• For a non-specific reference, the latest version applies. In the case of a reference to a 3GPP document (including
a GSM document), a non-specific reference implicitly refers to the latest version of that document in the same
Release as the present document.
[1] void
[2] 3GPP TS 22.030: "Man-Machine Interface (MMI) of the User Equipment (UE)".
[3] 3GPP TS 23.090: "Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) - Stage 2".
[4] 3GPP TS 23.040: "Technical realization of the Short Message Service (SMS) ".
[5] 3GPP TS 23.041: "Technical realization of Cell Broadcast Service (CBS)".
[6] 3GPP TS 24.011: "Point-to-Point (PP) Short Message Service (SMS) support on mobile radio
interface".
[7] Void.
[8] 3GPP TS 27.005: "Use of Data Terminal Equipment - Data Circuit terminating Equipment (DTE -
DCE) interface for Short Message Service (SMS) and Cell Broadcast Service (CBS)".
[10] ISO/IEC 10646: "Information technology; Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (UCS)".
[11] 3GPP TS 24.090: "Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD); Stage 3".
[12] ISO 639: "Code for the representation of names of languages".
[13] 3GPP TS 23.042: "Compression algorithm for text messaging services".
[14] 3GPP TR 21.905: "Vocabulary for 3GPP Specifications".
[15] "Wireless Datagram Protocol Specification", Wireless Application Protocol Forum Ltd.
[16] ISO 1073-1 and ISO 1073-2 Alphanumeric character sets for optical recognition – Parts 1 and 2:
Character sets OCR-A and OCR-B, respectively - Shapes and dimensions of the printed image.
[17] 3GPP TS 31.102: 'Characteristics of the USIM application'
[18] 3GPP TS 51.011 Release 4 (version 4.x.x): 'Specification of the Subscriber Identity Module -
Mobile Equipment (SIM - ME) interface'
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3 Abbreviations and definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
National Language Identifier: A code representing a specific language and thereby selecting a specific National
Language Table.
National Language Locking Shift Table: A national language table which replaces the GSM 7 bit default alphabet
table in the case where the locking shift mechanism as defined in subclause 6.2.1.2.3 is used.
National Language Single Shift Table: A national language table which replaces the GSM 7 bit default alphabet
extension table in the case where the single shift mechanism as defined in subclause 6.2.1.2.2 is used.
National Language Table: A table containing the characters of a specific national language.
For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations used in the present document are listed in 3GPP TR 21.905
[14].
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4 SMS Data Coding Scheme
The TP-Data-Coding-Scheme field, defined in 3GPP TS 23.040 [4], indicates the data coding scheme of the TP-UD
field, and may indicate a message class. Any reserved codings shall be assumed to be the GSM 7 bit default alphabet
(the same as codepoint 00000000) by a receiving entity. The octet is used according to a coding group which is
indicated in bits 7.4. The octet is then coded as follows:

Coding Group Bits Use of bits 3.0
7.4
00xx General Data Coding indication
Bits 5.0 indicate the following:

Bit 5, if set to 0, indicates the text is uncompressed
Bit 5, if set to 1, indicates the text is compressed using the compression algorithm defined
in 3GPP TS 23.042 [13]
Bit 4, if set to 0, indicates that bits 1 to 0 are reserved and have no message class
meaning
Bit 4, if set to 1, indicates that bits 1 to 0 have a message class meaning::

Bit 1 Bit 0 Message Class
0   0   Class 0
0   1   Class 1  Default meaning: ME-specific.
1   0   Class 2  (U)SIM specific message
1   1   Class 3  Default meaning: TE specific (see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8])

Bits 3 and 2 indicate the character set being used, as follows :
Bit 3 Bit2 Character set:
0     0    GSM 7 bit default alphabet
0   1   8 bit data
1   0   UCS2 (16bit) [10]
1   1   Reserved
NOTE: The special case of bits 7.0 being 0000 0000 indicates the GSM 7 bit default
alphabet with no message class
01xx Message Marked for Automatic Deletion Group

This group can be used by the SM originator to mark the message ( stored in the ME or
(U)SIM ) for deletion after reading irrespective of the message class.
The way the ME will process this deletion should be manufacturer specific but shall be
done without the intervention of the End User or the targeted application. The mobile
manufacturer may optionally provide a means for the user to prevent this automatic
deletion.
Bit 5.0 are coded exactly the same as Group 00xx
1000.1011 Reserved coding groups
1100 Message Waiting Indication Group: Discard Message

The specification for this group is exactly the same as for Group 1101, except that:
- after presenting an indication and storing the status, the ME may discard the contents
of the message.
The ME shall be able to receive, process and acknowledge messages in this group,
irrespective of memory availability for other types of short message.

1101 Message Waiting Indication Group: Store Message

This Group defines an indication to be provided to the user about the status of types of
message waiting on systems connected to the GSM/UMTS PLMN. The ME should present
this indication as an icon on the screen, or other MMI indication. The ME shall update the
contents of the Message Waiting Indication Status on the SIM (see 3GPP TS 51.011 [18])
or USIM (see 3GPP TS 31.102 [17]) when present or otherwise should store the status in
the ME. In case there are multiple records of EF this information shall be stored within
MWIS
the first record. The contents of the Message Waiting Indication Status should control the
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Coding Group Bits Use of bits 3.0
7.4
ME indicator. For each indication supported, the mobile may provide storage for the
Origination Address. The ME may take note of the Origination Address for messages in
this group and group 1100.
Text included in the user data is coded in the GSM 7 bit default alphabet.
Where a message is received with bits 7.4 set to 1101, the mobile shall store the text of
the SMS message in addition to setting the indication. The indication setting should take
place irrespective of memory availability to store the short message.

Bits 3 indicates Indication Sense:

Bit 3
0 Set Indication Inactive
1 Set Indication Active
Bit 2 is reserved, and set to 0

Bit 1 Bit 0 Indication Type:
0 0 Voicemail Message Waiting
0 1 Fax Message Waiting
1 0 Electronic Mail Message Waiting
1 1 Other Message Waiting*
* Mobile manufacturers may implement the "Other Message Waiting" indication as an
additional indication without specifying the meaning.
1110 Message Waiting Indication Group: Store Message

The coding of bits 3.0 and functionality of this feature are the same as for the Message
Waiting Indication Group above, (bits 7.4 set to 1101) with the exception that the text
included in the user data is coded in the uncompressed UCS2 character set.
1111 Data coding/message class

Bit 3 is reserved, set to 0.
Bit 2 Message coding:
0 GSM 7 bit default alphabet
1 8-bit data
Bit 1 Bit 0 Message Class:
0 0 Class 0
0 1 Class 1  default meaning: ME-specific.
1 0 Class 2  (U)SIM-specific message.
1 1 Class 3  default meaning: TE specific (see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8])

GSM 7 bit default alphabet indicates that the TP-UD is coded from the GSM 7 bit default alphabet given in
clause 6.2.1. When this character set is used, the characters of the message are packed in octets as shown in
clause 6.1.2.1.1, and the message can consist of up to 160 characters. The GSM 7 bit default alphabet shall be supported
by all MSs and SCs offering the service. If the GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension mechanism is used then the
number of displayable characters will reduce by one for every instance where the GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension
table is used. 8-bit data indicates that the TP-UD has user-defined coding, and the message can consist of up to
140 octets.
UCS2 character set indicates that the TP-UD has a UCS2 [10] coded message, and the message can consist of up to
140 octets, i.e. up to 70 UCS2 characters. The General notes specified in clause 6.1.1 override any contrary
specification in UCS2, so for example even in UCS2 a character will cause the MS to return to the beginning of
the current line and overwrite any existing text with the characters which follow the .
When a message is compressed, the TP-UD consists of the GSM 7 bit default alphabet or UCS2 character set
compressed message, and the compressed message itself can consist of up to 140 octets in total.
When a mobile terminated message is class 0 and the MS has the capability of displaying short messages, the MS shall
display the message immediately and send an acknowledgement to the SC when the message has successfully reached
the MS irrespective of whether there is memory available in the (U)SIM or ME. The message shall not be automatically
stored in the (U)SIM or ME.
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The ME may make provision through MMI for the user to selectively prevent the message from being displayed
immediately.
If the ME is incapable of displaying short messages or if the immediate display of the message has been disabled
through MMI then the ME shall treat the short message as though there was no message class, i.e. it will ignore bits 0
and 1 in the TP-DCS and normal rules for memory capacity exceeded shall apply.
When a mobile terminated message is Class 1, the MS shall send an acknowledgement to the SC when the message has
successfully reached the MS and can be stored. The MS shall normally store the message in the ME by default, if that is
possible, but otherwise the message may be stored elsewhere, e.g. in the (U)SIM. The user may be able to override the
default meaning and select their own routing.
When a mobile terminated message is Class 2 ((U)SIM-specific), an MS shall ensure that the message has been
transferred to the SMS data field in the (U)SIM before sending an acknowledgement to the SC. The MS shall return a
"protocol error, unspecified" error message (see 3GPP TS 24.011 [6]) if the short message cannot be stored in the
(U)SIM and there is other short message storage available at the MS. If all the short message storage at the MS is
already in use, the MS shall return "memory capacity exceeded". This behaviour applies in all cases except for an MS
supporting (U)SIM Application Toolkit when the Protocol Identifier (TP-PID) of the mobile terminated message is set
to "(U)SIM Data download" (see 3GPP TS 23.040 [4]).
When a mobile terminated message is Class 3, the MS shall send an acknowledgement to the SC when the message has
successfully reached the MS and can be stored, irrespectively of whether the MS supports an SMS interface to a TE,
and without waiting for the message to be transferred to the TE. Thus the acknowledgement to the SC of a TE-specific
message does not imply that the message has reached the TE. Class 3 messages shall normally be transferred to the TE
when the TE requests "TE-specific" messages (see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8]). The user may be able to override the default
meaning and select their own routing.
The message class codes may also be used for mobile originated messages, to provide an indication to the destination
SME of how the message was handled at the MS.
The MS will not interpret reserved or unsupported values but shall store them as received. The SC may reject messages
with a Data Coding Scheme containing a reserved value or one which is not supported.
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5 CBS Data Coding Scheme
The CBS Data Coding Scheme indicates the intended handling of the message at the MS, the character set/coding, and
the language (when applicable). Any reserved codings shall be assumed to be the GSM 7 bit default alphabet (the same
as codepoint 00001111) by a receiving entity. The octet is used according to a coding group which is indicated in bits
7.4. The octet is then coded as follows:

Coding Group
Bits Use of bits 3.0
7.4
0000 Language using the GSM 7 bit default alphabet

Bits 3.0 indicate the language:
0000 German
0001 English
0010 Italian
0011 French
0100 Spanish
0101 Dutch
0110 Swedish
0111 Danish
1000 Portuguese
1001 Finnish
1010 Norwegian
1011 Greek
1100 Turkish
1101 Hungarian
1110 Polish
1111 Language unspecified
0001 0000 GSM 7 bit default alphabet; message preceded by language indication.

The first 3 characters of the message are a two-character representation of the
language encoded according to ISO 639 [12], followed by a CR character. The
CR character is then followed by 90 characters of text.

0001 UCS2; message preceded by language indication

The message starts with a two GSM 7-bit default alphabet character
representation of the language encoded according to ISO 639 [12]. This is padded
to the octet boundary with two bits set to 0 and then followed by 40 characters of
UCS2-encoded message.
An MS not supporting UCS2 coding will present the two character language
identifier followed by improperly interpreted user data.

0010.1111 Reserved
0010. 0000      Czech
0001      Hebrew
0010      Arabic
0011      Russian
0100      Icelandic
0101.1111 Reserved for other languages using the GSM 7 bit default alphabet, with
unspecified handling at the MS
0000.1111 Reserved for other languages using the GSM 7 bit default alphabet, with
unspecified handling at the MS
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Coding Group
Bits Use of bits 3.0
7.4
01xx General Data Coding indication
Bits 5.0 indicate the following:

Bit 5, if set to 0, indicates the text is uncompressed
Bit 5, if set to 1, indicates the text is compressed using the compression algorithm defined in
3GPP TS 23.042 [13]
Bit 4, if set to 0, indicates that bits 1 to 0 are reserved and have no message class meaning
Bit 4, if set to 1, indicates that bits 1 to 0 have a message class meaning:

Bit 1 Bit 0 Message Class:
0 0  Class 0
0 1  Class 1 Default meaning: ME-specific.
1 0  Class 2 (U)SIM specific message.
1 1  Class 3 Default meaning: TE-specific (see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8])

Bits 3 and 2 indicate the character set being used, as follows:
Bit 3 Bit 2 Character set:
0 0  GSM 7 bit default alphabet
0 1  8 bit data
1 0  UCS2 (16 bit) [10]
1 1  Reserved
1000 Reserved coding groups
1001 Message with User Data Header (UDH) structure:

Bit 1 Bit 0 Message Class:
0 0  Class 0
0 1  Class 1 Default meaning: ME-specific.
1 0  Class 2 (U)SIM specific message.
1 1  Class 3 Default meaning: TE-specific (see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8])

Bits 3 and 2 indicate the alphabet being used, as follows:
Bit 3 Bit 2 Alphabet:
0 0  GSM 7 bit default alphabet
0 1  8 bit data
1 0  USC2 (16 bit) [10]
1 1  Reserved
1010.1101 Reserved coding groups
1110 Defined by the WAP Forum [15]
1111 Data coding / message handling

Bit 3 is reserved, set to 0.
Bit 2  Message coding:
0  GSM 7 bit default alphabet
1  8 bit data
Bit 1 Bit 0 Message Class:
0 0  No message class.
0 1  Class 1 user defined.
1 0  Class 2 user defined.
1 1  Class 3
default meaning: TE specific
(see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8])
These codings may also be used for USSD and MMI/display purposes.
The message length specified in this subclause is not applicable for UTRAN and E-UTRAN but only applicable for
GSM.
See 3GPP TS 24.090 [11] for specific coding values applicable to USSD for MS originated USSD messages and MS
terminated USSD messages. USSD messages using the default alphabet are coded with the GSM 7-bit default alphabet
given in clause 6.2.1. The message can then consist of up to 182 user characters.
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Cell Broadcast messages using the default alphabet are coded with the GSM 7-bit default alphabet given in clause 6.2.1.
The message then consists of 93 user characters.
If the GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension mechanism is used then the number of displayable characters will reduce by
one for every instance where the GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension table is usedCell Broadcast messages using 8-bit
data have user-defined coding, and will be 82 octets in length.
UCS2 character set indicates that the message is coded in UCS2 [10]. The General notes specified in clause 6.1.1
override any contrary specification in UCS2, so for example even in UCS2 a character will cause the MS to
return to the beginning of the current line and overwrite any existing text with the characters which follow the .
Cell Broadcast messages encoded in UCS2 consist of 41 characters.
Class 1 and Class 2 messages may be routed by the ME to user-defined destinations, but the user may override any
default meaning and select their own routing.
Class 3 messages will normally be selected for transfer to a TE, in cases where a ME supports an SMS/CBS interface to
a TE, and the TE requests "TE-specific" cell broadcast messages (see 3GPP TS 27.005 [8]). The user may be able to
override the default meaning and select their own routing.
Messages with a User Data Header Structure are encoded as described in 3GPP TS 23.040 [4] for SMS, in subclauses
3.10 and 9.2.3.24.
The use of Cell Broadcast DCS values for messages with a User Data Header structure implies that the 82-bytes CB
payload has a User Data Header structure.
The CBS message information field will contain the IEs as described in 3GPP TS 23.040. The concatenation IEs will
not be used, as CB concatenation will rely in that case on the existing CB mechanism. Note that IEs that cannot be split
and that IEs that are too large to fit in one CB segment cannot be transmitted using this mechanism. Also, some IEs as
defined for SMS are not applicable for CB:

VALUE MEANING
(hex)
00 Concatenated short messages, 8-bit reference number
01 Special SMS Message Indication
06 SMSC Control Parameters
08 Concatenated short message, 16-bit reference number
20 RFC 822 E-Mail Header
23 Enhanced Voice Mail Information
70-7F (U)SIM Toolkit Security Headers
80-89 SME to SME specific use
6 Individual parameters
6.1 General principles
6.1.1 General notes
Except where otherwise indicated, the following shall apply to all character sets:
1: The characters marked "1)" are not used but are displayed as a space.
2: The characters of this set, when displayed, should approximate to the appearance of the relevant characters
specified in ISO 1073 [16]and the relevant national standards.
3: Control characters:
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Code Meaning
LF Line feed: Any characters following LF which are to be displayed shall be presented as the next line
of the message, commencing with the first character position.
CR Carriage return: Any characters following CR which are to be displayed shall be presented as the
current line of the message, commencing with the first character position.
SP Space character.
4: The display of characters within a message is achieved by taking each character in turn and placing it in the next
available space from left to right and top to bottom.
6.1.2 Character packing
6.1.2.1 SMS Packing
6.1.2.1.1 Packing of 7-bit characters
If a character number α is noted in the following way:
b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1
αa αb αc αd αe αf αg
The packing of the 7-bitscharacters in octets is done by completing the octets with zeros on the left.
For examples, packing: α
- one character in one octet:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
- two characters in two octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
0 0 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
- three characters in three octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
0 0 0 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
- seven characters in seven octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7a
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- eight characters in seven octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
8a 8b 8c 8d 8e 8f 8g 7a
The bit number zero is always transmitted first.
Therefore, in 140 octets, it is possible to pack (140x8)/7=160 characters.
6.1.2.2 CBS Packing
6.1.2.2.1 Packing of 7-bit characters
If a character number α is noted in the following way:
b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1
αa αb αc αd αe αf αg
the packing of the 7-bits characters in octets is done as follows:
bit number
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
octet number
1 2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
2 3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
3 4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
4 5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
5 6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
6 7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
7 8a 8b 8c 8d 8e 8f 8g 7a
8 10g 9a 9b 9c 9d 9e 9f 9g
.
.
81 93d 93e 93f 93g 92a 92b 92c 92d
82 0 0 0 0 0 93a 93b 93c
The bit number zero is always transmitted first.
Therefore, in 82 octets, it is possible to pack (82x8)/7 = 93.7, that is 93 characters. The 5 remaining bits are set to zero
as stated above.
6.1.2.3 USSD packing
6.1.2.3.1 Packing of 7 bit characters
If a character number α is noted in the following way:
b7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1
αa αb αc αd αe αf αg
The packing of the 7-bit characters in octets is done by completing the octets with zeros on the left.
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For example, packing: α
- one character in one octet:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
0 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
- two characters in two octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
0 0 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
- three characters in three octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
0 0 0 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
- six characters in six octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
0 0 0 0 0 0 6a 6b
- seven characters in seven octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
0 0 0 1 1 0 1 7a
The bit number zero is always transmitted first.
- eight characters in seven octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
8a 8b 8c 8d 8e 8f 8g 7a
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- nine characters in eight octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
8a 8b 8c 8d 8e 8f 8g 7a
0 9a 9b 9c 9d 9e 9f 9g
- fifteen characters in fourteen octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
8a 8b 8c 8d 8e 8f 8g 7a
10g 9a 9b 9c 9d 9e 9f 9g
11f 11g 10a 10b 10c 10d 10e 10f
12e 12f 12g 11a 11b 11c 11d 11e
13d 13e 13f 13g 12a 12b 12c 12d
14c 14d 14e 14f 14g 13a 13b 13c
15b 15c 15d 15e 15f 15g 14a 14b
0 0 0 1 1 0 1 15a
- sixteen characters in fourteen octets:
- bits number:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
2g 1a 1b 1c 1d 1e 1f 1g
3f 3g 2a 2b 2c 2d 2e 2f
4e 4f 4g 3a 3b 3c 3d 3e
5d 5e 5f 5g 4a 4b 4c 4d
6c 6d 6e 6f 6g 5a 5b 5c
7b 7c 7d 7e 7f 7g 6a 6b
8a 8b 8c 8d 8e 8f 8g 7a
10g 9a 9b 9c 9d 9e 9f 9g
11f 11g 10a 10b 10c 10d 10e 10f
12e 12f 12g 11a 11b 11c 11d 11e
13d 13e 13f 13g 12a 12b 12c 12d
14c 14d 14e 14f 14g 13a 13b 13c
15b 15c 15d 15e 15f 15g 14a 14b
16a 16b 16c 16d 16e 16f 16g 15a

The bit number zero is always transmitted first.
Therefore, in 160 octets, is it possible to pack (160*8)/7 = 182.8, that is 182 characters. The remaining 6 bits are set to
zero as stated above.
Packing of 7 bit characters in USSD strings is done in the same way as for SMS (clause 6.1.2.1). The character stream
is bit padded to octet boundary with binary zeroes as shown above.
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If the total number of characters to be sent equals (8n-1) where n=1,2,3 etc. then there are 7 spare bits at the end of the
message. To avoid the situation where the receiving entity confuses 7 binary zero pad bits as the @ character, the
carriage return or character (defined in clause 6.1.1) shall be used for padding in this situation, just as for Cell
Broadcast.
If is intended to be the last character and the message (including the wanted ) ends on an octet boundary,
then another must be added together with a padding bit 0. The receiving entity will perform the carriage return
function twice, but this will not result in misoperation as the definition of in clause 6.1.1 is identical to the
definition of .
The receiving entity shall remove the final character where the message ends on an octet boundary with as
the last character.
6.2 Character sets and coding
This section provides list of character sets and codings to be supported by SMS, CBS and USSD. Implementation of the
GSM 7 bit default alphabet is mandatory. Support of other character sets is optional.
It should be noted that support of Latin and non-Latin languages by GSM 7 bit default alphabet is limited. It is therefore
essential to introduce UCS 2 character set in mobile stations, SCs and systems handling SMSs, CBSs and USSDs.
6.2.1 GSM 7 bit Default Alphabet
Bits per character: 7
CBS/USSD pad character: CR
Character table:
b7  0 0 0 0 1 1  1  1
b6  0 0 1 1 0 0  1  1
b5  0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
b4 b3 b2 b1   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 0 0 0 0 @ Δ SP 0 ¡ P ¿ p
0 0 0 1 1 £ _ ! 1 A Q a q
0 0 1 0 2 $ Φ " 2 B R b r
0 0 1 1 3 ¥ Γ # 3 C S c s
0 1 0 0 4 è Λ ¤ 4 D T d t
0 1 0 1 5 é Ω % 5 E U e u
0 1 1 0 6 ù Π & 6 F V f v
0 1 1 1 7 ì Ψ ' 7 G W g w
1 0 0 0 8 ò Σ ( 8 H X h x
1 0 0 1 9 Ç Θ ) 9 I Y i y
1 0 1 0 10 LF Ξ * : J Z j z
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1 0 1 1 11 Ø 1) + ; K Ä k ä
1 1 0 0 12 ø Æ , < L Ö l ö
1 1 0 1 13 CR æ - = M Ñ m ñ
1 1 1 0 14 Å ß . > N Ü n ü
1 1 1 1 15 å É / ? O § o à
NOTE 1): This code is an escape to an extension of this table (either to the GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension
table, see subclause 6.2.1.1, or a National Language Single Shift Table, see subclause 6.2.1.2.2). A
receiving entity which does not understand the meaning of this escape mechanism shall display it as a
space character.
6.2.1.1 GSM 7 bit default alphabet extension table
The table below is reserved for symbols of international significance (e.g currency symbols). It also contains a
mechanism to permit escape (Note 1) to additional tables for symbols of international significance in the event that the
table below becomes fully populated.
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b7  0 0 0 0 1 1  1  1
b6  0 0 1 1 0 0  1  1
b5  0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
b4 b3 b2 b1   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 0 0 0 0    |
0 0 0 1 1
0 0 1 0 2
0 0 1 1 3
0 1 0 0 4  ^
0 1 0 1 5      €
0 1 1 0 6
0 1 1 1 7
1 0 0 0 8  {
1 0 0 1 9  }
1 0 1 0 10 3)
1 0 1 1 11 1)
1 1 0 0 12  [
1 1 0 1 13  ~
1 1 1 0 14  ]
1 1 1 1 15  \
In the event that an MS receives a code where a symbol is not represented in the above table then the MS shall
display either the character shown in the main GSM 7 bit default alphabet table in subclause 6.2.1., or the
character from the National Language Locking Shift Table in the case where the locking shift mechanism as
defined in subclause 6.2.1.2.3 is used.
NOTE 1): This code is reserved for the extension to another extension table. On receipt of this code, a receiving
entity shall display a space until another extension table is defined. It is not intended that this extension
mechanism should be used as an alternative to UCS2 to enhance the 7bit default alphabet character
repertoire for national specific character sets.
NOTE 2): Void
NOTE 3): This code is defined as a Page Break character and may be used for example in compressed CBS
messages. Any mobile station which does not understand the GSM 7 bit default alphabet table
extension mechanism will treat this character as Line Feed.

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6.2.1.2 National Language Identifier
6.2.1.2.1 Introduction
The national language tables are used for adding the special characters of certain languages that cannot be expressed
using the GSM default 7 bit alphabet.
The principle is to use the National Language Identifier to indicate to a receiving entity that the message has been
encoded using a national language table. Bot
...