DEEKSHA TECH GROUP

DeekshaTech

Module 4

LTE Protocols and Channels

www.deekshatech.in

Agenda
Relationship between
Protocols
Architecture
Interfaces
Layer 2 Functions and Data Flow
Multiplexing of Channels
Channel Types
Logical
Transport
Physical

LTE Interfaces

Radio Interface and X2 Interface

Control Plane (CP)
User Plane (UP)
TS 24.301

NAS
NAS Protocols
Protocols

TS 36.331

(E)-RRC
(E)-RRC

User
User PDUs
PDUs

TS 36.323

PDCP
PDCP

TS 36.322

RLC
RLC

TS 36.321

MAC
MAC

TS 36.2xx

LTE-L1
LTE-L1 (FDD/TDD-OFDMA/SC-FDMA)
(FDD/TDD-OFDMA/SC-FDMA)

TS 36.300

X2-CP
X2-UP
(Control Plane)(User Plane)
User
User PDUs
PDUs

TS 36.423
TS 36.422
TS 36.421

X2-AP
X2-AP

GTP-U
GTP-U

SCTP
SCTP

UDP
UDP

IP
IP

IP
IP

L1/L2
L1/L2

L1/L2
L1/L2

TS 36.420
[X2 general aspects & principles)

TS 29.281
TS 36.424
TS 36.421

LTE-Uu
Air interface of EUTRAN
Based on OFDMA in downlink and
SC-FDMA in uplink
FDD and TDD duplex methods
Scalable bandwidth: from 1.4 up to
20 MHz
Data rates up to 100 Mbps (DL),
50Mbps (UL)
X2
Inter eNB interface
Handover coordination without
involving the EPC
X2AP: signaling Application protocol
During HO, Source eNB forward
downlink packets buffered or arriving
from the serving gateway to the
target eNB.
This will avoid loss of packets
during inter-eNB handover.

S1-MME & S1-U Interfaces

S1-MME
Control interface between eNB and
MME
MME and UE will exchange NAS
signaling via eNB through this
interface.
E.g.: if a UE performs a tracking
area update the TRACKING AREA
UPDATE REQUEST message will be
sent from UE to eNB and the eNB
will forward the message via S1MME to the MME.
S1AP:S1 Application Protocol

TS 36.410
[S1 general aspects & principles]

S1-MME
(Control Plane)
TS 24.301

NAS
NAS Protocols
Protocols

TS 36.413

S1-AP
S1-AP

TS 36.412

eNB

MME

SCTP
SCTP
IP
IP
TS 36.411

L1/L2
L1/L2

S1-U
(User Plane)
User
User PDUs
PDUs

S1-U
User Plane interface between eNB and
serving gateway.
It is a pure user data interface
Which Serving GW a users SAE bearer
will have to use is signaled from the
MME of this user.

TS 29.281
TS 36.414
TS 36.411

GTP-U
GTP-U
UDP
UDP
IP
IP
L1/L2
L1/L2

TS 36.410
[S1 general aspects & principles]

Serving
Gateway

EUTRAN and EPC - S1 Flex

eNB 1 Single S1-MME
Single S1-U
1

eNB 2 Single S1-MME

Multiple S1-US1Flex-U
2

eNB 3
Multiple S1-MMES1Flex
Single S1-U
eNB 4 (Not shown in picture)
- Multiple S1-MMES1Flex
- Multiple S1-US1Flex-U

S10 and S6a Interface

S10
(Control Plane)
TS 29.274

MME

GTP-C
GTP-C
UDP
UDP

S6a
(Control Plane)
S6a
S6a Appl.
Appl.

MME

DIAMETER
DIAMETER
TCP/SCTP
TCP/SCTP

IP
IP

IP
IP

L1/L2
L1/L2

L1/L2
L1/L2

S10
Interface between different MMEs
Used during inter-MME tracking
area updates (TAU) and handovers
Inter-MME TAU: The new MME can
contact the old MME, to retrieve
data about identity (IMSI), security
information (security context,
authentication vectors) and active
SAE bearers (PDN gateways to
contact, QoS, etc.)
Obviously S10 is a pure signaling
interface, no user data runs on it.

TS 29.272
HSS

S6a
Interface between the MME and
the HSS
The MME uses it to retrieve
subscription and authentication
information from HSS
(handover/tracking area
restrictions, external PDN allowed,
QoS, etc.) during attaches and
updates
The HSS can during these
procedures also store the users
current MME address in its
database.

S11 Interface
MME

S11

S11
(Control Plane)
TS 29.274

GTP-C
GTP-C
UDP
UDP
IP
IP
L1/L2
L1/L2

Serving
Gateway

Interface between MME and a

Serving GW
A single MME can handle
multiple Serving GW each one
with its own S11 interface
Used to coordinate the
establishment of SAE bearers
within the EPC
SAE bearer setup can be started
by the MME (default SAE bearer)
or by the PDN Gateway.

S5/S8 Interface
on GTP)

(3GPP Candidate based

S5/S8 3GPP
Control
Plane

User
Plane
User
User PDUs
PDUs

ServingTS 29.274
Gateway

GTP-C
GTP-C

GTP-U
GTP-U
UDP
UDP
IP
IP

TS 29.281

PDN
Gateway

SGi

PDN

L1/L2
L1/L2

S5/S8 (3GPP candidate)

Interface between Serving GW and PDN GW
S5: If Serving GW and PDN GW belong to the same network (nonroaming case)
S8:If this is not the case (roaming case)
S8 = S5 + inter-operator security functions
Mainly used to transfer user packet data between PDN GW and
Serving GW
Signaling on S5/S8 is used to setup the associated bearer resources
If S5/S8 implemented by GTP protocol

S5/S8 Interface
PMIPv6)

(IETF Candidate based on

S5/S8 IETF

Control
Plane

User
Plane
User
User PDUs
PDUs

Serving
Gateway

TS 29.275

PMIPv6
PMIPv6
IPv4/IPv6
IPv4/IPv6

MIPv6
MIPv6
Tunneling
Tunneling
Layer
Layer (GRE)
(GRE)

TS 29.275

PDN
Gateway

SGi

PDN

IPv4/IPv6
IPv4/IPv6

L1/L2
L1/L2

S5/S8 (IETF candidate)

Interface between Serving GW and PDN GW
S5: If Serving GW and PDN GW belong to the same network (nonroaming case)
S8:If this is not the case (roaming case)
S8 = S5 + inter-operator security functions
Mainly used to transfer user packet data between PDN GW and
Serving GW
Signaling on S5/S8 is used to setup the associated bearer resources
If S5/S8 implemented by using Mobile IPv6 with some IETF
enhancements.

Gx and Gxc Interface

Gx (Control Plane)

Gxc (Control Plane)

TS 29.212

PMIP

Gx
Gx Application
Application

Gx
Gx Application
Application
DIAMETER
DIAMETER

PCRF

DIAMETER
DIAMETER

SCTP
SCTP

SCTP
SCTP

IP
IP

IP
IP

L1/L2
L1/L2

L1/L2
L1/L2

TS 29.212

SGi
S-GW

S5/S8

Gxc
Interface between the S-GW and
the PCRF (Policy and Charging Rule
Function)
It is only needed in case the S5/S8
interface is based on PMIP (IETF
candidate)
This will help S-GW to map data
between IP service flows in S5/S8
and GTP tunnels in the S1-U
interface, controlled by PCRF

IMS/PDN

P-GW

Gx (S7)
Interface between the PDN GW and
the PCRF
It allows:
PCRF to setup of a SAE bearer with
appropriate QoS
PDN GW to request for the QoS of an
SAE bearer to setup from PCRF
to indicate EPC status changes to the
PCRF to apply a new policy rule.

Rx and SGi Interface

Rx
Rx
(Control Plane)
RX
RX Application
Application
DIAMETER
DIAMETER
PCRF

TS 29.214

SCTP
SCTP
IP
IP
L1/L2
L1/L2

SGi
(User Plane)
Application
Application

UDP
UDP or
or TCP
TCP
PDN
Gateway

IPv4/IPv6
IPv4/IPv6
L1/L2
L1/L2

PDN
TS 29.061

Interface between PCRF (Policy &

Charging Rules Function) and the
external PDN network/operators
IMS (in general, towards the
Service Domain)
Standardized in 3GPP TS 29.214:
Policy and Charging Control over
the Rx reference point (release 8)
SGi
Interface used by the PDN GW to
send and receive data to and from
the external data network or
Service Platform
It is either IPv4 or IPv6 based
This interface corresponds to the
Gi interface in 2G/3G networks
Standardized in 3GPP TS 29.061:
Interworking between the Public
Land Mobile Network (PLMN)
supporting packet based services
and Packet Data Networks (PDN)

S9 Interface
S9
(Control Plane)
TS 29.215

hPCRF

S9
S9 Application
Application

DIAMETER
DIAMETER
SCTP
SCTP

vPCRF

IP
IP
L1/L2
L1/L2

S9
Interfaces between the hPCRF and the vPCRF is used in
roaming cases.
It is used in the VPLMN for enforcement of dynamic control
polices from the hPLMN.
It is standardized in 3GPP TS 29.215: Policy and Charging
Control over the S9 reference point (Release 8).

S3 and S4 Interface
S3
(Control Plane)

TS 29.274

User
User PDUs
PDUs

GTP-C
GTP-C

TS 29.274

UDP
UDP

S3/S4

MME

GTP-U
GTP-U

GTP-C
GTP-C

TS 29.281

UDP
UDP

IP
IP
L1/L2
L1/L2

S4
(Control Plane + User Plane)

IP
IP
2G/3G
SGSN

L1/L2
L1/L2
Serving
Gateway

Interfaces between EPC and 2G/3G packet switched core network

domain
They would allow inter-system changes between EPS and 2G/3G
The S3 is a pure signaling interface used to coordinate the intersystem change between MME and SGSN
The S4 contains user plane and control plane interface and it is
located between SGSN and Serving SAE GW.
These 2 interfaces are based on the Gn interface between the SGSN
and the GGSN.
This would allow to either forward packet data from EUTRAN via
Serving SAE GW to SGSN (and then to GGSN) or from 2G/3G RAN to
SGSN to Serving SAE GW to PDN GW.

S12 Interface

S12
(User Plane)
User
User PDUs
PDUs

RNC

TS
29.281

GTP-U
GTP-U
UDP
UDP
IP
IP
L1/L2
L1/L2

Serving
Gateway

S12
Interfaces between EPC and 3G Radio access network
It would allow inter-system changes between LTE and 3G
The S12 is the user plane interface used for tunneling user
data directly between the Serving GW and the RNC.
This would allow to forward packet data from 3G RAN to
Serving GW to PDN GW.
It is based on the Gn interface between the SGSN and the
GGSN and therefore uses the GTP-U protocol.

Summary Control Plane

Summary User Plane

Protocols Details

Thank you