Oracle White Paper, September 2013

LTE Diameter Signaling Index

2nd Edition

LTE Diameter Signaling Index

Contents
Executive Summary

Industry Trends and Indicators

Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index Forecast

Trend #1: Signaling Trafc Growing More Than Twice as Fast as Mobile Data

Trend #2: Policy Use Cases Drive the Most Trafc

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Trend #3: North America Leads in Total Diameter Trafc

11

Trend #4: Europe, Middle East, and Africa is the

Fastest Growing Diameter Market

13

Trend #5: Latin America is the Long-Term Growth Region

14

Trend #6: Japan/Asia Pacic Growth Driven by Five Countries

16

Trend #7: The Diameter Protocol Continues to Expand

17

The Future of Signaling

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Annex A - Assumptions and Methodology

21

Annex B - Diameter Interfaces in the LTE Core

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

Executive Summary
The Diameter signaling protocol has taken center stage in the mobility world in the past few
years. Used for activity coordination between Internet Protocol (IP) network elements such
as policy servers, online charging systems and mobility gateways, Diameter serves a crucial
function in mobility. And, as operators have migrated their networks to LTE, added new services
and implemented more sophisticated policy use cases, signaling volumes are skyrocketing.
To predict and accommodate Diameter signaling growth, service providers need to factor in
subscriber proles and behaviors and the types of services and devices they have and plan to
introduce on their networks. This is a shift for network engineers responsible for predicting
trafc and signaling patterns. Data sessions, video downloads, and the invocation of policy and
charging rules all introduce additional signaling into networks, all of which must be considered
to accurately predict network needs.
This LTE Diameter Signaling Index serves as a guide for network architects and engineers
building Diameter networks where policy intelligently orchestrates the subscriber experience
and Diameter signaling conducts communications among policy servers, charging systems,
subscriber databases and mobility management functions. As a measure of network
intelligence, the Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index is an important tool for
service providers to manage and monetize mobile data.
Last year, we released the rst edition of this forecast and analysis report to help operators
understand the impact of the phenomenal growth in signaling on their networks and ultimately,
on their customers experiences. In the 2012 report, we forecasted a rate of nearly 47 million
messages per second (MPS) by 2016. Using an evolved methodology, this years numbers also
show signicant growth. In fact, by 2017, worldwide LTE Diameter trafc will reach nearly 99
million MPS, a 140% ve-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
Other ndings of note include:
s

Policy signaling volumes are expected to more than triple in the next year. By 2017, policy
will account for 62% of signaling volumes, surpassing basic mobility;

Policy-related signaling is growing at a 164% CAGR through 2017, due to both the number
and complexity of use cases;

Online Charging (OCS) is the fastest growing Diameter use case, with a global CAGR of
180% through 2017;

North American volumes remain the worlds largest, reaching almost 43 million MPS by
2017, growing at a 127% CAGR;

Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Central/Latin America (LATAM) regional growth
rates are both well over a 200% CAGR through 2017;

Japan/Asia Pacic (JAPAC) continues to be a hybrid mature/emerging market. The mature

sector accounts for most of the LTE coverage and shows LTE Diameter signaling trafc
growth characteristics similar to North America;

Subscriber behaviors and smartphone penetration continue to play key roles in the growth
of Diameter signaling; and,

The denition of the protocol itself is expanding. The number of Diameter interfaces,
commands and associated parameters is growing rapidly, adding to the need for careful
architectural planning and constant interface upkeep.
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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

This report outlines global trends in LTE Diameter signaling growth through 20171. Serving as a
barometer of demand for overall network capacity, the forecast includes regional breakdowns of
trafc and associated growth rates. Likewise, we analyze the key applications of Diameter and
chart their impact on trafc and growth rates through the same forecast period.
The Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index CalculatorTM, upon which the
forecast is based, is helping operator technology executives more accurately plan their
networks architecture 2. At the same time, a use-case specic understanding of customer
behaviors and experiences is assisting operator business executives as they plan market-facing
offers, evaluate opportunities and incorporate third-party capabilities into their services.

Industry Trends and Indicators

Service providers evolving their mobility business models face two challenges: offering
compelling services and ensuring their networks can handle the associated performance and
scalability requirements. To serve these business models, operators are expanding their use
of IP throughout their 3G networks and ultimately to all-IP LTE networks. This necessitates a
move from the older RADIUS, MAP and CAMEL interfaces to the newer, more sophisticated
Diameter signaling protocol.
Though much attention has been paid to the pace at which IP trafc and the number of LTE
connections are expected to grow, this Index demonstrates that Diameter signaling trafc
increases continue to outpace data trafc growth (see Trend #1 below). For this reason,
executives, engineers and network architects are moving Diameter signaling up on their
investment priority lists.
The growth in signaling trafc correlates directly to the sophistication of services and pricing
plans in LTE networks, as the need for more subscriber and service intelligence triggers more
communication among core network elements. Examples of such service plans include:
s

Tiered services

Shared data plans

Casual usage and loyalty programs

Toll-free or sponsored data usage

Mobile advertising

Quality enhanced over-the-top (OTT) applications and content

Cloud and machine-to-machine (M2M) services.

Rather than risk under-engineering LTE networks, service providers need to consider how data
sessions, video downloads and sophisticated policy and charging rules will affect signaling, and
then ensure that a robust Diameter network is in place to manage the signaling trafc.

The scope of this report is limited to the LTE environment. It is important to note that the Diameter protocol also ser ves the IP segments of 3G networks
as well as xed networks.

Operators wishing a more detailed analysis are encouraged to contact us for a customized consultation employing the Oracle Communications LTE Diam
eter Signaling Index CalculatorTM

LTE Diameter Signaling Index

Execution of these services requires frequent Diameter signaling among the following
elements:
s

Policy Servers (PCRF)

Online Charging Systems (OCS)

Ofine Charging Systems (OFCS)

Home Subscriber Servers (HSS)

Mobility Management Entities (MME)

Policy Control Enforcement Points (PCEF), like Packet Gateways (PGW)

and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)

Session Management, such as Call Session Control Functions (CSCF).

LTE penetration rates projected by industry analysts indicate North America is still moving
aggressively to replace legacy technology. At 56% penetration, it is currently the worlds largest
LTE market.3 JAPAC is second, but with only 11% penetration rate by the year 2017, this leaves
signicant room for growth. In fact, the JAPAC trafc rates being observed today are paltry
compared to what is to come.
Likewise, industry forecasts about the sheer number of devices, applications, and services are a
harbinger of what is on the horizon. By 2017, more than 10 billion mobility devices will process
more than 300 billion app downloads worldwide.4 All of these will generate increased Diameter
signaling trafc in the core network. Many of them will be used in an always-on mode as
subscribers engage in multiple concurrent data sessions, generating more Diameter signaling
messages per subscriber.
Finally, the notion of busy hour will evolve, because the level of signaling trafc an operator
experiences is driven by more than just the number of subscribers. It is also a function of
subscriber behavior, the devices they use and the services and applications they invoke. As
such, a busy hour is also affected by these variables, meaning that signaling trafc peaks and
valleys will not necessarily occur at the same time of day.

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2013 Cisco Visual Networking Index

LTE Diameter Signaling Index

When operators embrace policy, they typically begin with fair usage and trafc management
use cases. However, as they increase both the number and complexity of the use cases and
begin implementing more revenue-generating policy rules, the amount of Diameter trafc
between the PCRF and enforcement points expands rapidly. We have observed at least one
operator with more than 700 individual policy rules in its policy server, with ongoing growth
expected.
The fastest growing use case is online charging (OCS), with just slightly more than 24 million
MPS expected by 2017, a 180% CAGR. This is especially true in regions where prepaid
charging is dominant, as prepaid services require more Diameter dialog between the PCRF and
the OCS. Regions such as LATAM and JAPAC are dominated by prepaid service plans, driving
a speedier pace of Diameter growth. Not surprisingly, ofine charging (OFCS) is smaller and
growing more slowly.
Mobility (roaming from 3G to LTE networks and vice versa) does not show the same impact on
Diameter trafc volumes as Policy and OCS. We project Mobility in 2017 to reach 8.3 million
MPS with a CAGR of 76%.

TREND #3: NORTH AMERICA LEADS IN TOTAL

DIAMETER TRAFFIC
North America is presently the largest LTE market in the world with a 56% penetration rate
predicted by 2017.7 As such, signaling volumes are already rather hefty and the MPS growth
rate is slower than in less penetrated markets. We predict this region will generate 42.7 million
MPS by 2017 at a CAGR of nearly 127%.
Policy is expected to surpass mobility this year as the leading source of signaling volume
increases in the region, with nearly a million MPS expected this year, as compared to just
slightly more than half that amount for mobility. By 2017, policy use cases in North America will
generate more than 25 million MPS at a 152% CAGR (Figure 6).

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

LTE Diameter Messages Per Second (millions)

North America LTE Diameter Signaling by Use Case

Messages per Second (MPS)
30
25
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Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index 2013

15

Policy
OCS
OFCS
Mobility

10
5

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Figure 6: North American Regional Diameter Signaling by Use Case

The key factors inuencing trends in North America include:

s

Declining 3G penetration: We project mobility (3G-LTE roaming) will reach 3.1 million MPS
by 2017, at a CAGR of 59%. This represents more than one-third of the total global MPS for
mobility in 2017. This share is down signicantly from 61% in 2012;

Wi-Fi Roaming: Once standards have been completed, Wi-Fi roaming will begin to offset
the 3G decline, however modestly. Due to its high LTE penetration rate, North America
will have the lowest per capita 3G-LTE roaming trafc of all regions. Nevertheless, there is
some roaming growth in North America;

Policy Maturity: The rst policy use cases in North America were focused on trafc
management, but new use cases for revenue generation can be found as marketing
organizations build compelling offers with policy. There are also use cases supporting multi
media sessions such as video and voice quality of service (QoS) in evidence;

Online charging is becoming more prevalent in North America, which will contribute nearly
11 million MPS by 2017, representing a 205% CAGR in the forecast period. By contrast,
OFCS MPS is projected to grow at a CAGR of 97% to 3.6 million MPS.

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

TREND #4: EMEA IS THE FASTEST GROWING

DIAMETER MARKET
Diameter signaling is growing at a rapid 224% CAGR in EMEA, and will deliver 17.9 million
MPS by 2017. Like North America, there is increasing policy use case maturity in European LTE
deployments including multi-media and more complex offers, driving signaling trafc upward.
The region as a whole will experience an incredible 243% Policy CAGR through 2017, as seen
in Figure 7 below. OCS will also increase signaling with a 237% CAGR in the same period,
amounting to 3.8 million MPS by the end of 2017.

LTE Diameter Messages Per Second (millions)

EMEA LTE Diameter Signaling by Use Case

Messages per Second (MPS)
14
12
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Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index 2013

Policy
OCS
Mobility
OFCS

6
4
2
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Figure 7: EMEA Regional Diameter Signaling by Use Case

Because EMEA has more national boundaries regularly traversed compared to other regions,
LTE and related service type trends will differ. According to industry reports, LTE penetration
for Eastern Europe is projected to reach 11% by 2017. Western Europe will grow to 25%
penetration by year 2017. Finally, the Middle East and Africa are expected to grow to 2%
and 4% penetration, respectively, leaving tremendous potential for growth in future years.8
Smartphone penetration will also be lower during this period, which will have a direct impact on
Diameter signaling trafc.

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

Trends to consider in EMEA:

s

Given the penetration rates, 3G will be in place in this region for several more years. Market
growth has slowed somewhat, due to economic factors. Consider, for example, that
London did not begin LTE deployments until the 2012 Olympics, and it has slowed postOlympics;

Roaming is much more common in Europe than other regions, due to the proximity of the
individual countries and ease of travel between EU member states. This ongoing roaming
will trigger higher trafc levels in Diameter networks. As the LTE penetration increases,
so too will roaming between 3G and LTE networks and between LTE networks, driving
signaling trafc upward;

Policy use cases will drive Diameter trafc as subscribers are expected to adopt more
multimedia related services and operators deliver more complex policies in their LTE
environments to coax subscribers to the newer networks;

While OFCS only represents 2% of the total MPS for this region, OCS represents 20%.
Charging trafc (both OFCS and OCS) will increase signicantly year over year due to
increased subscription numbers.

TREND #5: LATAM IS THE LONG-TERM GROWTH REGION

The LATAM region is at present the smallest market in terms of LTE subscriptions and LTE
Diameter signaling. The LTE penetration rate for LATAM is projected to reach only 8% by 2017.9
As such, any increase generates outsized percentage growth rates during this time.
Brazil is the exception, where subscription growth is strong. LTE subscriptions begin in
2013 and are forecast to reach almost 15% market penetration by 2017.10 While this is still
comparatively low, it does foretell a rapid increase in Diameter trafc.
As with other regions, policy will account for much of the signaling growth, as shown in
Figure 8 below. Policy in LATAM will yield 1.4 million MPS by 2017, a 317% CAGR. OCS
will be second in both total trafc and growth rates with just over 1 million MPS expected,
representing a 233% CAGR for the same period.

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TREND #6: JAPAC GROWTH DRIVEN BY FIVE COUNTRIES

JAPACs Diameter growth is attributable largely to its mature markets: Australia, Japan, Korea,
Hong Kong and Singapore. These countries represent most of the LTE subscriptions in this
region, as each country will exceed 50% penetration by 2017.11
This is not the case for the rest of Asia. Developing countries such as India show only a 7%
penetration rate by 2017.12 As other Asian operators implement LTE in the coming years, the
region will likely experience a steady growth rate in both LTE device penetration and Diameter
signaling.
From a Diameter signaling perspective, JAPAC will reach an impressive 35.2 million MPS
by 2017, nearly double the amount in EMEA and 85% the size of North America. The Policy
growth curve through 2017 is comparable to North America, as seen in Figure 9. OCS will
generate 8.5 million MPS by 2017, again 85% of the North American trafc volume.

LTE Diameter Messages Per Second (millions)

JAPAC LTE Diameter Signaling by Use Case

Messages per Second (MPS)
25
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Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index 2013

15

Policy
OCS
Mobility
OFCS

10
5

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Figure 9: JAPAC Regional Diameter Signaling Index

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

Key points for JAPAC include:

s

JAPAC represents the second most highly penetrated LTE market by 2017, yet at 11%,
there is still tremendous growth to be had;

China will start to have a signicant impact on regional LTE penetration by 2017;

Mobility is projected to reach 3.5 million MPS by 2017, a CAGR of 84%. Mobility will
continue to grow in this region as developing countries continue to maintain their 3G
networks while they roll out LTE in metropolitan areas. It is not likely that these countries
will adopt LTE quickly and aggressively as subscriber buying behaviors still heavily favor
feature phones;

Policy shows aggressive growth again thanks to the ve countries with the greatest
penetration and mature market characteristics. A chief factor is video, which is quite
popular in Asia, as policy use cases supporting QoS for video sessions become more
common;

OFCS shows roughly a two-fold increase each year, at a CAGR of 119%, but OCS weighs in
most heavily here. Charging growth is directly related to subscriber growth in this case, and
as the market matures, so too will the Diameter trafc associated with charging;

Asia will go through much of the same evolution as North America, with policy and OCS
galvanizing Diameter MPS growth.

TREND #7: THE DIAMETER PROTOCOL

CONTINUES TO EXPAND
Diameter is a nascent protocol, and networks are still limited in their LTE coverage. Today the
biggest impacts to Diameter trafc remain the number of subscriptions, subscriber behaviors
and the proliferation of smartphones. The result of these three characteristics drives policy use
cases, charging transactions and mobility transactions.
But this wont be the case for long. The 3GPP standards body is busily expanding the denition
of Diameter as it outlines new interfaces to replace legacy systems. These interfaces may
not individually have a substantial impact on signaling trafc, but collectively they will have a
marked effect. This is due to the nature of the Diameter protocol. The Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF) dened a base set of commands and associated parameters called Attribute Value
Pairs (AVPs) for Diameter. The 3GPP has also dened specic commands and AVPs for each
interface, depending on the application the interface supports.
For example, the SLh interface has been dened for use in Location Based Services (LBS).
The SLh interface only introduces two new commands to the Diameter protocol, so the
impact to overall trafc ow is minimal. By comparison, the S6a interface used between the
Mobility Management Entity (MME) and the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) must support
some 38 commands and more than 1,000 AVPs. Each command represents part of a Diameter
transaction, which makes Diameter much different than the SS7 protocol in which only a
handful of common messages are used to support the entire network. See Appendix B for a list
of Diameter interfaces commonly invoked in LTE networks.

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

The recently dened Sy interface allows the PCRF to bypass the GGSN/PGW when accessing
the OCS. This does not directly impact Diameter signaling volume since this same interface
already exists between the PCRF and the GGSN/PGW, and a service provider will choose one
path or the other for a given transaction. It may, however, present an opportunity for more
complex policy use cases in the future.
Finally, there is the Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF), the standard
underlying the emerging HotSpot 2.0 service.13 This new standard burst on the scene recently
and the industry is busily dening how it will work. The concern is how to handle the constant
location updates as a subscriber moves from Wi-Fi hotspot to hotspot. No standards exist
yet for managing the ow of signaling messages generated by Wi-Fi roaming, but work is
underway. Regardless of the outcome, this will be another source of signaling trafc that
could equal or surpass the signaling trafc generated for wireless roaming in a 3G network.

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HotSpot 2.0 is dened and certied by the WiFi Alliance (w w w.wi -.org )

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

The Future of Signaling

This is Just the Beginning
Industry professionals can expect Diameter growth to continue steadily over the next several
years as both implementations and the role of Diameter expand.
Worldwide, LTE connections are growing at nearly 70% CAGR.14 This is certainly dramatic
growth, but it pales in comparison to the years beyond this forecast where more than 6
billion subscribers, many with multiple subscriptions, will migrate to LTE networks and more
sophisticated devices.
And signaling growth is attributable to more than just the move to smartphones and tablets.
Subscriber behavior is evolving as they become even more immersed in a mobility-enhanced
digital lifestyle. Formerly occasional use for voice or email has exploded into nearly constant use
of devices for social networking, video streaming, gaming, banking, enterprise productivity and
commercial transactions.
The Diameter world is more complicated than just sheer numbers of subscribers or the number
of minutes one spends on the network. The type of applications, the amount of interactivity
required with the application, and the number of network elements touched by these interfaces
contribute to the notion of signaling intensity as an essential metric for network planning.

Cloud Services, Network Function Virtualization and Software Dened

Networks All Mean More Diameter Signaling
There is much discussion in the industry today regarding cloud services, Network Function
Virtualization (NFV) and Software Dened Networking (SDN). While not the same, these
technologies have overlapping functions and benets, including better capital and operating
expense proles, more exible use of industry standard hardware and the ability to engage
resources and deliver services in a more on-demand mode.
Operators are rapidly embracing cloud-based services. Hosted, managed and Software as a
Service (SaaS) business models are all gaining favor in operators business and service support
environments. As this business model matures, operators are beginning to take the next steps
to introduce the cloud into their network functions.
The industrys largest operators are participating in a 3GPP study group dedicated to dening
the requirements for NFV. The intent is to allow participants to quickly take advantage of this
virtualization, which is available today on a number of platforms. Virtualization reduces the
cost of Diameter implementations and brings with it the ability to employ and retire computing
resources as needed.
SDN is different from NFV, even though it takes advantage of virtualization. SDN seeks to
enable full software-based control of all network functions as well as discrete control and
packet routing/forwarding planes. Once functions in the EPC have been virtualized, it is easier
to implement an SDN coupled with the PCRF. It is important that the PCRF be coupled with the
SDN Controller so decisions regarding additional transport resources are based on intelligent
rules dened in the PCRF.

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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

SDN does not directly drive additional Diameter trafc, but it does enable new services to be
offered more quickly. As these new services are implemented in the network, the services
themselves will drive additional Diameter trafc in the core.
One of the benets of NFV and SDN is the use of industry standard hardware, whereas
proprietary implementations use hardware and operating systems optimized for the function.
As such, this migration toward standard hardware and operating systems will impose a
temporary performance tax, which in turn will drive some additional signaling. Estimates found
in multiple industry publications are as high as 80%, but hardware and software vendors are
actively seeking ways to tune their products for this new environment. During this evolutionary
period, it is reasonable to conclude operators will have to provision some additional hardware
to overcome the inefciencies, yielding incremental Diameter trafc. Optimization tools will
mature and eventually mitigate many of these inefciencies in the future, but for the present
there will be some performance hurdles.
Finally, virtualization opens up new opportunities to extend Diameter to other networks, along
with resource sharing across networks. This includes offering Diameter as a Service (DaaS),
which will undoubtedly drive additional Diameter growth.

The Role of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

The SIP protocol replaces the ISDN User Part (ISUP) protocol used in Signaling System #7
(SS7) networks for call control. Originally developed for enterprise Voice over IP (VoIP), SIP is
now widely deployed as the standard voice call control signaling protocol. As networks migrate
to all-IP architectures, signaling is divided between two technologies: Diameter assumes the
authentication, authorization and charging roles in the network, while SIP handles the call
control functions.
When enterprises implement IP PBXs, they connect directly to the Internet, but calls will not
connect into the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This requires a PSTN Gateway, and
traditional trunks from the local service provider. This may be costly for a smaller business, and
it tends to reduce the cost advantages of an IP PBX. In response, service providers now provide
what is known as SIP Trunking, an IP connection to an Internet Telephony Service Provider
(ITSP), which delivers connections to the Internet as well as the PSTN.
The ITSP also provides long distance services to the enterprise at a fraction of the cost of
traditional long distance.
As SIP continues to mature, businesses become more comfortable with SIP technology,
spurring growth in this market. According to an AT&T report quoting Heavy Reading IP Services
Insider, SIP Trunking will grow from 8.5 million SIP Trunks in 2009, to 24.3 million SIP Trunks by
the end of 2013.15
Services such as WebRTC and Unied Communications will spur further growth in SIP signaling.
Future editions of this report will contain additional insights and forecasts regarding SIP.

15

SIP Trunking: Realizing the Value for SMBs, http: / / att.v tp -media.com / smb

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ANNEX A Assumptions and Methodology

The methodology for crafting this forecast has evolved since the 2012 forecast report. The
number of LTE subscriptions has changed, as we used updated external sources for this
forecast. This version of the Index is also based on new trafc models that take advantage of our
experience in global service provider LTE networks. We have ne-tuned our models to accurately
reect evolving subscriber behaviors.
The forecast period shifted, as this Index considers growth beginning in 2012 rather than 2011,
and extending through 2017. Because 2012 saw higher penetration rates than 2011, the overall
CAGR for Diameter changed accordingly.
The Index is an LTE Diameter trafc demand model rather than an engineered network model.
It is a baseline model that serves as a starting point from which service providers can layer on
additional factors such as network architecture, topology, capacity requirements, geo-redundancy
and others needed to design a robust, reliable and scalable Diameter Network. Readers are
cautioned not to rely solely on this macro-level analysis to predict their unique needs.
The Index focuses solely on LTE networks and does not account for Diameter trafc on 3G
networks, other than 3G to 4G roaming. The Index also excludes IMS applications with the
exception of VoLTE.
Also, the Index does not include additional Diameter trafc that will be generated by hundreds of
millions of M2M devices that will come onto networks over the next few years. Future versions of
this report will account for the M2M market.
The Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index relies on a number of industry
resources such as LTE subscriber data from the Informa Telecoms & Media World Cellular
Information Service, SIP information from Heavy Reading and the Cisco Visual Networking Index
for general market context. 3GPP and GSM Association specications are used for determining
trafc ows for each unique service. The ows are then used to determine the number of
Diameter messages that are created for individual session types.
Trafc ows are also validated in our Diameter Trafc Laboratory, which is a dedicated facility
that uses our Diameter Signaling Router, Policy Server, and Home Subscriber Server network
elements.
A key input to the forecast is our proprietary Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling
Trafc CalculatorTM. We make this tool available to operators to help them forecast the level
of Diameter signaling associated with interdependent factors such as: network growth and
evolution; subscriber growth and evolution; and services growth and penetration. Default values
are based on our signaling experience with customer networks and serve as a baseline for
dimensioning Diameter networks. These values may also be modied by an individual operators
assumptions, experiences and predictions. Once the calculator is run, the operator can see the
volume of Diameter signaling trafc generated at each interface as well as the total forecast.
In this report and forecast, we use the industry standard metric of Messages per Second (MPS)
for the volume of signaling trafc in a network. The 3GPP standards refer to transactions as two
messages (request/answer). In this Index total messages are counted. Transactions Per Second
(TPS) are equivalent to two Diameter messages (request/answer), so to derive TPS, divide MPS
in half.
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LTE Diameter Signaling Index

ANNEX B Diameter Interfaces in the LTE Core

Interface

Network Location and Function

Sh

Allows subscriber data exchange between a SIP Application Server (AS) and the HSS.

Dh

Connects the SIP AS to the Subscriber Location Function (SLF) to identify the subscribers HSS.

Sd

Connects the PCRF to the newly-dened Trafc Detection Function (TDF), where it is used to identify what
services subscribers are connecting to, and applying rules from the PCRF to those sessions.

Sy

Connects the PCRF and OCS for real-time billing, for example, in quota management.

Rf

Charging data exchange between AS and OFCS for non-real-time billing when a chargeable event
concludes.

Ro

Connects network elements to the OCS for real-time billing.

Cx

Authenticates users and allows subscriber data and location exchange between CSCF and HSS.

Dx

Supplies location data between CSCF and SLF to identify the subscribers HSS.

Sp

Provides a subscribers policy information from PCRF to the SPR.

Rx

Runs between an AF such as a P-CSCF and the PCRF for exchange of IP ltering information for service data
ow, and QoS criteria for bandwidth control.

Gx

Runs between the PCRF and the PCEF to exchange data from the PCRF to the enforcement points during
data session negotiation.

Gy

Connects various PCEF enforcement points (such as GGSNs, PDN gateways and MMEs) to send real-time
billing information to the OCS.

Gz

Connects various PCEF enforcement points (such as GGSNs, PDN gateways and MMEs) to send non-real
time billing information to the OFCS.

Gmb

Connects the 3G GGSN and the Broadcast-Multicast Service Center (BM-SC), used for controlling bearer
channels used in mobile video services.

SGmb

Connects the 4G PDN Gateway (PGW) and the Broadcast-Multicast Service Center (BM-SC), used for
controlling bearer channels used in mobile video services.

S6a

Exchanges subscriber data and location information between MME and HSS, and authenticates the
subscriber device when it connects to the network.

S6b

Connects the Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) Server/Proxy and the Packet Data
Network Gateway (PDN GW) for authentication of devices during a mobile data session.

S6c

Connects the PDN Gateway in the subscribers home network to a AAA server in a visited network.

S6d

Connects the LTE HSS and a 3G SGSN for authentication similar to the S6a interface.

S9

Connects a PCRF in the subscribers Host Mobile Network (HPLMN (H PCRF)) and a PCRF in the Visited
Mobile Network (VPLMN (V PCRF)), allowing for a subscribers services to be consistent when roaming
in another network.

S13

Enables identity authentication between MME and the Equipment Identity Register (EIR).

S13

Connects the SGSN in a 3G network to the EIR, similar to the S13 interface.

Gi
SGi

Connects the 3G GGSN to external IP networks when the subscribers SIM must be provisioned by an
Access Point Name (APN), typically when a device connects to a private IP network.
Connects the 4G PGW to external IP networks when the subscribers SIM must be provisioned by an APN,
typically when a device connects to a private IP network.
22

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