Bearer Management

QoS Architecture and Profiles in LTE

Bearer Model in GTP and IETF Variants
E-UTRAN EPC Internet

UE eNB S-GW P-GW Peer

Entity

End-to-end Service GTP variant:

IP Transport
EPS Bearer EPS bearer termination in PGW
Radio Bearer S1 Bearer S5/S8 Bearer

Radio S1 S5/ S8 SGi

E-UTRAN EPC Internet

UE eNB S-GW P-GW Peer

Entity
IETF variant:
End-to-end Service
EPS bearer termination in SGW
IP Transport

IP Transport

EPS Bearer

Radio Bearer S1 Bearer

GTP: GPRS Tunneling Protocol

Radio S1 S5/ S8 SGi External Bearer IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force
Simplifications in QoS Profile
3G EPS
Traffic Class QCI (QoS Class
Identifier)
Delivery Order
ARP
Max SDU Size
SDU Format
Information
Max Bit Rate
SDU Error Ratio For GBR bearers
Guaranteed Bit
Residual Bit Error
Ratio Rate
Delivery of
Erroneous SDUs
Aggregate Max For non-GBR bearers
Transfer Delay
Bit Rate
Traffic Handling
Priority
Source Statistics
Descriptor Number of QoS parameters has been
Signalling
Indication decreased
ARP
AMBR as part of rate capping feature
Max Bitrate (LTE13) is supported from RL20
Guaranteed AMBR: Aggregate Max Bit Rate for non-GBR EPS bearer
Bitrate ARP: Allocation & Retention Priority
GBR: Guaranteed Bit Rate
QoS Parameters in EPS
QCI: QoS Class Identifier
QCI is used to determine packet forwarding treatment (e.g. scheduling of packets)
QCI is used to mark packets with DSCP (Differential Service Code Point)
3GPP has standardized 9 QCI values and mapping to resource type (GBR, non-GBR),
priority, packet delay budget and packet error loss rate
ARP: Allocation & Retention Priority
ARP is used to decide whether bearer establishment or modification request can be
accepted in case of resource limitations
ARP can also be used to decide which bearer(s) to drop during resource limitations
It has been agreed in 3GPP that ARP has no impact on packet forwarding treatment
APN Aggregate Max Bit Rate APN-AMBR and UE Aggregate Max Bit Rate UE-
AMBR for non-GBR EPS bearers
APN-AMBR shared by all non-GBR EPS bearers with the same APN DL enforcement is
done in PDN GW and UL enforcement in UE
UE-AMBR shared by all non-GBR EPS bearers of the UE DL & UL enforcement is done
in eNB
APN: Access Point Name
Guaranteed Bit Rate GBR and Max Bit Rate MBR for GBR EPS bearers AMBR: Aggregate Max Bit Rate for non-GBR EPS bearer
DSCP: Differentiated Service Code Point
DiffServ (QoS) uses the 6-bit Differentiated Services
Code Point (DSCP) field in the header of IP packets for
packet classification purposes
Standardized QCIs

QCI
Resource
Priority
Packet delay Packet error Example Application
type budget loss rate

1 GBR 2 100 ms 1e-2 Conversation voice

2 GBR 4 150 ms 1e-3 Conversational video

3 GBR 3 50 ms 1e-3 Real-time gaming

4 GBR 5 300 ms 1e-6

Non-conversational
video
5 Non-GBR 1 100 ms 1e-6 IMS signalling

6 Non-GBR 6 300 ms 1e-6 Video, www, email, ftp

7 Non-GBR 7 100 ms 1e-3 Interactive gaming

8 Non-GBR 8 300 ms 1e-6 Video, www, email, ftp

9 Non-GBR 9 300 ms 1e-6 Video, www, email, ftp

Note: Usage of operator specific QCIs in addition to standardized QCIs is possible.

Supported QCIs
All standard QCIs for non-GBR and all GBR radio bearer services are supported.
Feature LTE10 enable QCI=1 conversational voice.

Packet RLC PDCP DRX

Resource Delay Packet Default QCI Default Profile Profile profile
QCI Type Priority Budget Loss Rate Support RLC Mode Index Index Indx
1 GBR 2 100 ms 1.0E-02 ENABLED RLC_UM 101 101 2
2 GBR 4 150 ms 1.0E-03 ENABLED RLC_UM 102 102 2
3 GBR 3 50 ms 1.0E-03 ENABLED RLC_UM 103 103 2
4 GBR 5 300 ms 1.0E-06 ENABLED RLC_UM 2 2 2
5 NON-GBR 1 100 ms 1.0E-06 ENABLED RLC_UM 2 2 3
6 NON-GBR 6 300 ms 1.0E-06 ENABLED RLC_AM 2 2 3
7 NON-GBR 7 100 ms 1.0E-03 ENABLED RLC_AM 2 2 3
8 NON-GBR 8 300 ms 1.0E-06 ENABLED RLC_AM 2 2 3
9 NON-GBR 9 300 ms 1.0E-06 ENABLED RLC_AM 2 2 3
QCI values > 9 are mapped into QCI 9.
Parameters per QCI can be controlled on LNBTS level by qciTab.
qciTab
Structure {delayTarget, drxProfileIndex, dscp, l2OHFactorDL,
l2OHFactorUL, Lcgid, maxGbrDl, maxGBRUl, pdcpProfIdx, prio,
qci, qciSupp, resType, rlcMode, rlcProfIdx, schedulBSD,
schedulPrio, schedulWeight,
LNBTS;- ;9 ; -
LNBTS: qcitabx
dscp
configures DSCP value associated
with the QCI; DSCP value will be set
in each IP packet sent for the related
bearer to S-GW or target eNB.
L2SWI; 0 - 63; 1; -
LNBTS: qcitabx not all parameters apply to all QCI profiles
.delayTarget
drxProfileIndex
The maximum packet delay value used by the eNB MAC scheduling algorithm. Only for QCI=1.
Specifies the ID of the corresponding DRX profile.
dscp This parameter configures the DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point).
l2OHFactorDL Specifies the overhead factor of the downlink GBR in layer 2. Only for QCI=2,3,4.
l2OHFactorUL Specifies the overhead factor of the uplink GBR in layer 2. Only for QCI=2,3,4.
Lcgid Logical Channel Group Identifier for buffer status reporting.
MaxGbrDL Specifies the maximum value of the GBR in the downlink direction. Only for GBR QCI.
MaxGbrUL Specifies the maximum value of the GBR in the uplink direction. Only for GBR QCI.
pdcpProfIdx This parameter specifies the corresponding PDCP profile in the PDCP profile list.
prio This parameter gives the priority of the EPS bearer.
qci QoS Class Identifier.
qciSupp The given QCI is supported and enabled in this release .
resType Permanent network resources allocated for GBR.
rlcMode Configures the RLC mode of the radio bearer based on the corresponding QCI.
rlcProfIdx This parameter specifies the corresponding RLC profile in the RLC profile list.
schedulBSD Configure the Bucket Size Duration (BSD) of the UL scheduler.
schedulPrio Logical Channel Priority for the UE scheduler.
schedulType Specifies how the EPS bearer with this QCI is scheduled. Only for QCI=5.
schedulWeight Specifies the scheduling weight for eNB schedulers. Only for Non GBR QCI.

L2SWI: Layer 2 Switching mode weight indication

BSD: Bucked Size duration: 36.321; 5.4.3.1)

Example: LNBTS: qcitabx
- <item>
LNBTS: qcitabx in
eNB SCF file
qcitab1 and qcitab2 shown
- <list name="qciTab2">
- <item>
- <list name="qciTab1">
<p name="delayTarget">80ms</p>
<p name="dscp">46</p>
<p name="lcgid">1</p>
<p name="pdcpProfIdx">101</p>
<p name="prio">2</p>
<p name="qci">1</p>
<p name="qciSupp">ENABLE</p>
<p name="resType">GBR</p>
<p name="rlcMode">RLC_UM</p>
<p name="rlcProfIdx">101</p>
<p name="schedulBSD">100ms</p>
<p name="schedulPrio">5</p>
<p name="drxProfileIndex">2</p>
<p name="maxGbrDl">144</p>
<p name="maxGbrUl">31</p>
</item>
</list>
<p name="drxProfileIndex">2</p>
<p name="dscp">26</p>
<p name="lcgid">2</p>
<p name="pdcpProfIdx">102</p>
<p name="prio">4</p>
<p name="qci">2</p>
<p name="qciSupp">DISABLE</p>
<p name="resType">GBR</p>
<p name="rlcMode">RLC_UM</p>
<p name="rlcProfIdx">102</p>
<p name="schedulBSD">100ms</p>
<p name="schedulPrio">7</p>
<p name="delayTarget">80ms</p>
<p name="l2OHFactorDL">16</p>
<p name="l2OHFactorUL">35</p>
<p name="maxGbrDl">144</p>
<p name="maxGbrUl">144</p>
</item>
</list>
Operator Specific QCI (RL30)
actOperatorQCI
activates the support of the
In RL30 up to 21 additional QCIs are defined establishment of EPS bearers withc
Only for non-GBR bearers QCI in range 128154
LNCEL; true(1),false(0); false(0)
QCI range is 128254
LNBTS: qciTabOperator is a structure parameter with 13 parameters
Mostly same parameters as the standard QCIs
Main differentiation of QCIs by scheduling weights (and DSCPs) counterGroup
The counter group to
For each QCI an additional counterGroup is defined which the QCI belongs
LNCEL; 1..6;1; -
Examples of Counter Groups for the typical use cases:
1. Better user and service differentiation for non-GBR services for one
operator:
Bronze users: QCI: 130, 131, 132, 133 Counter Group 1
Silver users: QCI: 140, 141, 142, 143 Counter Group 2
Gold users: QCI: 150, 151, 152, 153 Counter Group 3

2. RAN sharing (operators share eNodeB) to define a set of QCIs dedicated for
each operator:
Operator A: QCI: 140, 141, 142, 143 Counter Group 1
Operator B: QCI: 160, 161, 162, 163 Counter Group 2
 Sample QoS assignment on AttachAcceptMsg (QXDM)

QoS for QCI7

Transfer Delay is 100 ms

Default Bearer with QCI 7

APN AMBR
(Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate)
assigned 128 Mbps DL and 64 Mbps UL
Sample QoS assignment on AttachAcceptMsg (QXDM)

Ue get IP Address after Attach Accept Msg

Sample : 192.168.39.28

Ue get TMSI
QCI tab Parameter

Nokia Huawei Ericssons

MO Parameter MO Parameter MO Parameter
LNBTS delayTarget CellStandardQci TrafficRelDelay QciProfilePredefined pdb
LNBTS drxProfileIndex CellStandardQci DrxParaGroupId QciProfilePredefined drxProfileRef
LNBTS dscp IpServiceQos Dscp QciProfilePredefined dscp
LNBTS l2OHFactorDL
LNBTS l2OHFactorUL CellUlschAlgo HeadOverheadForUlSch
LNBTS lcgid QciProfilePredefined logicalChannelGroupRef
LNBTS maxGbrDl StandardQci DlMinGbr QciProfilePredefined dlMinBitRate
LNBTS maxGbrUl ExtendedQci UlMinGbr QciProfilePredefined ulMinBitRate
LNBTS pdcpProfIdx StandardQci RlcPdcpParaGroupId QciProfilePredefined pdcpSNLength
LNBTS prio QciProfilePredefined priority
LNBTS qci StandardQci Qci QciProfilePredefined qci
LNBTS qciSupp
LNBTS resType QciProfilePredefined resourceType
LNBTS rlcMode QciProfilePredefined rlcMode
LNBTS rlcProfIdx StandardQci RlcPdcpParaGroupId QciProfilePredefined rlcSNLength
LNBTS schedulBSD
DlschPriorityFactor.
StandardQci
LNBTS schedulPrio UlschPriorityFactor QciProfilePredefined relativePriority
LNBTS schedulType QciProfilePredefined dlResourceAllocationStrategy
LNBTS schedulWeight
Default and Dedicated Bearers
Default Bearers
The initial Default EPS Bearer is created as part of the LTE Attach procedure.
UE is allocated an IP address.
QoS is based on the QCI and associated parameters.
Additional Default EPS Bearers may be created when simultaneous access to
services available via multiple Access Point Names (APN) is needed.
Trigger of an additional Default EPS Bearer is initiated by UE.
Default EPS Bearers are always non-GBR.
E-UTRAN EPC Internet

UE eNB S-GW P-GW

SRB1
SRB2
Default EPS Bearer

Radio S1-U S5 /S8 SGi

 Dedicated EPS Bearers
Dedicated EPS Bearers (non-GBR or GBR) are created for QoS differentiation purposes.
The IP address allocated for the default bearer is used for the dedicated EPS bearers within the same PDN connection.
Utilization of default or dedicated EPS bearers is based on a TFT.
Dedicated EPS Bearers are created by network.
RL20 supports multiple dedicated EPS bearers (not supported in RL10)
RL20 supports conversational voice on GBR dedicated EPS bearers
RL30 supports operator specific QCI bearers
RL40 supports QCI, 2,3,4 and multiple GBR bearers per UE
RL50 supports up to 6 EPS bearers
RL60 supports up to 8 EPS bearers
UE may have multiple dedicated EPS bearers linked to a default EPS bearer.
E-UTRAN EPC Internet

UE eNB S-GW P-GW

SRB1
SRB2
Default EPS Bearer
Dedicated EPS Bearer
TFT: Traffic Flow Template;
Dedicated EPS Bearer single UE can have multiple SAE bearers system
requires kind of packet filter (UL & DL TFT) to decide
which IP datagram has to go to which SAE bearer

Radio S1-U S5 /S8 SGi

Multiple EPS Bearers
LTE520 8 EPS Bearers
Multiple sessions with different QoS
The Flexi Multiradio BTS supports up to 8 EPS bearers.
The following radio bearer combinations per UE are supported by Nokia Flexi Multiradio BTS:
SRB1 + SRB2 + 6 x AM DRB
SRB1 + SRB2 + 7 x AM DRB
SRB1 + SRB2 + 8 x AM DRB
SRB1 + SRB2 + 4 x AM DRB (+ 3 x UM DRB)
SRB1 + SRB2 + 5 x AM DRB (+ 2 x UM DRB) actMultBearers
activates the support of multiple
SRB1 + SRB2 + 5 x AM DRB (+ 3 x UM DRB) EPS Bearers.
SRB (signaling radio bearer) LNCEL; true,false; true
GBR EPS bearer
Non-GBR EPS bearer act8EpsBearers
GBR EPS bearer activates the support of up to 8
SRB1: for RRC messages EPS bearers.
LNCEL; true,false; false
SRB2: for NAS messages
UE Flexi Multiradio BTS S-GW
Ue requirement for 8 EPS Bearer

FGI (Feature Group Indicator) for supported bearer combination found on FGI Bit 7 and Bit 20
Bit 7 indicated if RLC UM is supported.
Bit 7 can only be set to 0 if the UE does not support VoLTE
Bit 20 is set to 1 then
If Bit 7 is set to 0 UE support
SRB 1 and SRB2 for DCCH + 8 AM DRB
If Bit 7 is set to 1 UE support
SRB 1 and SRB2 for DCCH + 8 AM DRB
SRB 1 and SRB2 for DCCH + 5 AM DRB + 3 UM DRB
Regardless of what Bit 7 and Bit 20 is set to. UE shall support at least
SRB1 and SRB2 for DCCH + 4x AM DRB

Regardless of what Bit 20 is set to, if bit 7 is set to 1. UE shall support at least
SRB1 and SRB2 for DCCH + 4x AM DRB + 1x UM DRB
FGI sample on UeCapabilityInformation (Nemo Analyzer)

Ue support RLC UM

Ue support 8 EPS Bearer

Support of Multiple EPS Bearers

Multiple DRB (data radio bearers) can be either multiple default EPS bearers or a combination of
default and dedicated EPS bearers.
The radio admission is extended by additional check of the total number of DRB per cell and
maximum number of DRB per UE.
The different EPS bearers per UE can have the same or a different QCI.
TFT
LTE9 Service Differentiation for non-GBR EPS Bearers

QCI based service differentiation

The service differentiation functionality allows to assign relative scheduling
weights for each non-GBR QCI on cell level.
The relative weight will be considered by the UL & DL scheduler.
The service differentiation functionality allows further on to define 3 different
RLC/PDCP profiles per BTS which can be assigned to different QCIs.
The operator can enable/disable the support of individual QCIs.
Services are transferred to bearers which are mapped to QCIs

actnonGbrServiceDiff
activates the Service Differentiation
for non-GBR Bearers.
LNCEL; true,false; true
EPS Bearers for Conversational Voice
EPS Bearers for Conversational Voice
Voice service shall be transmitted using dedicated bearers. Voice requires two
bearers:
QCI 1 for user data
QCI 5 for IMS signaling actConvVoice
Activates the support of the
E-UTRAN EPC Internet conversational voice bearer
LNCEL; false, true; false
UE eNB S-GW P-GW
SRB1
SRB2
Default EPS Bearer (AM)
VoIP GBR, VoIP GBR,
Dedicated EPS Bearer (UM)
UM, QCI=1 UM, QCI=1

Radio S1-U S5 /S8 SGi

Nokia Huawei
MO Parameter MO Parameter
LNBTS actConvVoice ENodeBAlgoSwitch EutranVoipSupportSwitch
Emergency Calls
Emergency Call Handling (1/2)
Introduces Circuit Switch Fallback functionality applicable to emergency calls only
Emergency calls are redirected to GSM or WCDMA
actEmerCallRedir
activates the feature 'Emergency Call Via
Redirection'.
LNBTS; Disabled (0), Enabled (1);- ; Disabled (0)
There are two cases:
Case 1: UE is idle mode, eNB checks RRC Connection Request for call establishment cause
and in case it is 'Emergency', then a separate admission threshold is used and calls will
not be rejected due to capacity license limitations

RRCConnectionEstablishmentRequest, Cause: Emergency

UE initials an Admission control: Admitted

emergency
call
CS Fallback Redirect to UTRAN or GSM

Nokia Huawei Ericssons

MO Parameter MO Parameter MO Parameter
LNBTS actEmerCallRedir CellAcBar AcBarringForEmergency EUtranCellFDD acBarringForEmergency
Emergency Call Handling (2/2)

Case2: MME is sending CS Fallback Indicator IE with value 'CS Fallback High
Priority'
MME initials an
emergency call

MME

CS Fallback High Priority

CS Fallback Redirect to UTRAN or GSM

IMS Emergency Sessions

IMS is an access-independent architecture that enables various types of

multimedia services to end users using common Internet based protocols
LTE 572 provides support for IMS based emergency sessions for release 9 UEs
Two bearers are required:
One bearer for SIP signaling
One bearer for VoIP
An IMS emergency session is established and kept with preference compared to
normal sessions
An emergency session is recognized by:
RRC connection request message with establishment cause emergency
EPS bearer with ARP value matching the per PLMN configurable ARP value reserved for emergency
calls
The PLMN id. Supporting emergency
emerSessArpPrioLev sessions is defined by following
actIMSEmerSessR9
ARP priority level used by PLMN parameters:
Activate the IMS Emergency Id. For emergency sessions. The
sessions range of ARP is 1..15 but for
LNBTS: emerSessMcc
LNBTS; false(0), true (1); false(0) emergency only ARP 1..8 allowed. LNBTS: emerSessMnc
LNBTS; 1..8;1; 1 (Highest priority LNBTS: emerSessMncLen
for emergency calls)
IMS: IP Multimedia Subsystem LNBTS: emerSessArpPrioLev
SIP: Session Initiation Protocol
ARP: Allocation and Retention Priority
Rate Capping
Rate Capping

Feature objective:
Limitation of the UL & DL bit rate of all non-GBR bearers per UE below UE-
AMBR
The subscription parameter is stored in HSS and signaled to eNodeB during
bearer setup

Benefits:
Allow introducing xDSL-like pricing models
Flat rate rcEnableDl/ Ul
Enable DL (or UL) rate capping
Differentiation by subscribed max. data rate
LNCEL; false(0), true (1); false(0)
Improves utilization of the radio interface

Note: GBR bearers are outside of scope of the UE-AMBR

Nokia Ericssons
MO Parameter MO Parameter
LNCEL rcEnableDl EUtranCellFDD rateShapingActive
LNCEL rcEnableUl
Rate Capping

RRM Scheduler function:

Introduces throughput measurements filters in the scheduler that
controls the UE throughput according to UE-AMBR values
Measured AMBR of all non-GBR bearers is averaged over 1 second
and compared to UE-AMBR
Scheduler restricts the physical resources (the number of PRBs) of the
UE
AMBR is not exceeded
Calculates the limited amount of PRBs depending on the UE-AMBR
Remove the restriction of PRB assignment in case AMBR falls below UE
AMBR

rcAmbrMgnDl / Ul
Factor to calculate margin for
AMBR to account for overhead of
PDCP and RLC (DL & UL)
LNCEL; 11.5;0.01; 1.03/1.02

AMBR: Aggregate Max Bit Rate for non-GBR EPS bearer

eRAB Modification
eRAB Modification LTE519

An EPS bearer is the level of granularity for bearer level QoS control in the E-UTRAN/EPC)

Motivation:
e-NB analysis provided QoS for
each EPS Bearer to get the type
of modification

According the feature LTE519

e-NB decides about RAB
modifications and handling

- Feature utilization
LTE9 use service differentiation
LTE519 modifies the scheduling
weight introduced by LTE9
LTE13 Rate Capping
LTE519 modifies the UE-AMBR
introduced by LTE13
EPS Bearer is identified by a set of QoS parameters
QCI -> (QoS Class Identifier)
ARP -> (Allocation and Retention Priority)
GBR -> (Guaranteed Bit Rate)
MBR -> (Maximum Bit Rate)
eRAB Modification LTE519

Without the feature LTE519, eNB will reject any modification attempt commanded by MME via S1AP:
E-RAB MODIFY REQUEST message.
In this case S1AP: E-RAB MODIFY RESPONSE message includes IE: cause set to Radio
Network Layer Cause Unspecified

With the feature LTE519 modification of the following parameters can handled by eNB
Non-GBR Bearers
QCI, ARP, UE-AMBR
GBR Bearers
ARP

Modification of QCI,GBR and MBR for GBR EPS Bearers is planned for a future release.
eRAB Modification LTE519

EPS Bearer Modification procedure for QCI/ARP change triggered by the S1AP message E-RAB
MODIFY REQUEST.
ROHC
Motivation for ROHC (LTE11)

IP/UDP/RTP headers size can be either

40 bytes (52% of a packet) for IPv4
or even 60 bytes (63%) for IPv6
This means enormous waste of energy
for transmitting headers instead of
speech data

In order to prevent that waste, in RL20, in parallel to LTE10 Conversational Voice, there is also
LTE11 feature which provides the functionality of Robust Header Compression
For example, with ROHC, a 10 minutes of 12.2 kbps AMR coded VoIP call with talk spurt/silent
period alternating every 1 second (SID packets excluded), the transmission overhead is reduced
by 91.5%

actPdcpRohc
activates the usage of PDCP Nokia Huawei Ericssons
Robust Header Compression MO Parameter MO Parameter MO Parameter
LNCEL; false, true; false LNBTS actPdcpRohc PdcpRohcPara RohcSwitch QciProfilePredefined rohcEnabled
Idea of Compression
Uncompressed transmission Compressed transmission

IP/UDP/RTP header MAC header, RLC header,

consisting of predictable
and unpredictable fields -
subjected to compression
VoIP payload, CRC
from now on assume
checksum - not subjected
Destination IP is 10.0.0.10
to compression

Initial transmission, context

is initialized so that next
10.0.0.10 6 10.0.0.10 x 6
transmissions can be
compressed
10.0.0.10 3 3

10.0.0.10 7 7

10.0.0.10 0 0

In the course of transmission

10.0.0.10 1 1 header fields initialized in
context do not have to be
8 transmitted
10.0.0.10 8

rohcMaxCid Context - information about all

Field predictable in Unpredictable field configures the max. number of ROHC fields that are predictable and
the course of contexts used for a DRB in one their change patterns sent in the
transmission - direction. The max. number of ROHC beginning of transmission to
Destination IP contexts is also restricted by UE allow header compression
capabilities
LNBTS; 1..16;1; 4
THANK YOU