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responsible for Radio Resources Control (RRC), which is charged of lower layers configuration, and
the User Plane situated between the eNodeB and the UE. It consists of the subsequent sublayers, which
are MAC, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Packet Radio Link Control (RLC). The
RRC is charged of making Handover Decisions based on the different measurement reports of the UE
and controlling these reports. It also is responsible for paging and broadcast procedures, all mobility
functions, and radio bearer control, whereas each of the second layers sublayers has its own function.
For instance, the MAC sublayer is responsible for transporting format selection and for traffic volume
measurement. The PHY layer transfers physical channels to MAC that transports it as logical channels
to the RLC layer. The PDCP exists on both control plane and user plane. It takes charge of decryption
process and the ciphering process in both sides. However, it only manages the integrity protection for
control plane and the transfer of its data. It offers header compression and retransmission along in a
handover procedure for the user plane as shown in Fig.6.5.
Handover Management, Macrodiversity and Encryption and Radio channel coding, IP header com-
pression and encryption of user data streams, RRM, Location Management, Measurement and mea-
surement reporting configuration for mobility and scheduling, and Traffic Management are involved
in the radio access protocols in the E-UTRAN access stratum. These are functionalities that are in-
volved in the E-UTRAN. On the other hand, the EPC is composed of a Mobility Management Element

FIGURE 6.5 EPC Elements Fundamental Functions