RADIO ACCESS NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

5.1 System Architecture 5.2 UTRAN Architecture 5.3 General Protocol Model for UTRAN Terrestrial Interfaces 5.4 Iu, The UTRANCN Interface 5.5 UTRAN Internal Interfaces 5.6 UTRAN Enhancements and Evolution 5.7 UTRAN CN Architecture and Evolution

5.1 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

Functional network elements

User Equipment (UE)

interfaces with user and radio interface

Radio Access Network (RAN, UMTS Terrestrial RAN = UTRAN)

handles all radio-related functionality

switches and routes calls and data connections to external networks

Core Network

PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network)

operated by a single operator distinguished from each other with unique identities operational either on their own or together with other sub-networks connected to other PLMNs as well as to other types of network, such as ISDN, PSTN, the Internet, etc.

UE consists of two parts

Mobile Equipment (ME)

the radio terminal used for radio communication over Uu interface

UMTS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)

a smartcard that holds the subscriber identity performs authentication algorithms stores authentication and encryption keys some subscription information that is needed at the terminal

UTRAN consists of two elements

Node B

converts data flow between Iub and Uu interfaces participates in radio resource management

Radio Network Controller (RNC)

owns and controls radio resources in its domain the service access point (SAP) for all services that UTRAN provides the CN e.g., management of connections to UE

Main elements of CN
a) b)

c)
d) e)

HLR (Home Location Register) MSC/VLR (Mobile Services Switching Centre/Visitor Location Register) GMSC (Gateway MSC) SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Support Node) GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)

(a) HLR (Home Location Register)

a database located in users home system that stores the master copy of users service profile service profile consists of, e.g.,

information on allowed services, forbidden roaming areas supplementary service information such as status of call forwarding and the call forwarding number

it is created when a new user subscribes to the system, and remains stored as long as the subscription is active for the purpose of routing incoming transactions to UE (e.g. calls or short messages)

HLR also stores the UE location on the level of MSC/VLR and/or SGSN

(b) MSC/VLR (Mobile Services Switching Centre/Visitor Location Register)

the switch (MSC) and database (VLR) that serve the UE in its current location for Circuit Switched (CS) services the part of the network that is accessed via MSC/VLR is often referred to as CS domain MSC

used to switch CS transactions holds a copy of the visiting users service profile, as well as more precise information on the UEs location within the serving system

VLR

(c) GMSC (Gateway MSC)

the switch at the point where UMTS PLMN is connected to external CS networks all incoming and outgoing CS connections go through GMSC

(d) SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Support Node)
functionality is similar to that of MSC/VLR but is typically used for Packet Switched (PS) services the part of the network that is accessed via SGSN is often referred to as PS domain

(e) GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)

functionality is close to that of GMSC but is in relation to PS services

External networks can be divided into two groups

CS networks
provide circuit-switched connections, like the existing telephony service ISDN and PSTN are examples of CS networks

PS networks
provide connections for packet data services Internet is one example of a PS network

Main open interfaces

Cu interface

the electrical interface between USIM smartcard and ME

Uu interface

the WCDMA radio interface the interface through which UE accesses the fixed part of the system the most important open interface in UMTS

Iu interface

connects UTRAN to CN allows soft handover between RNCs connects a Node B and an RNC

Iur interface

Iub interface

5.2 UTRAN ARCHITECTURE

5.2.1 Radio Network Controller 5.2.2 Node B (Base Station)

UTRAN

consists of one or more Radio Network Sub-systems (RNS)

RNS
a subnetwork within UTRAN consists of one Radio Network Controller (RNC) and one or more Node Bs

RNCs may be connected to each other via Iur interface RNCs and Node Bs are connected with Iub interface Main characteristics of UTRAN support of UTRA and all related functionality support soft handover and WCDMA-specific Radio Resource Management algorithms use of ATM transport as the main transport mechanism in UTRAN use of IP-based transport as the alternative transport mechanism in UTRAN from Release 5 onwards

5.2.1 RADIO NETWORK CONTROLLER

RNC (Radio Network Controller)

the network element responsible for radio resources control of UTRAN it interfaces CN (normally to one MSC and one SGSN) terminates RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol that defines the messages and procedures between mobile and UTRAN it logically corresponds to the GSM BSC

RADIO RESOURCE CONTROL

Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages

the major part of the control signaling between UE and UTRAN carry all parameters required to set up, modify and release Layer 2 and Layer 1 protocol entities

The mobility of user equipment in the connected mode is controlled by RRC signaling

measurements, handovers, cell updates, etc.

3GPP BEARERS FOR SUPPORTING PACKET-SWITCHED SERVICES

UTRAN

CN

TRAFFIC BEARERS STRUCTURE SUPPORTING PACKET-SWITCHED SERVICES

3GPP Bearer

a dedicated path between mobile and its serving GGSN for a mobile to send or receive packets over a 3GPP PS CN a 3GPP Bearer in a UMTS network would be a UMTS Bearer

Constructed by concatenating

Radio Access Bearer (RAB) connects a mobile over a RAN to the edge of CN (i.e., a SGSN) CN Bearer carries user traffic between the edge of CN and a GGSN

SIGNALING AND TRAFFIC CONNECTIONS BETWEEN MOBILE AND SGSN

The signaling connection between mobile and SGSN is constructed by concatenating Signaling Radio Bearer between mobile and RAN (e.g., the RNC in UTRAN) Iu Signaling Bearer between RAN and SGSN Signaling and traffic connections between mobile and SGSN Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection Radio Access Network Application Part (RANAP) connection

Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection

includes Signaling Radio Bearers and Traffic Radio Bearers for the same mobile used to establish, maintain, and release Radio Bearers a mobile will use a common RRC connection to carry signaling and user traffic for both PS and CS services

Radio Access Network Application Part (RANAP) connection

includes Iu Signaling Bearers and Iu Traffic Bearers for the same mobile used to establish, maintain, modify, change, and release all these Iu Bearers

5.2.1.1 LOGICAL ROLE OF THE RNC

The RNC controlling one Node B is indicated as the Controlling RNC (CRNC) of Node B Controlling RNC

responsible for load and congestion control of its own cells executes admission control for new radio links

In case one mobileUTRAN connection uses resources from more than one RNS (due to handover), the RNCs involved have two separate logical roles
Serving RNC (SRNC) Drift RNC (DRNC)

Serving RNC

SRNC for one mobile is the RNC that terminates both the Iu link for the transport of user data and the corresponding RANAP (RAN Application Part) signaling to/from the core network SRNC also terminates the Radio Resource Control Signaling, that is the signaling protocol between the UE and UTRAN it performs L2 processing of the data to/from the radio interface

basic Radio Resource Management operations are executed in SRNC map Radio Access Bearer (RAB) parameters into air interface transport channel parameters handover decision outer loop power control one UE connected to UTRAN has one and only one SRNC

Drift RNC

DRNC is any RNC, other than the SRNC, that controls cells used by the mobile DRNC does not perform L2 processing of the user plane data, but routes the data transparently between Iub and Iur interfaces one UE may have zero, one or more DRNCs

5.2.2 NODE B (BASE STATION)

Main function of Node B

perform the air interface L1 processing, e.g., channel coding and interleaving rate adaptation spreading also performs some basic Radio Resource Management operations, e.g. inner loop power control

It logically corresponds to the GSM Base Station

INTERLEAVING

The transmission of pulses from two or more digital sources in time-division sequence over a single path

5.3 GENERAL PROTOCOL MODEL FOR UTRAN TERRESTRIAL INTERFACES

5.3.1 General 5.3.2 Horizontal Layers 5.3.3 Vertical Planes

5.3.1 GENERAL

The general protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial interfaces

the layers and planes are logically independent of each other parts of the protocol structure may be changed in the future while other parts remain intact

5.3.2 HORIZONTAL LAYERS

The protocol structure consists of two main layers

Radio network layer Transport network layer

5.3.3 VERTICAL PLANES

5.3.3.1 Control Plane 5.3.3.2 User Plane 5.3.3.3 Transport Network Control Plane 5.3.3.4 Transport Network User Plane

5.3.3.1 CONTROL PLANE

Control Plane used for all UMTS-specific control signaling includes two parts application protocol RANAP (RAN application part) in Iu RNSAP (RNS application part) in Iur NBAP (Node B application part) in Iub signaling bearer transport the application protocol messages

Application protocol is used for

setting up bearers to UE, i.e. radio access bearer in Iu radio link in Iur and Iub

5.3.3.2 USER PLANE

User Plane transport all information sent and received by the user, such as coded voice in a voice call packets in an Internet connection includes two parts data stream(s) data bearer(s) for data stream(s)

5.3.3.3 TRANSPORT NETWORK CONTROL PLANE

Used for all control signaling within transport layer Does not include any radio network layer information Includes ALCAP (Access Link Control Application Part) protocol used to set up the transport bearers (data bearer) for user plane

Includes signaling bearer needed for ALCAP Transport network control plane

acts between control plane and user plane makes it possible for application protocol in radio network control plane to be completely independent of the technology selected for data bearer in user plane

5.3.3.4 TRANSPORT NETWORK USER PLANE

Transport Network User Plane

data bearer(s) in user plane signaling bearer(s) for application protocol

5.4 IU, THE UTRANCN INTERFACE

5.4.1 Protocol Structure for Iu CS 5.4.2 Protocol Structure for Iu PS 5.4.3 RANAP Protocol 5.4.4 Iu User Plane Protocol 5.4.5 Protocol Structure of Iu BC, and the SABP Protocol

Iu interface

an open interface that divides the system into radiospecific UTRAN and CN handles switching, routing and service control

Iu can have two main different instances and one additional instance
Iu CS connect UTRAN to Circuit Switched (CS) CN Iu PS connect UTRAN to Packet Switched (PS) CN Iu BC (Broadcast) support Cell Broadcast Services connect UTRAN to the Broadcast domain of CN

5.4.1 PROTOCOL STRUCTURE FOR IU CS

5.4.1.1 Iu CS Control Plane Protocol Stack 5.4.1.2 Iu CS Transport Network Control Plane Protocol Stack 5.4.1.3 Iu CS User Plane Protocol Stack

The following figure

depicts the Iu CS overall protocol structure the three planes in the Iu interface share a common ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) transport physical layer is the interface to physical medium optical fiber radio link copper cable

5.4.1.1 Iu CS CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

Control Plane protocol stack consists of RANAP, on top of Broadband (BB) SS7 (Signaling System #7) protocols The applicable layers are Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP) Message Transfer Part (MTP3-b) SAAL-NNI (Signaling ATM Adaptation Layer for Network to Network Interfaces)

SS7

MTP (Message Transfer Part)

SS7(Signaling Data Link Level)(Physical Level)

SS7 SS7

SS7(Signaling Link Level)

SS7(Signaling Network Level)

MTP3-b

SCCPISUP ISDN-UP (ISUP)(Signaling Connection) (SP) (User)()(SP) (User Part)

TCAP

(Transaction CapabilitiesTC) (Transaction Capabilities Application PartTCAP) SS7(Application Layer) (Application Service ElementASE)

SS7 (080 )TCAP

SAAL-NNI is further divided into Service Specific Coordination Function (SSCF) Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) ATM Adaptation Layer 5 (AAL) layers SSCF and SSCOP layers designed for signaling transport in ATM networks take care of signaling connection management AAL5 is used for segmenting the data to ATM cells

SSCF (Service Specific Coordination Function) UNI (User-to-Network Interface)NNI (Network-to-Network Interface) (connection management) (link status) SSCOP (Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol) SSCOP

ATM IN BRIEF

AAL2 AND AAL5

Above the ATM layer we usually find an ATM adaptation layer (AAL) AAL

process the data from higher layers for ATM transmission segment the data into 48-byte chunks and reassemble the original data frames on the receiving side

Five different AALs (0, 1, 2, 3/4, and 5)

AAL0

no adaptation is needed

the other adaptation layers have different properties based on three parameters

real-time requirements constant or variable bit rate connection-oriented or connectionless data transfer

Iu interface uses two AALs

AAL2 (connection-oriented services)(real-time data streams) (variable bit rateVBR) AAL2 AAL5

5.4.1.2 IU CS TRANSPORT NETWORK CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

Transport Network Control Plane protocol stack consists of Signaling Protocol on top of BB SS7 protocols for setting up AAL2 connections (Q.2630.1 [Q.aal2 CS1]) adaptation layer (Q.2150.1 [AAL2 Signaling Transport Converter for MTP3b]) BB SS7 are those described above without SCCP layer

5.4.1.3 IU CS USER PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

A dedicated AAL2 connection is reserved for each individual CS service Iu User Plane Protocol residing directly on top of AAL2

5.4.2 PROTOCOL STRUCTURE FOR IU PS

5.4.2.1 Iu PS Control Plane Protocol Stack 5.4.2.2 Iu PS Transport Network Control Plane Protocol Stack 5.4.2.3 Iu PS User Plane Protocol Stack

The following figure depicts Iu PS protocol structure a common ATM transport is applied for both User Plane and Control Plane the physical layer is as specified for Iu CS

5.4.2.1 IU PS CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

Control Plane protocol stack consists of RANAP signaling bearers BB SS7-based signaling bearer an alternative IP-based signaling bearer SCCP layer is used for both bearer

IP-based signaling bearer consists of M3UA (SS7 MTP3 User Adaptation Layer) SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) designed for signaling transport in the Internet ensure reliable, in-sequence transport of messages with congestion control IP (Internet Protocol) AAL5 (common to both alternatives)

SCTP (RFC 2960) IuPS IP IPv4IPv6 M3UA M3UA SCTPSCCP

SCCP MTP3 IPATM MTP3 RANAP (Transport Network Layer) SSCOPSCTP

5.4.2.2 IU PS TRANSPORT NETWORK CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

Transport Network Control Plane is not applied to Iu PS Setting up of GTP tunnel

requires an identifier for the tunnel and IP addresses for both directions these are already included in RANAP RAB Assignment messages

5.4.2.3 IU PS USER PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

Iu PS User Plane
multiple packet data flows are multiplexed on one or several AAL5 PVCs (Permanent Virtual Circuit) GTP-U (User Plane part of GPRS Tunneling Protocol) is the multiplexing layer that provides identities for individual packet data flow each flow uses UDP connectionless transport and IP addressing

5.4.3 RANAP PROTOCOL

RANAP

defines interactions between RNS and CN the signaling protocol in Iu that contains all the control information specified for Radio Network Layer implemented by various RANAP Elementary Procedures (EP) each RANAP function may require execution of one or more EPs

three classes of EP

class 1 EP request and response (failure or success) class 2 EP request without response class 3 EP request and possibility for one or more responses

RANAP functions
relocation RAB (Radio Access Bearer) management Iu release report unsuccessfully transmitted data common ID management paging

management of tracing UECN signaling transfer security mode control management of overload reset location reporting

RANAP FUNCTION-

Relocationhandles both SRNS relocation and hard handover (including inter-system case to/from GSM)

SRNS relocation

the serving RNS functionality is relocated from one RNS to another without changing the radio resources and without interrupting the user data flow prerequisiteall Radio Links are already in the same DRNC that is the target for the relocation

Inter-RNS hard handover

relocate the serving RNS functionality from one RNS to another and to change the radio resources correspondingly by a hard handover in Uu interface prerequisiteUE is at the border of the source and target cells

RANAP FUNCTION-

RAB (Radio Access Bearer) managementcombines all RAB handling RAB set-up modification of the characteristics of an existing RAB clearing an existing RAB Iu release releases all resources (Signaling link and U-Plane) from a given instance of Iu related to the specified UE

RANAP FUNCTION-

Reporting unsuccessfully transmitted data

allows CN to update its charging records with information from UTRAN if part of the data sent was not successfully sent to UE
the permanent identification of the UE is sent from CN to UTRAN to allow paging coordination from possibly two different CN domains

Common ID management

RANAP FUNCTION-

Paging

used by CN to page an idle UE for a UE terminating service request, such as a voice call a paging message is sent from CN to UTRAN with the UE common identification (permanent Id) and the paging area UTRAN will either use an existing signaling connection, if one exists, to send the page to UE or broadcast the paging in the requested area

RANAP FUNCTION-

Management of tracing

CN may, for operation and maintenance purposes, request UTRAN to start recording all activity related to a specific UEUTRAN connection

RANAP FUNCTION-

UECN signaling transfer

transfer of the first UE message from UE to UTRAN example a response to paging a request of a UE-originated call a registration to a new area it also initiates the signaling connection for Iu direct transfer used for carrying all consecutive signaling messages over the Iu signaling connection in both uplink and downlink directions

RANAP FUNCTION-

Security mode control

used to set the ciphering or integrity checking on or off when ciphering is on the signaling and user data connections in the radio interface are encrypted with a secret key algorithm

when integrity checking is on an integrity checksum, further secured with a secret key, is added to some or all of the Radio Interface signaling messages this ensures that the communication partner has not changed, and the content of the information has not been altered

RANAP FUNCTION-

Management of overload

control the load over Iu interface against overload due example, to process overload at the CN or UTRAN

a simple mechanism is applied that allows stepwise reduction of the load and its stepwise resumption [()], triggered by a timer

RANAP FUNCTION-

Reset

reset the CN or the UTRAN side of Iu interface in error situations one end of the Iu may indicate to the other end that it is recovering from a restart, and the other end can remove all previously established connections

RANAP FUNCTION-

Location reporting

allows CN to receive information on the location of a given UE includes two elementary procedures control the location reporting in RNC send the actual report to CN

5.4.4 IU USER PLANE PROTOCOL

Iu User Plane protocol in the Radio Network Layer of Iu User Plane defined to be independent of CN domain purpose carry user data related to RABs over Iu interface the protocol performs either a fully transparent operation, or framing for user data segments the protocol also performs some basic control signaling to be used for initialization and online control

the protocol has two modes transparent mode GTP-UIu FP applied for RABs that assume fully transparent operation support mode real-time for predefined SDU (Service Data Unit) sizes performs framing of user data into segments of predefined size

the SDU sizes typically correspond to AMR (Adaptive Multirate Codec) speech frames, or the frame sizes derived from the data rate of a CS data call control procedures for initialization and rate control are defined, and a functionality is specified for indicating the quality of the frame based, for example, on CRC from radio interface

5.4.5 PROTOCOL STRUCTURE OF IU BC, AND THE SABP PROTOCOL

Iu BC interface
connects RNC in UTRAN with the broadcast domain of Core Network, namely with Cell Broadcast Centre used to define Cell Broadcast information that is transmitted to mobile user via Cell Broadcast Service e.g. name of city/region visualized on the mobile phone display

Iu BC is a control plane only interface the protocol structure of Iu BC is shown as follows

SABP (Service Area Broadcast Protocol) provides the capability for Cell Broadcast Centre in CN to define, modify and remove cell broadcast messages from RNC SABP has the following functions message handling broadcast of new messages amendment [] of existing broadcast messages prevention of broadcasting of specific messages

load handling

responsible for determining the loading of the broadcast channels at any particular point in time
permits CBC to end broadcasting in one or more Service Areas

reset

5.5 UTRAN INTERNAL INTERFACES

5.5.1 RNCRNC Interface (Iur Interface) and the RNSAP Signaling 5.5.2 RNCNode B Interface and the NBAP Signaling

5.5.1 RNCRNC INTERFACE (IUR INTERFACE) AND THE RNSAP SIGNALLING

5.5.1.1 Iur1Support of the Basic Inter-RNC Mobility 5.5.1.2 Iur2Support of Dedicated Channel Traffic 5.5.1.3 Iur3Support of Common Channel Traffic 5.5.1.4 Iur4Support of Global Resource Management

The following figure shows the protocol stack of RNC to RNC interface (Iur interface) Iur interface provides four distinct functions support of basic inter-RNC mobility (Iur1) support of dedicated channel traffic (Iur2) support of common channel traffic (Iur3) support of global resource management (Iur4)

5.5.1.1 IUR1SUPPORT OF THE BASIC INTER-RNC MOBILITY

This functionality requires the basic module of RNSAP signaling

provides the functionality needed for the mobility of the user between two RNCs does not support the exchange of any user data traffic

If this module is not implemented

the only way for a user connected to UTRAN via RNS1 to utilize a cell in RNS2 is to disconnect itself temporarily from UTRAN (release the RRC connection)

The functions offered by Iur basic module include

support of SRNC relocation support of inter-RNC cell and UTRAN registration area update support of inter-RNC packet paging reporting of protocol errors

Since this functionality does not involve user data traffic across Iur

User Plane and Transport Network Control Plane protocols are not needed

5.5.1.2 IUR2SUPPORT OF DEDICATED CHANNEL TRAFFIC

This functionality

requires dedicated channel module of RNSAP signaling allows dedicated and shared channel traffic between two RNCs

This functionality requires also

User Plane Frame Protocol (FP) for dedicated and shared channel Transport Network Control Plane protocol (Q.2630.1 [Q.aal2 CS1]) used for the set-up of transport connections (AAL2 connections)

Frame Protocol for dedicated channels (DCH FP) defines the structure of
the data frames carrying the user data the control frames used to exchange measurements and control information

Frame Protocol for common channels (CCH FP) describes

the User plane procedure for the shared channel

The functions offered by Iur DCH module

establishment, modification and release of the dedicated and shared channel in DRNC due to handovers in dedicated channel state set-up and release of dedicated transport connections across Iur interface transfer of DCH Transport Blocks between SRNC and DRNC management of the radio links in DRNS via dedicated measurement report procedures power setting procedures compress mode control procedures

5.5.1.3 IUR3SUPPORT OF COMMON CHANNEL TRAFFIC

This functionality

allows the handling of common channel (i.e. RACH, FACH and CPCH) data streams across Iur interface Note CPCHCommon Packet CHannel RACHRandom Access CHannel FACHForward Access CHannel

It requires

Common Transport Channel module of RNSAP protocol Iur Common Transport Channel Frame Protocol (CCH FP) Q.2630.1 [Q.aal2 CS1] signaling protocol of the Transport Network Control Plane is needed

If signaled AAL2 connections are used

The functions offered by Iur common transport channel module

set-up and release of the transport connection across Iur for common channel data streams splitting of the MAC layer between SRNC (MAC-d) and DRNC (MAC-c) flow control between MAC-d and MAC-c

MACMAC

MAC-b
(broadcast)(logical channel) (transport channel) UEMAC-b Node BcellMAC-b

MAC-d (dedicated) UEMAC-d SRNCUEMAC-d MAC-c/sh (common)(shared) UEMAC-c/sh CRNC (Controlling RNC)cellMACc/sh

5.5.1.4 IUR4SUPPORT OF GLOBAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

This provides signaling to support enhanced radio resource management and O&M features across Iur interface The function is considered optional This function has been introduced in subsequent releases for the support of

common radio resource management between RNCs advanced positioning methods Iur optimization

The functions offered by Iur global resource module

transfer of cell information and measurements between two RNCs transfer of positioning parameters between controller transfer of Node B timing information between two RNCs

5.5.2 RNCNODE B INTERFACE AND THE NBAP SIGNALING

5.5.2.1 Common NBAP and the Logical O&M 5.5.2.2 Dedicated NBAP

Figure 5.10 shows the protocol stack of RNCNode B interface (Iub interface)

Figure 5.11 shows the logical model of Node B seen from the controlling RNC

Figure 5.11 Logical Model of Node B

Logical model of Node B includes the logical resources provided by Node B to UTRAN (via Controlling RNC) - depicted as "cells" which include the following physical channel resources DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel) the dedicated channels which have been established on Node B the common transport channels that Node B provides to RNC

Elements of the logical model

1.

Node B Communication Contexts for dedicated and shared channels

corresponds to all the dedicated resources that are necessary for a user in dedicated mode and using dedicated and/or shared channels as restricted to a given Node B

attributes (not exhaustive) list of Cells where dedicated and/or shared physical resources are used list of DCH which are mapped on the dedicated physical resources for that Node B Communication Context list of DSCH and USCH [TDD] which are used by the respective UE

the complete DCH characteristics for each DCH, identified by its DCH-identifier the complete Transport Channel characteristics for each DSCH and USCH, identified by its Shared Channel identifier list of Iub DCH Data Ports list of Iub DSCH Data ports and Iub USCH data ports FDD up to one Iub TFCI2 Data Port

for each Iub DCH Data Port, the corresponding DCH and cells which are carried on this data port for each Iub DSCH and USCH data port, the corresponding DSCH or USCH and cells which serve that DSCH or USCH physical layer parameters (outer loop power control, etc)

2.

Common Transport Channel

configured in Node B, on request of CRNC attributes (not exhaustive) Type (RACH, CPCH [FDD], FACH, DSCH, USCH [TDD], PCH) Associated Iub RACH Data Port for a RACH, Iub CPCH Data Port for a CPCH [FDD], Iub FACH Data Port for a FACH, Iub PCH Data Port for PCH Physical parameters

3.

Transport network logical resources

3.1 Node B Control Port Functionality exchange the signaling information for the logical O&M of Node B the creation of Node B Communication Contexts

the configuration of the common transport channels that Node B provides in a given cell PCH and BCH control information between the RNC and the Node B Node B Control Port corresponds to one signaling bearer between the controlling RNC and the Node B There is one Node B Control Port per Node B

3.2 Communication Control Port used to send the procedures for controlling the connections between radio links and Iub DCH data ports from RNC to Node B for control of Node B Communication Contexts one signaling bearer between RNC and Node B can at most correspond to one Communication Control Port Node B may have multiple Communication Control Ports (one per Traffic Termination Point)

3.3 Traffic Termination Point represents DCH, DSCH and USCH [TDD] data streams belonging to one or more Node B Communication Contexts (UE contexts), which are controlled via one Communication Control Port

3.4 Iub RACH Data Port 3.5 Iub CPCH Data Port [FDD] 3.6 Iub FACH Data Port 3.7 Iub PCH Data Port 3.8 Iub FDD TFCI2 Data Port 3.9 Iub DSCH Data Port 3.10 Iub TDD USCH Data Port 3.11 Iub DCH Data Port

5.5.2.1 COMMON NBAP AND THE LOGICAL O&M

Iub interface signaling (NBAP, Node B Application Part) is divided into two essential components

common NBAP

defines the signaling procedures across the common signaling link used in the dedicated signaling link

dedicated NBAP

User Plane Iub frame protocols define the structures of the frames the basic inband control procedures for every type of transport channel (i.e. for every type of data port of the model) Q.2630.1 [Q.aal2 CS1] signaling used for dynamic management of AAL2 connections used in User Plane

Common NBAP (C-NBAP) procedures

used for the signaling that is not related to one specific UE context already existing in Node B defines all the procedures for the logical O&M (Operation and Maintenance) of Node B

such as configuration and fault management

Main functions of Common NBAP

set-up of the first radio link of one UE, and selection of the traffic termination point cell configuration handling of the RACH/FACH/CPCH and PCH channels initialization and reporting of Cell or Node B specific measurement Location Measurement Unit (LMU) control fault management

5.5.2.2 DEDICATED NBAP

When the RNC requests the first radio link for one UE via C-NBAP Radio Link Set-up procedure
Node B assigns a traffic termination point for the handling of this UE context every subsequent signaling related to this mobile is exchanged with dedicated NBAP (D-NBAP) procedures across the dedicated control port of the given Traffic Termination Point

Main functions of the Dedicated NBAP

addition, release and reconfiguration of radio links for one UE context handling of dedicated and shared channels handling of softer combining initialization and reporting of radio link specific measurement radio link fault management

5.6 UTRAN ENHANCEMENTS AND EVOLUTION

5.6.1 IP Transport in UTRAN 5.6.2 Iu Flex 5.6.3 Stand Alone SMLC and Iupc Interface 5.6.4 Interworking between GERAN and UTRAN, and the Iur-g Interface

Release99 UTRAN architecture

defines the basic set of network elements and interface protocols for the support of Release 99 WCDMA radio interface

Enhancement of the Release99 UTRAN architecture

support new WCDMA radio interface features to provide a more efficient, scalable and robust 3GPP system architecture

Four most significant additions to the UTRAN architecture introduced in Release 5 are described in the subsequent sections

5.6.1 IP TRANSPORT IN UTRAN

ATM

the transport technology used in the first release of UTRAN

introduced in Release 5

IP transport

In addition to the initially defined option of AAL2/ATM, user plane FP frames can also be conveyed
over UDP/IP protocols on Iur/Iub over RTP/UDP/IP protocols in Iu CS interface

5.6.2 IU FLEX

Release99 architecture presented in Figure 5.3 only one MSC and one SGSN connected to RNC i.e. only one Iu PS and Iu CS interface in the RNC Iu flex (flexible) allows one RNC to have more than one Iu PS and Iu CS interface instances with the core Main benefits of this feature possible load sharing between core network nodes

5.6.3 STAND ALONE SMLC AND IUPC INTERFACE

Location-based services expected to be a very important source of revenue for mobile operators a number of different applications are expected to be available and largely used UTRAN architecture includes a stand alone Serving Mobile Location Centre (stand alone SMLC, or, simply, SAS) a new network element for handling of positioning measurements and calculation of the mobile station position

SAS

connected to RNC via Iupc interface Positioning Calculation Application Part (PCAP) is the L3 protocol used for RNC-SAS signaling SAS performs the following procedures

provides positioning (GPS related) data to RNC performs the position calculation function for UE assisted GPS

SAS and Iupc interface are optional elements Iupc

the first version, supported only Assisted GPS later versions, support for other positioning methods

5.6.4 INTERWORKING BETWEEN GERAN AND UTRAN, AND THE IUR-G INTERFACE

Iu interface

scheduled to be part of the GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) in GERAN Release 5 allows reusing 3G Core Network also for GSM/EDGE radio interface (and frequency band), but also allows a more optimized interworking between the two radio technologies

Effect

RNSAP basic mobility module is enhanced to allow the mobility to and from GERAN cells in the target and the source RNSAP global module is enhanced in order to allow GERAN cells measurements to be exchanged between controllers allows a Common Radio Resource Management (CRRM) between UTRAN and GERAN radios

Iur-g interface

refer to the above-mentioned set of Iur functionalities that are utilized also by GERAN

5.7 UMTS CORE NETWORK ARCHITECTURE AND EVOLUTION

5.7.1 Release99 Core Network Elements 5.7.2 Release 5 Core Network and IP Multimedia Sub-system

UMTS radio interface, WCDMA

a bigger step in radio access evolution from GSM networks

did not experience major changes in 3GPP Release99 specification

UMTS core network

Release99 structure was inherited from GSM core network

both UTRAN and GERAN based radio access network connect to the same core network

5.7.1 RELEASE 99 CORE NETWORK ELEMENTS

Two domains of Release99 core network

Circuit Switched (CS) domain Packet Switched (PS) domain

The division comes from the different requirements for data

depending on whether it is real time (circuit switched) or non-real time (packet data)

Figure 5.12
Release99 core network structure with both CS and PS domains Registers HLR, VLR, EIR Service Control Point (SCP) the link for providing a particular service to end user

CS domain has the following elements

Mobile Switching Centre (MSC), including Visitor Location Register (VLR) Gateway MSC (GMSC)

PS domain has the following elements Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) covers similar functions as MSC for packet data, including VLR type functionality Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) connects PS core network to other networks, e.g. to the Internet

In addition to the two domains, the network needs various registers for proper operation
Home Location Register (HLR) Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

contains the information related to the terminal equipment can be used to, e.g., prevent a specific terminal from accessing the network

5.7.2 RELEASE 5 CORE NETWORK AND IP MULTIMEDIA SUB-SYSTEM

Release 4 included the change in core network CS domain

MSC was divided into MSC server and Media Gateway (MGW) GMSC was divided into GMSC server and MGW

Release 5
contains the first phase of IP Multimedia Sub-system (IMS) this will enable a standardized approach for IP-based service provision via PS domain

Release 6 enhance IMS to allow the provision of services similar to CS domain services from PS domain Release 5 architecture is presented in Figure 5.13 Home Subscriber Server (HSS) shown as an independent item Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) the key protocol between terminal and IMS the basis for IMS-related signaling

MSC or GMSC server takes care of the control functionality as MSC or GMSC, respectively user data goes via Media Gateway (MGW) one MSC/GMCS server can control multiple MGWs this allows better scalability of the network when data rates increase with new data services in this case, only the number of MGWs needs to be increased MGW performs actual switching for user data and network interworking processing e.g., echo cancellation or speech decoding/ encoding

IMS includes the following key elements Media Resource Function (MRF) controls media stream resources or mixes different media streams Call Session Control Function (CSCF) the first contact point to terminal in the IMS (as a proxy) handling of session states acting as a firewall towards other operators networks

Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF)

handle protocol conversions control a service coming via CS domain and perform processing in an MGW, e.g. for echo cancellation