Basic Principle of SGSN Pool

By using the Iu/Gb-Flex technology, the SGSN Pool enables an RNC/BSC to share multiple
SGSNs. Based on the capacity proportion of the SGSN, the system can assign the connected
MSs/UEs to the corresponding SGSNs. Thus, the resources on the SGSN can be shared.

Background

The traffics in different districts and different periods vary depending on many factors, such as
the mobility of mobile subscribers, population density, and individual calling habits. During
traffic peak periods, for example, festivals, the high load of the network in high traffic districts
leads to unstable equipment performance and declined service quality. In addition, the equipment
in low traffic districts cannot be fully utilized. To reduce the impact of traffic peak, operators
perform more redundant configurations for equipment capacity and thus the investment is
increased. In this situation, the Huawei SGSN Pool solution is proposed for solving this problem.

Compared with the traditional network, the SGSN Pool technology has the following
advantages:

Load sharing: indicates balancing the load between the SGSNs to improve the resource
efficiency of the entire CN and to save the investment on the equipment.

Network disaster tolerance: realizes the disaster recovery and backup on the SGSN level

When an SGSN in the SGSN Pool is faulty, the RNC/BSC identifies the fault and
distributes the initiated user service to another effective SGSN. In this way, the SGSNs in
the SGSN Pool can realize disaster tolerance.

When an MS/UE roams in the Pool, the serving SGSN does not change. Thus, the routing
area update and switchover are not required and the network load is reduced.

Network Structure

As shown in Figure 1, the RAN node is connected to multiple CN nodes through the Iu interface
or Gb interface. That is, the RAN node can be connected to both the CS domain the PS domain.
The Pool area is concurrently served by multiple CN nodes (MSC or SGSN), which share the
services in the area.
Figure 1 SGSN Pool networking

NOTE:

The RAN shown on the following figure refers to the RAN or BSS.
Basic Concepts

For related description of the SGSN Pool concepts, see Table 1.

Table 1 Basic concepts pertaining to the MSC Pool

Gb interface

Iu interface

Pool area

Iu/Gb-Flex function