Packet Call Processing in UMTS
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Authors: Krishna Kumar. A Annie Thamarackal. C Anand Srinivasan Satish Venkob
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
Abstract
This paper, Packet Call Processing in UMTS, depicts the end-to-end packet call processing in UMTS network, based upon the 3GPP Specifications. Though the 3GPP Specifications talks about different protocols and their roles in Call processing, they are not giving us a conglomerate picture on what exactly happens to a call (e.g., Telnet or FTP session) originated by a mobile or an external world. Through this paper, we are trying to give the reader an easier understanding on the end-to-end procedures by providing a better visual percept through various inter-working diagrams of the Call establishment and termination procedures. The main goal of this paper is to be a panacea to the questions lying within us regarding the 3G Mobile panoramas.
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
Table of Contents
1. 2. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................4 NETWORK ELEMENTS INVOLVED IN PACKET CALL PROCESSING ................4 Components in UTRAN.......................................................................................................5 Components in CN ..............................................................................................................5 UMTS ARCHITECTURE.................................................................................................5 Control Plane of UMTS .......................................................................................................6 Data Plane of UMTS ...........................................................................................................7 PACKET CALL PROCESSING.......................................................................................7 Call Initiation.......................................................................................................................7 Mobile Originated Call Transfer ..........................................................................................8 Mobile Terminated Call Transfer .........................................................................................9 Packet Data Transfer..........................................................................................................10 Address Mapping..........................................................................................................10 Uplink and Downlink PDU ...........................................................................................11 Call Termination................................................................................................................11 ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...............................................................................................13 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................13 ABOUT THE AUTHORS ...............................................................................................14 ABOUT WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES..............................................................................14
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5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
1.
Introduction
Third generation mobile networking is the latest technology in the wireless world. UMTS is one of the major technologies for realizing the third generation mobile communications. Defined by 3GPP and supported by major telecommunications operators and manufacturers, UMTS will deliver broadband voice and data (video etc) traffic to mobile users. Apart from addressing the capacity requirements of mobile Internet traffic by increasing mobile transmission speeds up to 2Mbps, UMTS also supports existing mobile technologies like GSM and GPRS thus protecting the current investments in these technologies. This paper details the Packet Call Handling procedures in UMTS through an ideal architecture for Control and Data Plane in PS domain. This paper is applicable to Release 4 architecture only and does not describe the scenario for Release 5 All IP architecture.
2.
Network Elements Involved in Packet Call Processing
The mobile radio system consists of two basic subsystems. Radio access network (UTRAN) - includes radio functions such as radio resource management (realized through Node-B and RNC network elements) Core Network (CN) - includes call control and mobility management (realized through MSC, SGSN and GGSN network elements).
The 3GPP standards group has standardized the interfaces between these entities. This is depicted in Fig 1.
NODE B NODE B NODE B NODE B NODE B
HLR RNC
Iu-CS
EIR
3G MSC/ VLR PSTN/ISDN
Gs Gr Gf
RNC
Iu-PS
Packet data Network
BTS BTS BTS BSC
Gb
3G SGSN
Gn
GGSN
Figure 1: Packet Domain Architecture
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
SGSN has core interface endpoints to RNC (Iu PS interface), GGSN (Gn interface). Implicitly, 3G SGSN has protocol end point for the GMM and SM layers and the peer for these layers in the MS side.
Components in UTRAN
Node B
Node B (also called the Base Station Controller or Radio Base Station) provides the gateway interface between the handset/RF interface, and the Radio Network Controller via the Iub interface. It is involved in handover decisions, which are based on RF signal quality measurements.
RNC
Radio Network Controller (RNC) enables Radio Resource Management by UTRAN. It handles protocol exchanges between Iu, Iur and Iub interfaces and is responsible for centralized operation and maintenance of the entire RNS (RNC and Node Bs).
Components in CN
SGSN
Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) as a network element is meant to handle PS domain call control, data transfer and mobility management .The SGSN monitors users location and performs security functions and access control.
GGSN
Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) contains routeing information for packet-switched (PS) attached users and provides interworking with external PS networks such as the packet data network (PDN). It also does the allocation of dynamic addresses to MS, provide support for mobile terminated IP sessions (Push services), user data screening/security and charging.
HLR
Home Location Register (HLR) contains packet domain subscription data and routeing information. The HLR is accessible from the SGSN via the Gr interface and from the GGSN via the Gc interface.
3.
UMTS Architecture
In UMTS, the logical architecture comprises of a Control Plane and a User Plane. The Control Plane performs all the signaling functions and the User Plane performs all the data transfer functions. Through the control plane functions, data bearer connections are setup, terminated and maintained. The Control Plane and User Plane of the layered protocol structure between the MS and 3G-GGSN in PS domain is shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 respectively. In both planes, the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer handles functions such as priority handling between data flows of one MS, and multiplexing/demultiplexing of higher layer protocol data units (PDUs) into/from transport blocks delivered to/from the physical layer. The Reliable Link Control (RLC) layer supports transfer of user data in transparent, unacknowledged, and acknowledged mode.
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WHITE PAPER Control Plane of UMTS
Packet Call Processing in UMTS
GMM / SM RRC RLC MAC L1 MS
RELAY RRC
RRC
GMM/SM
RANAP SCCP M3UA SCTP/IP
RANAP SCCP M3UA SCTP/IP AAL5 ATM
GTP-C UDP IP L2 L1
GTP-C UDP IP L2 L1
RLC
MAC L1
AAL5 ATM
Uu
RNS
Iu-Ps
SGSN
Gn
GGSN
Figure 2: UMTS Control Plane
The GPRS Mobility Management and Session Management (GMM/SM) layer handles functions such as attach, detach, security, routeing area update, and PDP context activation and deactivation. The Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer handles functions such as the establishment, maintenance, and release of RRC connections between the MS and UTRAN, establishment, reconfiguration, and release of Radio Bearers, RRC connection mobility functions, and MS measurement reporting functions. The Radio Access Network Application Protocol (RANAP) in the control plane encapsulates and carries higher-layer signaling, handles signaling between the UTRAN and 3G-SGSN, and manages the GTP connections on the Iu interface. In the control plane, signaling is transferred via a Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP) connection on the Iu interface. MTP3 User Adaptation (M3UA) is an adaptation module, which enables Users in the IP Domain to access the Services provided by the SS7 network transparently. Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is designed to transport PSTN signaling messages over IP networks, but is capable of broader applications. SCTP is a reliable, packet based, stream oriented transport protocol operating on top of a connectionless packet network such as IP. The GPRS tunneling protocol for the control plane (GTP-C) tunnels signaling messages between SGSNs and GGSNs, and between SGSNs in the backbone network. Control Plane signaling is used to create, modify, and delete tunnels.
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
Data Plane of UMTS APPLN IP / PPP RELAY PDCP RLC MAC L1 L1 MS PDCP
RRC
RELAY IUUP GTP-U UDP
IP
IP/PPP GTP-U UDP IP L2 L1
IUUP GTP-U UDP
GTP-U UDP IP L2 L1
RLC MAC
IP
AAL5 ATM RNS
AAL5 ATM
Gn Uu Iu-Ps
Figure 3: UMTS Data Plane
SGSN
GGSN
The Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer handles transmission and reception of PDUs using services provided by the RLC protocol, and header compression and decompression. The Iu User Plane (IuUP) protocol is used to convey user data associated to Radio Access Bearers (RAB). One IuUP protocol instance is associated to one RAB Context. IuUP is transparent in PS mode. The GPRS tunneling protocol for the user plane (GTP-U) uses a tunneling mechanism to carry data packets between UTRAN and 3G-SGSN, and between the SGSN and GGSN in the backbone network.
4.
Packet Call Processing
Call Initiation
The pre-requisite for any Packet Data transfer is a creation of a session. A Session can be defined as a transaction initiated by the MS or an external PDN for exchanging data packets between them. An example for a session could be an FTP or a Telnet session. For a session to be created, the presence of MS must be known to the network. This is done by performing an Attach Procedure initiated by GMM, which leads to the creation of a GMM Context, as shown in Fig 4. The GMM Context contains details like International Mobile Subscriber Identity(IMSI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) and Cell Identity. A PS Signalling connection is also established between the MS and the SGSN during this procedure.
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
Once the Attach Procedure is done, the MS can establish a session for data transfer. The Call Origination can be of two types, Mobile Originated (MO) and Mobile Terminated (MT). In MO, the MS initates the Session creation. But in MT, the GGSN on receiving PDUs from external PDNs notify the MS to start the Session Creation Procedure.
GMM
Uu
RANAP
ATTACH REQUEST
Iu
RANAP GMM
Attach Initiation
INITIAL UE AUTHENTICATION & CIPHERING REQ DIRECT TRANSFER
Attach In Progress
AUTHENTICATION & CIPHERING RESP DIRECT TRANSFER
Attach Completed
_ATTACH_ACCEPT
DIRECT TRANSFER
MS
RNS
SGSN
Figure 4: UMTS Call Initiation Procedure (GMM Attach)
Mobile Originated Call Transfer
To exchange data packets with external PDNs after a successful attach, a mobile station must apply for one or more addresses used in the PDN, e.g., for an IP address in case the PDN is an IP network. This address is called PDP address (Packet Data Protocol address). For each session, a PDP context is created, which describes the characteristics of the session. It contains the PDP type (e.g., IPv4), the PDP address assigned to the mobile station (e.g.,129.187.222.10), the requested Quality of Service (QoS), and the address of a GGSN that serves as the access point to the PDN. This context is stored in the MS, the SGSN, and the GGSN. This is created by means of a PDP Context Activation Procedure initiated by SM as shown in Fig 5. On Iu side, a RAB Context corresponds to a PDP Context, which is created by means of a RAB Assignment Procedure initiated by RANAP on CN side. The RRC establishes the appropriate radio bearer by sending a Radio Bearer Setup message to the MS if there is sufficient uplink and downlink capacity available to support the new radio link. On the Gn side, a Create PDP Context Procedure is performed to create the transport bearer layer for both Data and Signaling plane between SGSN and GGSN. GTP-U tunnels the data and GTP-C tunnels the control signals in both uplink and downlink direction.
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
Uu SM RRC Session Initiation RRC RANAP
Iu RANAP SM GTP-c
Gn GTP-c
ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT REQUEST
DIRECT TRANSFER RAB ASSIGNMENT REQ
RB SETUP REQ RB SETUP COMPLETE
RAB ASSIGNMENT RSP
CREATE PDP CONTEXT REQ
RAB Established
ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT ACCEPT
DIRECT TRANSFER
CREATE PDP CONTEXT RSP
Session Established MS
Context Established SGSN GGSN
RNS
Figure 5: UMTS Mobile Originated Call Transfer Procedure
Mobile Terminated Call Transfer
In Mobile Terminated Call, GGSN initiates the activation of a PDP Context. When receiving a PDP PDU, the GGSN checks if a PDP Context is established for that PDP Address. If no PDP Context has been previously established for that PDP address, the GGSN delivers the PDUs by initiating the Network Requested PDP Context Activation Procedure, as shown in Fig 6. This is performed by GTPC by sending a PDU Notification Request towards SGSN. The GGSN will queue the received PDUs for some definite period of time, till a positive response is received from SGSN. If PS Signaling connection is not available, SGSN initiates the Paging Procedure through GMM to locate the MS. Once the signaling is established, Request PDP Context Activation is send by SM towards MS. Then the MS initiates the PDP Context Activation Procedure. A PDP Context will be created for the requested PDP Address and Access Point Name (APN). This will result in the creation of control and data tunnels on the Gn side and also RAB Contexts on the RNC side, as in a Mobile Originated Call. Once the end-to-end session has been established, the GGSN will route the queued packets to the MS depending on TFT parameters. With an active PDP context, the mobile station is visible for the external PDN and is able to send and receive data packets. A user may have several simultaneous PDP contexts active at a given time.
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
Uu SM RRC RRC RANAP
Iu RANAP SM GTP-c
Gn GTP-c Session Initiation
PDU NOTIFICATION REQ
REQUEST PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION
DIRECT TRANSFER
PDU NOTIFICATION RSP
Session Activation Started ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT REQUEST
DIRECT TRANSFER
RAB Establishment RAB Establishment Procedures done Procedures done here ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT ACCEPT
DIRECT TRANSFER
CREATE PDP CONTEXT REQ
CREATE PDP CONTEXT RSP
Session Activated MS
RNS
SGSN
Context Established GGSN
Figure 6: UMTS Mobile Terminated Call Transfer Procedure
Packet Data Transfer
IP Address
Address Mapping
The mobile is identified by the PDP address in the PDN. Example for a PDP address could be an IP address in case the PDN is an IP network. The PDP Address can be static or dynamic. If Static, the user gets this PDP Address with the subscription and if dynamic, this is allocated by GGSN. In the downlink direction, the PDP address is mapped to a TEID depending on TFT. In the uplink direction, the RB ID is selected based on the QoS requirements. The TEID on Iu and Gn interfaces are different and are mapped by relay functionality for data transfer across the interfaces.
GGSN
Gn TEID
SGSN
Gn TEID Iu TEID
RNS
Iu TEID RB ID
UE
RB ID
Indicates mapping across elements Figure 7: Address Mapping in Data Plane
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Uplink and Downlink PDU
Packet Call Processing in UMTS
For each downlink PDUs, the GGSN routes them to the different GTPU tunnels based on the TFTs assigned to the PDP contexts, when multiple PDP contexts exist for the same PDP address of an MS. For each uplink PDP PDU, the MS should choose the PDP context that best matches the QoS requested by the sender of this PDP PDU (e.g., an application supporting QoS). The relay function of a network node transfers the PDP PDUs received from the incoming link to the appropriate outgoing link. At the RNC, the SGSN, and the GGSN the relay function stores all valid PDP PDUs until they are forwarded to the next network node or until the maximum holding time of the PDP PDUs is reached. The PDP PDUs are discarded when buffering is longer than their maximum holding time. The discarding protects resources from useless transfer attempts, especially the radio resource. In UMTS, the RNC, SGSN and GGSN relay function may optionally perform re-sequencing of PDP PDUs before transfer of the PDP PDUs.
Call Termination
The MS can terminate a call associated with a particular application by performing a Deactivation Procedure initiated by SM. GTPC will send Delete PDP Context Request towards GGSN to delete the PDP context stored in GGSN. RAB Assignment Procedure initiated by RANAP releases the RAB Context on the RNC for this particular session. The end-to-end PDP Context Deactivation Procedure is depicted in Fig 8.
SM
RRC
Uu RRC RANAP
Iu RANAP SM GTP-c
Gn GTP-c
DEACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT REQ Session Deactivation DIRECT TRANSFER Started DEACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT ACCEPT
DIRECT TRANSFER
DELETE PDP CONTEXT REQ DELETE PDP CONTEXT RSP
Context Deleted
RAB ASSIGNMENT REQ RB RELEASE REQ RB RELEASE COMPLETE RAB ASSIGNMENT RSP
Session Deactivation Completed MS
RAB Deleted RNS SGSN GGSN
Figure 8: UMTS Call Termination Procedure initiated by MS (Deactivation Procedure)
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
The PDP Context Deactivation can also be initiated by GGSN. This is performed by GTPC by sending a Delete PDP Context Request to SGSN, which will trigger the Deactivation Procedure between SGSN and MS, initiated by SM. The RAB associated with the context will also be deleted by means of RAB Assignment Procedure of RANAP. When the last PDP Context associated with a PDP Address is deactivated, and then PDU transfer for this PDP Address is disabled. The MS can also terminate the calls when it does not want to use the SGSN services anymore, by switching off the mobile. This is performed by means of a Detach Procedure initiated by GMM. This results in the deactivation of all PDP Contexts and RAB Contexts by means of PDP Context Deactivation Procedure associated with this MS. No data transfer in both downlink or uplink direction is possible once the mobile is detached.
GMM Detach Initiation
RRC
Uu RRC RANAP
Iu RANAP GMM GTP-c
Gn GTP-c
DETACH REQUEST
DIRECT TRANSFER
DELETE PDP CONTEXT REQ DELETE PDP CONTEXT RSP
RAB ASSIGNMENT REQ RB RELEASE REQ RB RELEASE COMPLETE RAB ASSIGNMENT RSP
Context Deleted
RAB Deleted
DETACH ACCEPT
DIRECT TRANSFER
Detach Completed MS RNS
IU RELEASE COMMAND
SGSN
GGSN
Figure 9: UMTS Call Termination Procedure initiated by MS (Detach Procedure)
The Network can also initiate a Detach Procedure due to HLR triggers. A Detach Request will be sent by GMM on the SGSN towards MS, which will respond with a Detach Accept. This will also lead to the termination of all active sessions as in MS Initiated Detach procedure.
5.
Acronyms
3GPP CN FTP 3rd Generation Partnership Project Core Network File Transfer Protocol
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GGSN GMM/SM GTPC IMSI IMEI IP MS MTP PDN PDP PDU PS QoS RAB RLC RNC RRC SCCP SCTP SGSN TFT UE UMTS UTRAN Gateway GPRS Support Node
Packet Call Processing in UMTS
GPRS Mobility Management and Session Management GPRS Tunnelling Protocol Control International Mobile Subscriber Identity International Mobile Equipment Identity Internet Protocol Mobile Station Message Transfer Protocol Packet Data Network Packet Data Protocol Protocol Data Unit Packet Switched Quality of Service Radio Access Bearer Radio Link Control Radio Network Controller Radio Resource Control Signalling Connection Control Part Stream Control Transmission Protocol Serving GPRS Support node Traffic Flow Template User Equipment Universal Mobile Telecommunication System UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
6.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank our colleagues in 3G-SGSN-CORE team for their valuable comments, support, guidance, and innovative ideas. We would also like to offer special thanks to our Technical Manager, Mr. Anup Kumar Sureka for the critical reviews and inputs to our paper.
7.
References
3GPP TS 24.007 v3.7.0: 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network; Mobile Radio Interface Signalling Layer 3; General Aspects (Release 1999) 3GPP TS 24.008 v3.8.0: 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network; Mobile Radio Interface Layer 3 Specification; Core Network Protocols; Stage 3 (Release 1999) 3GPP TS 23.060 v3.8.0: 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); Service Description; Stage 2 (Release 1999)
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Packet Call Processing in UMTS
3GPP TS 29.060 V3.6.0: "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network; General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); GPRS Tunnelling Protocol (GTP) across the Gn and Gp Interface (Release 1999)". 3GPP TS 25.413 V3.4.0 : 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; UTRAN Iu Interface RANAP Signaling (Release 1999).
8.
About the authors
Krishna Kumar A is a Project Manager in Wireless Business Unit of Telecom and Internetworking Group at Wipro Technologies. His areas of interest include Data Networking, Wireless and Distributed Computing. Annie Thamarackal C is a Senior Software Engineer in Wireless Business Unit of Telecom and Internetworking Group at Wipro Technologies. She is a domain expert in Telecom (UMTS & GPRS). She has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Anand Srinivasan is a Senior R&D Engineer in Wireless Business Unit of Telecom and Internetworking Group at Wipro Technologies. He has a Bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration. He has an expertise in Telecom domain with an extensive knowledge in AMPS-PCS, GPRS and UMTS. Satish Venkob finished his Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Bangalore University .He has been working in the Wireless Protocol arena from past 2 years in Wireless Business Unit of Telecom and Internetworking Group at Wipro Technologies. Currently he is involved in the 3G UMTS protocol layer development and integration. His hobbies include Music, reading technical stuff etc
9.
About Wipro Technologies
Wipro Technologies is the global technology services division of Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT). It provides turnkey solutions for Finance, Retail, Utilities, Telecom and Technology clients. The focus is largely in the areas of information services outsourcing and technology software development. The companys top clients include Lucent, Canon, Epson, Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba, Cisco, IBM, ARM, AT&T and Transco. www.wipro.com Copyright 2002. Wipro Technologies. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission from Wipro Technologies. Specifications subject to change without notice. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. Specifications subject to change without notice.
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