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This document provides an introduction and overview of the Evolved Packet System (EPS) architecture, including:
1. The EPS combines a new radio access network, called EUTRAN, with a new core network called the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) to address limitations of previous networks and enable higher data rates.
2. The EPS architecture aims to provide seamless mobility, all-IP networking, and support for both circuit-switched and packet-switched voice services.
3. Key components of the EPS architecture include the Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW), PDN Gateway (P-GW), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), eUTRAN
This document provides an introduction and overview of the Evolved Packet System (EPS) architecture, including:
1. The EPS combines a new radio access network, called EUTRAN, with a new core network called the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) to address limitations of previous networks and enable higher data rates.
2. The EPS architecture aims to provide seamless mobility, all-IP networking, and support for both circuit-switched and packet-switched voice services.
3. Key components of the EPS architecture include the Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW), PDN Gateway (P-GW), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), eUTRAN
This document provides an introduction and overview of the Evolved Packet System (EPS) architecture, including:
1. The EPS combines a new radio access network, called EUTRAN, with a new core network called the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) to address limitations of previous networks and enable higher data rates.
2. The EPS architecture aims to provide seamless mobility, all-IP networking, and support for both circuit-switched and packet-switched voice services.
3. Key components of the EPS architecture include the Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW), PDN Gateway (P-GW), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), eUTRAN
Master Telecommunications and Internet Technologies
Course Application Prototyping
LECTURE NOTE
Version: 1.1 Datum: 11. 06. 2010
EVOLVED PACKET SYSTEM (EPS) Introduction and Architecture
DI Franz Edler
EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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CONTENTS: 1. Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Content of the course ............................................................................................................ 4 1.2. Structure of the course .......................................................................................................... 4 1.3. Preconditions and further readings and exercises ................................................................ 4 1.4. Questions and exercises ........................................................................................................ 4 1.5. Target audience ..................................................................................................................... 4 2. Introduction to EPS ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Principle architecture of EPS ................................................................................................ 5 2.2. Mobile network evolution..................................................................................................... 5 2.2.1. Motivation for EPS ........................................................................................................ 6 2.2.2. Building Blocks of EPS ................................................................................................. 6 2.2.3. Evolution of Data Rates ................................................................................................. 7 2.2.4. EPS overview ................................................................................................................. 8 2.2.5. Voice services in EPS .................................................................................................. 10 2.2.6. Seamless Mobility and Convergence with all-IP ........................................................ 11 3. Evolved System Architecture .................................................................................................... 13 3.1. 3G Architecture................................................................................................................... 13 3.2. EPS Architecture................................................................................................................. 14 3.2.1. Requirements ............................................................................................................... 14 3.2.2. Features ........................................................................................................................ 15 3.2.3. Architecture overview ................................................................................................. 15 3.2.4. Mobility Management Entity (MME) ......................................................................... 16 3.2.5. Serving Gateway (S-GW) and PDN-Gateway (P-GW) .............................................. 16 3.2.6. Home Subscriber Server (HSS) ................................................................................... 17 3.2.7. Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) ....................................................................... 17 3.2.8. Policy Charging Rule Function (PCRF) ...................................................................... 18 3.2.9. eUTRAN ...................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.10. Tracking concept ....................................................................................................... 19 3.2.11. Redundancy and distributed architecture .................................................................. 20 3.3. EPS Interfaces and Protocols .............................................................................................. 21 4. Registration ................................................................................................................................ 23 4.1. Authentication and Security ............................................................................................... 23 4.1.1. Life of a Mobile ........................................................................................................... 23 4.1.2. High Level View of network attachment .................................................................... 23 4.1.3. Initial Attach Request .................................................................................................. 24 4.1.4. Authentication .............................................................................................................. 25 4.1.5. Security ........................................................................................................................ 26 4.1.6. Subscription Information ............................................................................................. 28 4.2. Default Bearer Setup ........................................................................................................... 28 5. Service Data Flows and QoS ..................................................................................................... 31 5.1. Introduction to Service Data Flow and EPS Bearer ........................................................... 31 5.1.1. High Level View .......................................................................................................... 31 5.1.2. Services and Service Data Flow .................................................................................. 32 5.1.3. Service Data Flow and EPS Bearers ........................................................................... 32 EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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5.1.4. EPS Bearer ................................................................................................................... 33 5.1.5. Downstream and Upstream Packet Classification ....................................................... 33 5.2. QoS ..................................................................................................................................... 34 5.2.1. Bearer classes ............................................................................................................... 34 5.2.2. QCI classes .................................................................................................................. 35 5.2.3. Differentiated Service .................................................................................................. 36 5.3. Service Addition and Dedicated Bearer Setup ................................................................... 37 5.3.1. Service Addition Example ........................................................................................... 37 5.3.2. PCRF links SDF and EPS Bearers .............................................................................. 38 5.3.3. Dedicated Bearer Creation ........................................................................................... 38 5.4. PMIPv6-based EPS Bearer ................................................................................................. 40 6. Exercises and Questions ............................................................................................................ 41 7. References .................................................................................................................................. 42 7.1. Books .................................................................................................................................. 42 EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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1. OVERVIEW 1.1. CONTENT OF THE COURSE to be added
1.2. STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE to be added
1.3. PRECONDITIONS AND FURTHER READINGS AND EXERCISES to be added
1.4. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES At the end of each part the student can find some questions which should help to get feedback on the core points of the course. The student should be able to answer the questions and exercises at the end of the course. 1.5. TARGET AUDIENCE The target audience of this course are students on bachelor degree in the upper classes on telecommunications systems and students for the master degree of Telecommunications und Internet-technology.
EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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2. INTRODUCTION TO EPS
2.1. PRINCIPLE ARCHITECTURE OF EPS Figure 1 shows the principle architecture of the Evolved Packet System (EPS) without going into details. It should help to understand the various terms used in standardisation and their history. EUTRAN EPC EPS +
Figure 1: Principle architecture of EPS End of 2004 3GPP started to work on a new mobile network system. The first studies were carried by two working groups, one dealing with evolution of the radio access network (LTE, Long Term Evolution) and another working focussed on the evolution of the core network (SAE, System Architecture Evolution). Both groups worked in a coordinated manner and therefore the term LTA/SAE was used to describe this initiative. The result of both groups was: a new radio network technology and architecture called EUTRAN (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network), and a new core network architecture called EPC (Evolved Packet Core). Both components together (EUTRAN and EPC) comprise the EPS (Evolved Packet System). These are the official terms, but LTE is still used for the radio network.
2.2. MOBILE NETWORK EVOLUTION We can observe the phenomenon of an ongoing evolution process of wireless networks. With the inclusion of IP connectivity in the service portfolio of mobile networks an ever increasing need for higher data rates and capacity has been created. The existing 3G networks cannot fulfill this demand because there are three limiting factors of 3G networks: Data rates: Current 3G networks offer theoretical data rates of 14 Mbps in the downlink and 5.7 Mbps in the uplink using a 5 MHz wide channel. However, these data rates are not practical data rates for several reasons. One of the key reasons is that the 5 MHz channel is also used to offer voice services, so the resources are divided between voice and data users. The new radio technology of LTE will enable data rates of 50 to 100 Mbps in practice and therefore a much better end-user experience. Delay: The latency or delay in current 3G networks is in the range of 50 to 100 ms. This results in end-to-end delays of over 200-300 ms. To offer a rich multimedia experience, EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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we need to reduce the delays in radio networks to below 10 ms. This results in a better user experience for real-time multimedia and video telephony/conferencing applications. Architecture: The current 3G network continues to utilize the circuit and packet data networks. They were designed to handle voice services in a circuit fashion and medium rate data services. This limits the provision of feature-rich multimedia services.
2.2.1. MOTIVATION FOR EPS The main aspects which drive the evolution of existing 3G networks towards 4G are: Rapid growing of IP traffic High performance with reduced cost Seamless mobility Enhancements like High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) make 3GPP access technology competitive today. To ensure the competitiveness of 3GPP systems for the next ten years and beyond, LTE offers the long term evolution of 3GPP access technology. To meet the needs of the rapidly growing IP data traffic over the air, to reduce the cost per bit and enable in parallel high performance a complicated network architecture and unnecessary interfaces have to be avoided. Reduction in the cost can be achieved by simplifying the wireless network, utilizing unified protocols of IP, and reducing the number of network nodes.
2.2.2. BUILDING BLOCKS OF EPS The enhancements offered by the EPS address all three main areas of a mobile network Air Interface Radio Network Architecture Core Network These enhancements are shown in Figure 2 below and summarized as follows: - Use of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and advanced multiple antenna techniques over the air interface: These techniques significantly increase the spectral efficiency. The air interface allows many users to experience data rates in excess of 1 Mbps. The peak supportable data rates are more than 100 Mbps (as high as 260 Mbps) in a 20 MHz spectrum. - Distributed (as opposed to centralized) architecture: Distributed radio network architecture allows reduced latency since most dynamic decisions are made locally. An IP-based radio network results in an easy-to-scale network and provides scalability and reduction in the cost. - IP-based radio and core network: This allows introduction of new services easily via the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). However, the use of IMS is not mandatory and an operator can offer numerous services even without IMS.
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OFDMA OFDMA Multiple Antenna Techniques Very high spectral efficiency Air Interface OFDMA Distributed IP based Reduced Latency, Scalability Radio Network Architecture OFDMA IMS IP based Scalability, Cost efficiency, Services Core Network Evolved Packet Systen
Figure 2: Areas of enhancements within the EPS
2.2.3. EVOLUTION OF DATA RATES
Figure 3 shows the evolution of data rates in mobile networks during the last 20 years. There is also a difference between the maximum achievable data rates (theoretical value) and the practical advertised data rates.
1990s 2000 2003 2006 2007 2008+ Maximum 56k 473k 14M DL 5,7M UL 42M / 11,4M Advertised 14k 60 80k 400 -700 k tbd tbd GSM GPRS/ EDGE UMTS/ HSDPA UMTS/ HSUPA UMTS/ HSPA+ Maximum 115k 614k 2,45M DL 3M / 1,8M Advertised 14k 60 80k 400 -700 k 400k 800k IS-95 1x EV-DO Rev 0 EV-DO Rev A
Figure 3: Evolution of data rates in mobile networks The figure shows the evolution of data rates from 2G networks (GSM, GPRD/EDGE) to 3G networks (UMTS). HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) are UMTS enhancements that enable more optimal use of bandwidth and EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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much higher data rates. Further enhancement of HSPA with Multiple Input and Multiple Output techniques and a higher order modulation scheme resulted in HSPA+. It also shows the CDMA2000 technology which is an evolution of the IS-95 system. CDMA2000 1x and 1xEV-DO are two different options for 3G technologies. CDMA2000 is not well known in Europe, as it used mainly in American, African and Asian countries Mobile WiMAX is the competing 4G technology with LTE. 1
An important fact is that the EPS (LTE+EPC) has been defined as an evolution path for both 1xEV-DO and UMTS/HSPA networks. Also mobile WiMAX (not shown here) may be connected to the EPC, but it is handled as a non 3GPP based network. It should be mentioned that the ITU has defined requirements for an advanced radio technology network called IMT-Advanced system 2 which will be the 4 th generation (4G). The LTE technology does not fulfill all the requirements of this definition (e.g. peak data rates up to 1 Gbps) is therefore not a 4G technology, but it is sometimes called as a pre-4G technology. 3GPP is already working on an LTE Advanced specification which will be available in 2010/2011 and offered as a candidate for 4G.
2.2.4. EPS OVERVIEW The EPS (Evolved Packet System) is an end to end enhancement to the existing UMTS architecture. EPS represents a migration from the traditional hierarchical system architecture to a flat architecture that minimizes the number of hops and distributes the processing load across the network. Some more details can be seen in Figure 4. eNodeB EUTRAN EPC EPS EUTRAN - eNodeB - reduced number of nodes - OFDMA - SC-FDMA - adaptive modulation (up to 64 QAM) EPC - all IP - interworking with 3GPP and non 3GPP networks - More efficient QoS and security MME P-GW S-GW HSS
Figure 4: EPS overview
The evolved packet system (EPS) is made up of the evolved packet core (EPC) and evolved UTRAN (EUTRAN). The EUTRAN has an evolved Node B (eNB) and a new air interface based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) in the uplink. The EUTRAN air interface is a new packet-only wideband radio with flat architecture. The EPC is a packet switched data solution which supports interworking across different 3GPP and non- 3GPP access technologies. The number of nodes and the interfaces are reduced in the LTE architecture to cut down on the latency, the cost and the complexity.
1 See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CDMA2000_networks 2 IMT = International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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The reduction in complexity can be seen by comparing the in Figure 5 with the EPS architecture in Figure 6.
GSM radio network (GERAN) UMTS radio network (UTRAN) BSC RNC MSC/ VLR SGSN A G b Iu-PS I u - C S GGSN External Voice Network External Data Networks BTS NodeB GMSC BTS Base Transceiver Station MSC Mobile Switching Center GMSC Gateway MSC RNC Radio Network Controller SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network CS-CN PS-CN HLR HLR
The two main differences between the packet network part of 2G/3G and the EPS network architecture are: Flat network architecture in EPS: No central controller for eNodeB: the functions of the RNC are distributed between eNodeB, MME and S-GW Clear separation between signaling and data: The data connections go directly to the S-GW and signaling (for mobility and radio session) is handled by MME. This allows a better scaling of the network equipment. If data rate requirements are increasing due to e.g. the introduction of a new service like mobile TV then only the capacity of the S-GW and P-GW have to be prepared accordingly.
2.2.5. VOICE SERVICES IN EPS The EPS architecture does not have a separate circuit-switched network (CS) as in 2G/3G networks. All services are packet-switched (PS) and therefore also voice calls have to be handled natively by VoIP and IMS. This is one of the key changes due to the evolution towards an all-IP based core network. In EPS both voice and data services are provided by one consolidated network. Operators will be able to provide voice and data services with a single unified core network. As a result, separation between the circuit switched and packet switched networks will disappear. A network operator who does not already have an IMS based voice service in place is required to introduce IMS in parallel to the introduction of LTE. At least this is the proposed strategy of GSMA 3 . GSMA supports an industry initiative called VoLTE (Voice over LTE 4 ) and creates a profile for minimum IMS functions to be supported by an operator to guarantee interoperability and roaming. But how is IMS included in the EPS architecture? Looking to Figure 6 the IMS network is one of the PDNs (Packet Data Networks) where an operator offers access to. That means that IMS signaling and media is transparently carried throughout LTE and EPC networks and handed over to an IMS network as one of the possible PDNs. This is depicted in Figure 7 below. EUTRAN EPC IMS IMS signalling and session data
Figure 7: EPS and IMS as a dedicated Packet Data Network (PDN)
The VoLTE initiative was a clear message against another initiative, which proposes to continue re-using the CS-infrastructure of 2G/3G by tunneling TDM oriented voice-traffic via PS access network (VoLGA 5 ). Despite of some hype at start of the VoLGA initiative it meanwhile seems to be clear that the VoLGA initiative will not be supported by most of the operators. The main
3 GSMA = GSM Association ; http://www.gsmworld.com/ 4 VoLTE initiative: http://www.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_broadband/VoLTE.htm 5 VoLGA initiative: http://www.volga-forum.com/ EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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issue of separate solutions is that due to the handset market and the requirement of roaming a market fragmentation (VoLTE and VoLGA) seems to be economically infeasible, But even when the strategy is clear and the industry is moving towards an IMS based service infrastructure the complexity of seamless handover between 2G/3G CS-based voice services and IMS based voice service in EPS must not be underestimated. 3GPP has therefore decoupled the introduction of LTE/EPC from the introduction of IMS by defining a so called CS-Fallback solution. All the details of the integration of voice-services and inter-RAT 6 technology handover will be covered by another part of the lecture.
2.2.6. SEAMLESS MOBILITY AND CONVERGENCE WITH ALL-IP Before the details of the EPC architecture are explained the advantages of the EPS architecture based on an all-IP network should be highlighted again. For operators, these integrated networks offer reduced operating costs. They also enable operators to offer integrated multimedia services combining voice and data services. As every communication network moves to IP-based networks, seamless mobility can be achieved by moving to All-IP-based networks. During the introduction the 3GPP based access networks (GERAN/UTRAN/EUTRAN) have been mentioned only. But in next chapter the inclusion of non 3GPP networks will also be explained. As an overall picture the target network infrastructure offered by EPS looks as presented in Figure 8 . Services (e.g. IMS) All-IP Core (EPC) WLAN Hot-Spots UTRAN GERAN EUTRAN WiMAX
Figure 8: Seamless Mobility with all-IP network
For instance, the user should be able to move from a Wireless LAN connection (voice and data) to a cellular network connection while leaving for work. Once the user enters the office, the connection should seamlessly be transferred from a cellular network to an enterprise network. The idea has been around since 2G networks were introduced. However with LTE it is close to getting realized. IMS enables using the same service with any access technology. LTE interworking enables handovers across different access technologies. These two together make seamless mobility no more a dream but a reality.
6 Inter-RAT = Inter Radio Access technology; this means change of radio technology during operation EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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Another is the growth of IP networks. As every type of wireless network moves towards IP networks, and cellular networks develop an all-IP core network architecture, mobility between various types of radio networks can be achieved by all-IP networks. The network architecture shown above is based on IMS and inter-technology interworking. This enables true convergence of services. Convergence is a phenomenon that allows the subscriber to access any service, anywhere, using any device and any access network. IP convergence fully exploits the potential of IP to implement convergence. In practice, IP convergence allows the user to obtain numerous services while stationary or while on the move using a variety of devices on different radio access networks.
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3. EVOLVED SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 3.1. 3G ARCHITECTURE
Figure 9 (again) shows the typical architecture of a 2G/3G network which usually has two types of core networks, a circuit switched-core network (CS-CN) and a packet switched-core network (PS-CN). Both core networks are usually supported by two radio networks GERAN (2G) and UTRAN (3G). Voice services are supported using the circuit switched network and packet services are supported using the packet switched core network. The radio interfaces support bursty traffic for the packet domain and traditional telephony traffic for the CS domain
GSM radio network (GERAN) UMTS radio network (UTRAN) BSC RNC MSC/ VLR SGSN A G b Iu-PS I u - C S GGSN External Voice Network External Data Networks BTS NodeB GMSC BTS Base Transceiver Station MSC Mobile Switching Center GMSC Gateway MSC RNC Radio Network Controller SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network CS-CN PS-CN HLR HLR
Figure 9: 2G/3G network architecture
The GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) consists of Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and Base Station Controller (BSC). The UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) consists of Node Bs and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs). The MSC/VLR (Mobile Switching Center/Visitor Location Register) is the key element in the circuit switched core network. The Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and the Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) are the two key elements in the packet switched core network. The Home Location Register (HLR) maintains the database for the domains and may be used in common. Initial releases of UMTS used an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) backbone. Later releases moved towards an IP backbone. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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With the advent of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) UMTS started moving towards supporting even voice services over the packet domain, with the assistance of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). Using only one core network to support both voice and packet services reduces the CAPEX and OPEX cost for the operators. But as the legacy CS-CN cannot be switched off on an instant 3GPP has defined the voice call continuity (VCC) feature to enable handover between the two domains. VCC relies on IMS and enables seamless mobility. It also requires support of inter-radio-access-technology (inter-RAT) interworking. Moving from a circuit-switched core network for a voice call towards a packet-switched core network brings up the issue of latency. The reduction of latency of the packet switched network (LTE and EPC) has been one major requirement of the EPS architecture.
3.2. EPS ARCHITECTURE 3.2.1. REQUIREMENTS The main requirements of EPS are summarized in Figure 10. The usual core network requirements like low latency, good QoS support and enhanced security features apply also for the EPS. But decreased complexity is also a key requirement of the EPS.
Main EPS requirements Low latency Decreased Complexity - No CS-core-network - Direct Link between core and NodeB Good QoS support Enhanced security
Figure 10: EPS requirements
The EPS doesn't have a circuit switched core network and the radio access network (LTE) does not support legacy TDM oriented transmission as it is only packet based. Therefore voice services are supported on the packet network only. This leads to some disruption which we will further investigate later. The only major architectural difference is that the core network directly communicates with the Node B instead of the RNC. Basically the functionalities of the Node B and the RNC are merged into a common node called the Evolved Node B or the eNode B. This helps to reduce the latency.
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3.2.2. FEATURES The main features of EPS to be mentioned are: 1. No circuit switched network Voice call continuity between EPC and a CS-network is supported with the help of IMS. 2. Network sharing LTE allows multiple PLMNs to share a radio access network. The eUTRAN broadcasts multiple PLMN-IDs and the UE can choose the best one. 3. Evolution path for 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks EPC supports interworking between technologies like UMTS, CDMA2000, 1x/1xEV-DO, GPRS/EDGE and WiMAX. 4. Distributed architecture If one node goes down, the other nodes can pick up the load from that faulty node. Redundancy and load sharing are main benefits of the EPC's IP-based distributed architecture.
3.2.3. ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW The overview architecture of the Evolved Packet System (LTE + EPC) is depicted in Figure 11.
S1-U S 1 - M M E S11 S5/S8 External Packet Data Network (PDN) eNodeB eUTRAN LTE S6a EPC PCRF HSS ePDG MME P-GW S-GW
Figure 11: EPS overview architecture
The EPS consists of a radio network (LTE) and the packet switched core network (EPC). The radio network is also called an Evolved UTRAN or EUTRAN. The packet core network of EPC is called the Evolved Packet Core network. The new entities in the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) consist of the Mobility Management Entity (MME), the Serving Gateway (S-GW), the PDN Gateway (P-GW), Home Subscriber Server (HSS) and the evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG). The different nodes within the EPC are explained in the next chapters.
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3.2.4. MOBILITY MANAGEMENT ENTITY (MME) The MME is the prime node for all core signaling functionalities. It is responsible for: - Managing and storing UE contexts information like IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) and UE network capability - Generating temporary identifiers for the UEs like Globally Unique Temporary Identity - Mobility management functions such as coordinating the signaling for inter-S-GW handovers - Session management function like coordinating the signaling to establish and to end bearers for a service - Distributing paging messages to eNode Bs - Security/authentication control The MME plays a key role in inter-technology handovers.
3.2.5. SERVING GATEWAY (S-GW) AND PDN-GATEWAY (P-GW) Two gateways are used within the core network to handle the user traffic. The Serving Gateway communicates with the eNodeB and the PDN-Gateway communicates with the external packet data network (PDN). The task-split between S-GW and P-GW is shown in Figure 12.
S1-U S5 External Packet Data Networks (PDN) eNodeB SGi Data Forwarding Inter-3GPP mobility anchor Gateway to PDNs Inter-technology mobility anchor IP address allocation Data rate enforcment S-GW P-GW
Figure 12: Task-split between S-GW and P-GW
The S-GW is defined to handle user data and is involved in the routing/forwarding of data packets between the EUTRAN (eNodeB) and the P-GW. Packets are forwarded between the S-GW and the P-GW over the S5 interface. The S-GW is connected to the EUTRAN via the S1- U interface which provides user plane tunneling. The S-GW also performs mobility anchoring for inter-3GPP mobility like LTE to UMTS handovers. An S4 interface (not shown in above figure) connects the S-GW with the legacy SGSN. A UE can be connected (via eNodeB) to exactly one serving gateway at any instance. The PDN Gateway is the node that connects the UE to external PDNs (Packet Data Networks) and acts as the UE's default router. The world-wide Internet is an example of a PDN and IMS is another example. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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A UE may be connected to multiple PDNs through one or more PDN Gateways. The PDN-GW is responsible for anchoring the user plane mobility between the 3GPP access networks and non- 3GPP access networks like 1xEV-DO. The PDN Gateway is also responsible for the allocation of an IP address to the UE. Furthermore it supports downlink data rate enforcement ensuring that a user does not exceed his subscribed traffic rate. In practical implementations both gateway functions may be included in a single network node (combined S-GW/P-GW).
3.2.6. HOME SUBSCRIBER SERVER (HSS) The HSS (Home Subscriber Server) is a user database that stores subscription related information to support call control and session management. It therefore communicates with the MME and acts as a storehouse for user identification, numbering and the Service Profile. The function of the HSS for the EPS may be combined with the HSS defined for IMS. Both functional entities contain data for the subscribers within a domain.
3.2.7. EVOLVED PACKET DATA GATEWAY (EPDG) The evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) is used to interwork with non trusted non-3GPP IP access systems. untrusted non-3GPP access network EPC P-GW ePDG T u n n e l i n g
Figure 13: Tunnel connection to ePDG
The ePDG secures the non trusted access by having a secured tunnel (IPsec tunnel) between the UE and the ePDG as shown in Figure 13. When a UE attaches to a non trusted non-3GPP access network, first the UE discovers the IP address of the ePDG, then it sets up an IPSec tunnel to the ePDG and finally it can access the services in the PDN. The UE cannot access any node in the EPC until it authenticates and sets up an IPsec tunnel. The ePDG can also act as a local mobility anchor within the non trusted non-3GPP access network. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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3.2.8. POLICY CHARGING RULE FUNCTION (PCRF) With the introduction of IMS the SIP session signaling (control plane) has already been separated from user data (user plane). The same concept is continued with introduction of the EPS. The EPS represents the user plain including a sophisticated mobility control while the session signaling is done in IMS outside of the EPS. The PCRF (Policy Charging Rule Function) is already known from the IMS architecture. It has the same role in EPS where it controls the data connections which are called EPS bearers. The applications (which are represented by the P-CSCF in case of IMS, or e.g. by a video streaming server) interact with the PCRF and the PCRF controls the P-GW and in some cases also the S-GW and other access gateways to open and close gates and to enforce bandwidth and QoS. This interaction is also required to tie up the signaling and bearer for billing purposes.
S5/S8 PCRF P-GW External Packet Data Network (IMS) P-CSCF SGi
Figure 14: Control of EPS bearers by PCRF
3.2.9. EUTRAN The evolved NodeB (eNodeB) is part of the new 3GPP defined radio access network eUTRAN. The eNodeBs are responsible for controlling the radio link and to care for data rates in excess of 100 Mbps. Figure 15 shoes the principle architecture of the eUTRAN.
LTE-Uu S1 S1 S1 Evolved Packet Core X2 X 2 X 2 Radio Resource Management Radio Handover Management Call Admission Control Latency Reduction
Figure 15: eUTRAN architecture EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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Radio Resource Management (RRM), Radio Handover Management, and Call Admission Control (CAC) are implemented at the eNode B. Having just eNode Bs in the eUTRAN simplifies the architecture by having a reduced number of nodes and interfaces. This architecture reduces the cost for the operator and reduces the latency of the system. The UE and the eNodeB communicate using OFDMA in downlink and SC-FDMA in uplink and uses advanced antenna techniques. The eNode Bs are interconnected by the X2 interface. The X2 interface between eNode Bs is new and unique to LTE. This interface is primarily used for intra-LTE handover signaling and data forwarding during handovers. The S1 interface is the interface between the eUTRAN and the evolved packet core. The S1 interface within the EPC is split into two components: The signaling part for mobility signaling (S1-MME) is handled by the MME The data part (S1-U) is handled by S-GW A many-to-many S1 interface is provided between the eNode Bs and EPC supports redundancy/load sharing of network nodes and enables support for the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) model. A many-to-many S1 interface enables multiple service operators to share the same radio network.
3.2.10. TRACKING CONCEPT During movement a mobile UE is covered by different eNodeBs. In active mode the network always has full knowledge about the UEs position, because it has to manage the resources during handover. In contrast, in idle mode, as long as the UE is principally registered with the network, it needs to know the position only on a level of some area. If this would not be the case, a search within the whole network would be required when terminating traffic for the UE arrives. The concept of Tracking Areas (TA) has been developed for this purpose. This is similar to Location Areas (LA) in GSM and Routing Areas (RA) in GPRS. Basically the whole eUTRAN is divided into non-overlapping TAs as shown in Figure 16. Note that cells of an eNodeB may belong to different TAs. TA e TA b TA x . . . eNB1 eNB2 Tracking Area 2 Tracking Area 1 TA x TA y TA z . . . UE1 UE2
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Figure 16: Tracking Area concept
The actual TA identifier is broadcasted within the radio cell and the UE has to register its current TA with the network (the MME). The MME allocates a list of TAs to a UE and the UE may move freely within the list of TAs without updating its position. This reduces the idle traffic of TA update messages and in case of terminating traffic the MME has to search a UE only within its assigned TA-list. The TA-list are assigned individually to a UE and may follow e.g. usual moving patterns of a user to further reduce and optimize the idle traffic of TA update messages. 3.2.11. REDUNDANCY AND DISTRIBUTED ARCHITECTURE The many-to-many relationship is a further characteristic of the EPS. It enables redundancy and load distribution on many levels as shown in Figure 17. The EPS defines something called an MME pool area and S-GW service areas. An MME pool area is defined as a group of tracking areas within which a UE will be able to stay attached to the same MME. An MME pool area is served by one or more MMEs in parallel. When an MME attaches to the network, the eNodeB performs load balancing to choose an MME from the associated MME pool. This redundant architecture also provides fault tolerance among MMEs in an MME pool area. A service area is defined as a group of tracking areas within which a UE will be able to stay attached to the same S-GW. The S-GW service area is served by one or more S-GWs in parallel. The MME performs redundancy and fault tolerance support for S-GWs over the same service area.
Tracking Area 1 Tracking Area 2 Tracking Area 3 Tracking Area 4 Tracking Area 5 MME 1 MME 2 MME Pool 1 S-GW 1 Service Area 1 S-GW 2 MME 3 MME 4 MME Pool 2 S-GW 3 Service Area 2 S-GW 4
Figure 17: Distributed architecture with areas and pools
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3.3. EPS INTERFACES AND PROTOCOLS
The main interfaces of the EPS are shown in Figure 18.
SGi LTE-Uu S6a S 1 - U S5 PDN eNodeB UE S 1 - M M E S11 X2 S 1 - U S 1 - M M E S-GW MME HSS P-GW
Figure 18: Main interfaces of EPS
The S1-MME is the interface defined between the eNode B and the MME. The S1-MME interface is responsible for S1 bearer management. The interface between the MME and the S-GW is called the S11 interface. The MME uses this interface to talk to the S-GW to manage the EPS bearers. The interface between the S-GW and the P-GW is called the S5 interface. The S5 bearer can be either a GTP (GPRS Tunnelling Protocol) tunnel or a GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation) tunnel. GTP-C 7 takes care of the S5 GTP-based bearer management. PMIPv6 8
takes care of S5 GRE-based bearer management 9 . In the case where the S-GW is in a visited LTE network (roaming), the interface between S-GW and P-GW is referred to as the S8 interface. The only difference between the S5 and the S8 interface is the need for additional security. Otherwise, there is no difference between the S5 and the S8 interface. S6a is the interface defined between the MME and the HSS. DIAMETER is the chosen protocol to interface with the HSS. X2 is the interface defined between the two eNodeBs. X2 plays a role in creating tunnels between source and target eNodeBs to forward packets during inter-eNodeB mobility. S1-U is the interface defined between the eNodeB and the S-GW. It is responsible for forwarding the data packets across the eNodeB and the S-GW. S1-U is a user plane only interface. The signaling required for establishing bearers between the eNodeB and the S-GW is done using S1-MME and S11 interfaces. S1-MME and the S11 interface are signaling only interfaces. Between the UE and the MME the Non Access Stratum (NAS) protocol is defined. NAS messages are carried over the LTE-Uu between the UE and the eNodeB and are carried over the
7 GTP consists of a control part (GTP-C) and a user part (GTP-U). 8 PMIPv6: Proxy Mobile IPv6 is an IETF protocol to support mobility 9 GTP was proposed by mobile operators as an all-in-one protocol for bearer management, mobility and QoS while PMIPv6 was proposed by IETF groups who always tend to re-use existing protocols. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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S1-MME interface between the eNodeB and the MME. NAS takes care of mobility management and session management of a UE. The mobility management procedure includes registration of the UE to the network, intra-LTE mobility and inter-system mobility. The Registration process ends up creating a mobility context for a UE at the MME. The session management procedure includes creation, deletion and modification of EPS bearers.
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4. REGISTRATION This chapter explains the different operations that a UE performs from power on to power off. It shows in detail the registration procedure and describes the different steps like authentication, default bearer establishment and the IP address allocation procedure involved during the registration process.
4.1. AUTHENTICATION AND SECURITY 4.1.1. LIFE OF A MOBILE To start with the big picture these are the major activities of a mobile between power on and power off. After powering on, a UE first completes frequency and time synchronization. Then it picks a preferred network and establishes an RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection with the selected cell. Now it is ready to register with the network. The Registration process makes the UE's presence known to the network. This enables the network to deliver incoming calls or services to the UE. It also enables the UE to start any services. During the Registration process a default EPS (Evolved Packet System) bearer is established for a UE. Default EPS bearers provide kind of best effort QoS. If some services require better QoS, then service addition procedures are used to establish these better QoS bearers called dedicated bearers. Then the UE can perform different types of mobility procedures based on its capabilities and serving network's capabilities. Lastly, it releases all its bearers and deregisters from the network when it is powered off.
4.1.2. HIGH LEVEL VIEW OF NETWORK ATTACHMENT Figure 19 depicts a high level view of the network attachment procedure which includes the following steps: After the UE has acquired the network and has established a signaling radio bearer between the UE and the eNodeB, it performs the initial attach procedure where it selects an MME. An S1 signaling bearer between the eNodeB and the MME is also established. An authentication is performed during registration to make sure the UE is the right mobile connected to the right network. The authentication in EPS is a 2- way authentication: the UE and the network both authenticate each other. Then the MME selects the S-GW and the P-GW for a given UE. The always-on IP connectivity for users of the EPS is enabled by establishing a default EPS bearer between the UE and the PDN-GW. An IP address can be allocated during or after default bearer set up.
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eNodeB UE Network discovery Access system selection RRC connection establisment Initial attach S1 signalling bearer set up MME selection Authentication S-GW and P-GW selection Default bearer set up IP address allocation S-GW MME HSS P-GW
Figure 19: High level view of network attachment
4.1.3. INITIAL ATTACH REQUEST Figure 20 shows some details of the initial attachment procedure. The UE initiates the attachment procedure by the transmission of an Attach Request message which contains the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), UE Network Capability, PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) ID and PDN Address Allocation to the eNodeB. The UE Network Capability includes security information like NAS (Non-Access Stratum) security algorithms. The PDN Address Allocation indicates whether the UE wants to perform IP address allocation during the execution of the procedure and, when known, it indicates the UE IP version capability (IPv4, IPv4&IPv6, IPv6), which is the capability of the IP stack associated with the UE. The IMSI uniquely identifies the subscriber. The PLMN ID indicates the selected network of the subscriber. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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eNodeB UE Initial Attach Request IMSI UE network capability PDN address allocation PLMN ID MME Pool PLMN ID eNodeB picks an MME based on PLMN ID and load MME 1 MME 2 MME 3
Figure 20: Initial attachment and MME selection
The eNodeB then selects the MME based on the selected network and the load of MMEs in the MME pool.
4.1.4. AUTHENTICATION Figure 21 shows the details of the authentication procedure in EPS. It uses the EPS AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement) procedure for mutual authentication of the UE and the network. This procedure is derived from the UMTS Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol as also the authentication procedure in IMS. The network initiates authentication and the key agreement procedure (AKA) during the registration procedure. The MME contacts the HSS/AuC to request security parameters. The HSS generates XRES, AUTN, K ASME (Access Security Management Entity) using a random number and a subscriber authentication key (K) with specific authentication algorithms. K is known to the HSS and the UE. K is never transmitted out of either the HSS or the UE. However during authentication both the UE and the HSS generate RES, AUTN and K ASME . RES is used to verify the authenticity of the UE and AUTN is used to verify the authenticity of the network. The HSS sends the XRES, RAND, AUTN and K ASME to the MME over a secured link. The MME stores the XRES and the K ASME and challenges the UE by forwarding AUTN and RAND to the UE. So at the UE side and the network side, RES and AUTN are generated using stored authentication key and the random number. Then they are compared against each other. If it was a rogue network or if it was a rogue UE, it wouldn't have the authentication key. In such cases, the values generated at both ends would not match. K ASME is the key parameter that is used to generate a set of parameters used for encryption and integrity procedures.
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UE Authentication Request (IMSI) Authentication Response (IMSI, RAND, XRES, AUTN KASME) Authentication Request (RAND, AUTN) Stores KASME and XRES Generates KASME, AUTN and RES using K and RAND Checks if generated AUTN is equal to received AUTN Authentication Response (RES) Checks if received RES is equal to XRES MME HSS
Figure 21: Authentication procedure
4.1.5. SECURITY The access security in EPS consists of integrity protection and encryption. Integrity protection makes sure that packets in transit are not altered by anyone. Encryption ensures that only the intended recipient knows what is being sent and unauthorized parties do not. Within the access part of EPS we have to distinguish between the Access Stratum (messages between UE and eNodeB) and the Non Access Stratum (messages between UE and MME). Messages of the Access Stratum (AS) are typically the RRC messages (Radio Resource Control) whereas messages of the Non Access Stratum (NAS) are typically handover messages. NAS and AS messages are both integrity protected and encrypted. User plane messages are just encrypted. The EPS uses two types of security mechanisms, one for the NAS and another one for the AS. The selection mechanisms are shown in Figure 22.
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UE NAS Security Mode CMD (selected algorithms) NAS Security Mode Complete MME selects NAS integrity and security algorithms eNodeB UE stores the selected algorithms eNodeB selects RRC and user plane security algorithms AS Security Mode CMD (selected algorithms) AS Security Mode Complete UE stores the selected algorithms MME
Figure 22: Selection of security algorithms
For the selection of the NAS security algorithms the MME selects after authentication the NAS integrity and encryption based on the prioritized list configured at the MME and also the security capabilities of the UE. The selected algorithms are communicated to the UE using the NAS security mode command. This message and all the subsequent downlink NAS messages would be integrity protected. The UE makes a note of the selected encryption and integrity algorithms. It acknowledges the reception of the NAS security mode command by sending a NAS security mode complete message. This message would be integrity protected. The NAS security procedure enables encryption and integrity protection of the NAS messages. For the selection of the AS security algorithms the eNodeB selects the RRC and user plane integrity and the encryption algorithm to be used. Selection is done again based on the prioritized list sent by the MME and also the security capabilities of the UE. The selected algorithms are communicated to the UE using the AS security mode command. This message and all the subsequent downlink AS messages would be integrity protected. The UE makes a note of the selected encryption and integrity algorithms. It acknowledges the reception of the AS security mode command by sending an AS security mode complete message. This message would be integrity protected. The AS security procedure enables encryption and integrity protection of the RRC messages and encryption on the user plane messages. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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4.1.6. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION The next step after the mutual authentication and the selection of integrity protection and encryption algorithms is the update of location information and the download of subscription data between MME and HSS. This is shown in Figure 23.
Update Location Insert Subscriber Data (List of all APNs, Default APN) The MME selects the P-GW that serves the default APN The MME selects the S-GW that supports all the services of the UE Insert Subscriber Data Ack MME HSS
Figure 23: Exchange of f Location and Subscription Information
After authentication, the MME lets the HSS know that it is currently serving the UE by sending an Update Location message. The HSS sends an Insert Subscriber Data message to the MME. The subscription data contains the list of all Access Point Names (APNs) that the UE is permitted to access and the Default APN to be used for that UE. The APNs correspond to the networks where the UE may request access to (e.g. the IMS for operator provided services or the Internet). Based on the APNs the P-GWs are selected. One of the APNs is the default APN where a connection is setup after the registration. Connections to other networks (based on the other APNs) are setup on demand only. The MME proceeds now with establishing a default EPS beare. The MME establishes the default bearer with a P-GW that serves the default APN. The MME also selects the S-GW that serves the area where the UE is currently located.
4.2. DEFAULT BEARER SETUP With default bearer establishment, the UE gets connected to the default PDN and can perform best-effort type of services such as background downloading of e-mails. The default bearer provides always on connectivity and accelerates setup of some services such as VoIP. The set-up of the default EPS bearer between UE and P-GW is shown in Figure 24. We have to distinguish three parts of the bearer: the radio bearer between UE and eNodeB the S1 bearer between eNodeB and S-GW the S5-bearer between S-GW and P-GW
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eNodeB UE Store S-GW addr and TEID Create default bearer request Create default bearer request (S-GW TEID) Create default bearer response (P-GW TEID, IP-addr of UE) Create default bearer response (S-GW TEID towards eNodeB) S5 S1 Control msg: S-GW addr, TEID (Attach accept, GUTI, IP addr) TEID: Tunnel Endpoint Identifier GUTI: Globally Unique Temporary Identity RRC Control msg: default radio-b. info (Attach accept, GUTI, IP addr) RRC Control msg: (Attach complete) Default radio bearer S1 Control msg: eNodeB addr, TEID (Attach complete) Update bearer req. (eNodeB addr. and TEID) Default S1-U bearer Update bearer resp. S5 Default S1-U bearer Default radio bearer Default EPS-Bearer MME S-GW P-GW
Figure 24: Default EPS Bearer Set-Up EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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The creation of the default S5 and S1 bearers is initiated by the MME by sending a create default EPS bearer request to the S-GW. The S-GW and P-GW establish an S5 bearer by exchanging the Create Default bearer request and response messages. They both exchange their tunnel end point identifiers (TEID). The P-GW also generates an IP address for the UE and forwards it to the S-GW. The S-GW indicates the successful creation of the default S5 bearer to the MME and also indicates its tunnel end point towards the S1 bearer. Please note that the creation of the default bearers between the S-GW and the eNodeB is coordinated by the MME. The MME now sends an Attach Accept message to the eNodeB which contains a new GUTI (Globally Unique Temporary Identity) and the IP address Information 10 . The Attach Accept message is embedded in an Sl-MME control message and sent to the eNodeB. Along with the Attach Accept message the MME also forwards the S-GW tunnel endpoint ID (TEID) to the eNodeB. The eNodeB makes a note of the S-GW tunnel ID and forwards the Attach Accept message to the UE using an RRC message. The eNodeB sends then default radio bearer related parameters in the RRC message. The UE now sends the Attach complete message embedded in an RRC Connection message to the eNodeB. This completes the establishment of the default radio bearer. The last step is to establish the default S1-U Bearer and to finish up with the Attach procedure. The eNodeB forwards the Attach Complete message to the MME in an S1-MME control message. This S1-MME control message includes the TEID of the eNodeB used for downlink traffic on the S1-U interface. The MME sends the tunnel ID sent by the eNod B to the S-GW. This completes the establishment of the default S1 bearer between the eNodeB and the S-GW. Now the end-to-end default EPS bearer is ready. The UE can use this default bearer for any service that requires just default QoS treatment.
10 A UE is identified at the MME by its GUTI. It helps protect the user identity. The IMSI is rarely transmitted over the air. Instead the GUTI is used to identify the UE. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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5. SERVICE DATA FLOWS AND QOS Besides offering a default bearer service with a default QoS a main target of EPS is to also offer dedicated bearers with specific QoS. A main term in this area is the Service Data Flow (SDF). The following chapters explain how Service Data Flow are defined how Service Data Flows are mapped to EPS bearers how a dedicated bearer is created for a specific service how QoS classes are defined within EPS
5.1. INTRODUCTION TO SERVICE DATA FLOW AND EPS BEARER 5.1.1. HIGH LEVEL VIEW The Evolved Packet System (EPS) allows a user to connect to external IP networks. The public Internet is the most common IP network, but there may also be a need for a user or group of users to connect to private networks such as corporate networks or to an IMS services network. In general, then the EPS provides a PDN connectivity service which allows a user to connect to multiple external IP networks perhaps simultaneously. This situation is shown in Figure 25.
UE EPS PDN 1 PDN 2 PDN 3 IP addresses - A user may subscribe to multiple PDN connections - PDNs are identified by an APN (e.g. Internet) - a default APN is part of the user subscription information in HSS P-GW 1 P-GW 2
Figure 25: Multiple PDN connections
A user subscription may allow the user to connect to two or more PDNs. A PDN can host one or more applications. For each of the subscribed PDNs, the user's profile in the HSS contains an Access Point Name (APN) which identifies the PDN. This APN can be used to choose a suitable PDN GW for the user's PDN connectivity service. At the initial connection to the EPS, a default APN, identified in the subscription data, is used during the Attach procedure for default PDN connection. Subsequently the user may establish connectivity with another PDN by specifying the APN to which it wants to connect. The UE may use different IP addresses per PDN connection. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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5.1.2. SERVICES AND SERVICE DATA FLOW A service in the context of EPS is an application that runs between the UE and the Application Server. An application or a service is identified by the IP address of the UE and the IP Address of the Application Server and also the UDP/TCP port numbers used by the UE and the Application Server. Three networks can be distinguished which are responsible for the connectivity and the QoS of a service as shown in Figure 26.
UE EPS QoS ? Backhaul Network QoS ? PDN QoS ? Application Server P-GW Service Data Flow
Figure 26: Service Data Flow
The end-to-end logical connection between the UE and the Application Server is called the Service Data Flow (SDF). A packet filter is used to identify a SDF. The Packet filter definition includes the source IP address, the destination IP address and the ports used at the source and destination nodes. The packets for that service pass through different networks like EPS, backhaul networks and the PDN which is hosting the service. QoS (Quality of Service) is defined for an application or for a Service Data Flow. QoS require- ments for a service must be met at all three networks to get an overall satisfaction. The EPS is only responsible for meeting QoS goals within the EPS.
5.1.3. SERVICE DATA FLOW AND EPS BEARERS A Service Data Flow (SDF) is an end-to-end application level packet flow between a UE and a device in an external Packet Data Network (PDN). QoS is defined at the SDF level. It is however controlled or enforced at the EPS bearer level. This means that two SDFs with the same QoS requirements can be supported by a single EPS bearer provided they are hosted on the same PDN. This situation is shown in Figure 27 for SDF 1 and SDF 2. Figure 27 further shows that the different service data flows are be mapped to certain EPS bearers. Where is this mapping done? The mapping of SDFs to the EPS bearer happens at the UE and the P-GW. One or more packet filters are associated with an EPS bearer. The packet filters that define the association between SDFs and an EPS bearer are called the Traffic Flow Template.
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EPS P-GW UE EPS bearer 1 SDF 2 SDF 1 EPS bearer 2 SDF 3 AS1 AS2 AS3 - A PDN connection may support more then one bearer - A Service Data Flow has a defined QoS charcteristic - An EPS bearer is the level where QoS is enforced - SDFs may be aggregated into the same bearer
Figure 27: Service Data Flows an EPS bearers
5.1.4. EPS BEARER As already mentioned in chapter 4.2 an EPS bearer consists of three traffic paths: - the radio bearer - the S2 bearer - the S5 bearer But this partition is only true if Generic Tunneling Protocol (GTP) is used. This is the case when only 3GPP based access networks are used. In case of non 3GPP based access networks the EPS bearer concept is different (see chapter 5.4). In the case of GTP-based S5 connections, an EPS bearer is composed of the three traffic paths mentioned above. The S5 interface carries the traffic of an EPS bearer in a GTP tunnel. Similarly the S1 interface between the S-GW and eNodeB carries the traffic of an EPS bearer in another GTP tunnel. The third leg is the air interface component known as the radio bearer. There is a one-to-one mapping between the EPS bearer and all three component paths. On initial connection to the EPS, a default APN, identified in the subscription data, is used during the Attach procedure for PDN connection. With the attach procedure a default EPS bearer is established for a default APN. But after attachment further EPS bearers may be established. The user may e.g. wish to activate a service that requires a better QoS than what the default EPS bearer is supporting. In that case a dedicated EPS bearer is established. Before establishing a dedicated bearer to a new PDN other than the default APN, a default EPS bearer is established for the new PDN. 5.1.5. DOWNSTREAM AND UPSTREAM PACKET CLASSIFICATION Which network elements are responsible for classifying packets and mapping SDFs to EPS bearer? Taking into consideration the three parts of an EPS bearer we have the situation shown in Figure 28 which also explains what happens at each node. EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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UE S1 Bearer Radio Bearer S5 Bearer Upstream: UE maps SDF to Radio Bearer eNodeB maps Radio Bearer to S1 Bearer and vice versa S-GW maps S1 Bearer to S5 Bearer and vice versa Downstream: P-GW maps SDF to S5 Bearer S-GW P-GW eNodeB
Figure 28: Downstream and Upstream packet classification
The PDN-GW is responsible for mapping IP packets in the downlink to the appropriate GTP tunnel before it is forwarded to an S-GW. The packets arriving from an external Packet Data Network do not contain any explicit information on the service data flows to which they belong. Therefore the PDN-GW must use IP network layer and transport layer header information to classify incoming traffic and detect to which SDF it belongs. The PDN-GW will know which EPS bearer the SDF is associated with and therefore the GTP tunnel. Since there is a GTP tunnel for each EPS bearer, the PDN-GW must classify and map the incoming packets from the PDN (downstream) to the correct tunnels. The task at the S-GW is simpler. Since there is a one-to-one mapping between the S5 tunnel and the corresponding S1 tunnel the S-GW does not need to perform classification of packets. At the eNodeB there is also a one-to-one mapping of the S1 tunnel with the radio bearer. So here there is no need to perform a classification of packets. In the upstream direction it is the UE which classifies upstream packets to s certain SDF and maps theses packets to the corresponding radio bearers in the uplink direction.
5.2. QOS Resources in networks are not available in abundance. This is in particular true for the radio part of EPS. Imagine users clogging the network with viewing YouTube videos while others try to setup an emergency call. Therefore the control of QoS is an important aspect of the EPS.
5.2.1. BEARER CLASSES
In EPS two bearer classes in respect to QoS are defined as shown in Figure 29. EPS bearers are divided into two classes: Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) bearers and non- Guaranteed Bit Rate (non-GBR) bearers. As the names suggests the GBR bearer, when established, will be guaranteed a specific bit rate. For non-GBR bearers, there are no guarantees under congestion conditions that any specific bit rate will be allotted to the service.
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QCI ARP GBR MBR AMBR GBR bearers Non-GBR bearers QCI QoS Class Identifier ARP Allocation and Retention Priority GBR Guaranteed Bitrate MBR Maximum Bitrate AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bitrate
Figure 29: Bearer classes in EPS For these two bearer classes 9 QoS classes are defined. They are broadly divided into GBR and Non-GBR types. The key QoS parameters associated with a service data flow are QoS Class Identifier (QCI) and Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP). QCI defines the general class of the service. For GBR bearers Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) and Maximum Bit Rate (MBR) parameters are specified. The GBR specifies the expected bit rate whereas the MBR puts a limit on the maximum bit rate allowed. For Non-GBR bearers the Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR) parameter is specified. The AMBR is the aggregate bit rate across all non-GBR bearers of a UE going towards the same PDN. The ARP (Allocation and Retention Priority) parameter will be used in congestion situations when not all users and their services can be accommodated. The ARP will be used by the admission control function in the eNodeB. In case of congestion the ARP bit indicates which EPS bearer needs to be retained.
5.2.2. QCI CLASSES Figure 30 shows the different QCI classes in EPS. There are 9 different QCI classes in LTE. Each QCI value has a priority, which will be used by EPS traffic nodes during congestion. If packet queues are close to overflow then Service Data Flows (SDF) with lower priority than others will have their packets discarded first. Note that IMS signaling packets have the highest priority while QCI 9 is equivalent to best effort service. The Packet Delay Budget (PDB) associated with an SDF will be one of the inputs used by the scheduler in the eNodeB. It is used to determine when to deliver packets of the SDF. The PDB values given in the table are a measure of the maximum time allowed for packet delivery from the P-GW to the UE. The packet loss rate from the P-GW to the eNodeB is assumed to be zero in non-congestion situations. The PLR (Packet Loss Rate) in the table refers to non-congestion related losses over-the-air. It is used in an eNodeB to help decide how to set up the radio bearer for a particular SDF.
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QCI Bearer Type Application Example Packet Delay Packet Loss Prio rity 1
GBR Conversational VoIP 100 ms 10 -2 2 2 Conversational Video (Life Streaming) 150 ms 10 -3 4 3 Non-Conversational Video (Buffered Streaming) 300 ms 10 -6 5 4 Real Time Gaming 50 ms 10 -3 3 5
Non- GBR IMS Signalling 100 ms 10 -6 1 6 Voice, Video, Interactive Games 100 ms 10 -3 7 7 Video (Buffered Streaming) TCP Apps (web, e-mail, FTP) Platinum vs. Gold User 300 ms 10 -6 6 8 8 9 9 Figure 30: QCI classes in EPS
5.2.3. DIFFERENTIATED SERVICE Which mechanisms can be used to transport IP traffic of EPS bearers with different QoS requirements? This is of particular importance for the backhaul network which is the part of the network from the transceiver stations (eNodeB) back to the core network. There are two approaches for QoS support in IP networks today, Integrated Service and Differentiated Service (see Figure 31 ). QoS in IP Networks Integrated Service (IntServ) Differentiated Service (DiffServ) Reserve resources throughout the network for every user Used with RSVP signalling Optional in EPS Classify user packets into a small set of classes Mandatory in EPS
Figure 31: QoS methods in IP networks
With the Integrated Service solution, the user requests a particular QoS for a session and submits this request to the network. The network carries signalling, typically Resource Reservation Protocol signaling (RSVP) through the relevant nodes in the network that will carry the traffic. Each node in the network analyzes the request and sets aside the necessary resources to satisfy the request. On the other hand the Differentiated Service solution is a class-based approach and is a highly scalable solution. Its name stems from the fact that traffic is treated differently in the network EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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based on its class. Each packet is individually marked with a DiffServ Code Point (DSCP) that indicates how it should be treated relative to other traffic. DiffServ requires no state to be maintained in the routers and no reservation is done in the routers. It is suitable for use in large IP networks such as backbones. Support of Differentiated Service in EPS nodes and the backhaul network is mandatory. Support of Integrated Service is optional in EPS.
5.3. SERVICE ADDITION AND DEDICATED BEARER SETUP Besides the default bearer which is setup during initial attachment the main focus is on adding additional dedicated bearer channels on request of a service invoked by the user. This chapter gives an overview how this is done based on IMS. 5.3.1. SERVICE ADDITION EXAMPLE From the view of the IMS the EPS is nothing more then an access network. This is shown in
SIP signaling and the supporting IMS network are used initially to create an Service Data Flow for a UE. Using SIP signaling, the UE and the session partner or in above figure an Application Server (AS) negotiate the media types, codecs, and QoS parameters of the service like a pay per view movie hosted on the IMS network. The Call Session Control Function (CSCF) plays a key role in the session establishment. When both the UE and the Application Service have negotiated the bearer requirements of the service, a dedicated EPS bearer needs to be created in LTE.
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5.3.2. PCRF LINKS SDF AND EPS BEARERS
Before creating a dedicated EPS bearer for e.g. a pay per view application, EPS needs to know the QoS and media related information. SIP signaling that took place was transparent to the EPS nodes. EPS is the access network and IMS is the services network. The PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function) is the node that takes the media type and QoS negotiated for a service and communicates it to the EPS access network. This is shown in Figure 33.
EPS P-GW PDN CSCF Video streaming server PCRF Rules required to create the EPS bearers for the video streaming service Session information based on SDP UE
Figure 33: PCRF links SDF and EPS bearers
Once the session is established the P-CSCF in the IMS domain informs the PCRF. Based on the information sent by the PCRF and the subscription information of the UE, the PCRF forms a set of rules. These rules are sent to the P-GW. The P-GW takes the responsibility of establishing the dedicated EPS bearer. 5.3.3. DEDICATED BEARER CREATION
Figure 34 shows in an overview the creation of a dedicated EPS bearer which is very similar to default bearer creation.
The P-GW initiates the establishment of the dedicated bearer setup procedure for e.g. the video streaming application. It sends the QoS info, IMSI and the P-GW TEID for the S5/S8 bearer to the S-GW. The S-GW in turn forwards it to the MME. The MME requests the eNodeB to create a dedicated radio bearer towards the UE and also to send information to setup an S1-U bearer between the eNodeB and the S-GW. The eNodeB does admission control and establishes a dedicated radio bearer. The eNodeB indicates the successful establishment of the radio bearer to the MME. It also passes on the TEID required to establish the S1-U dedicated bearer. The MME passes on this eNodeB tunnel ID information to the S-GW. The S-GW replies to the P-GW with the S-GW TEID required for the S5/S8 dedicated bearer. Thus the whole EPS bearer comprising three parts is finally (Radio, S1- and S5 - bearer) set up.
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UE S-GW P-GW AS QoS policy Application level signalling and media negotiation eNodeB MME PCRF Apply policies Create new bearer request Apply admission control RRC procedures Create new bearer response S1 - bearer Radio bearer S5 - bearer
Figure 34: Creation of a dedicated bearer
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5.4. PMIPV6-BASED EPS BEARER As already mentioned in chapter 3.3 two solutions for signalling at the S5 interface have been defined: GTP and PMIPv6. If a PMIPv6 based S5-bearer is used the notion of EPS bearer is reduced to the sections between UE and S-GW. The section between S-GW and P-GW is GRE-based and not bearer aware.
If a PMIPv6 based S5-bearer is used the scope of an EPS bearer stops at the S-GW. An EPS bearer here consists only of the two sections of the radio bearer and the S1 bearer. All the EPS bearers for a UE going out to a PDN network use a common GRE S5 tunnel. For a PMIPv6-based S5-bearer, only one GRE tunnel exists between the S-GW and a P-GW for PDN connectivity of a UE. Usually multiple services are hosted on the PDN and the UE is using all of them currently and they all have different QoS requirements. Even in that case only a single GRE tunnel exits for a UE for that PDN, but multiple EPS bearers exist between the UE and the S-GW. For a packet in download direction the P-GW maps the external packet filters to the common GRE tunnel. The detailed packet filtering and the SDF to EPS bearer mapping in this case is done by the S-GW. EPS bearer UE S1 Bearer Radio Bearer S-GW P-GW eNodeB GRE tunnel to P-GW S-GW maps SDF to/from S1-bearer P-GW maps SDF to/from GRE tunnel SDF
Figure 35: EPS bearer in case of PMIPv6 based signalling EPS: Introduction and Architecture
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6. EXERCISES AND QUESTIONS After studying this part of the lecture you should be able to answer the following questions:
to be added
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7. REFERENCES 7.1. BOOKS
Magnus Olsson: System Architecture Evolution (SAE): Evolved Packet Core for LTE, Fixed and other Wireless Accesses Gebundene Ausgabe: 464 Seiten Verlag: Academic Press (24. August 2009) Sprache: Englisch ISBN-10: 0123748267 ISBN-13: 978-0123748263
Gottfried Punz: Evolution of 3G Networks: The Concept, Architecture and Realization of Mobile Networks Beyond UMTS Gebundene Ausgabe: 306 Seiten Verlag: Springer, Wien; Auflage: 1., st Edition. (14. Februar 2010) Sprache: Englisch ISBN-10: 3211094393 ISBN13: 978-3211094396