LTE with VoLTE Entering the

Enterprise

By Ivan Sindell, PMP

Ivan Sindell is President of GCSRi and past president of the Society of
Communications Technology Consultants(SCTC) , a project manager
and technologist who analyzes fundamental communications changes
and their potential for his government, NGO, carrier and consultant
colleagues.

Copyright 2015

1
 Table of Contents
Chapter 1 -The Radio Access Network (RAN) At the
Gates of the Enterprise ............................................ 4

Chapter 2 - Wireless Long Term Evolution (LTE) and

the Enterprise ........................................................ 12

Acronym List .......................................................... 25

Table of Figures
Chapter 1:
Figure 1 Ericsson Wireless Data Demand Growth ....................... 5

Figure 2 Fiber is Necessary to Increase Backhaul Capacity.......... 6

Figure 3 Small Cell Data Off Load Capability ................................ 9

Figure 1 Transmission Modes .................................................... 17

Figure 2 LTE Architecture .......................................................... 18

Figure 3 LTE with HeNBs ........................................................... 20

Figure 4 Possible Traffic Flows in the LTE Advanced Enterprise

................................................................................................... 21

Figure 5 Example LTE-S1 signaling scenario (messages between

eNodeB (eNB) and MME (Mobility Management Entity) .......... 23

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3
 Chapter 1 -The Radio Access Network
(RAN) At the Gates of the Enterprise

As the carriers expand their networks to keep up with

increasing demand for wireless data access, consultants and
enterprise IT decision makers need to understand the
potential impact on the enterprise infrastructure. As a
consultant, are you prepared to offer your clients advice
and wireless solutions as carriers extend their reach, even
into the enterprise domain? Are the CIOs, CTOs or IT
directors you work with aware of the impact to their
operational and business models, as nearly every device
becomes wireless and many devices become mobile?
This technical note summarizes current wireless network
developments and their potential impacts on our customers
environments in terms of the technologies, the appropriate
uses, and readiness for use. Most significantly, regardless
of carrier, the network extension technology or even its
ownership, the carriers will demand management access to
those extensions as a prerequisite for allowing them on the
carriers network. The carrier may not own the access
point, but they will want visibility to it, and consequently
access into the corporate IT domain.
The problem that carriers are facing and that is driving the
carrier networks into the enterprise is wireless user demand
for data. Figure 1 below is Ericssons prediction of Mobile
Data Growth of about 10 times over that next four years.

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 Figure 1 Ericsson Wireless Data Demand Growth

This has required a two-fold change in the network.

Carriers have responded with huge capital expenditures for
HSPA+ and LTE deployments as they struggle to keep up
with users demands for ever more downstream and
upstream data. All carriers are now installing or planning to
install equipment that uses Long Term Evolution (LTE)
Advanced to vastly increase the wireless capacity. This
same increase in data has required a new backhaul media
and architecture of Ethernet over fiber to the cell tower, but
this will not be enough. Still unable to meet demand,
Carriers are extending their Radio Access Networks
(RANs) into the public and private enterprise space through
Small Cells, WiFi and Distributed Antenna Systems
(DAS), architectures.
Figure 2 illustrates how the carriers are replacing copper
with fiber to improve backhaul

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 Figure 2 Fiber is Necessary to Increase Backhaul Capacity

Built into LTE (Advanced) and its coming successors are

the technology, network architecture and management
solutions that will allow the network to be extended and
managed to efficiently mitigate these capacity demands by
off-loading data from Macro cells onto Small Cells, DAS
and WiFi.
The carriers mix of standard RAN network elements and
new network elements is the concept of Heterogeneous
Networking, (HetNet), meaning a mixed multilayer
network that will be managed by the carriers as Self
Optimizing, Self Organizing, and finally as Self-Healing
Networks (SON). These complex networks that use a mix
of Radio Access Technologies (RAT) are being woven
together to provide the radio and backhaul capacity
necessary to satisfy business and personal demand. It is
also these same extensions and management solutions that I
believe will impact the enterprise customers
telecommunications systems and operations directly and
soon.

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On May 9, 2012 FierceWireless reported from the CTIA
show, that Kristin Rinne, Senior Vice President of Network
Technologies at AT&T Labs , described AT&Ts . LTE
Advanced deployment status and future as follows:
AT&T Mobility's network will begin adding new network
functionalities--such as HetNets and SON--before year's end,
with VoLTE to follow in 2013. One of the functionalities AT&T
intends to employ is heterogeneous networks (HetNets),
featuring small cells, which can add density to the macro layer
with low-power nodes. AT&T will begin deploying small cells in
earnest later this year based on the needs of high-density areas.
AT&T would eventually like to deploy multimode small cells that
encompass LTE, HSPA+, WCDMA and Wi-Fi. [AT&T] will
initially need to deploy most of the components individually.
Another advanced feature AT&T is employing is SON. AT&T is
very bullish on its capability in our network HetNets, SON and
carrier aggregation are all standardized features of 3GPP
Release 10 LTE Advanced. AT&T is moving to deploy several
LTE Advanced elements by 2013, not only because they offer
increased data capacity and speeds but also because they
improve the intelligence of the network, said Rinne.
AT&T's Rinne: Small cells, SON and VoLTE coming in 2012, 2013 -
FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/ctialive/story/atts-rinne-
small-cells-son-and-volte-coming-2012-2013/2012-05-
09#ixzz1urGOkzAy
You may be surprised at how far along these deployments
are. Verizons network is more completely rolled out than
AT&Ts and these aspects are further developed by VzW
as well. Here are brief overviews of these approaches. They
are not at mutually exclusive and you may expect to any
combination of them be used in any specific situation.
Small Cells
There is a great deal of media coverage about small cells
and these sometimes get lumped together as a generic term
for Pico cells or Femto cells. Some manufacturers and

7
analysts see many thousands of them deployed in ways that
would fundamentally alter the network deployment. At the
DAS in Action Conference in Atlanta a speaker provided
this definition that makes things clear: a small cell is a base
transceiver station (BTS). This means it will be small and
sometimes portable with all the features of a cell. Small
cells are not yet fully defined, that is you cannot go out
today and buy a fully developed multi-protocol, multi-
frequency BTS in a suitcase. In high density urban areas it
is being deployed with antennas, backhaul and power (with
back-up). Figure 3 provides a description of the benefit of
small cells (Pico Cells), vs. Wi-Fi vs. Femto cells.
WiFi (802.11n 3x3)
WiFi is now the ubiquitous infrastructure for enterprises, as
well as the home and some carriers (AT&T particularly)
have even installed WiFi hotspots in very dense urban
environments to offload their macro-cell network. 802.11n
3x3 can now support hundreds of megabits of capacity. At
one level 802.11 is a simple Ethernet pipe over the air. As

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 Figure 3 Small Cell Data Off Load Capability

carriers move into this space they require not just normal
management/security options, but also the kind of end user
device management and call control that any other of their
technologies provide customers. You can see some aspects
this, also in figure 3.
Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS)
Distributed Antenna Systems provide coverage for one or
more carriers wireless services in defined areas, such as
inside of buildings, stadiums, throughout a campus, even in
tunnels and mines. In the past, the technology was used for
installations of equipment that received a carriers over the
air signals and amplified them with a system of amplifiers
and cables. This type of DAS provided coverage in those
parts of a building that did not have adequate coverage
from the existing towers. This idea has evolved to

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providing data off-load from one or more carriers
networks. These architectures are complex since they
require the DAS to produce signals that are stronger than
signals fom cell towers only within the defined area of the
DAS They need to ensure sufficient fiber backhaul
bandwidth to support the wireless usage of the facility..
None of these solutions are mutually exclusive. Attempts
are being proposed to combine DAS and WiFi. No
generally agreed approach has been accepted, but there are
points that are being discussed, such as shared cabling
and/or shared equipment racks. However it not possible at
present to share antennas because DAS amplifiers are more
powerful than WiFi access points. WiFi antennas are
directly attached to the access points and distributed
antenna systems amplifiers are attached by long runs of
coax.
Impact on the Enterprise
Even without complete agreement on these developments,
the impact could be significant. Here is a summary of what
is agreed to date:
The Carriers want to control any new network
adjuncts as if they were on their networks; they
want to make them Network Elements of their
networks.
This will impact Enterprise Networks because it
brings the carrier into the enterprise network
domain.
WiFi is the Enterprise wireless infrastructure; if
carriers want to use this capability they will end up
controlling and partially managing at least a portion
of the enterprises domain. This is also true to a
greater degree of HeNB Home Enhanced Network
Base Stations (HeNB) or femto cells.

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 Distributed Antenna Systems can be owned by the
enterprise and are therefore in the Enterprise
network infrastructure for their employees and
customers, but they can also be carrier owned or
third party hosted which bring other parties onto the
network.
As more devices become wireless and mobile, we need to
be prepared to offer our clients advice and solutions.
Whether machine to machine (M2M), or person to person,
devices will be using communication to the cloud over a
flat IP infrastructure rather than on-site vs. off-site data.
Carriers will extend their reach onto our customers
premises. Consequently, we all need to understand the new
wireless infrastructures potential effect on information
technology systems. This should significantly influence
planning and procurement, starting now.
Think about it, I look forward to your feedback.

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 Chapter 2 - Wireless Long Term
Evolution (LTE) and the Enterprise

Long Term Evolution (LTE) Advanced: Why is It

Important to Information System Managers?
At first glance Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE
Advanced are simply implementations of 4G wireless
technology. However, LTE is not just a wireless industry
marketing acronym. In this article I will provide the
background of LTE and LTE Advanced including the
underlying drivers, some key specifications and what I
think will impact the
enterprise.
LTE is a
comprehensive set of
wireless specifications
and technologies that
have been created by
manufacturers and
carriers through the
3GPP (3gpp.org) an
industry group that
oversaw the creation of the GSM standards. The
manufacturers and carriers have put their engineering know
how and their dollars on the line and they have the buy-in
of international standards bodies. LTE and its successors
will be the fundamental structure of mobile and wired
Communications Networks.

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Earlier GSM and CDMA protocols, as well as other 4G
standards such as WiMax will be transported over the LTE
Radio Access Network (RAN). In addition LTE has been
specified (yes, specified) by the FCC for the build out of
the National Broadband Network and for the
interoperable National Public Safety Broadband network
in the D-Block 700 MHz frequencies .
When fully implemented in the 2016-2017 timeframe, I
believe user devices will be almost 100% connected
wirelessly and to each other and to the cloud. The wired
network will become fundamentally a backhaul network for
the wireless network and the repository of the cloud. This
will be true throughout the enterprise whether private or
government. Seamless communication with one set of
protocol standards will be global and the
telecommunications carriers will dominate network
management and operations, as well as playing a much
larger role in applications hosting and content delivery.
Here are some examples of the Global Scope of the LTE
buildout
Driven by the soaring demand for mobile broadband
services, the global LTE industry has the potential to reach
USD 410 billion by 2016-end growing at a CAGR of over
86%. Having already surpassed the 7 million mark, LTE
subscriptions are set to grow at a CAGR of 150% over the
next five years. LTE service revenues, with a CAGR of
80%, are expected to approach 291 billion, representing a
lucrative market for worldwide operators; with
infrastructure and device shipments likely to account for
USD 110 billion.
Copied from <http://www.sys-con.com/node/2254227>

According to research firm iGR, the demand for U.S.

mobile backhaul will grow at a compound annual growth

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rate of nearly 58 percent between 2011 and 2016 (10x). As
a subset of that, iGR found that growth of fiber backhaul is
expected to reach a CAGR of nearly 85 percent during the
same period. Although microwave backhaul is still in the
mix in terms of solutions for operators, iGR noted that fiber
has rapidly become the required mode of backhaul
transport.
Study: U.S. mobile backhaul demand to grow nearly 10x by 2016,
March 13, 2012 11:48am ET | By Phil Goldstein
Pasted from <http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/study-us-mobile-
backhaul-demand-grow-nearly-10x-2016/2012-03-13>

In addition to the 27 new cities getting LTE on Thursday-

April 18, 2012-, Verizon said it will expand its LTE
coverage within 44 existing markets. By the end of 2012,
Verizon will offer LTE service in 400 cities, reaching more
than 260 million people, the carrier said. Pasted from
<http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226272/Verizon_to_activate_2
7_more_LTE_cities_on_Thursday>

Existing Wireless Network Shortfalls Addressed by

LTE & LTE Advanced
As the data centric 3G Standards in their GSM and CDMA
guises were rolled out, the preeminent requirements of the
next generation of standards were improved data capacity,
an all IP architecture, standards based call handling/media
management and reduced costs.
Improved data capacity: With LTE offering data
download rates of 100 Mbps, LTE Advanced offering 1000
Mbps and the focus of the system being on mobile
broadband, it will be necessary for the network to be able to
handle much greater levels of data. To achieve this it is
necessary to adopt a system architecture that lends itself to
much greater levels of data transfer.
All IP architecture: When 3G was first developed, voice
was still carried as circuit switched data. Since then there

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has been a relentless move to IP data. The new System
Architecture Evolution (SAE) schemes have adopted an all
IP network configuration that will be fully realized in LTE
Advanced with Voice over LTE (VoLTE). This will be a
simpler architecture with a common gateway node and
anchor point for all technologies and the user plane with
only two node types.
Standards Based Call Handling and Media
Management: The Call Control will be performed by the
IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) using the Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) based protocol. In LTE Advanced
this creates the end-to-end global IP voice and video
communication fabric.
Reduced Costs: A key element for any operator is to reduce
costs. It is therefore essential that any new design reduces
both capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operational
expenditures (OPEX). The new flat architecture used for
SAE means that only two node types are used. In addition
to this, a high level of automatic configuration is
introduced, reducing the set-up and commissioning time.
Self-Optimizing Networks (SON) will actually reduce both
CAPEX and OPEX costs.

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 Table 1 LTE Data Rates

Do LTE & LTE Advanced Deliver on These

Requirements?
Speed equals Capacity - LTE will have the required data
capacity for future applications by achieving remarkable
throughput. Table 1 provides the maximum uplink and
downlink data rates. Not all devices will be able to access
all this speed all the time, but these gains are orders of
magnitude above even the fastest existing rates of 3G
devices.
These data rates will be achieved by advanced
modulation and transmission schemes. From an
availability standpoint they will be achieved by additional
spectrum and the ability to use both hunks of contiguous
spectrum and also to use non-contiguous spectrum as if it
were contiguous.
LTE has two modes or transmission schemes known as
Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)-LTE and
Time Division Duplex (TDD)-LTE. TDD-LTE allows the
use of a single channel band to for uplink and
downlink.

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 Figure 1 Transmission Modes

A Single Global Protocol Fabric and Voice over LTE

3GPP TS 3
(VolTE)
LTE-Advanced will incorporate all services: voice, video
and data as an IP stream. All previous mobile phone
systems have treated voice as a separate circuit based
system. Now there will be single unified IP fabric for all
services, managed by a single call control and messaging
protocol.
The first LTE specifications did not specifically include
voice. Two problems needed to be resolved. The first was
how to continue to handle voice as a separate circuit. The
second was what protocol and call handling to use to
incorporate voice along with video and other future media
services. Voice and video conversations (conferencing) are
the most difficult because the nature of a voice
conversation is isochronous; the units of speech need to be
delivered in regular time intervals. Only with LTE
Advanced will voice be part of the IP stream. All LTE
Advanced user devices will allow the simultaneous use of
all types of media for which they can accommodate.
Simpler Topology
The vastly improved data capacity is created in a network
which is much simpler. It has a much reduced set of types
of Network Elements or Nodes. Simply put, there are

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gateways and a single type of node, Evolved Node B
(eNB). In the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN), any cell site can communicate with
any adjacent cell site and with a Mobility Management
Entity Serving Gateway (MME).
Those are necessary elements of the network. This

3GPP TS 36.300 V9.7.0 (2011-03

MME / S-GW MME / S-GW

S1

S1
S1

S1

X2 E-UTRAN
eNB eNB
X2

X2

Figure
eNB2 LTE Architecture

architecture is also able to support multiple types of

services in addition to 4G. The equipment has been
designed to accept older cell services such as 1G and 2G,
Land Mobile Radio (LMR), other wireless technologies
such as WiFI and WiMax as plug in modules. This
simplicity and flexibility will lower costs, and make
support of the simple end-to-end architecture possible.

The Impact of LTE the Enterprise: It starts with the

HeNB
Figure 1 Transmission Modes
There is an innocuously named node, Home Enhanced
Node B (HeNB). This device will be managed by the both
the carrier and the enterprise. The Home (also and
especially Enterprise) Node B extends all the capabilities of
the LTE Advanced into the Enterprise as a single structure

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a campus or a globallyof distributed environment. Devices
performing some of these functions, such as pico cells,
have been introduced over the last few years. As fully
functional LTE advanced nodes they will create an edge
device that is managed by both the carrier and enterprise
network managers. In Figure 3 we see how HENBs as part
of the fundamental LTE topology.
Primary functions of the HENB Home eNB (HeNB)
Customerpremises equipment that uses the operators
licensed spectrum Can be used to enhance network
coverage/capacity
Includes the functions of an eNB as well as some
additional HeNBspecific configuration/security functions
HeNBGateway (HeNB GW)
Optional and transparent gateway through which the HeNB
accesses the core network
Addresses the issue of supporting a large number of S1
interfaces in the core network
Note: eNBs are connected by means of the S1 interface to
the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and the Dynamic
configuration of X2/S1 interfaces allows the eNB to
dynamically configure the S1MME interface with the
serving Mobility Management Entities ( MME)s and the X2
interface with neighbor eNBs
Three different access modes are defined for HeNBs
Closed access mode: HeNB provides services only to its
associated Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) members
Open access mode: HeNB appears as a normal eNB
Hybrid access mode: HeNB provides services to its
associated CSG members and to nonmembers (CSG
members are prioritized over nonmembers)

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Two categories of parameters are broadcast by HeNB
cells operating in closed/hybrid access mode:
Parameters to support the User Equipment (UE) in the
identification of closed/hybrid cells, CSG Indicator, CSG
Identity (CSG ID), HNB Name
Parameters to support an efficient search of closed/hybrid
cells at the UE Range of Physical CellIDs (PCIs) reserved
for closed cells
CSG provisioning functions manage how the CSG
information is stored in the UE and the network
Provisioning of the CSG lists on the UE to avoid
forbidden closed cells
Network storage of the CSG subscription for access control, per
CSG charging, etc.

3GPP TS 36.300 V9.7.0 (2011-03)

Figure 3 LTE with HeNBs

Mobility management supports different access modes

Access control procedures for establishing a connection

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and for handover
Differentiating between a member and a nonmember at a
hybrid cell
Automatic (re)selection in idle mode if the CSG ID
broadcast by the closed or hybrid cell is in the UE CSG
lists
Manual user selection of a closed or hybrid cell
H(e)NB Implementations for the Enterprise
The boundary between the carrier and the enterprise in
LTE will be in edge devices (HeNBs) that are jointly
managed by the enterprise and by the carrier. The demark
between the carrier and the enterprise will be offered as a
wireless node which will be managed by both the carrier
and the enterprise in the same network node HENB which
may be connected to the WAN both wirelessly and over
fiber. CPE could be wirelessly connected.
Figure 4 Possible Traffic Flows in the LTE Advanced Enterprise

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 In the future I see more and more enterprise functionality
moving to wireless and the wired network existing to
connect the user to the cloud. The role of IT and Telecom
within the enterprise could radically change. Carriers will
grow in importance to the enterprise IT infrastructure and
and the implementation of all it primary responsibilities.
The Carrier to enterprise Service Level Agreements SLAs
will be the fundamental management tool.
Figure 4 is a diagram of Home node B: From any user
device IP traffic can travel directly to the carriers nodes or
it can interact with the local IP network, or it can share the
local networks Internet connection.
The implementation of new wireless infrastructure (LTE
Advanced) will affect enterprise IT/Telecom infrastructure
and management structures in the 2013-2017 timeframe.
For enterprise architectural and operational conversations
the discussion is about how soon this will be deployed.
Enterprise investment in cabled and wireless infrastructure
needs to be undertaken very carefully during the next two
to three

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 Overview of 3GPP Release 10 V0.1.2 (2011-09) -
Modified by Ivan Sindell

http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/techtopics/techtopics22.html

Figure 5 Example LTE-S1 signaling scenario (messages between eNodeB

(eNB) and MME (Mobility Management Entity)

years. My own sense is that joint carrier/enterprise

management of enterprise located nodes combined with the
UE being connected wirelessly will radically change all the
terms of engagement.

Addendum on Public Safety and LTE

In the Federal Communications Commissions third
report and order, Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband,
Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band,
the Commissioners ordered that the national public safety

23
broadband network was required to conform to all of the
specifications of the 3GPP LTE Release 8 and later releases
due to the future ubiquity of LTE. The FCC had never
required a single set of outside technology standards
before. The report and order goes into some detail and in
the 58 page document LTE is referenced 135 times.
Previously the FCC had established that a ten megahertz
block (763-768/793-798 MHz) was allocated for public
safety broadband services and licensed on a nationwide
basis to a Public Safety Broadband Licensee. These 10
MHz are the so-called D-Block. There is discussion about
adding additional bandwidth. The management of the
network and the funding are undergoing considerable
attention. Senate and House committees passed different
versions this summer and the Presidents latest jobs bill
includes $7B to start the network.
Now Congress and the President have made LTE for
Public Safety Interoperability Law under.
Title VI of H.R. 3630 The Middle Class Tax Relief and
Job Creation Act of 2012, makes NTIA responsible for
creating an interoperable Network based on requirements to
be created in the next 60 days. The FCC is to form an
Interoperability Board to develop recommended minimum
technical requirements to ensure a nationwide level of
interoperability for the network based on Long Term
Evolution (LTE) commercial standards.

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 Acronym List
Acronym Item
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
CA Carrier Aggregation
CAPEX Capital Expenditures
C-RAN Cloud RAN
CSG Closed Subscriber Group
DAS Distributed Antenna Systems
Dynamic Host Configuration
DHCP
Protocol
DL Downlink
EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol
eNodeB enhanced Node B
EPC Evolved Packet Core
Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio
E-UTRAN
Access Network
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
Home(e)NodeB Management
HeMS
System
Home enhanced Node B (over E-
HeNB
UTRAN)
HeNB-GW Home (e)Node B Gateway

HetNet Heterogeneous Network

HNB GW Home Node B Gateway
HSPA+ Evolved High Speed Packet Access
HSS Home Subscriber Server
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
International Telecommunications
ITU
Union
LTE Long Term Evolution
LTE-Advanced Long Term Evolution Advanced
M2M Machine to Machine
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
MME Mobility Management Entity

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 Acronym Item
NMS Network Management System
Operations Administration and
OAM
Maintenance
O&M Operation and Maintenance
Orthogonal Frequency Division
OFDMA
Multiple Access
OMC Operation and Maintenance Centre
OPEX Operational Expenditures
QoS Quality of Service
PM Performance Management
RAN Radio Access Network
RAT Radio Access Technology
RF Radio Frequency
SAE System Architecture Evolution
Stream Control Transmission
SCTP
Protocol
SeGW Security Gateway
S-GW Serving Gateway
SIM Subscriber Identification Module
SIP Session Initiation Protocol
Self-Organizing Network/ Self-
SON
Optimizing Networks
TDD Time Division Duplex
TD-SCDMA Time Division Synchronous Code
Division Multiple Access
UE User Equipment
UL Uplink
Universal Mobile
UMTS
Telecommunications System
UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
Network
Wi-Fi 802.11xx Wireless Fidelity

26