05/11/2013

Session 7

Core network and

transmission study
ITU ASP COE Training on
Wireless Broadband
Sami TABBANE

5-8 November 2013 Nadi (Fiji Islands)

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CONTENTS

I.

Introduction

II.

Evolved Packet Core

III. Core network Dimensioning

IV. Summary

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CONTENTS

I. Introduction

Introduction

LTE Commercialization
351 Operators in 104 Countries are investing in LTE
105 LTE Commercial LTE Networks Launched in 48 Countries

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Introduction

LTE: Fast Market Growth

100 LTE Commercial Launches within 3 years of the first launch
WCDMA took longer than 4 year for 100 commercial launches
100M LTE Subscribers within 3.3 year expected

Introduction

World evolution of mobile data traffic

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Introduction

3GPP technologies are based on CDMA and OFDMA

technologies
WCDMA and HDPA are based on CDMA
LTE is based on OFDMA

Introduction

Advantages

Provide low latency

Higher network throughput
Increased data transfer speed
More cost effectiveness
Improvements over 3G network

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CONTENTS

II. Evolved Packet Core

Evolved Packet Core

3GPP Core Network Evolution
3GPP Network has evolved from 4 tier architecture to 3 tier architecture
2G /3G
CDMA/EV-DO
GSM/GPRS
EDGE
UMTS
HSPA

Circuit swirched
core voice

Voice
channels
BSC/RNC

IP channel

BTS
NodeB

Packet swirched
core data

PTSN
Other
Mobile
networks
Internet
VPN

LTE
eNodeB

Evolved packet core

(allIP)

IP channel
eNodeB

Transport (backhaul and backbone)

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Evolved Packet Core

Evolved core network

IP channel

eNodeB

S-GW

MME

P-GW

PCRF

Service delivery platforms

IP communications
Advanced location based services
(VoiP, video)
Mobile Tv, IP mULimedia
Messaging SMS/MMS Mobile office
Internet, Web 2.0

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Evolved Packet Core

Radical changes in the network

End of circuit-switched voice:

LTE uses a new paradigm for voice traffic VoIP.
Evolved wireless broadband
Mobility as a part of the core network:
In LTE, all mobility management is moved into the mobile
core and becomes the responsibility of the MME.

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Evolved Packet Core

Radical changes in the network

End-to-end QoS becomes essential:

LTE must provide superior end-to-end QoS management and

enforcement in order to deliver new media-rich, low-latency and
real-time services.

Policy management and enforcement:

Service control is provided via the Policy and Charging Rules

Function (PCRF)

PCRF dynamically controls and manages all data sessions and

provides appropriate interfaces towards charging and billing
systems.

LTE requires significantly more capacity in both the data plane and
control plane.
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Evolved Packet Core

4G (LTE) architecture
2G

RNC
SAE GW

SGSN

S5/S8

3G
S1-U

SGW

P-GW

S11
S7 (Gx)

S1-C

MME

PCRF

S6a
eNode B

HSS
X2

eNode B
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Evolved Packet Core

The EPC is realized through four new elements:

Serving Gateway (SG-W)

Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)
Mobility Management Entity (MME)
Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)

SGW, PGW and MME are introduced in 3GPP Release 8,

PCRF was introduced in 3GPP Release 7

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Evolved Packet Core

Serving Gateway (S-GW)

Manage user-plane mobility
acts as an interface between the RAN and
core networks.
Maintains data paths between eNodeBs and the PDN Gateway (PGW).
Evolved core network

IP channel

eNodeB

S-GW

MME

P-GW

PCRF

eNodeB

SGW is the termination point of the packet data network interface towards
E-UTRAN.
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Evolved Packet Core

Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)

The termination point of the packet data interface towards the Packet Data Network(s).
the PDN GW supports:
Policy enforcement features
Packet filtering (for example, deep packet inspection for application type detection)
Charging support (for example, per-URL charging)
In LTE, data plane traffic is carried over virtual connections called service data flows
(SDFs).
One or more SDFs are aggregated and carried over one bearer.

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Evolved Packet Core

Mobility Management Entity (MME)

It performs the signaling and control functions to manage the User

Equipment (UE) access to network connections, the assignment of network
resources, and the management of the mobility states to support tracking,
paging, roaming and handovers

The MME supports:

Security procedures: End-user authentication as well as initiation and
negotiation of ciphering and integrity protection algorithms.
Terminal-to-network session handling
Idle terminal location management

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Evolved Packet Core

Policy and charging rules function (PCRF)

A concatenation of Policy Decision Function (PDF) and Charging Rules Function

(CRF)
A control plane element that is not strictly speaking, an EPC element, but is
required to give dynamic control over bandwidth, charging, and network usage
AF

Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF):

supports service data flow detection, policy

PCRF

enforcement and flow-based charging.

Application Function (AF):
supports applications that require
dynamic policy and/or charging
control.

SGW

PGW

Online
charging
Offline
charging

shows how PCRF interfaces with other EPC elements..

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Evolved Packet Core

EPC deployment model

Deployment architecture

Centralised Function

Completely centralised

SGSN+GGSN+MME+SGW
+PGW

Distributed Function

MME+SGSN+GGSN+SGW
+PGW

Completely distributed
Centralised bearer/
Distributed control

SGW+PGW+GGSN

MME+SGSN

Centralised control/
Distributed bearer

MME

PGW+SGW

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CONTENTS

III. Core network Dimensioning

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Core network Dimensioning

General wireless network planning process
Pre-planning

Dimensioning:
Requirements and
Strategy for coverage,
capacity and quality

Coverage planning

Collect area parameters .

Detailed information of EPC core
network
Superficies
Subscribers information
Coverage and capacity constraints
Minimize exploited resources
Output
Equipment capacity
Output:
Offered services
Necessary capacity
Number of subscribers
User Traffic rate
Signaling traffic

Capacity equipment
Parameters planning
Optimization
Performance analysis in
terms of quality and
interference

Geographical site position

Maximize the coverage

KPI (Key performance indicator)

QoS requirements
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CORE NETWORK DIMENSIONING

1. Dimensioning Phases

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Dimensioning Phases
Traffic Dimensioning

Equipment
dimensioning

Dimensioning Traffic
Signaling Traffic
Data Traffic

Subscribers
demands

Number of
equipment needed

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Dimensioning Phases
Dimensioning preliminary phases
Initial parameters

Number of subscribers, N

configuration

Number of smartphone

Number of data card

Session size

Number of sessions during the busy hour

Traffic percentage in DL

Data traffic carried in VPNs or for Internet services

Network attach and detach

Bearer activation

HO procedures

Tracking area update

Handsets profiles
configuration

Traffic at Busy hour

Signaling Traffic

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CORE NETWORK DIMENSIONING

2. Traffic dimensioning at BH

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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Initial parameters (Number of smartphones and data cards)

Nc= NA* PC
NS =NA* Ps
Where:
Nc: Number of data cards
NA: Total subscribers number
PC: Data card percentage
NS: Total smartphones number
Ps: Smartphones percentage

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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Smartphone profile in Busy hour

With smartphones we can access to:

Streaming
Interactive video games
Download
Internet

Service characteristics:

Traffic at busy hour:

Session size
Number of possible sessions at
busy hour

S BH-DL/UL = (Tsession*Nsession)
Where
S BH-DL/UL: Traffic volume in UL/ DL at Busy hour
Tsession : Exchanged data volume per session
Nsession: Number of sessions at BH
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Traffic dimensioning at BH

Traffic on DL:
S BH-DL = (S BH-DL/UL ) * DL
Where:
S BH-DL/UL: Traffic volume at Busy hour
S BH-DL: Traffic volume on the DL
DL : Percentage of DL traffic

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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Traffic during BH

Smartphones Total traffic

S DL/UL= S BH-DL/UL *Ns
S DL/UL: Smartphone total traffic at Busy hour
Data card total traffic
CD DL/UL= CD Internet-BH-DL/UL *NCD
S DL/UL: Smartphone total traffic at Busy hour

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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Internet services Throughput at BH

Total traffic Internet services

Internet DL/UL = S DL/UL + CD DL/UL
Throughput of Internet services
THInternet BH-DL/UL = (Internet DL/UL *8) / 3600
Where
THInternet BH-DL/UL: Internet services throughput at busy hour

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Traffic dimensioning at BH
VPN services Throughput during BH

Number of cards supporting this services:

NCD_VPN = NCD*PCD_VPN
NCD_VPN: Number of cards using VPN
PCD_VPN: Percentage of cards using VPN
VPN DL/UL = ( CDVPN BH-DL/UL ) * NCD_VPN
THVPN DL/UL = (VPN DL/UL *8) / 3600
Where
THVPN DL/UL: Throughput VPN services at busy hour

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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Traffic in DL

S DL = (S BH-DL) * Ns
S DL = Smartphones total traffic in DL
CD DL = (CDInternet BH-DL) * NCD
CD DL = Data cards total traffic in DL
(Internet BH-DL)= S DL + CD DL
(Internet BH-DL)T: Total traffic in DL ( Internet services)
THInternet BH-DL = ((Internet DL) *8/3600)
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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Number of active users at Busy hour

NAU= NA*P AU
NAU: Number of active user at busy hour
PAU: Percentage of active user at busy hour
Number of operations made at busy hour

NAttach= NAttach/sub/BH*N AU
Nattach: Total number attachment
NAttach/sub/BH: Number of attachment at busy hour
NDetach= NDetach/sub/BH*N AU
NDetach: Total number of detach
NDetach/sub/BH: Number of detach at busy hour
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Traffic dimensioning at BH

NIDLE/ACTIVE= NIDLE/ACTIVE/sub/BH*N AU

NIDLE/ACTIVE: Total number of transitions idle to active

NIDLE/ACTIVE/sub/BH: Number of transitions idle to active at busy hour
NPDN= NPDN/sub/BH*N AU

NPDN: Total number of PDN connections

NPDN/sub/BH: Number of PDN connections at busy hour

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Traffic dimensioning at BH

NBEARERS= NBEARERS/sub/BH*N AU
NBEARERS: Total number of bearer activation and deactivation
NBEARERS/sub/BH: Number of bearer activation and deactivation per user at busy hour

NTAU_INTER_MME = NTAU_INTER_MME/sub/BH*N AU
NTAU_INTER_MME: Total number of tracking area update inter MME
NTAU_INTER_MME/sub/BH: Number of tracking area update inter MME per user
at busy hour
NTAU_INTER_MME_SGW = NTAU_INTER_MME_SGW/sub/BH*N AU
NTAU_INTER_MME_SGW: Total number of tracking area update inter MME /SGW
NTAU_INTER_MME_SGW/sub/BH: Number of tracking area update inter MME/SGW per user
at busy hour
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Traffic dimensioning at BH

NX2_HO= NX2_HO/sub/BH*N AU
NX2_HO: Total number of handover via X2 interface
NX2_HO/sub/BH: Number of handover via X2 interface per user at busy hour

NS1_HO = NS1_HO /sub/BH*N AU

NS1_HO: Total number of handover via S1 interface
NS1_HO/sub/BH:Number of handover via S1 interface per user at busy hour
NHO_INTER_MME = NHO_INTER_MME/sub/BH*N AU
NHO_INTER_MME: Total number of handover inter MME
NHO_INTER_MME/sub/BH: Number of handover inter MME per user at busy hour
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Traffic dimensioning at BH
Total number of procedures at busy hour

N proc = NAttach+ NDetach + NIDLE/ACTIVE + NPDN + NBEARERS + NTAU_INTER_MME + NX2_HO

+ NS1_HO + NHO_INTER_MME

N proc: Total Number of procedures

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CORE NETWORK DIMENSIONING

3. Equipment dimensioning

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Equipment dimensioning

a) MME dimensioning

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MME dimensioning

N MME = E[ Nattach / OC SAU]

N MME: Required number of MME
OC SAU: Capacity MME in simultaneous users attached
N MME= E[NIDLE/ACTIVE /3600)/ OC IDLE/ACTIVE]
OC IDLE/ACTIVE: Capacity MME in Idle to active transactions (in seconds)
N MME= E[NPROC /3600)/ OC TRANS_MME]
OC TRANS_MME: Capacity MME in transactions (in seconds)
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Equipment dimensioning

b) SGW dimensioning

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SGW dimensioning

N SGW = E[ NBEARERS / OC BEARERS]

N SGW: Required number of SGW
OC BEARERS: Capacity MME in bearers activation and deactivation
N MME= E[NIDLE/ACTIVE /3600)/ OC IDLE/ACTIVE]
For internet and VPN services:
N SGW = E[ THBH-DL-INTERNET / OC DATA-PROCESSING]
N SGW = E[ THBH-DL-VPN/ OC DATA-PROCESSING]
OC DATA-PROCESSING: Capacity data treatment
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Equipment dimensioning

c) PGW dimensioning

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PGW dimensioning

N PGW = E[ NBEARERS / OC BEARERS]

N PGW: Required number of PGW
N PGW = E[ THBh-DL-INTERNET / OC DATA-PROCESSING]
N PGW = E[ THBh-DL-VPN/ OC DATA-PROCESSING]

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Equipment dimensioning

d) HSS dimensioning

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HSS dimensioning

N HSS = E[ NA / OC A]
N HSS: Required number of HSS
OC A: Maximum capacity of HSS in term of subscribers

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Equipment dimensioning

d) PCRF dimensioning

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PCRF dimensioning

N PCRF = E[ NPROC/3600) / OC TANS_PCRF]

N PCRF: Required number of PCRF
OC TANS_PCRF: Capacity of PCRF in term of transactions ( in seconds)

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Equipment dimensioning

e) Dimensioning of signaling procedures

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Dimensioning of signaling procedures

0.2 T NMSG*Duration= Tsignal = TMSG /Throughput 0.4T

TMSG: Request signaling size ( in bit)

Throughput: Transmission throughput
Tsignal: Time transmission
NMSG: Number of signaling messages between network elements

TH INT_C = [TMSG * NMSG * NPROC/3600]

C INT_C= TH INT_C
NPROC_x: Number of operations
TH INT_C: Throughput per interface in the control plane
C INT_C: Capacity per interface

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CONTENTS

IV. Case Study

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Subscribers Information
Area Information

Population

1 003 700

Market Evaluation

52,6 %

Data Card Percentage

42 %

Smartphones (% )

27 %

Total Subscribers
527 947

Data cards Number

Smartphones Number
142 546

221 738

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Subscribers Information
Smart-Phone Configuration Profile UL/DL

Number of
session at BH

Session size

DL Percentage
(%)

Web
Browsing

85

Traffic
topology
Service

Active subscribers

Internet access

ALL

VPN

30% of data cards

Email

0.5

80

Video
streaming

10

95

VPN

0.25

60

Gaming

0.04

60

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CASE STUDY

1. Traffic dimensioning at BH

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Traffic Volume UL
UL--DL
Data session profile for a Smartphone

Traffic Volume at
busy hour DL
(Mb)

Traffic
topology

Number of
session

Session
Size(Mb)

Traffic Volume at busy

hour UL/DL
(Mb)

Web
Browsing

Email

0.5

Video
streamin
g

10

10

9.5

VPN

0.25

0.25

0.15

Gaming

0.04

0.04

0.02

Total Traffic Volume (Internet)

14.04

12.82

1.7
1.6

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Traffic Volume UL
UL--DL
Data session profile for a Data card

Traffic Volume at
busy hour DL
(Mb)

Traffic
topology

Number of
session

Session
Size(Mb)

Traffic Volume at busy

hour UL/DL
(Mb)

Internet

Internet

Internet

10

10

9.5

VPN

0.5

0.6

Internet

0.04

0.04

0.02

Total Traffic Volume (Internet)

16.04

14.42

Total Traffic Volume (VPN)

0.6

1.7
3.2

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Traffic Volume UL
UL--DL
Total traffic for office VPN and internet at BH (DL and UL)

Item

Total traffic at BH for Internet

(Mb)

Total traffic volume for all smartphones

1.99

Total traffic volume for all data cards

3.54

Total traffic (Mb)

5.54

BH throughput for intent DL&UL (Gb)

12.31

Data cards using VPN

30%

Total traffic VPN (MB)

0.06

BH throughput for office VPN (GB)

0.14

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Traffic Volume UL
UL--DL
Total traffic for office VPN and internet at BH (DL)

Item

Total traffic at BH for

Internet(Mb)

Total traffic volume for all smartphones

1.827.439

Total traffic volume for all data cards

2.005.513

Total traffic ( Mb)

3.882.952

BH throughput for internet DL&UL ( Gb)

8.62

Data cards using VPN

30%

Total traffic VPN (MB)

39 913

BH throughput for office VPN

0.08

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CASE STUDY

2. Dimensioning of signaling procedures

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Dimensioning of signaling procedures

Busy Hour Active Subscriber

= 527 947 x 90%
= 475 153

Procedure
Subscriber/BH

Number

Active user at BH

90%

N attach

475153

N detach

475153

N Idle to active

50

23 757 600

N PDN

0,5

237 576

N Bearers activ/deactiv

0.5

237 576

N TAUs inter MME

0,01

4752

N TAUs

0,1

47 516

N X2- HO

0,25

118788

N S1- HO

0,25

118788

N HO inter MME

0,01

4752

N Procedure

25 477 654
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CASE STUDY

3. Equipment dimensioning

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Equipment dimensioning

Components

MME

SGW

Metrics

Unit

Value

Percentage

Operating capacity

SimULaneous attached users

(SAU)

Subscribers

400 000

85%

340000

Idle to active
transition/second

Trans/sec

2600

85%

2210

Transactions/second

Trans/sec

3000

85%

2550

Number of active bearers

bearers

1000000

85%

850000

Data processing capacity

Gbps

10

85%

8.5

Number of active bearers

bearers

1000000

85%

850000

Data processing capacity

Gbps

10

85%

8.5

Number of active bearers

bearers

600000

85%

510000

Gbps

85%

4.25

3000000

85%

2550000

1600

85%

1360

PGW

Combines
GW/P-GW
Data c processing capacity
HSS

Number of users supported

PCRF

Transactions/second

Subscribers
Trans/sec

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Equipment dimensioning
Required nodes
Component

Required number

N MME-OC SAU

N MME-IDLE/ACTIVE

N MME-Proc

N SGW-Bearers

N SGW-Data Proc

N SGW-VPN

N PDNGW-Bearers

N PDNGW-DL Internet

N PDNGW-VPN

N SGW-PDNGW Bearers

N SGW-PDNGW DL Internet

N SGW-PDNGW DL VPN

N HSS

N PCRF

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CONTENTS

VI. Summary

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Summary
Main Challenges for the Future
User QoE decrease and operator cost increase due to mobile traffic growth
Operator revenue growth slows

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Summary

Many promising technologies have been identified in 3GPP

Operator and consumer benefit should be carefully considered when
new technologies are introduced for beyond 4G

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Thank you

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