System

Architecture
Evolution

System Architecture Evolution (SAE) is

the core network architecture of
3GPP's LTE wireless communication
standard.

SAE is the evolution of the GPRS Core

Network, with some differences:

simplified architecture
all-IP Network (AIPN)
support for higher throughput and
lower latency radio access networks
(RANs)
support for, and mobility between,
multiple heterogeneous access
networks, including E-UTRA (LTE and
LTE Advanced air interface), 3GPP
legacy systems (for example GERAN
or UTRAN, air interfaces of GPRS and
UMTS respectively), but also non-
3GPP systems (for example WiFi,
 WiMAX or cdma2000)

SAE Architecture
The SAE has a flat, all-IP architecture
with separation of control plane and
user plane traffic.

The main component of the SAE

architecture is the Evolved Packet Core
(EPC), also known as SAE Core. The
EPC will serve as the equivalent of
GPRS networks (via the Mobility
Management Entity, Serving Gateway
and PDN Gateway subcomponents).
EPC nodes and interfaces

The subcomponents of the EPC

are:[1][2]

MME (Mobility Management Entity):

The MME is the key control-node for
the LTE access-network. It is
responsible for idle mode UE (User
Equipment) paging and tagging
procedure including retransmissions.
It is involved in the bearer
activation/deactivation process and
is also responsible for choosing the
SGW for a UE at the initial attach and
at time of intra-LTE handover
involving Core Network (CN) node
relocation. It is responsible for
authenticating the user (by
interacting with the HSS). The Non
Access Stratum (NAS) signaling
terminates at the MME and it is also
responsible for generation and
allocation of temporary identities to
UEs. It checks the authorization of
the UE to camp on the service
provider’s Public Land Mobile
Network (PLMN) and enforces UE
roaming restrictions. The MME is the
termination point in the network for
ciphering/integrity protection for
NAS signaling and handles the
security key management. Lawful
interception of signaling is also
supported by the MME. The MME
also provides the control plane
function for mobility between LTE
and 2G/3G access networks with the
S3 interface terminating at the MME
from the SGSN. The MME also
terminates the S6a interface towards
the home HSS for roaming UEs.
SGW (Serving Gateway): The SGW
routes and forwards user data
packets, while also acting as the
mobility anchor for the user plane
during inter-eNodeB handovers and
as the anchor for mobility between
LTE and other 3GPP technologies
(terminating S4 interface and
relaying the traffic between 2G/3G
systems and PGW). For idle state
UEs, the SGW terminates the
downlink data path and triggers
paging when downlink data arrives
for the UE. It manages and stores UE
contexts, e.g. parameters of the IP
bearer service, network internal
routing information. It also performs
replication of the user traffic in case
of lawful interception.
PGW (PDN Gateway): The PDN
Gateway provides connectivity from
the UE to external packet data
networks by being the point of exit
and entry of traffic for the UE. A UE
may have simultaneous connectivity
with more than one PGW for
accessing multiple PDNs. The PGW
performs policy enforcement, packet
filtering for each user, charging
support, lawful interception and
packet screening. Another key role of
the PGW is to act as the anchor for
mobility between 3GPP and non-
3GPP technologies such as WiMAX
and 3GPP2 (CDMA 1X and EvDO).
HSS (Home Subscriber Server): The
HSS is a central database that
contains user-related and
subscription-related information. The
functions of the HSS include
functionalities such as mobility
management, call and session
establishment support, user
authentication and access
authorization. The HSS is based on
pre-Rel-4 Home Location Register
(HLR) and Authentication Center
(AuC).
ANDSF (Access Network Discovery
and Selection Function): The ANDSF
provides information to the UE about
connectivity to 3GPP and non-3GPP
access networks (such as Wi-Fi). The
purpose of the ANDSF is to assist the
UE to discover the access networks
in their vicinity and to provide rules
(policies) to prioritize and manage
connections to these networks.
 ePDG (Evolved Packet Data
Gateway): The main function of the
ePDG is to secure the data
transmission with a UE connected to
the EPC over an untrusted non-3GPP
access. For this purpose, the ePDG
acts as a termination node of IPsec
tunnels established with the UE.

Non Access Stratum (NAS)

protocols
The Non-Access Stratum (NAS)
protocols form the highest stratum of
the control plane between the user
equipment (UE) and MME.[3] NAS
protocols support the mobility of the
UE and the session management
procedures to establish and maintain
IP connectivity between the UE and a
PDN GW. They define the rules for a
mapping between parameters during
inter-system mobility with 3G networks
or non-3GPP access networks. They
also provide the NAS security by
integrity protection and ciphering of
NAS signaling messages. EPS provides
the subscriber with a "ready-to-use" IP
connectivity and an "always-on"
experience by linking between mobility
management and session
management procedures during the UE
attach procedure.

Complete NAS transactions consist of

specific sequences of elementary
procedures with EPS Mobility
Management (EMM) and EPS Session
Management (ESM) protocols.

EMM (EPS Mobility

Management)

The EPS (Evolved Packet System)

Mobility Management (EMM) protocol
provides procedures for the control of
mobility when the User Equipment (UE)
uses the Evolved UMTS Terrestrial
Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN). It
also provides control of security for the
NAS protocols.

EMM involves different types of

procedures such as:

EMM common procedures — can

always be initiated while a NAS
signalling connection exists. The
procedures belonging to this type are
initiated by the network. They include
GUTI reallocation, authentication,
security mode control, identification
and EMM information.
EMM specific procedures — specific
to the UE only. At any time only one
UE-initiated EMM specific procedure
can run. The procedures belonging to
this type are attach and combined
attach, detach or combined detach,
normal tracking area update and
combined tracking area update (S1
mode only) and periodic tracking
area update (S1 mode only).
EMM connection management
procedures — manage the
connection of the UE with the
network:
Service request: Initiated by the
UE and used to establish a
secure connection to the
network or to request the
resource reservation for sending
data, or both.
Paging procedure: Initiated by
the network and used to request
the establishment of a NAS
signalling connection or to
prompt the UE to re-attach if
necessary as a result of a
network failure.
 Transport of NAS messages:
Initiated by the UE or the
network and used to transport
SMS messages.
Generic transport of NAS
messages: Initiated by the UE or
the network and used to
transport protocol messages
from other applications.

The UE and the network execute the

attach procedure, the default EPS
bearer context activation procedure in
parallel. During the EPS attach
procedure the network activates a
default EPS bearer context. The EPS
session management messages for the
default EPS bearer context activation
are transmitted in an information
element in the EPS mobility
management messages. The UE and
network complete the combined
default EPS bearer context activation
procedure and the attach procedure
before the dedicated EPS bearer
context activation procedure is
completed. The success of the attach
procedure is dependent on the success
of the default EPS bearer context
activation procedure. If the attach
procedure fails, then the ESM session
management procedures also fails.

ESM (EPS Session

Management)

The EPS Session Management (ESM)

protocol provides procedures for the
handling of EPS bearer contexts.
Together with the bearer control
provided by the Access Stratum, it
provides the control of user plane
bearers. The transmission of ESM
messages is suspended during EMM
procedures except for the attach
procedure.

EPS Bearer: Each EPS bearer context

represents an EPS bearer between the
UE and a PDN. EPS bearer contexts can
remain activated even if the radio and
S1 bearers constituting the
corresponding EPS bearers between UE
and MME are temporarily released. An
EPS bearer context can be either a
default bearer context or a dedicated
bearer context. A default EPS bearer
context is activated when the UE
requests a connection to a PDN. The
first default EPS bearer context, is
activated during the EPS attach
procedure. Additionally, the network
can activate one or several dedicated
EPS bearer contexts in parallel.

Generally, ESM procedures can be

performed only if an EMM context has
been established between the UE and
the MME, and the secure exchange of
NAS messages has been initiated by
the MME by use of the EMM
procedures. Once the UE is
successfully attached, the UE can
request the MME to set up connections
to additional PDNs. For each additional
connection, the MME activates a
separate default EPS bearer context. A
default EPS bearer context remains
activated throughout the lifetime of the
connection to the PDN.

Types of ESM procedures: ESM

involves different types of procedures
such as:

EPS bearer contexts procedures —

initiated by the network and are used
for the manipulation of EPS bearer
contexts, including Default EPS
bearer context activation, Dedicated
 EPS bearer context activation, EPS
bearer context modification, EPS
bearer context deactivation.
Transaction related procedures —
initiated by the UE to request for
resources, i.e. a new PDN connection
or dedicated bearer resources, or to
release these resources. They
include PDN connectivity procedure,
PDN disconnect procedure, Bearer
resource allocation procedure,
Bearer resource modification
procedure.

The MME maintains EMM context and

EPS bearer context information for UEs
in the ECM-IDLE, ECM CONNECTED
and EMM-DEREGISTERED states.

EPC protocol stack

MME (Mobility Management
Entity) protocols

The MME protocol stack consists of:

1. S1-MME stack to support S1-MME

interface with eNodeB
2. S11 stack to support S11 interface
with Serving Gateway

MME supports the S1 interface with

eNodeB. The integrated S1 MME
interface stack consists of IP, SCTP,
S1AP.

SCTP (Stream Control Transmission

Protocol) is a common transport
protocol that uses the services of
Internet Protocol (IP) to provide a
reliable datagram delivery service to
the adaptation modules, such as the
S1AP. SCTP provides reliable and
sequenced delivery on top of the
existing IP framework. The main
features provided by SCTP are:
Association setup: An
association is a connection that
is set up between two endpoints
for data transfer, much like a
TCP connection. A SCTP
association can have multiple
addresses at each end.
Reliable Data Delivery: Delivers
sequenced data in a stream
(Elimination of head-of-line
blocking): SCTP ensures the
sequenced delivery of data with
multiple unidirectional streams,
without blocking the chunks of
data in other direction.
 S1AP (S1 Application Part) is the
signaling service between E-UTRAN
and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC)
that fulfills the S1 Interface functions
such as SAE Bearer management
functions, Initial context transfer
function, Mobility functions for UE,
Paging, Reset functionality, NAS
signaling transport function, Error
reporting, UE context release
function, Status transfer.

MME supports S11 interface with

Serving Gateway. The integrated S11
interface stack consists of IP, UDP,
eGTP-C.

SGW (Serving Gateway)

protocols

The SGW consists of

1. S11 control plane stack to support

S11 interface with MME
2. S5/S8 control and data plane stacks
to support S5/S8 interface with PGW
3. S1 data plane stack to support S1
user plane interface with eNodeB
4. S4 data plane stack to support S4
user plane interface between RNC of
UMTS and SGW of eNodeB

SGW supports S11 interface with MME

and S5/S8 interface with PGW. The
integrated control plane stack for these
interfaces consists of IP, UDP, eGTP-C.

SGW supports the S1-U interface with

eNodeB and S5/S8 data plane interface
with PGW. The integrated data plane
stack for these interfaces consists of
IP, UDP, eGTP-U.

Main interfaces that P-GW shares with other EPC

nodes
nodes

PGW (Packet Data Network

Gateway) protocols

Main interfaces supported by the P-GW

are:

1. S5/S8: this interface is defined

between S-GW and P-GW. It is named
S5 when the S-GW and the P-GW are
located in the same network (non-
roaming scenario) and S8 when the S-
GW is located in the visited network
and the P-GW in the home network
(roaming scenario). eGTP-C and GTP-U
protocols are used in the S5/S8
interface.
2. Gz: this interface is used by the P-
GW to communicate with the Offline
Charging System (OFCS), mainly to
send the Charging Data Records
(CDRs) of the post-paid users via FTP.
3. Gy: this interface is used by the P-
GW to communicate with the Online
Charging System (OCS). The P-GW
informs the charging system about pre-
paid users payload in real time.
Diameter protocol is used in the Gy
interface.
4. Gx: this interface is used by the P-
GW to communicate with the Policy
and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) in
order to handle Policy and Charging
Rules (PCC) rules. These rules contain
charging related information as well as
Quality of Service (QoS) parameters
that will be used in the bearer
establishment. Diameter protocol is
used in the Gx interface.
5. SGi: this interface is defined between
the P-GW and external networks, for
example, Internet access, corporate
access, etc.
Support of voice services
and SMS
The EPC is a packet-only core network.
It does not have a circuit-switched
domain, which is traditionally used for
phone calls and SMS.

3GPP specified two solutions for voice:

IMS: A solution for IMS Voice over IP

was specified in Rel-7.
Circuit-Switched fallback (CSFB): in
order to make or receive calls, the UE
changes its radio access technology
from LTE to a 2G/3G technology that
 supports circuit-switched services.
This feature requires 2G/3G
coverage. A new interface (called
SGs) between the MME and the MSC
is required. This feature was
developed in Rel-8.

3GPP specified two solutions for SMS:

IMS: A solution for SMS over IP was

specified in Rel-7.
SMS over SGs: this solution requires
the SGs interface introduced during
the work on CSFB. SMS are delivered
in the Non Access Stratum over LTE.
There is no inter-system change for
 sending or receiving SMS. This
feature was specified in Rel-8.

CSFB and SMS over SGs are seen as

interim solutions, the long term being
IMS.[4]

Multiple access networks

The UE can connect to the EPC using
several access technologies. These
access technologies are composed of:

3GPP accesses: these access

technologies are specified by the
3GPP. They include GPRS, UMTS,
EDGE, HSPA, LTE and LTE Advanced.
non-3GPP accesses: these access
technologies are not specified by the
3GPP. They include technologies
such as cdma2000, WiFi or fixed
networks. 3GPP specifies two
classes of non-3GPP access
technologies with different security
mechanisms:
trusted accesses, that the
network operator consider
trustable from a security stand
point (for example: a cdma2000
network). Trusted non-3GPP
accesses interface directly with
 the network.
untrusted accesses, that the
network operator doesn't
consider trustable from a
security stand point (for
example, a connection over a
public WiFi hotspot). Untrusted
non-3GPP accesses are
connected to the network via an
ePDG, which provide additional
security mechanisms (IPsec
tunneling).

It is up to the network operator to

decide whether a non-3GPP access
technology is trusted or untrusted.

It is worth noting that these

trusted/untrusted categories do not
apply to 3GPP accesses.

3GPP releases
The 3GPP delivers standards in parallel
releases, which compose consistent
sets of specifications and features.
 Version[5] Released[6] Info[7]

Release 7 2007 Q4 Feasibility study on All-IP Network (AIPN)

First release of EPC. SAE specification: high level

functions, support of LTE and other 3GPP
accesses, support of non-3GPP accesses, inter-
Release 8 2008 Q4 system mobility, Single Radio Voice Call Continuity
(SRVCC), CS fallback. Earthquake and Tsunami
Warning System (ETWS). Support of Home Node B
/ Home eNode B.

LCS control plane for EPS. Support of IMS

emergency calls over GPRS and EPS.
Release 9 2009 Q4
Enhancements to Home Node B / Home eNode B.
Public Warning System (PWS).

Network improvements for machine-type

Release 10 2011 Q1 communications. Various offload mechanisms
(LIPA, SIPTO, IFOM).

Further improvements for machine-type

communications. Simulation of USSD in IMS. QoS
control based on subscriber spending limits.
Further improvements to LIPA and SIPTO. Single
Release 11 2012 Q3
Radio Video Call Continuity (vSRVCC). Single
Radio Voice Call Continuity from UTRAN/GERAN
to HSPA/E-UTRAN (rSRVCC). Support of
interworking with Broadband Forum accesses.

Work in progress (as of October 2012). LIPA

Mobility and SIPTO at the Local Network. IMS-
Release 12 2014 Q2 based telepresence. Service and Media
Reachability for Users over Restrictive Firewalls
(SMURFs).

Further reading
Further reading
3GPP page on SAE
3GPP TS 23.401: General Packet
Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements
for Evolved Universal Terrestrial
Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)
access
3GPP TS 23.402: Architecture
enhancements for non-3GPP
accesses
3GPP LTE-SAE Overview, by Ulrich
Barth (SAE in 2006)

See also
LTE
References
1. 3GPP TS 23.002: Network
architecture
2. LTE White Paper
3. 3GPP TS 24.301: Non-Access-
Stratum (NAS) protocol for Evolved
Packet System (EPS); Stage 3
4. Dispelling LTE Myths
5. 3GPP releases
6. 3GPP Specifications - Releases (and
phases and stages)
7. 3GPP release descriptions
LTE White Paper: "Long Term
Evolution (LTE):A Technical
Overview" . Motorola.
Strategic White Paper: "Introduction
to Evolved Packet Core" (PDF).
Alcatel-Lucent.
Technical White Paper: "Evolved
Packet Core solution: Innovation in
LTE core" (PDF). Alcatel-Lucent.
3GPP TS 32.240:
Telecommunication management;
Charging management; Charging
architecture and principles .
portal.3gpp.org.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=System_Architecture_Evolution&oldid=820
146830"

Last edited 2 months ago by an a…

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0

unless otherwise noted.