Technology Training

GPRS Fundamentals

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Agenda Understanding GPRS Network Element Architecture and Basic Functions Understanding Generic System Sizing Understanding the Network Element Interconnections Understanding the Network Node Access Types Understanding the Network Call Flow(s) Description of Network Protocols and Functions within the Network

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

What is GPRS?
A new bearer service for GSM that greatly improves and simplifies wireless access to packet data networks ,e.g. to the internet. Benefits of GPRS as Data Service
On GSM air interface, profit from idle capacity Internet and Intranet Access through Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and a WAP browsers used to browse the web browser from mobile devices such as mobile phones. Applications, such as email by mobile phone, Instant Messaging, MultiMedia Service (MMS), Short Message Service (SMS), tracking of stockmarket prices, sports results, news headlines, music downloads. Seamless Applications - TCP/IP Higher Data Rates (GPRS provides data rates of 56-114 Kbit/s) Fast Sessions - Call setup / clear down On the GSM air interface, users share physical resources Step towards UMTS

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

What is EDGE/EGPRS and Evolved EDGE?

Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) - also known as Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS)
Improved data transmission rates than GPRS through the use of sophisticated methods of coding and transmitting data EDGE delivers higher bit-rates per radio channel, resulting in a 3 x increase in capacity and performance versus GPRS connection (i.e. up to 236.8 Kbit/s for 4 timeslots up to 473.6 Kbit/s for 8 timeslots - maximum) EDGE was deployed on GSM networks beginning in 2003 EDGE is standardized by 3GPP as part of the GSM family and is considered a pre-3G radio technology and is part of ITU's 3G definition.

Evolved EDGE
Evolved EDGE continues in Release 7 of the 3GPP standard Reduced latency Greater than doubled performance Peak bit-rates of up to 1Mbit/s and typical bit-rates of 400kbit/s can be expected. No commercial deployments yet Expected in 2012.

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GPRS - The Basics

SGSN GGSN

Gn Gr
MS BTS BSC

Gi

Gb

HLR

Abis
D A
MSC VLR

C
GMSC

ISUP

ISUP

Subscriber attaches to the GPRS network Automatic or explicit MS is known to the SGSN covering its Routing Area (RA) Routing Area Updates are used to update the current SGSN HLR is informed of current SGSN for the MS Most of the signaling between SGSN and BSC is ciphered

When packet connection used, network a PDP Context must be created The Access Point Name (APN) defines the connection e.g. vodafonelive, ups.com to Internet is via a GGSN The GGSN is in the home network GGSN routes packets to/from the SGSN If SGSN changes during context the new SGSN tells the GGSN during the Routing Area Update

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GPRS Cell Hierarchy

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

New GPRS Network Elements

GGSN SGSN care of some important tasks, including Routing, Is the last port of call in the GPRS network Takes Handover and IP address assignment. before a connection between an ISP or Its a logical connection to the GPRS device and it works out corporate networks router occurs. which BSC to route your connection to. The GGSN is basically a gateway, router and firewall. It also confirms user details with RADIUS servers for security, which are usually situated in the IP network and outside of the GPRS network. Data/Packet Counting as GPRS is billed on per megabyte basis. PDU Tunneling.
In regards to cell re-selection, the SGSN is to make sure the connection is not interrupted as the MS moves from one cell to another. If the user moves into a segment (i.e. Routing Area) of the network that is managed by a different SGSN it will perform a handoff to the new SGSN. This is done extremely quickly and generally the user will not notice this has happened. Any packets that are lost during this process are retransmitted. The SGSN has a link to a GGSN in another PLMN network in support of GPRS roaming subscribers. Ciphering, compression, data packet counting. GSM Circuit Switched Interactions. Support for delivery of SMS messages over GPRS.

Screening.
Address Mapping, Routing Tables.

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GSM/GPRS - Core Architecture

Home Network if Roaming
GGSN

Serving Network
SGSN

Gp

GGSN

Gn Gr
MS BTS BSC

Gi

Gb Gs

HLR

Abis D A
MSC VLR

C
GMSC

ISUP

ISUP

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GSM/GPRS Access Architecture

Two new node types; Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). With new (IP based) Gn interface Several SGSNs (10s to 100s, but less than MSCs) and a few to 10s GGSNs Connection to Internet occurs over GPRS packet network Frame Relay or IP link used to connect SGSN to BSC (Gb interface) Calls still occur over the GSM transit network Subscriber is attached to GSM and/or GPRS network but cant use both at the same time unless MS or network supports Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) or MS is a GPRS class A device

Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GPRS Mobile Stations

Class A - data and voice simultaneously
The original idea of Class A was to operate in the CS domain (voice) and PS domain (data) with complete independence which did mean supporting 2 frequencies at the same time (not just 900 & 1800 but also 2 frequencies within the same band). This would have made handsets hugely complex so it never really happened. With Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) (also known as simple or pseudo class A) both voice and data are on the same frequency and coordination is done by the network.

Four Coding Schemes defined CS1 9.05 kbit / second per timeslot CS2 13.40 CS3 15.60 CS4 21.40

Class B - data and voice, data suspended during voice Class C data only

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Identities IMSI, P-TMSI, TLLI

IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is up to 15 digit long number: The first 3 digits are the Mobile Country Code (MCC), The next 2 or 3 digits are the Mobile Network Code (MNC)
Either 2 digits (European standard) or 3 digits (North American standard).

The remaining digits are the Mobile Subscription Identification Number (MSIN) within the carriers network's customer base.
The IMSI conforms to the ITU E.212 numbering standard.

P-TMSI (Packet-TMSI) Equivalent of the GSM TMSI, but assigned by the SGSN and used on the Gb links TLLI Derived from the P-TMSI. Used when moving between SGSNs
Local TLLI derived from P-TMSI Foreign TLLI as seen by SGSN, TLLI from previous SGSN Random TLLI generated by mobile in absence of a valid P-TMSI

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

APN
APN is a mechanism to determine how a MS communicates via the GPRS network to a host site (i.e., how the GPRS carrier network passes IP traffic to the host network e.g. the Internet). APNs are general-purpose and are available to multiple MSs or can be customized for particular customers to address unique requirements.

The APNs can be type of service dependant e.g. WAP, Mobile Web/Email or general in use.
Examples of APN are:
internet.mncXYZ.mccABC.gprs. wap.voicestream.com payandgo.o2.co.uk general.t-mobile.uk three.co.uk (for WAP sessions) (for Pay as You Go WAP sessions) (for all session types) (for all session types)

mobile.o2.co.uk (for mobile web / email)

APNs consists of two parts as shown in the figure to the right ----- Network Identifier: Defines the external network to which the GGSN is connected. Optionally, it may also include the service requested by the user. This part of the APN is mandatory. Operator Identifier: Defines the specific operators packet domain network in which the GGSN is located. This part of the APN is optional.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Nodes - The SGSN

Similar to the GSM MSC. Handles the GPRS attached subscribers Gr - to fetch and update the subscriber information Gn - IP link to other GSNs (SGSNs or GGSNs) Gs - to update VLR with MS location for Paging via the SGSN - used when subscriber receives a Mobile Terminated GPRS call Gb IP or Frame relay link to communicate with BSC (note that this is ciphered) Gp Name for Gn link to a GGSN in another network in support of GPRS roaming MS
The only delta between them is that Gp will have a Border Gateway (i.e. a firewall) between the SGSN and GGSN in the other GPRS PLMN operator.

Gd for SGSN to send & receive SMS text messages from the SMS center.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Nodes - The GGSN

Routes IP packets to/from the SGSN, essentially a router Gn - IP link used to connect to SGSNs
This interface has ALL subscriber information intact and (optionally) location information (e.g. cell id)

Gi - IP link to the Packet Data Network e.g. Internet, Corporate VPN etc i.e. is the raw IP connection
This interface has NO subscriber identification or location information (e.g. cell id) In addition, the Gi interface also handles communication towards RADIUS and DHCP servers for authentication and IP address allocation.

Gc (optional link) allow GGSN to get subscriber information when receive packet for unknown subscriber e.g. Network Requested Call

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GPRS Roaming
The IP backbone network was created to carry GTP-tunnels via the Gp interface between the GPRS Support Nodes (GSNs) in different GSM/GPRS Operators The Gp interface allowed mobile end-users to make use of the GPRS services of their home network while roaming in a visited network. GRX - GPRS Roaming eXchange:

GRX

Is in fact an inter-PLMN IP backbone and is termed the GRX. Instead of every GPRS PLMN having to connect to every roaming partner directly, they connect to one or many GRX providers. GRX provides for routing, interconnecting and some additional services, such as DNS.

The GRX model is used to interconnect in excess of 300 networks and has proven highly successful

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Procedure - GPRS Attach

MS BSS new SGSN old SGSN GGSN EIR new MSC/VLR HLR old MSC/VLR 1. Attach Request 2. Identification Request 2. Identification Response 3. Identity Request 3. Identity Response 4. Authentication 5. IMEI Check 6a. Update Location 6b. Cancel Location 6c. Cancel Location Ack 6d. Insert Subscriber Data 6e. Insert Subscriber Data Ack 6f. Update Location Ack 7a. Location Update Request 7b. Update Location 7c. Cancel Location 7d. Cancel Location Ack 7e. Insert Subscriber Data 7f. Insert Subscriber Data Ack 7g. Update Location Ack 7h. Location Update Accept 8. Attach Accept 9. Attach Complete 10. TMSI Reallocation Complete

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Procedure - GPRS Detach

MS BSS SGSN GGSN MSC/VLR

1. Detach Request 2. Delete PDP Context Request 2. Delete PDP Context Response 3. IMSI Detach Indication 4. GPRS Detach Indication 5. Detach Accept

MS Initiated

MS

BSS

SGSN

GGSN

MSC/VLR

1. Detach Request 2. Delete PDP Context Request 2. Delete PDP Context Response 3. GPRS Detach Indication 4. Detach Accept

SGSN Initiated

MS

BSS

SGSN

GGSN

HLR

MSC/VLR

1. Cancel Location 2. Detach Request 3. Delete PDP Context Request

HLR Initiated
5. Detach Accept

3. Delete PDP Context Response 4. GPRS Detach Indication 6. Cancel Location Ack

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Procedure - Inter SGSN RA/LA Update

Old SGSN used to get PDP Context details (assuming MS has a PDP Context)
MS BSS new SGSN old SGSN GGSN new MSC/VLR HLR old MSC/VLR 1. Routeing Area Update Request 2. SGSN Context Request 2. SGSN Context Response 3. Security Functions 4. SGSN Context Acknowledge 5. Forward Packets 6. Update PDP Context Request 6. Update PDP Context Response 7. Update Location 8. Cancel Location 8. Cancel Location Ack

PDP Context information in GGSN modified with the new SGSN Update GPRS Location to update the HLR, get the subscriber details and clear old record
Note that packets may still arrive at the old SGSN and need to be buffered then forwarded

9. Insert Subscriber Data 9. Insert Subscriber Data Ack 10. Update Location Ack 11. Location Update Request 12a. Update Location 12b. Cancel Location 12c. Cancel Location Ack 12d. Insert Subscriber Data 12e. Insert Subscriber Data Ack 12f. Update Location Ack 13. Location Update Accept 14. Routeing Area Update Accept 15. Routeing Area Update Complete 16. TMSI Reallocation Complete

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Procedure PDP Context Activation

MS

BSC
Activate PDP Ctxt (apn)

SGSN

DNS

GGSN

AAA

DHCP

DNS Query (apn.mnc.mcc.gprs)

DNS Resp (GGSN IP) Create PDP Context Request RADIUS Auth DHCP Request DHCP Resp (MS IP) Create PDP Context Resp (MS IP)

Activate PDP Ctxt Acc (MS IP)

MS requests a PDP Context for the chosen APN SGSN uses DNS to find the IP address of the GGSN for that APN and asks to create a context GGSN uses RADIUS to authenticate the user and DHCP to obtain an IP address That IP address is passed back to the UT

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Procedure Secondary PDP Context

MS

BSC

SGSN

GGSN

Activate Secondary PDP (1st)

Create PDP Context Request (1st) Create PDP Context Resp Activate 2nd PDP Acc

Used to create a second (or 3rd etc) PDP Context for the same APN GGSN uses a Traffic Flow Template (TFT) to distinguish between packets Allows the contexts to have different QoS parameters Activate Secondary PDP Context sent with reference to the 1st PDP context GGSN is the same as the first so no APN or DNS lookup required MS has already been authenticated so no RADIUS (though maybe for billing) Same IP address used so no DHCP required Main use is IMS services; one flow for signaling and another for the data

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Procedure - GPRS Data Flow

Gb Gn Gi

BSC
Attach Activate PDP SNDCP IP Packet

SGSN

GGSN

PDN

GTP-C Create PDP GTP-U IP Packet

IP Packet

Deactivate PDP

GTP Delete PDP

Detach

GTP-U T-PDU message used to encapsulate IP packets on the Gn interface Separate protocol (SNDCP) used on the Gb interface
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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocol Architecture Transmission Plane

The protocols provide transmission of user data and its associated signaling

Signaling Plane
Comprises protocols for the control and support of functions of the transmission plane

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GRPS Signaling Control Plane

SGSN MS GMM / SM GTP GGSN GTP

Assuming Gb uses Frame Relay as transport.

GMM / SM LLC RLC BSS RLC BSSGP LLC BSSGP IP MAC MAC Network Service (Frame Relay) L1 bis Gb Network Service (Frame Relay) L1 bis L2 IP L2 UDP / TCP UDP

(Ethernet)
L1 Gn

(Ethernet)
L1 Gi

GSM RF Um

GSM RF

Assuming Gb uses IP as transport.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GPRS Data Transmission Plane

MS

Application

Assuming Gb uses Frame Relay as transport.

IP / X.25 SNDCP LLC

RLC MAC GSM RF Um

SGSN

GGSN

SNDCP LLC
BSSGP BSSGP MAC GSM RF Network Service (Frame Relay) L1 bis Gb Network Service (Frame Relay) L1 bis

GTP UDP / TCP

GTP UDP / TCP

BSS RLC

IP L2 (Ethernet) L1 Gn

IP L2 (Ethernet) L1 Gi

Assuming Gb uses IP as transport.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols GTP and SNDCP

SNDCP (Sub network Dependent Convergence Protocol)
Data compression support

IP Packet GTP GTP (T-PDU message) UDP IP

IP Packet
SNDCP

GPRS Tunnel Protocol UDP (GTP) is the core network protocol in GPRS i.e. used IP by GSNs GTP carries both signaling Lower layer protocols and the user data packets Gn Signaling On Gn the data is carried within a GTP T-PDU message On Gb they are carried using SNDCP

LLC
BSSGP

Lower layer protocols

Gn User Data

Lower layer protocols

Gb User Data

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols GTP Versions and Tunneling

Three GTP versions:
GTP version 0 (GTPv0) - no longer supported beyond release 99. GTP version 1 (GTPv1) - still supported today, by 2.5G & 3G RAN networks. GTP versions 2 (GTPv2) recently introduced for support of 4G RAN networks (out of scope of this presentation).

GTPv1 introduces the concept of primary and secondary contexts for an MS.

A GTP tunnel is an encapsulation of the user packets between the GGSN and the SGSN in GTP/ UDP/IP only. GTPv1 is actually effectively two protocols: one for control (called GTP-C and uses port 2123) and one for user data tunneling (called GTP-U and uses port 2152). A primary context is associated with an IP address and indicates other parameters like the APN to be attached to the receiving GSN. Secondary contexts created for this primary PDP context share the IP address and other parameters already associated with the primary context. This allows the MS to initiate another context with a different QoS requirement and also share the IP address already obtained for the primary context. Primary and secondary contexts share the Tunnel Endpoint ID (TEID) on the control plane and have different TEID values in the data plane. Since all primary and associated secondary GPRS MS is connected to a SGSN without contexts share the IP address, Traffic Flow being aware of the protocol version being used. Templates (TFT) are introduced to classify traffic in the downlink direction towards the MS. TFTs are exchanged during context creation.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols GTP Tunneling

GTP control plane messages (GTP-C) are used to exchange the tunnel information and to create, update or delete a tunnel are called tunnel management signaling messages: The SGSN shall include either the MS provided APN, a subscribed APN or an SGSN selected APN in the message; the Access Point Name may be used by the GGSN to differentiate accesses to different external Create PDP Context Request/Response, Update PDP networks. Context Request/Response and Delete PDP Context For contexts created by the Secondary PDP Context Request/Response. Activation Procedure the SGSN shall include the linked NSAPI. Linked NSAPI indicates the NSAPI The GTP user data messages (GTP-U) are used to assigned to any one of the already activated PDP load the T-PDUs (Transport Protocol Data Unit) contexts for this PDP address or two IP addresses passing through the GTP tunnel. (one IPv4 and one IPv6 if PDP Type IPv4v6 is The receiving end side of a GTP tunnel locally assigns supported and used) and APN. the TEID value the transmitting side has to use. The GTP-U Tunnel identifies in each node with a TEID, an IP address and a UDP port number. A GTPU tunnel is necessary to enable forwarding packets between GTP-U entities. There is a mechanism for verifying connectivity from one GSN to another GSN. This uses two messages.
echo request echo response

As often as every 60 seconds, a GSN can send an echo request to every other GSN with which it has an active connection. If the other end does not respond it can be treated as down and the active connections to it will be deleted

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols BSSGP and GPRS MM/SM

GPRS MM GPRS SM LLC
BSSGP

UT

BSC

SGSN

BSSGP
GPRS MM and SM

Lower layer protocols

BSSGP (BSS GPRS Protocol) used by the SGSN to control the BSS
Uplink and Downlink Radio resources

LLC (Logical Link Control) Ciphering GPRS Mobile Management (MM) / Session Management (SM) used by the SGSN and UT for sessions (contexts) and mobility
SM messages for Session Management i.e. PDP Contexts e.g. Activate PDP Context MM messages for Mobility Management e.g. Routing Area Update

The BSS does not interpret the GMM/SM messages

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols GPRS Abis

GPRS Abis, the protocol contains various PCU frame types (see figure below right) that are vendor specific format. NOTE: This means each extracting signaling and data from the GPRS Abis interface requires support for multiple equipment vendors proprietary protocols (e.g. Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei, Alcatel Lucent). NOET: In GPRS, the Abis signaling messages and data packets are all carried in the Abis (voice) TRAU timeslots. This means, any attempt to decode GPRS Abis signaling + user data would require a huge amount of CPU processing. As decoding every Abis TRAU message is a very large processing task the volumes are colossal.
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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

GPRS Re-Selection
In GPRS (as in GSM), the mobile performs cell reselection including Routing Area update when crossing RA boundary. However, there are some differences compared with GSM:

The degree to which the mobile station resigns its radio network control is variable and is ordered in detail by the parameter: NETWORK_CONTROL ORDER
NC0 (normal mobile station control) The mobile station performs autonomous cell reselection. NC1 (mobile station control with measurement reports) The mobile station sends measurement reports to the network according to additional information in the message NC1. It continues its normal cell reselection. NC2 (network control) The mobile station sends measurement reports to the network according to additional information in the message NC2. It does not perform cell reselection on its own, and can only make a cell reselection according to a cell reselection command received from the network.

In GPRS, the mobile performs cell re-selection when it is in idle mode AND during active sessions, i.e. packet transfer. In GPRS, the cell reselection is either performed by the mobile autonomously or optionally controlled by the network see figure to right. If the MS is in GPRS dedicated mode (i.e. active session) then the changes from one cell to another is performed according to the network-controlled handover procedures detailed to the right. The previous SGSN is requested to transmit the undelivered data to the new SGSN.

In GPRS, its possible (but not typically setup) for the network to order the MS to send measurement reports to the network and to suspend its normal cell reselection and accept decisions from the network instead. This means typically theres no GPRS RR measurement reports transferred across the GPRS Abis interface.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols BSSAP+
MSC VLR Gs SGSN
PS Paging Incoming Call

BSSAP+ Connectionless SCCP Lower layer protocols

Paging Resp

Used on the Gs link Current SGSN updated in VLR during Routing Area Update Current MSC VLR updated in SGSN during Location Update If MS needs paged by the MSC the request is sent over the Gs This uses fewer radio resources as SGSN has a more precise MS location The rest of procedure occurs as normal

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocols - LLC Details Reliable link between SGSN and BSS

Sequence Control Error detection Retransmission Flow Control

Complete LLC Frame can be ciphered Provision of one or more logical link connections discriminated between by means of a DLCI

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Protocol - BSSGP Details Provision by an SGSN to a BSS of radio related information used by the RLC/MAC function Provision by a BSS to an SGSN of radio related information derived from the RLC/MAC function Provision of functionality to enable two physically distinct nodes, an SGSN and a BSS, to operate node management control functions GMM - Paging and radio status NM - Flow Control and Resets

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Network Node Access Types Access Network Gb over IP

The increased demand for packet switched traffic transmission cost efficiency can be met by deploying IP in the transmission network. IP offers an alternative way to configure the sub network of the Gb interface: The sub network is IP-based and the physical layer is Ethernet The introduction of IP makes it possible to build an efficient transport network for the IP based multimedia services of the future. Both the IPv6 and IPv4 protocol versions are supported. IP transport can be used in parallel with FR under the same BSC. Within one BCS, separate PCUs can use different transmission media in the BSC. The capacity of the Gb interface remains the same, regardless of whether IP or FR is used as the transport technology.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

IuFlex & SGSN Pooling

The requirements to have a BSC (i.e. RAN node) controlled by a single MSC server or SGSN lead to certain limitations. Allowing the BSCs to connect to a number of MSC servers or SGSNs increases the networks performance in terms of scalability, distributing the network load amongst the serving entities, and reducing the required signaling as the user roams. The solution shall enable the reduction of signaling within the core network (e.g reduction of the HLR signaling traffic).

IuFlex capable nodes such as the BSC shall be able to select any CN node such as the SGSN/MSC Server within a pool area.

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Review of Available System Information by Link Meta-data

The Gn interface can provide meta-data for subscriber identity (IMSI)
GPRS Meta Data CDR Fields Description Timestamp Reason Email, WAP, SMS, MMS, Web Service , Etc. IMSI End User Address Access Point Name (APN) Cell ID Routing Area Identifier (RAI) Source IP Address Destination IP Address SGSN Signaling Address (IP Address to use for Signaling to SGSN) SGSN User Data Address (IP Address to use for User Data to SGSN) GGSN Signaling Address (IP Address to use for Signaling to GGSN) GGSN User Data Address (IP Address to use for User Data to SGSN) GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) Tunnel ID Cause Code SGSN Signaling & User Data TEIDs GGSN Signaling & User Data TEIDs Network SAPI (NSAPI) Gn Link

Content: Data
Content is most readily available on the Gn interface, which allows association with the subscriber identify

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012

Summary / Q&A Understanding GPRS Network Element Architecture and Basic Functions Understanding Generic System Sizing Understanding the Network Element Interconnections Understanding the Network Node Access Types Understanding the Network Call Flow(s) Description of Network Protocols and Functions within the Network

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Agilent Confidential March 1, 2012