T E C H N O L O G Y W H I T E P A P E R

IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving

GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network

Traffic levels continue to rise in mobile networks globally. Voice traffic continues to climb,
but data applications, enabled by advances in the radio interface such as High Speed
Packet Access (HSPA) in particular, are stressing the network. Additionally, average revenue
per user (ARPU) is not keeping pace with these traffic increases, resulting in radical reduc-
tions in revenue per bit transported. Operators are tasked with lowering recurring costs
in the Radio Access Network (RAN). They need to leverage the flattened cost curves of
a scaleable Ethernet architecture. They don't, however, want to relinquish the resiliency,
determinism and operational control they have established which assists them in attracting
and retaining their subscriber base.

This document examines some of the issues, enablers and drivers of the transition as
well as the value that IP/MPLS brings to the modernized RAN architecture. The goal
of operators is to converge legacy access types, leverage optimal cost points of newer
transport such as Carrier (Metro) Ethernet and prepare for the profound changes that
long term evolution will bring.
Table of Contents

1 1 Introduction

1 2 An Overview of Mobile Networking

2 3 Evolutionary Drivers in the Radio Access Network

2 3.1 The Operational Cost Environment
3 3.2 Advances in Mobile Radio Technology

4 4 Requirements Summary

4 5 Leveraging the Power of IP/MPLS Tools and Processes

4 5.1 The Role of IP/MPLS in RAN Transport
10 5.2 Synchronization in the RAN
12 5.3 Carrier Ethernet Deployment in the Wireline Sector for the RAN
12 5.4 “It’s About the Network”

12 6 Practical Evolution Scenarios

13 6.1 Building Out from the MTSO
14 6.2 A Hybrid or Phased Bypass Approach

15 7 Conclusions

16 8 Abbreviations
1 Introduction
The principal driver for moving to an IP/MPLS RAN infrastructure is to accommodate the
massive scaling needs of the evolving mobile network at a reasonable cost. All indications are
that widely deployed broadband is coming to mobile networks in the form of HSPA and EV-
DO enabling more and newer applications and services. Some of the biggest challenges will
be in the backhaul and aggregation function that takes place in the RAN. Currently 25% of
OPEX is directed at the RAN so there are significant opportunities for cost saving and for
differentiation. As wireless networks dramatically increased their coverage and subscriber base
over the last five years, wireline operators have been highly active in deploying and lever-
aging broadband technology. These activities provide a significant opportunity for the mobile
operator community to leverage the best technologies for their own use. For example, point-
to-point microwave, Carrier Ethernet and dark fiber all have an opportunity to play here.

This document is intended to help highlight some of the challenges that may be encountered
in the transformation process and assist with the resolution. After reviewing taxonomy, drivers
and radio evolution, the maturity of IP/MPLS solutions, and the fit within the mobile RAN,
will be assessed. In particular, the support of SLA needs as it pertains to reliability, delay, jitter
and loss will be covered. As well, network synchronization is an important topic for mobility
and is supported by the quality of service of the underlying packetized RAN. Pragmatic rollout
planning approaches will also be examined.

Alcatel-Lucent is well positioned, as an end-to-end equipment supplier, to provide insight

into the total-cost-of-ownership investigations and planning activities to support strategic
actions in a network rollout.

2 An Overview of Mobile Networking

Figure 1 presents an abstract mobile network architecture view. It includes elements that may,
in practice, be rolled out in successive waves of network evolution.

The right side of figure 1 shows the principal components in the mobile backbone and core. Many
operators are transforming the core and the IP backbone to accommodate the increasing traffic
and service demands of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and next generation networking (NGN).

Figure 1. Overall Mobile Network Architecture

Radio Access Network (RAN) Mobile Core and Backbone

t
Call Server Internet
2G IP Backbone
(PS Core)
SGSN GGSN
TDM
BTS
BSC
DSL
RNC Media Gateway Media Gateway IMS
µmicrowave
3G ATM (IMA)
R99 CS Core
to R5/R6
NodeB IPoMLPPP
IPoEthernet PSTN
WAC
MSC MSC
Other
Licensed/
Unlicensed
Radio Access
WiMax
Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 1
 This document, however, will focus primarily on the components shown on the left side of
the illustration. The mobile RAN shows a rich and varied set of access feeds and types as each
technology generation brings evolution in the mobile elements that deliver RAN traffic.
Operators also continue to use their ingenuity to incorporate available transport mechanisms.
For 2G and 2.5 G networks, T1s and E1 TDM, circuits are used commonly either via SONET/
SDH infrastructures or via point-to-point microwave links. The early releases of 3G have seen
the introduction of ATM and ATM Inverse Multiplexing (IMA) which has scaled fairly well,
however, reliance on SONET/SDH facilities have made it a relatively costly option as broad-
band wireless services roll out. In many cases 3G build-outs will overlay the 2G footprint.
Increasingly, mobile elements with IP as a transport layer capability over Ethernet (and
sometimes MLPPP) will be seen to leverage the lowered cost points and scalability of Metro
Ethernet and IP VPN public/private networks. WiMax is seen as being built from the outset
around IP/Ethernet transport.

Long term evolutionary scenarios show a ‘flattened’ network architecture with the controller
functions moving to the cell site devices. In parallel with this, increasing use of end-to-end
IP/MPLS networking will drive service scaling across the converged network.

3 Evolutionary Drivers in the Radio Access Network

3.1 The Operational Cost Environment
The developing operational cost environment raises issues that must be addressed, and also
presents opportunities that can be seized by agile organizations deploying appropriate technology.

As we have seen, in the mobile RAN, a PDH approach has been taken fairly broadly across
global geographies and in the various mobile network standards. The approach has included
the use of nxT1 or nxE1 copper in the first mile and/or the use of PDH point-to-point micro-
wave as available. This has led to a steep staircase cost function in the provisioning of RAN
bandwidth — a roughly linear relationship between bandwidth and cost. The use of a carrier
class Ethernet infrastructure, augmented with the determinism, resiliency and management
control brought by IP/MPLS, promises to smooth out and flatten this cost curve as shown
in Figure 2.

The ramp in traffic comes from a number of sources. While the subscriber penetration of
voice service is saturated in many markets, opportunistic use of voice is still rising, supported
by pre-paid plans and the lifestyle habits of the ‘new mobile generation’. However, the real
traffic tsunami will come from data, in all its forms. Technology enablers such as HSPA, EV-
DO and IMS/TISPAN have the potential to bring huge amounts of data carrying, for example,

Figure 2. Falling per-bit Revenues and Media Cost Functions

PDH Microwave

N*T1/E1

Ethernet

Data
Revenue Cost
Per Bit

Traffic Level Bandwidth

2 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
 video-based services, gaming and rich web content. The deployment of metro/national Carrier
Ethernet networks will support this data. IP-based Node Bs and RNCs are starting to appear
or are at least now firmly in the plans of all major mobile equipment vendors. The applications —
video-centric plus multimedia messaging, videophony, information and entertainment on the
move, will drive data volumes higher. Revenue opportunities will be numerous for responsive
operators however, revenue per bit transported will inevitably fall.

There is a need to get to a flattened cost structure in the RAN transport network, and the use
of IP/MPLS networking leveraging ubiquitous Ethernet — as well as other available media as
pragmatic — will enable this transition.

3.2 Advances in Mobile Radio Technology

The world of wireless mobility is experiencing a similar phenomenon to that of fixed line
broadband over the past few years. Bandwidth-hungry applications are appearing and the
access technology is evolving to meet the demand.

3 . 2 . 1 G S M / U M T S A N D H S PA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a generic term adopted by the UMTS Forum which refers
to improvements in the UMTS Radio Interface in Releases 5 and 6 of the 3rd Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) standards. HSPA refers to both the improvements made in the
UMTS downlink, often referred to as High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), as
well as the improvements made in the uplink, often referred to as High Speed Uplink Packet
Access (HSUPA). HSDPA enables data transmission speeds of up to 14.4Mbit/s per user.
Both HSDPA and HSUPA can be implemented in the standard 5 MHz carrier of UMTS
networks and can co-exist with the first generation of UMTS networks based on the 3GPP
Release 99 (R99) standard. As HSPA standards refer uniquely to the access network, there
is no simultaneous change required by the core network outside of the capacity increases
that will be required to handle the expected increase in traffic generated by HSPA.

Figure 3. Radio Technology Evolution

4G
3G LTE
Mb /s DL Capacity
200
BS Peak Rate
Max Per User

22 WiMAX

14 HSDPA

20
2 UMTS

EDGE 6
0.5 2
0.2 0.4
2004 2005 2006 2007 2010

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 3
 3.2.2 LONG TERM EVOLUTION AND “4G”
While the specifics of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 4G are still being defined, the tech-
nology progression is seen as having two main thrusts:
1.Speeds to at least 100 Mbit/s downlink and 50 Mbit/s uplink with overall network latency
of less than 10mS
2.Transition to a flatter, all-IP aggregation and distribution network with the controller layer
functions moving to the cell site devices

From a technology point of view this is achieved via use of OFDM (orthogonal frequency
division multiplexing) in the radio domain. In the terrestrial network, investments and
experience in IP/MPLS will be leveraged as LTE is deployed.

4 Requirements Summary
Based on the business and technology environment of the mobile radio access network, a set
of high level requirements can be identified to guide aspects of the evolving architecture and
its deployment. Note, this is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment but rather to capture
the principal issues that must be addressed in migrating the RAN to an IP/MPLS transport
infrastructure.

The requirements of the networking platform and engineering include:

• A scalable and efficient solution (both in terms of capital and operational expense)
leveraging the lowered price points of carrier Ethernet
• The ability to adapt a range of legacy access protocols to a normalized IP/MPLS infrastructure
• The solution must retain the determinism, control and availability of current solutions
• Quality of service capabilities must be supported to both address aggregated flow capabilities
and also be adaptable for more ‘per-subscriber’ granular capabilities as the range of services
supported in the mobile infrastructure broadens
• End-to-end synchronization solutions must be provided as appropriate to maintain call
quality and traffic throughput

In addition to these networking issues, there are management and organizational requirements
that must be addressed to successfully complete this kind of transformation in the mobile RAN.
In particular, scalable tools are needed in both on-network OAM and in the off-network
management systems to rapidly deploy, verify and operate the solution across, thousands of
cell sites and hubs.

Expertise is needed in packet solutions integration (e.g. into the OSS), deployment and
operation. This can be addressed by engaging a service organization to augment the in-house
team of the mobile operator.

5 Leveraging the Power of IP/MPLS Tools and Processes

5.1 The Role of IP/MPLS in RAN Transport
Having reviewed the cost drivers and the impending traffic, driven by radio and applications
innovation, we can look at the role of IP/MPLS in RAN transport with some established
context. Rather than using multiple overlay networks in the terrestrial RAN, a solution,
based on a modern multi-service routing and switching platform, can accommodate legacy
access needs and be optimized for a carrier-grade Ethernet-centric evolution to be aligned
with broadband deployment. TDM and ATM (and IMA) can be adapted via the use of

4 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
pseudowire transport. The use of IP/MPLS-based pseudowires brings mature and efficient
functionality to the RAN. Figure 4 shows the adaptation of various mobile traffic sources
and types over pseudowires.

Figure 4. Pseudowire Adaptation of Mobile Traffic Types and Sources

BTS TDM
Common Infrastructure:
ATM (IMA) e.g., Carrier Ethernet

DSL
Pseudowires
µwave
NodeB MLPPP/HDLC

Ethernet

Controllers

WiMAX

While pseudowires can be carried over a number of packet or frame-based infrastructures, the
use of MPLS has strong attributes particularly for this application. As a convergence technology,
MPLS has been the subject of a great deal of telecommunications industry attention recently.
This has led to numerous benefits in terms of overhead efficiency, QoS capabilities, resiliency
and management domain sophistication. The use of MPLS-based pseudowires to backhaul
ATM and TDM circuits allows legacy mobile equipment to continue to be used while leverag-
ing the advantages of packet transport. The dynamic bandwidth sharing of bursty data traffic,
combined with the ability to protect strict priority traffic, allows a combination of statistical
gain and service differentiation to be achieved.

While pseudowires provide an excellent vehicle for adapting legacy and current feeds into
the RAN network, the carriage of native Ethernet-sourced IP traffic will become increasingly
strategically important. Ethernet pseudowires can be used to achieve this as part of a highly
converged Ethernet-centric solution.

5.1.1 PSEUDOWIRES: AN OVERVIEW

Pseudowires provide a mechanism for emulating and transporting the elements of a service
or protocol over a packet (or frame) network — for example over an IP/MPLS network. The
rationale for this is, as carrier networks have evolved, a number of legacy protocols have been
introduced and still remain, particularly at the access or edge of the network. This is clearly
true in the specific case of mobile RANs. As operators move to an “all-IP” model pseudowires
promise to converge and normalize these legacy services to allow uniformity of transport,
engineering practices and management across the network.

5.1.1.1 Pseudowire Architecture

The generic architecture for the emulation of legacy services such as ATM, FR, PPP/HDLC
and TDM, over a packet switched network (Ethernet, IP and/or MPLS), is outlined in
[RFC3985] “PWE3 Architecture”. Pseudowire emulation is a mechanism that recreates the

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 5
 characteristics of a layer 1 (TDM) or a layer 2 circuit Figure 5. Pseudowire Protocol Layering
over a PSN. The PWE3 architecture employs a
protocol-layering model. This approach makes each Payload

pseudowire definition independent of the underlying Encapsulation

PSN and allows reuse of other IETF protocol PW Demultiplexer
definitions, e.g. [RFC3032] for MPLS-based PSN’s and
PSN Convergence
[RFC4023] for IP-based PSN’s. The protocol-layering
model is shown in Figure 5. PSN

Data Link
The payload layer carries the pseudowire payload of
Physical
the emulated service. The payload can be any of the
following types: packet (Ethernet, FR, ATM AAL5),
cell (ATM), bit stream (unstructured PDH) and
structured bitstream (e.g. Nx64kbps). The encapsulation layer carries payload information
that is needed to reconstruct the original payload at pseudowire egress. This information is
needed when service-specific information is not included in the pseudowire payload (e.g.
DE-bit, FECN- and BECN-bits in FR, CLP-bit in ATM). Also, if applicable for the emulated
service, the encapsulation layer ensures in-order packet delivery through sequence numbers
and provides timing for TDM services. The encapsulation layer is implemented in practice
by the control word (and associated procedures) for the encapsulated protocol. This is really
where the successful encapsulation of the transported protocol takes place. For example, RFC
4553 shows the format of the control word and associated protocol procedures for Structure-
Agnostic Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) over Packet (SAToP). Below the encapsulation
layer (within the protocol stack) is tunneling information. In the case of an MPLS implemen-
tation, this consists of a label stack with pseudowires (identified by pseudowire labels) within
MPLS transport tunnels.

5.1.1.2 Applications in the RAN

The principal legacy applications in the GSM/UMTS mobile RAN for pseudowire capability
are circuit emulation and ATM transport. Circuit emulation is primarily for the transport
of 2G GSM traffic, and ATM (using IMA) for backhauling and aggregating traffic from
3G UMTS cell sites.

5.1.2 OVERHEAD EFFICIENCY

The overhead efficiency of pseudowires over MPLS compares well with native transport of
the transported services and compares extremely favourably with the use of other packet/frame
infrastructures. For example, in the case of ATM, as shown in Figure 6.

The transport of ATM pseudowires for N:1 cell mode requires little overhead beyond native
ATM and, in PDU frame mode, pseudowire transport over MPLS is more efficient than native
ATM. The use of L2TPv3, as an IP-tunneled infrastructure, for example, increases the bandwidth
overhead by 50 to 100 percent over native ATM. Increasing the number of cells per packet
improves the efficiency of the solution still further, however, increased delay is the tradeoff.

5.1.3 RESILIENCY
While strong platform resiliency attributes are needed, the use of MPLS as pseudowire infra-
structure brings opportunities for rapid, deterministic failure accommodation in the network.
Fast ReRoute gives a sub-50 ms failover path for each hop along the network. These paths
provide very quick restoration, however they are typically not optimal for network efficiency.
The second level of network restoration is the Secondary LSP. This LSP represents the
optimal backup path between a source and destination, however, switching to the secondary

6 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
Figure 6. ATM Encapsulation and Overhead Comparisons

> ATM transport over PWE3 > ATM transport over PWE3
> RFC 4717 > RFC 4717
> N:1 cell mode > PDU frame mode (AAL5 for IP)
> 10 ATM cells per packet > PDU size that would occupy 5 cells

PPP/ML-PPP = 9 Bytes PPP/ML-PPP = 9 Bytes

MPLS Tunnel Label = 4 Bytes Overhead = MPLS Tunnel Label = 4 Bytes
MPLS PW Label = 4 Bytes 21 Bytes MPLS PW Label = 4 Bytes
Overhead =
57 Bytes 10 ATM Cells Control Word = 4 Bytes
Cell Header 1 = 4 Bytes
Cell Payload 1 = 48 Bytes

Cell Header 2 = 4 Bytes

Cell Payload 2 = 48 Bytes Data =
240 Bytes PDU Frame = 240 Bytes
Data =
480 Bytes

Cell Header 10 = 4 Bytes

Cell Payload 10 = 48 Bytes

> Overhead of ATM PW over MPLS ~10.5% (57/537 bytes) > Overhead of ATM PW over MPLS ~8% (21/261 bytes)
> Overhead of native ATM ~9.5% (5/53 bytes) > Overhead of native ATM ~9.5% (5/53 bytes)
> Just minimally more BW than native ATM > Less BW than native ATM

requires that the ingress node be made aware that the Primary LSP has failed. For a geograph-
ically large network, this could take longer than the 250 ms that voice requires. By combining
these methods, an operator of a large network can get the best of these resiliency techniques.
FRR will create a temporary patch around a failure which will allow customer traffic to
continue to its destination The Secondary LSP, when it is invoked a number of milliseconds
later, will provide an optimal reroute until the Primary path can be repaired. Traffic engineering
tools offline can be used to model single failures and ensure they can be accommodated.

5 . 1 . 4 Q U A L I T Y O F S E R V I C E ( Q O S ) C A PA B I L I T I E S
The provision of deterministic QoS is important, not only to provide equitable treatment to
individual traffic streams (and appropriate priority e.g. for high delay sensitive applications)
but also to allow synchronization mechanisms to converge rapidly across the packet RAN.
The mobile RAN does not (yet) require per-subscriber granular queuing and scheduling.
However, per-aggregated flow classification and treatment are very important in this context.

5.1.4.1 Standards Guidance

The 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) describes four major classes of service as depicted in
Figure 7.

Figure 7. 3GPP- Defined Traffic Classes

Traffic Class THP DS PHB DSCP Max Delay Max Jitter Packet Loss SDU Error Ratio

Conversational – EF 101110 20 mS 5 mS 0.5% 10-6

Streaming – AF41 100010 40 mS 5 mS 0.5% 10-6

Interactive 1 1 AF31 011010 250 mS – 0.1% 10-8

Interactive 2 2 AF21 010010 300 mS – 0.1% 10-8

Interactive 3 3 AF11 001010 350 mS – 0.1% 10-8

Background – BE 000000 400 mS – 0.1% 10-8

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 7
 The defined classes are: conversational, streaming, interactive and background. The interactive
class is further subdivided into three subclasses for a total of six differentiable data streams.
The highest priority class (conversational) is reserved for both audio (telephony, push-to-talk)
and two-way video traffic. In scheduling voice and conversational video traffic onto the trans-
port media a hierarchical approach to QoS support is most effective. In particular, the ability
to apply strict prioritization for voice and video traffic while weighting other traffic streams
appropriately will produce the best, deterministic behavior, especially under high burst loads
or network resource failure conditions (i.e. when QoS and traffic engineering mechanisms are
truly tested). Note, the delay and jitter targets are end-to-end, the amount budgeted for the
RAN will be considerably less.

5.1.4.2 Example Approach

Consider the approach shown in Figure 8. Figure 8. Example 3G RAN in Transition

This shows a 3G RAN in transition,

with some Node Bs operating on the
Common IP/MPLS
R99 ATM IMA model and Ethernet- Infrastructure
attached using an IP/MPLS infrastructure
NodeB RNC
as a transport vehicle between the (R5/6)
Pseudowires

Node B and the RNC.

Considering the Ethernet-attached case,

one networking option is to use an RNC
NodeB
Ethernet pseudowire. The pseudowire (R99)
in this case extends from the Provider
Edge (PE) device connected to the
Node B, across the IP/MPLS infrastructure to the PE connected to the RNC. This pseudowire
follows a deterministic path through the intervening network. Appropriate QoS treatment, in
terms of access to network resources, can be provided if the following requirements are met:
• The Node B and RNC must classify and mark traffic flow classes appropriately with some
combination of 802.1p and IP DiffServ code points at the transport layer
• The PE device must map these markings into the EXP field in the outer MPLS header in
the pseudowire tunnels
• Flexible and scalable queuing, scheduling and bandwidth allocation capabilities must exist
in all the network components between the Node B and the RNC

In general for Node Bs operating over Figure 9. ATM IMA-Attached Node B Traffic Arrangement
a packet-based RAN, the passage of
synchronization messages is particularly
crucial. These messages must be marked NBAP (AAL5)
and treated to experience minimal ALCAP (AAL5)
OAM (AAL5)
delay, and delay variation in transit. Consolidated Sync (AAL2)
NodeB Traffic
Over a Single VPI N* User Data (AAL2)
In the case of the ATM IMA-attached
Node Bs — a common traffic presen- N* User Data (AAL2)

tation is shown in Figure 9.

In this case — the PEs at the Node B and RNC attachment points must be able to map these
VC carried sub-channels to appropriate EXP field-marked classes in the ATM pseudowire
tunnel header. The attributes of the ATM VCs (for example, the ATM service category) can
be used to determine the classification and marking of the carried traffic as it is adapted onto

8 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
 pseudowires. Thus, the various traffic streams can be appropriately allocated network resources
as they are carried across the IP/MPLS -based RAN.

5.1.5 MANAGEMENT DOMAIN AND OAM

“The job of building and enhancing the network will never be fully
complete, not if we are going to continue exceeding our customersʼ
expectations. Itʼs the nature of our business.”
ED REYNOLDS, PRESIDENT OF NETWORK SERVICES FOR CINGULAR, OCTOBER 3RD, 2006

The mobile RAN is characterized by rapid growth and a high churn rate as well as the diversity
of access types. As mobile networks grow, added capacity is applied to existing cells, new cells
are added, cells are split, so potentially there is a lot of rebalancing happening continuously in
the RAN. This has a major impact on the cost of ownership of the network. Strong network
management tools and processes are needed to control OPEX. This reality, in conjunction
with the rising use of IP/MPLS in the RAN leads to a number of concerns and issues that must
be addressed by the management capabilities of network equipment, OSS/BSS components
or specific operating procedures. These issues include:
• The expertise gap — where many mobile operators have limited depth of experience in the
deployment of packet and Ethernet-centric topologies
• Time and cost to integrate and operationalize new networking infrastructures in OSS/BSS
systems
• Managing process logistics for upgrading, maintenance and ongoing re-engineering (often
thousands) of cell sites

The use of IP/MPLS as a networking infrastructure brings inherent management capabilities,

particularly in the areas of diagnostics, troubleshooting, connectivity, verification etc. The
ability to carry out smart LSP Pings, Virtual Circuit Connectivity verification (VCCV) and
Traceroute operations within the network itself can bring a lot of determinism to network
operations. Alcatel-Lucent continues to develop these standards in the major forums and
standards groups. Alcatel-Lucent has also introduced (forwards compatible) pre-standard
enhancements to provide even more service-aware operations capability.

In the management system it is important to have a capability that understands the hierarchy
of an end-to-end service construction. This “service awareness” allows the management system
to react to individual nodal and composite service events and present correlated, relational
information to the operator, allowing faster service provisioning, verification and restoration.
A strong services partner with extensive experience in the design, deployment and operation
of IP/MPLS networks can help to mitigate any expertise gaps and assist with the required
process logistics.

5.1.5.1 Traffic Engineering and Management

A strong traffic engineering solution also requires integrated planning tools that are coupled
into the network management system. For example, the ability to import topology and traffic
matrix information, to generate path information and metrics to establish the most efficient
traffic engineering in the backbone. In addition to modeling routing and traffic behavior in the
network, an effective TM system should model for failure events and take into account worst-
case single element failures in generating the path designs and routing for the network backbone.

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 9
 5.2 Synchronization in the RAN
Synchronization is an important topic in many communications networks but particularly in
the mobile RAN where numerous disparate elements must be kept in tight sync in order for
communications to proceed effectively without dropped calls or distortion/noise etc. In the
mobile RAN, the need for synchronization is focused in three areas as depicted in Figure 10.

5.2.1 RADIO FRAMING ACCURACY

Radio framing accuracy focuses on the correct insertion and extraction of protocol elements
in the air interface. This allows for reliable communications, even under sub-optimal condi-
tions, and maximum bandwidth usage. A typical clocking accuracy target for GSM/UMTS
FDD (frequency division duplexing) is 50 parts per billion. Additionally, TDD (time division
duplexing) mechanisms, as used in CDMA 2000 and WiMAX, requires a strict phase stability.
The phase stability requirement is +/- 1.25 µS around UTC.

5.2.2 HANDOFF CONTROL

Soft handoff mechanisms are used as a mobile device moves into another cell or sector.
By monitoring the radio power at the receiver (i.e. the mobile device) a correct decision can
be made to switch to another signal. A make-before-break mechanism is used within strict
timing constraints to ensure uninterrupted communications. Activities are orchestrated in
separate elements: the base station, the handset and the controller. Accurate, synchronized
timing is paramount for a successful , transparent handover completion.

5.2.3 BACKHAUL TRANSPORT RELIABILITY

Wander and jitter in the backhaul and aggregation network can cause underflows and over-
flows in buffers, slips in the PDH framing can cause bit errors leading to packet rejections.
TCP sessions will often exist between the handset and some application servers. A packet
rejection will lead to end-to-end retransmissions at the TCP layer and perceptible slowdowns
in application ‘goodput’.

5 . 2 . 4 P R I N C I PA L M E C H A N I S M S F O R A C H I E V I N G S Y N C H R O N I Z AT I O N
There are a number of mechanisms for achieving synchronization in the mobile RAN:
• Using the PDH/SDH hierarchy to furnish a clock with a known accuracy (a known
deviation from a PRC (primary reference clock)

Figure 10. Areas of Importance for Synchronization in the Mobile RAN

BTS

1. Radio Framing
Accuracy
BTS BSC BSC
Mobile Core
Network(s)
RNC

NodeB

2. Handoff
Control

NodeB

3. Backhaul
Traffic Reliability RNC

10 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
 • Deriving accurate interval clocks and precise UTC from the GPS satellite network
• Synchronous Ethernet
• The algorithmic derivation of precise timing and clocking over a packet network

The PDH/SDH hierarchy can provide a clock with a known accuracy. This can be useful in
cases where there is a PDH linkage into the cell site (eg an E1/T1 link). The clocking chain
must be compliant with G.823/824. Transparent clock or boundary clocks are needed in
intermediate nodes throughout the PDH/SDH chain back to the PRC.

GPS satellites carry atomic clocks and can deliver high integrity frequency and phase stabilized
timing. With 4 satellites in view, a good GPS receiver can achieve accuracies within a few nS
of UTC. There has been significant deployment of GPS derived clocking systems particularly
for TDD air interface accuracy, e.g. for CDM and WiMAX. Drawbacks, however include; roof
access required; another network element to procure and manage.

Synchronous Ethernet is a layer 1 technique which lacks the transparency of an algorithmic

method. That is, it may require changes to physical hardware in installed systems.

Algorithmic derivation deals with the impacts on timing and synchronization of inserting a
packet network in the RAN between the base stations and controller as shown in Figure 11.
The intervening packet network is free-running and breaks the clocking chain back to the
PRC. The principal standard is IEEE1588v2 which shows strong potential for fine granularity
synchronization.

5 . 2 . 5 I M P L I C A T I O N S O N T H E U N D E R LY I N G P A C K E T / F R A M E N E T W O R K I N T H E R A N
The intervening packet network shown in figure 11 can be owned and operated by the mobile
operator or leased from a wireline service provider. Algorithmic techniques while highly
promising for the distribution of sync in a transparent low cost model, are sensitive to delay
(and especially delay variation), loss and congestion. The ability to leverage strict QoS mecha-
nisms, to engineer traffic and to monitor performance for determinism is crucial. In a network
that exhibits significant jitter and wander (or loss) convergence performance of algorithmic
techniques can be significantly impaired.

Figure 11. Packet Network Impact on Synchronization

Packet-Based
Base Station Packet-Based
Controller
Packet
Network

I I
W W
PDH
F F PDH/ Legacy-Based
Legacy-Based SDH/SONET Controller
Base Station

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 11
 5.3 Carrier Ethernet Deployment in the Wireline Sector for the RAN
The recent past has seen a new wave of technology innovation and investment in wide area
networking (WAN) technology and particularly in its application in metropolitan areas. The
rollout of Carrier Ethernet has been enabled by the increasing availability of fiber plant and
a new generation of carrier-class platforms allowing resilient, manageable, granular bandwidth
offered to corporate users. This metropolitan connectivity can also be highly leveraged by
mobile operators in providing RAN transport. Pilot projects and initial deployments are
already underway where leading wireleine carriers are demonstrating their ability to deliver
resilient, high QoS aggregation. The attractiveness of Carrier Ethernet lies in two main areas:
• Lowered operational expense (compared to legacy PDH approaches), due to lower tariffs
• Flexible, remote provisioning (often via user-accessible portals) for rapid, granular upgrades

If only “best effort” or limited SLA service is available, then this is probably not useful for
critical back-haul and aggregation of mobile traffic. Recent deployments of Carrier Ethernet
services have evolved significantly with current offerings having the functionality and features
required to provide a solid foundation in a RAN architecture. Modern Carrier Ethernet provides
the lowered cost points of both Ethernet interfaces and per-bit transport while bringing the
service richness, scaling and stability provided by an MPLS control plane.

The Metro Ethernet Forum has pragmatically supported these efforts in developing certification
test suites such as MEF 9: “Abstract Test Suite for Ethernet Services at the UNI” and MEF
14: “Abstract Test Suite for Traffic Management Phase 1”.

Of course, such leasing arrangements should not be entered into lightly. The mobile operator
should ensure that appropriate first mile alternatives are understood and carefully construct
and analyze the business case for the lease-versus-build option.

5.4 “It’s About the Network”

The strategic importance of the RAN is rising. This is attracting attention from both mobile
and fixed carriers who would like to participate in (and benefit from) this transition.

Whether fixed or mobile (or fully converged) operators ultimately own and maintain the
RAN transport network. The RAN is becoming a VPN or a set of VPNs on a multiservice,
converged network. Pseudowire approaches, in this context, are a VPN type and will be
increasingly deployed as standardization is completed and interoperability is demonstrated.

Building a converged, multiservice infrastructure for the RAN can be extremely important to
the strategic business case for RAN evolution. Whether this network is deployed by a mobile
or wireline operator, this approach provides a strong blend of immediate payoff, flexibility
and future-proofing. While current RAN issues can be addressed using techniques such as
pseudowires, other services (and revenue opportunities) can be addressed by the same modern
infrastructure. As well, this network is ready to respond quickly to paradigm shifts such as
Long Term Evolution.

6 Practical Evolution Scenarios

The number of possible evolution paths in the RAN is large. This is, in part, due to the
widely varying technological environment at the network edge. Both the kinds of feeds
available from cell sites and the accessible media show strong variation from region to region.
Following are some potential approaches to a staged deployment of IP/MPLS in the RAN.

12 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
 6.1 Building Out from the MTSO
A build out from the MTSO toward the edge can be an effective strategy — it is being
employed by a number of operators. The starting point, or Phase 1, could be depicted as
shown in Figure 12:

Figure 12. Phase 1 For the Build out: Consolidation in the MTSO

Radio Access
Network

Cell Site Hub MTSO

TDM Enet/PP BSC RNC WAC

T1/E1 T1/E1 Enet
TDM/IP ATM/IP Enet Converged
Copper Copper Fiber
IP/MPLS
ATM PPP Aggregation TDM ATM PPP Enet Backbone
via SDH/
T1/E1 T1/E1 SDH/SONET
SONET
Copper Copper Fiber
2G – TDM/IP
3G – ATM/IP
WiMAX – Enet TDM ATM PPP Enet TDM ATM PPP Enet
µwave (PDH channels) µwave (SDH channels)
Separate trasmission ATM Service
facilities for Aggregation Router
different technologies Overlay

IP/MPLS “edge”

Figure 13. Phase 2 in The Evolution - Moving to the Hub Sites

Radio Access
Network

Cell Site Hub TDM ATM PPP Enet MTSO

MPLS
TDM Enet/PP SDH/SONET BSC RNC WAC
T1/E1 T1/E1 Fiber TDM/IP ATM/IP Enet Converged
Copper Copper
TDM ATM PPP Enet IP/MPLS
ATM PPP MPLS Backbone
T1/E1 T1/E1 Ethernet
Copper Copper MPLS Fiber
2G – TDM/IP Aggregation
3G – ATM/IP for all
WiMAX – Enet TDM ATM PPP Enet Technologies TDM ATM PPP Enet
µwave (PDH channels) MPLS
Separate trasmission Ethernet channel Service
facilities for µwave Router
different technologies Common facility
for all traffic

IP/MPLS “edge”

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 13
 As shown, the IP/MPLS backbone is typically already in place or in an advanced state of
modernization to meet the necessary service scaling demands of NGN, IMS and IP-based
services. The use of a service router in the MTSO to interconnect mobile elements and provide
better fill and networking flexibility of inter-element connections is a valuable starting point
in upgrading the RAN.

Phase 2, as shown in Figure 13, takes the IP/MPLS edge and the capabilities of service routing
to intermediate hub locations in the RAN. This allows a common, shared infrastructure to be
used for all aggregated traffic between the hub and the MTSO. This second phase permits
significant leased line savings as Carrier Ethernet can now be used to do the backhaul. The
issue of delivering PDH with clock sync to the cell site (as needed) can often be solved by
clock insertion at the hub site.

The third phase moves MPLS aggregation to the cell site as shown in Figure 14.

Extensive use of Carrier Ethernet can now take place between the cell site and the MTSO,
this offers potentially, the greatest aggregation and backhaul savings. With an extensive packet
network between the base station and the MTSO, the potential for synchronization loss is
increased. If the drawbacks of using GPS or native PDH for synchronization are not acceptable,
then algorithmic synchronization adaptation mechanisms, according to IEEE 1588 v2, can
potentially be used

6.2 A Hybrid or Phased Bypass Approach

A hybrid or phased bypass approach provides another technique which can allow carriers to
incrementally deploy IP/MPLS technology, in a controlled manner, in a live network. This
approach, as shown in Figure 15, relies on traffic being separable at the cell site into real time
and non-real time/best effort.

Figure 14. Phase 3: MPLS to the Cell Site

Radio Access
Network

Cell Site TDM ATM Enet IP Hub TDM ATM Enet MTSO
MPLS MPLS
SDH/SONET SDH/SONET BSC RNC WAC
2G – TDM/IP
Fiber Fiber TDM/IP ATM/IP Enet
3G – ATM/IP Converged
WiMAX – Enet TDM ATM PPP Enet TDM ATM PPP Enet IP/MPLS
MPLS MPLS Backbone
Ethernet Ethernet
MPLS Fiber MPLS Fiber
Aggregation Aggregation
for all for all
Technologies TDM ATM Enet IP Technologies TDM ATM Enet
MPLS MPLS
Ethernet channel Ethernet channel Service
µwave µwave Router
Common facility Common facility
for all traffic for all traffic

IP/MPLS “edge”

14 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
Figure 15. A Hybrid or Phased Bypass Deployment

Cell Site MTSO

ATM
ATM
IMA Network
E1/T1

Converged
RNC IP/MPLS
Backbone

First Mile Metro IP/MPLS

Access Network

PW IP/MPLS “Zone”
IP Terminating
Service Router
Enet

The real time/conversational traffic, consisting mostly of voice and signaling, remains for
some interim period on the in-place ATM (R99) RAN infrastructure. The traffic experiencing
more rapid growth in volume — general broadband data in all its forms e.g. HSDPA traffic,
bypasses the ATM RAN. This high volume, high growth, diverse data is backhauled over
various first mile media types and aggregated over an IP/MPLS network to the MTSO. In
this model it is expected that all traffic transport will ultimately map to the fully converged
IP/MPLS RAN.

7 Conclusions
The principal drivers for IP/MPLS deployment in the RAN are threefold:
• To rapidly reduce and control costs in the terrestrial aggregation and distribution network
• To converge and normalize the complex and disparate traffic in the legacy access network
and deal with rising capacity
• To make strategic architectural progress and investment that will be aligned with
operational imperatives over, at least, the next decade as broadband HSPA and EV-DO
releases (in CDMA networks) are rolled out in volume and the vision of LTE becomes real

The rise in traffic levels in mobile networks is fortunately closely tracked by emerging and
maturing technical transport solutions. Broader availability of Carrier/Metro Ethernet as a
transport infrastructure together with advanced edge IP/MPLS platforms that allow stringent
SLA targets to be achieved - either over wholly mobile operator-owned, leased or hybrid
RAN infrastructures.

Pseudowire technology is maturing. Scalable implementations are appearing and the

management sophistication needed for effective operational deployment is now achievable.
Synchronization needs are well understood and algorithmic mechanisms (e.g. according to
IEEE 1588v2) can now be demonstrated in extensive test facilities and some deployed networks.

Alcatel-Lucent is active in all, and leading many, of these efforts in standards bodies and in
hardware and software product realizations. In particular, Alcatel-Lucent has the end-to-end
service competency needed to mass deploy and operationalize a next-generation RAN
solution for mobile networking.

Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network 15
8 Abbreviations
AAL2 ATM adaptation layer 2 PRC primary reference clock
APS automatic protection switching PSTN public switched telephone network
ARPU average revenue per user PWE3 pseudowire end-to-end emulation
ATM asynchronous transfer mode QoS quality of service
BGP border gateway protocol RAN radio access network
BSC base station controller RNC radio network controller
BTS base transceiver station SDH synchronous digital hierarchy
CAPEX capital expenditures SGSN serving GPRS support node
CDMA code division multiple access SHDSL single-line high bit rate digital
subscriber line
CS-ACELP conjugate structure algebraic-code-
excited linear-prediction SLA service level agreement
DCS digital cross-connect system SONET synchronous optical network
DMSC distributed mobile switching center SPVC soft permanent virtual circuit
DSCP diffServ code point TCP transmission control protocol
EDGE enhanced data rates for GSM TDD time division duplexing
evolution TDM time division multiplexing
FDD frequency division duplexing UMA unlicensed mobile access
GERAN GPRS EDGE radio access network UMTS universal mobile telecommunications
GGSN gateway GPRS serving node service
GPRS general packet radio service UTC universal coordinated time (French
acronym)
GPS global positioning system
UTRAN UMTS terrestrial radio access
G.SHDSL global standard high bit rate digital
network
subscriber line
VBR variable bit rate
GSM global system for mobile
communications VAD voice activity detection
HSDPA high speed downlink packet access VCCV virtual circuit connectivity
verification
IMA inverse multiplexing for ATM
VoATM voice over ATM
IMS IP multimedia subsystem
VoIP voice over IP
ION intelligent optical networking
VoP voice over packet
IP Internet protocol
VPLS virtual private lan service
IPD Internet Protocol Division (of Alcatel-
Lucent) VPN virtual private network
ISA integrated services adapter (card) VFR virtual routing and forwarding
LAN local area network VRRP virtual router redundancy protocol
LSP label switched path WBB wireless broadband
MNVO mobile network virtual operator W-CDMA wideband code division multiple
access
MOS mean opinion score
WDM wavelength division multiplexing
MPLS multiprotocol label switching
WLAN wireless LAN
MSC mobile switching center
MSPP multiservice provisioning platform
NGN next generation network
OAM operations, administration and
maintenance
OFDM orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing
OPEX operational expenditures
OSS operational support system

16 Alcatel-Lucent | IP/MPLS Transport in the Evolving GSM/UMTS Mobile Radio Access Network
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