VoLTE

Seminar Report

Submitted

In Department of Computer Science & Engineering

Bachelor of Technology

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mrs. Meghna Sharma Rohan Kumar Raj

Associate Professor in CSE 16BCON516

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

JECRC UNIVERSITY, JAIPUR

2018
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude towards JECRC

UNIVERSITY, Jaipur, for providing me a platform to present my
seminar at such an esteemed institute.

I would like to thank Mrs. Meghna Sharma, HOD, Computer Science &
Engineering Department, JECRC University, Jaipur, for their constant
support.

I am also thankful to all the staff members of the department for their
full cooperation and help.

Candidate’s Name and Signature: Rohan Kumar Raj

Enrolment Number: 16BCON516

 ABSTRACT

3GPP Long Term Evolution networks are now a commercial reality. As cellular
network operators continue to plan LTE coverage and capacity expansion, the need to
migrate traditional voice calling services to LTE becomes ever more pressing. The
emergence of GSMA IR.92 – IMS Profile for Voice and SMS – as the de facto voice-
over-LTE standard has cleared the way for global adoption of a single LTE voice
solution. IR.92’s forward- looking foundation on IMS/SIP ensures its longevity, but it
also introduces functional, performance, and quality challenges. Comprehensive testing
and verification of Vo-LTE- enabled mobile devices is crucial to ensuring consumer
adoption and commercial success of voice services on LTE.

With LTE networks now a growing commercial reality, migrating

traditional voice services to LTE becomes ever more pressing. GSMA IR.92 – IMS
Profile for Voice and SMS – clears the way for a global solution but also introduces
functional, performance, and quality challenges. This project explores these challenges
and the role testing of VoLTE- enabled mobile devices will play in ensuring commercial
success
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO TITLE

ABSTRACT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. HISTORY
2.1 FIRST GENRATION(1G)
2.2 SECOND GENRATION(2G)
2.3 THIRD GENRATION(3G)
2.4 3GPP
2.5 3GPP2
3 NETWORK SOCIETY
3.1WORLDWIDE RELIGON OF ERICSSON
3.2 ERICSSON WORKING
3.3 ORGANISATION ARCHITECTURE
3.4 DEPARTMENTAL ARCHITECTURE
3.5 SALES PROCESS
3.6 NETWORK SOCIETY SUMMARY

4. SAMPLE PROJECT-VOICE OVER LTE

4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 WHY VoLTE
4.3 DRIVER/REQUIREMENTS FOR VoLTE
4.3.1 SUBSCRIBER REQUIREMENTS
4.3.2 CARRER REQUIREMENTS
4.4 SUMMARY
5. EVOLVED PACKET SYSTEM (EPS) 53
5.1 Vo-LTE E2E ARCHITECTURE 54
5.2 EPS TERMINOLOGY CLARIFICATION 55
5.3 EPS ARCHITECTURE 56
5.3.1 USER EQUIPMENT (UE) 56
5.3.2 EVOLVED-NODE B (e-nodeB) 57
5.3.3 MOBILE MANAGEMENT ENTITY (MME) 58
5.3.4 HOME SUBSCRIBER SERVER (HSS) 58
5.3.5 SERVING GATEWAY (S-GW) 58
5.3.6 PACKET DATA NETWORK GATEWAY (PGW) 59
5.3.7 EPS CONTROL & USER PLANE 59
5.4 EPS ATTACH PROCEDURE 60
5.4.1 ATTACH REQUEST 60
5.4.2 AUTHENTICATION INFO REQUEST/RESPONSE 61
5.4.3 UPDATE LOCATION REQUEST 61
 5.4.4 UPDATE LOCATION ANSWER 61
5.4.5 CREATE SESSION REQUEST 61
5.4.6 CREATE SESSION RESPONSE 62
5.4.7 ATTACH ACCEPT
5.4.8 ATTACH COMPLETE 62
5.4.9 MODIFY BEARER REQUEST 63
5.4.10 QUICK SUMMARY 63
5.5 EPS BEARER ARCHITECTURE 63
5.6 HISTORICAL CONTEXT 64
6. IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM (IMS) 65
6.1 Vo-LTE E2E ARCHITECTURE 66
6.2 WHAT IS IMS ? 67
6.3 HISTORY OF IMS 67
6.4 STRUCTURE OF IMS 67
6.5 IMS ARCHITECTURE 68
6.5.1 DATABASE ELEMENTS 69
6.5.2 IMS CONTROL ELEMENTS 69
6.5.3 CONTROL PLANE INTERWORKING ELEMENTS 71
6.6 IMS SESSION ESTABLISHMENT FLOW 72
7. Vo-LTE OVERALL ARCHITECTURES 73
7.1 Vo-LTE ARCHITECTURE 74
7.2 Vo-LTE CALL-FLOW-HIGH LEVEL STEPS 75
7.3 Vo-LTE REGISTRATION 76
7.4 Vo-LTE CHARGING SYSTEM 77
7.5 CIRCUIT SWITCHED FALL-BACK 78
7.6 ROAMING IN Vo-LTE 79
7.7 Vo-LTE MANAGEMENT 80
8. BENEFITS & FUTURE SCOPE OF Vo-LTE 81
8.1 BENEFITS OF Vo-LTE 82
8.2 FUTURE SCOPE OF Vo-LTE 83
9. REFERENCES 84
10. APPENDIX 85
1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

This project, which is titled as ‘VOICE OVER LONG TERM EVOLUTION (Vo-LTE)’
is a part of my work for the completion of mini project, embedded system design (ECE-
1021). The basic idea behind this project is to transmit voice over wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi).
The focus is on the system from a Mobile Broadband (MBB) service point of view. At this
particular day the involvement of technology in the industries is tremendous. Every day new
products & services are coming to the market. This project will be much easier for a person
to communicate through it. With the help of this project wireless communication will become
simple at relatively low cost.

2 HISTORY

The following historical overview is based on conventional & informal terms in the mobile
industry, telecom, media & press.

2.1 FIRST GENERATION (1G) It includes

1. NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony)
2. AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) &
3. TACS (Total Access Communication System)

These systems all have in common that the user traffic, which is voice, is
transmitted with analogue FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) radio
techniques.

NMT was developed during the seventies & launched in 1981.

2.2 SECOND GENERATION (2G)

It includes systems like

1. GSM (Global System for Mobile communication)

2. D-AMPS (Dual-Mode AMPS)
3. PDC (Personnel Digital Communications)
4. IS-95 The new thing with these systems was that they supported
both voice & data traffic with digital TDMA (Time Division Multiple
Access) or CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) circuit switched radio
techniques.
Voice, SMS, CS data can be transmitted with a speed of 9.6kbit/s (50 kbit/s

HSCSD) GSM standardization started in 1982 & it was launched in 1991.

Enhancements of 2G, like the introduction of packet data GPRS (General Packet
Radio Service), is often referred to as 2.5G.

PS data transfer can be done with a speed of 50 kbit/s. Further enhancements like
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM & TDMA Evolution), is referred to as 2.75G.

PS data can be transmitted with a speed of 500 kbit/s.

2.3 THIRD GENERATION (3G)

The IMT-2000, a guideline for every Third Generation (3G) standard is a standard on which
the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) started to work on, in 1986.

The radio frequency bands 1885-2025 & 2110-2200 MHz, were identified as the common
worldwide spectrum for 3G systems by the World Administrative Radio Conference
(WARC), in 1992. For the FDD & TDD (Frequency & Time Division Duplex) mode of
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), following multiple access methods
were chosen 1.

WCDMA (Wideband Code division Multiple Access) 2.

TD-CDMA (Time Division Code division Multiple Access) by the European

Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) in January 1998.

3G was commercially launched in 2001 in Japan & 2003 in Europe

2.4 3rd GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP)

3GPP Logo 3GPP is a standardization body that defines mobile networks. It is a collaboration
agreement that brings together a number of telecommunications standard bodies, e.g. ARIB, CCSA,
ETSI, TTA & TTC was established in December 1998.
The original scope of 3GPP was to produce globally applicable technical specifications & technical
reports for a 3G mobile system based on evolved GSM core networks & the radio access
technologies that they support (i.e., Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) both FDD & TDD
modes).
The scope was subsequently amended to include the maintenance & development of the GSM
technical specifications & technical reports including evolved radio access technologies (e.g.,
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) & EDGE).
A parallel Partnership Project was also established which, quite similar to its sister project 3GPP,
also standardizes International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) International Mobile
Telecommunications IMT-2000 based networks. It focuses on the evolution of cdmaOne with
cdma2000 & EV-DO (HRPD). It is divided into four Technical Specification Groups (TSGs).

1. TSG-A for Access Network Interfaces

2. TSG-C for cdma2000

3. TSG-S Services & Systems Aspects

4. TSG-X Core Networks

3.1 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT
 1. Mobile Broadband (MBB)
The mission of the EP is to maximize ERICSSON’s position in this market utilizing
technical strengths & thought leadership, in stalled base & services position in the prevailing
market environment. The MBB practice drives business in the mobile data access market
which:
A. Enable operators to address new market segments with the latest radio
technologies
B. Optimize operators total cost of ownership through high performance
radio equipment
C. Modernize operators installed base of both radio & site equipment to
ensure a higher grade of operational performance
In order to achieve this mission the EP is organized into 3 separate groups:
1. Radio Access Network
2. Product Related Services
3. New Business Development & Software Sales
An important focus area for the MBB practice is to support operators’s success in the Indian market
with their MBB offering on 3G.

The focus of MBB practice moving forward is to secure the success of MBB in India across all
mobile technology segments & to provide thought leadership so as to position ERICSSON as the
market leader.
2. Emerging Technology Innovation & Partnership (ETIP) ETIP is created to address the needs
of an evolving technology & industry landscape. This unit will focus on forward looking
domains & work on ensuring ERICSSON’s leadership & contribution in some of the key
innovation forums.
ETIP comprises of units driving
 1. Cloud Initiatives
2. Network Society & Technology Consulting (NSTC)
3. Standardization
4. Factory Support
5. Partnership
6. Regulatory
7. TEC&E2E solutions
With a structure that goes across the various practice organizations, ETIP is chartered to
drive innovation, partnership, regulatory & standardization activities that will have market
impact beyond immediate business horizon.

3. Core & Cloud (Communication Services)

The practice partners with operators broadly with
A. Measures of efficiency &
B. Measures of identifying new revenue streams.

While the practice has been driving efficiency & TCO measures through best in
market mobile switch & user data solutions, this track is now moving towards
network function virtualization & having Telco applications in Cloud. At the same
time the practice helps operators build new communication services with

A. Evolved communication solutions such as Vo-LTE, Rich communication

Suite, Enterprise communication etc.,

B. Machine to machine enablers such as device connection platform,

connected car application etc. &

C. Web communication services such as Web-RTC & network exposure.

With a wide & interesting portfolio spanning traditional services/efficiency measures
& New advanced services/Revenue measures, COS practice is responsible to shape &
drive communication services needs of consumers & hence operators business in the
most effective manner.
4. IP & Transport (Fixed Broadband (BB) & Convergence)

Engagement Practice IP & Transport (EP-IPT) is responsible for bringing to market

Solutions in the areas of Fixed Broadband access, Converged transport, Packet core, Network
transformation, IP convergence, Data offload, Caching, Data Monetization.
With mobility operators they will leverage the ERICSSON reference building solutions, viz.,
Mobile Backhaul and Metro Transport, together with creating customized business cases & TCO
propositions. They will offer end-to-end packet core & service aware charging & control solutions to
mobile operators t fulfill their needs of DPI, policy control & data monetization. For LTE operators,
the offering will consist of evolved packet core including MME, P/S-GW & HSS, in addition to
SACC.
In the domain of IPv4 to IPv6, they will work to proactively, & in a consultative manner,
develop the best strategies & plans to upgrade their networks. They will offer end-to-end Wi-fi
solution to operators including all the scenarios like mobile offload, fixed broadband access, Voucher
based access under different architectures. Their solutions will be built around the ERICSSON
packet core, IP & Microwave Product portfolio of products & services & where relevant, 3PP.
 To do the Business Unit & Product Area Packet Core, IP & Microwave, they will endeavour
to deliver the best practices that can be replicated across the other Regions.

EP IPT Solutions:
A. EIN
B. Mobile Packet Core
C. Evolved Packet Core
D. Service Aware Charging & Control
E. Broadband & Fixed Line Introduction
F. Ericsson Network Integrated Wi-fi

4. Managed Service Practice

Mission is to understand customer’s needs & deliver excellent services by creating

outstanding business value through high quality, cost efficiency & time accuracy.

RINA EP Managed Service is responsible for managing the services business &
defining the services in the region. EP MS comprises of Managed Services, customer
support, learning services & wireline network rollout, Design & optimization. The team has
e2e responsibility of securing profitable business opportunities which result in thick margins
& improved customer perception. It encompasses full responsibility to drive sales in order to
secure a critical mass of business revenue for continued operation of these strategic business
areas. Managed services focus on network operations. The service offering provides e2e
services both for wireless & wireline (including fiber) & covering rollout, Design &
optimization, Customer support & operations as an e2e service. Main Principles of the
Engagement Practice are to:

Develop a strategic way of thinking & evolve solutions to meet customer

requirements in Telecom, IT, Industries & Society
Deliver the Optimal Network solution to customer, leveraging shared network
model.
Apply a consultative sales approach & solution value selling
Assure high level of quality when developing solution documentation & presenting
our value propositions to customers
Gain efficiency for the customer & Ericsson by re-applying best practices &
lessons learned globally

The main goal of the practice is to lead business transformation services like managed
services including outsourcing, customers support, & under a Comprehensive MS
relationship (Network rollout, integration & professional services) which help operators to
sharpen focus on core business.

The midterm objective is to have a strong value proposition for ECMS (Experience
Centric Managed Services), e2e Wireline & Fiber Managed Services & Rollout, Network
sharing (small cell as a service), IT MS, Energy Management (including Passive MS) & I&S
MS.
6. OSS/BSS (OBS-Other business services)
The Engagement Practice OSS BSS is responsible for driving RINA sales growth for OSS
BSS product portfolio & related CSI.

The focus is on strengthening Ericsson’s RINA customers with diverse portfolio & CSI of
BSS (Prepaid charging, MBC, SDS, Converged billing) & OSS (EMS/NMS, Service
Assurance & fulfillment, Network inventory).
This would cater to the end to end operations & business support solutions; &
offerings to Telecom & Non Telecom companies in RINA leveraging both Ericsson &
Telcordia portfolio.
The objective is to ensure this mindset change in Region India through EP OSS BSS.
The objective of EP would be:

Protect & harvest on the IN charging business

New solution offerings beyond prepaid like data charging, converged billing etc.
Extend the BSS solutions to non-Telco service providers
Protect & Expand on the run-rate EMS business
Leverage Telcordia to Extend the OSS offering to include service management,
network inventory services The EP OSS BSS practice will work establishing itself as a
business partner for both Telco & non-Telco verticals through innovative OSS & BSS
solutions to value creation Business transformation.

7. TV & Media (TVM)

The practice addresses the market generated from the creation, management, delivery &
consumption of digital media on any device, anytime, anywhere. The practice addresses the
customers’ needs in creating, delivering & managing digital media throughout the content chain, over
any network, any platform, any platform & any device.

Typical Engagement
Converged TV & Integrated Content & Management Platform
Hybrid Satellite & IP solutions
IPTV & CDN engagements
VOD Broadcast Platforms
Web & Mobile TV solutions
Play-out & Teleport
SDP
MSP
Cloud offering for Enterprises & government sector
4.1 INTRODUCTION

Terminal industry is driven by new high end type of devices such as smartphones and tablets.
These types of devices drive the demand for high performance mobile broadband network, both
regarding capacity and coverage. In order to meet these demands, operators are investing in more
efficient radio technologies such as LTE. However, as voice is still major source of revenue and high
quality voice service must therefore be preserved also when moving into a mobile broadband centric
future. The industry has aligned around GSMA Voice over LTE (VoLTE) as the standard for the
telephony in LTE.

With VoLTE, the 3GPP MMTel standard has become the industry’s preferred solution for
voice and SMS services over LTE. VoLTE is also supporting delivery of conversational video
services over LTE. VoLTE leverages traditional telecom characteristics, such as high quality and
global reach, while at the same time offers an optimal evolution path towards full multimedia
services. Recently “wifi calling” has generated a lot of interest in industry and is supported by
Mobile Telephony Evolution by means of EPC integrated Wi-Fi as an access extension to the VoLTE
service. VoLTE ecosystem is building up fast due to the traction in the market. Ericsson has a great
position to support operators around the world with our strong end-to-end VoLTE solution portfolio
including the LTE Radio, Evolved Packet Core, Mobile Softswitch Solution, User Data
Management, IMS portfolio, as well as our extensive delivery capabilities of complex end-to-end
projects.

4.2 WHY Vo-LTE? & ITS MOTIVATIONS

The motivation for the deployment of 3GPP Long-term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband
technology is simple: All things considered, LTE delivers to carriers the lowest cost-per-transported
bit. That said, the adage that “voice pays the bills” still applies: Though in decline, carriers continue
to derive the bulk of their revenues from voice and integrated messaging services.

In the context of LTE, this presents a dilemma. A fundamental aspect of legacy technologies
such as GSM, UMTS, and cdma2000 is that they possess integrated services1: voice, voice
supplementary services (e.g., call forwarding), short messaging, etc. In contrast, LTE makes no such
provisions: it is subscriber service-agnostic. Further, LTE is a pure packet technology, with no
inherent conception of a circuit-switched (CS) bearer, on which legacy voice services depend.

Because of the realities of the cellular revenue model, and because cellular subscribers expect
service continuity, the question arises: How can we best deliver voice and other legacy services via
LTE? As with any engineering exercise, this requires articulation of the requirements.

3.3.1 SUBSCRIBER REQUIREMENTS

Telephony – Subscribers, first and foremost, expect replication of legacy cellular
telephony services. The expectation of support for voice and messaging services is intuitive.
But supplementary services – and the management thereof – are also required. While this
might seem like a trivial requirement, the implementation of supplementary services in the
context of Vo-LTE isn’t necessarily obvious. Further, subscribers – not to mention regulators
– have clear expectations on the availability and performance of emergency calling services.
Additionally, video telephony is fast becoming a basic expectation for subscribers.
 Quality – Subscribers also require call quality that is not noticeably different from that of
existing telephony services. This presents a technical challenge in that LTE is a purely
packet-switched (PS) system, and the maintenance of quality-of-service (QoS) in PS systems
is notoriously challenging – especially over the parts of the channel outside the cellular
carrier’s purview.

Ubiquity – Subscribers expectations in terms of service ubiquity go only one way over
time – up. This means that both local and wide-area mobility must be supported transparently
by any Vo-LTE solution. In technical terms, this means seamless inter-RAT (IRAT)
operations as well as domestic and international roaming.

Battery – In order to be viable, a Vo-LTE solution cannot result in significantly higher

battery consumption than is experienced with legacy voice services.

3.3.2 CARRIER REQUIREMENTS

Cost – For cellular carriers, a minimized total cost of ownership is the fundamental
requirement. But costs can be manifested in a multitude of ways. For example:

Efficiency – The more efficient a technology is, the more traffic can be handled per node
and per megahertz of transmission capacity. This is particularly important over the air
interface, since radio spectrum is one of a carrier’s most precious assets: Spectrum
procurement is challenging due to the limited amount of spectrum available and regulation by
the various government agencies which control it.

Complexity – Reduced network complexity was a fundamental principle employed during

the design of LTE. As complexity increases, the required hardware and the software
development effort – particularly with terminal devices – increases. Therefore an excessively
complex voice solution is not desirable.

Reusability – Solutions that permit the reuse of existing infrastructure – or are designed to
have a long lifespan – are desirable.

It is with these requirements that the various options are evaluated to deliver Vo-LTE.

3.4 SUMMARY

3GPP Long Term Evolution networks are now a commercial reality. As cellular network
operators continue to plan LTE coverage and capacity expansion, the need to migrate traditional
voice calling services to LTE becomes ever more pressing. The emergence of GSMA IR.92 – IMS
Profile for Voice and SMS – as the de facto voice-over-LTE standard has cleared the way for global
adoption of a single LTE voice solution. IR.92’s forward- looking foundation on IMS/SIP ensures its
longevity, but it also introduces functional, performance, and quality challenges. Comprehensive
testing and verification of Vo-LTE- enabled mobile devices is crucial to ensuring consumer adoption
and commercial success of voice services on LTE.
4.1 E2E Vo-LTE architecture

Firstly, we would be studying about the E-UTRAN & the EPC part of the E2E Vo-LTE architecture.

4.2 EVOLVED PACKET SYSTEM (EPS)

Terminology Clarification:
4.3 EPS ARCHITECTURE

4.3.1 USER EQUIPMENT (UE)

Definition: UE refers to the device controlled by the user of the wireless network. Eg.- Cell
phone, Tablet, USB dongle etc.

Aside from just being your phone, an LTE ‘UE’ must support the 3GPP procedures & call
flows required of such a device.

Specifications drawn for distinction between a UE & a SIM, & further for a SIM
distinction can be drawn between a UICC (Hardware) & USIM (Software/Application).

International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number is a unique identifier for a

physical device. It is used to identify & track the host device.

International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI) number is a unique identifier for a SIM
card. It is used to identify & track the SIM card.

4.3.2 EVOLVED-nodeB (e-nodeB)

Formal name for LTE cell tower.

Provides radio access to UE’s (through Uu interface).

 Tunnels control traffic from the UE towards the network (S1-MME interface).

Tunnels data between the UE & the input network of service that the user is trying to
access (S1-U interface).

Talks to other e-nodeBs & forwards traffic to them when UEs move through the network
(X2 interface).

Cell towers couldn’t talk directly to each other, but instead through the common Radio
Network Controller (RNC) or Base Station Controller (BSC

4.3.3 MOBILITY MANAGEMENT ENTITY (MME)

Keeps track of user’s state whether it is ON or OFF (timeout when session has
gone/maintaining the session).

MME communicates with & asks Home Subscriber Server (HSS) for security keys &
encrypted data to authenticate & authorize the user & the encrypted traffic. It asks the queries Eg.-
Which services the user wants to access ? The response is in the form of networks allowed to reach,
bandwidth, data rate etc.

Primary responsibilities can be divided into ‘EMM’ or ‘Evolved Mobility Management’ &
‘ESM’ or ‘Evolved Session Management’.

EMM is used to know at which location the subscriber is present & its state in the
network. It is usually for circuit switched networks.

ESM is used for creating an actual data session. Usually for GMM/GPRS, 3G data
architectures.

A user can be registered with or located on only one MME at a time.

4.3.4 HOME SUBSCRIBER SERVER (HSS)

Acts as a database information that can be queried by MMEs to determine permitted
services.

Holds the primary security key information for all the SIM cards in a mobile network.

Keeps a bird-eye view of which users are located where in the network. HSS knows which
MME & in which network a SIM is registered on & can inform the old MME.

Similar to the Home Location Register (HLR).

4.3.5 SERVING GATEWAY (S-GW)

One or more S-GWs will serve a given group of e-nodeBs for user-plane data.
 A single UE can be served by only one S-GW at one time.

MME talks & tell S-GW what P-GW to talk to.

S-GW anchors the user & PDN-GW anchors the PDN.

Subscriber is served by single S-GW. He can reach different P-GW to reach different PDN
as dictated by the MME.

Handles user IP Packets between P-GW & e-nodeB. S-GW & P-GW are basically IP
Routers used for packet forwarding.

Protocol used between MME & S-GW is the GPRS tunneling protocol.

4.3.6 PACKET DATA NETWORK GATEWAY (PDN/P-GW)

Also known as ‘PCEF’ or Policy Control Enforcement Function, it controls the amount of
QoS dictating its services. It acts as a dictator.

P-GW has a billing server which knows that which UE has how much balance & data
sharing over the internet during a busy hour or not.

Provides access to PDN. PDN-GW would be an IP-GW reaching that PDN.

If the UE has multiple data sessions to multiple PDNs, the UE can be connected to
multiple P-GWs. The UE will still be served by only one S-GW, however.

Functionally, the P-GW is an IP router with support for a few mobile-specific tunneling &
signaling protocols.

Protocols used are GTP & diameter between S-GW & P-GW. 4.3.7 EPS CONTROL
PLANE & USER PLANE Fig 4.5 Control Plane & User Plane EPS diagram

UE & e-nodeB, both have User Plane (Uu interface) & Control Plane (Radio interface).

The interface between S-GW & P-GW in the local network is S5, but in Roaming scenario
the interface would be of S8.

4.4 EPS ATTACH PROCEDURE Fig

4.4.1 ATTACH REQUEST

1) UE sends attach request to e-nodeB.

2) UE has an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier (IMSI) number on its SIM

card including supported capabilities Eg.- Particular Bandwidth & services, data rates etc. It
sends all of them in the form of request to the e-nodeB.
 3) It also sends IMTI (Temperate Identifier) number to the MME. Reason is because
encryption has not been set up at this point.

4) E-nodeB determines which MME to send the request to. It connects to the
particular MME using Round Robin or it queries the DNS server to get an MME to serve the
subscriber of multiple names dynamically what MMEs are available to him for attach
procedure.

5) It also indicates whether or not, it wants to request a specific data service or is this the
default attach?

6) In the default attach procedure, the network decides what external PDN, data network to
connect to, based on policy information. In case of a specific service, it sends a flag.

4.4.2 AUTHENTICATION INFO REQUEST/RESPONSE

1) MME queries the HSS for subscriber info for Key information.

2) There is a pre-shared Key concept. UE or rather a SIM card has a K Key. HSS also has a
K Key. Both the K Keys are checked against each other.

3) MME asks the e-nodeB what specific thing it wants to ask. UE declares specific IP to
connect to. 4) Authentication successful.

4.4.3 UPDATE LOCATION REQUEST

1) Subscriber is now located in a particular MME. HSS declares the specific authentic MME
for the UE.

2) In case of old MME, it cancels it & updates the location register.

4.4.4 UPDATE LOCATION ANSWER

1) HSS forwards the UE’s subscription services, QoS networks & information to the MME.

2) Eg. – This particular subscriber has access to this particular data network with this
particular QoS settings & so on.

3) Here the protocol used is Diameter.

4.4.5 CREATE SESSION REQUEST

 1) MME figures out what P-GW can serve that external network & what S-GW can serve
what e-nodeB to which subscriber is connecting on. It will actually use DNS (concept of GW
selection).

2) MME asks four queries

a) What PDN-GW can serve this PDN to which subscriber is trying to reach?

b) What is the IP address of that PDN-GW?

c) What S-GW can serve this e-nodeB i.e. the tracking area/radio network in which
the subscriber is present right now?

d) What is the IP address of that S-GW?

3) MME requests the S-GW & this request indicates the IP address of P-GW selected for the
session. This request gets transported from S-GW to P-GW, which the MME has sent.

4) Request will also include S-GW IP & selected Tunnel Endpoint ID (TEID) for this
requested bearer.

5) Tunneling points/legs of data sessions get built. Out of them two are between e- nodeB &
S-GW & between S-GW & P-GW. They work on the GTP protocol.

4.4.6 CREATE SESSION RESPONSE

1) P-GW takes the requested APN & QoS settings as input. It selects the QoS for the EPS
bearer & sends it in a response. Here the P-GW is the dictator.

2) The response includes TEID for the S5 bearer. It will also include an IP address
(IPv4/IPv6) for the UE & other information such as which DNS servers to use.

3) PCRF (Policy Control Rules Function) decides quantity of data rate & QoS settings
accordingly Eg.-whether a busy hour or not.

4) OCS (Online charging server) keeps a check on the balance of the UE.

5) MME gets the ‘CREATE SESSION RESPONSE’ from the P-GW through S-GW.

4.4.7 ATTACH ACCEPT

1) MME gets the ‘CREATE SESSION RESPONSE’ from the P-GW. MME can reject the
response but can’t change the QoS settings for the bearer.
 2) MME sends the user’s IP information in ‘ATTACH ACCEPT’ message to the UE via e-
nodeB. It also includes the IP address & TEID of S-GW for the e-nodeB.

3) E-nodeB forwards the ‘ATTACH ACCEPT’ as part of an RRC radio message to the UE &
will also include the radio bearer identifier to the UE.

4.4.8 ATTACH COMPLETE

1) UE acknowledges the RRC message from e-nodeB creating the radio bearer.

2) UE sends the ‘ATTACH COMPLETE’ message to acknowledge & accept the ‘ATTACH
ACCEPT’ message. This is forwarded to the MME.

3) In the ‘ATTACH COMPLETE’ being sent to the MME, e-nodeB also sends ‘Initial
Context Setup Response’, including the TEID & IP address to be used for setting up the S1-U
bearer with S-GW.

4) Now the interfaces between the UE & e-nodeB & between S-GW & P-GW have been
built.

4.4.9 MODIFY BEARER REQUEST

1) MME sends the ‘MODIFY BEARER REQUEST’ message to the S-GW. This includes the
IP & TEID information for the e-nodeB.

2) Acknowledgement of this message by the S-GW completes the S1-U bearer (interface
between e-nodeB & S-GW) & with it the EPS bearer.

3) The UE is able to exchange data with the PDN via the P-GW.
4.4.10 QUICK SUMMARY
Now, we will be studying about the 3 layers of IMS i.e. the IMS connectivity, control & the service
layers & about their respective nodes & entities.

5.2 WHAT IS IMS?

IMS stands for IP Multimedia Subsystem.

It is a cornerstone for providing converged multimedia services across multiple accesses.

It is an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia to mobile users.

The IMS standard defines a generic access agnostic architecture to offer converged
multimedia services.

To ease the integration with the Internet, IMS uses IETF (i.e. Internet) protocols such as
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

IMS is access agnostic & as such is independent of the access technology used.

5.3 HISTORY OF IMS

It was originally designed by the wireless standards body 3rd Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP), & is a part of the vision for evolving mobile networks beyond GSM. Its original formulation
represented an approach to delivering Internet services over GPRS. This vision was later updated by
3GPP, 3GPP2 & TISPAN by acquiring support of networks other than GPRS, such as Wireless
LAN, CDMA2000 & fixed line making IMS access independent.

5.4 STRUCTURE OF IMS

It consists of common core, enablers, support systems & interworking functions enabling
operators & service providers to leverage on installed legacy networks, thus reducing cost,
while proving key end-user benefits like reliability & security.

Ericsson IMS is based on layered architecture, which separates functionality into three
layers - an application layer, a control layer & a connectivity layer. The layered architecture
allows each layer to evolve independently as market & technology demands change. For
example, it supports the migration to new transmission technologies by making the upper
layers independent of the transmission technology in the connectivity layer.

IMS is not intended to standardize applications itself but to aid the access of multimedia &
voice applications across wireless & wireline terminals. This is done by having a horizontal
 control layer which isolates the access network from the service layer. Services need not have
their own control functions, as the control layer is a common horizontal layer.

5.5 IMS ARCHITECTURE

Definition: IMS is an architecture designed to support the control layer for packet based
services, which uses the bearer services of the access network to support the media associated with
the service. The IMS nodes can be split into 3 groups of elements:

Database elements (HSS, SLF)

IMS control elements (P-CSCF, I-CSCF & S-CSCF)

Control plane interworking elements (MGCF, BGCF & SGW)

Advantage:

One key advantage of this architecture is that the home network provides the services
& service features. This means that the user’s configurations are always the same & are
always provided by the home network operator. The user is not restricted to the capabilities
of the visited IMS network as is seen in the current wireless network (i.e. if an MSC doesn’t
support a feature that you have subscribed to, you will not be able to use that feature).
However the user is still limited by the visited access network capabilities.

5.5.1 DATABASE ELEMENTS 1. HOME SUBSCRIBER SERVER (HSS)

The main database element is the HSS.

This element is the evolution of the HLR element. The HSS contains the feature of the
HLR (subscriber data & authentication data) & other functions such as Location Register,
IMS service profile processing & IMS subscription & authentication data.

The HSS will be accessed by the I-CSCF, the S-CSCF & external platforms.

The HSS uses the diameter protocol with the diameter multimedia application extension. 2.
SUBSCRIPTION LOCATOR FUNCTION (SLF)

This database is accessed by the I-CSCF & the S-CSCF in order to obtain which HSS
stores the user data when more than one HSS is present in the network.

The query will contain the identification of the user & the response will contain the HSS
that stores the data for the specific user.

5.5.2 IMS CONTROL ELEMENTS

The three IMS control elements are nodes that act on the control (SIP) signaling flows. These nodes
provide Call Session Control Functions (CSCF) & each separate node (Serving, Proxy &
Interrogating) has a different role & function.

1. SERVING CALL SESSION CONTROL FUNCTION (S-CSCF)

The S-CSCF is the node that performs the session management within the IMS
network for the UE. The S-CSCF operates in a stateful manner.

The S-CSCF also ensures end-to-end reachability for users & services by
interacting with other CSCFs, SIP servers & Application servers.

The S-CSCF also authenticates the user.

The S-CSCF is the main control point for services. The S-CSCF enforces the rule
set for services based on the general policy of the operator & the user’s subscription
parameters. The S-CSCF may reject a service according to these factors.

The S-CSCF decides on the handling of service requests from the user based on the
user’s profile (provided by the HSS during registration). Where the services of an
application server are required to complete the requested service, the S-CSCF will
forward the request to the appropriate application server either based on the user’s
profile or on the operator’s local policy.

The S-CSCF is always located in home network. There can be several S-CSCFs in
the network. They can be added as required based on the capabilities of the nodes or
the capacity requirements of the network & if required they can be assigned dedicated
functions.

The management of S-CSCF in the IMS network is dynamic & the I-CSCF can
allocate the S-CSCF for a user at registration time.

The S-CSCF may be chosen based on the services requested or the capabilities of
the mobile. 2. PROXY CALL SESSION CONTROL FUNCTION (P-CSCF)

The P-CSCF is the entry point towards the IMS network from any access network.

The assignment of a P-CSCF to a user is determined by the access network

configuration. In the case of LTE the allocation takes place at PDP context activation,
where the UE may use a DHCP query to obtain the list of P-CSCFs or the UE is
provided the IP address of the P-CSCF by the GGSN in the PDP activation message.
The P-CSCF is located in the same PLMN as the GGSN.

Signaling: The P-CSCF is a stateful SIP proxy & all signaling between the user &
the IMS system is routed through the P-CSCF. The P-CSCF will also enforce the
routing of signaling messages through the user’s home network.

SIP Registration: The P-CSCF is responsible for sending the 1st SIP message (SIP
registration query) towards the corresponding I-CSCF, based on the domain name in
 the registration request. After successful completion of the registration procedure, the
P-CSCF maintains the knowledge of the ‘SIP server’ (the serving S-CSCF located in
the home network) associated to the user, & will forward all requests from the user
towards it.

Security: The P-CSCF is responsible for establishing a security association with

the user, which it maintains for the lifetime of the ‘connection’. Once the security
association is established, it is responsible for receiving & validating all session
requests.

Policy Decision Function (PDF): The P-CSCF also includes the Policy Decision
Function (PDF) which authorizes the use of bearer & QoS resources within the access
network for IMS services.

2. INTERROGATING CALL SESSION CONTROL FUNCTION (I-CSCF)

The I-CSCF is the first point of contact within the home network from a visited
network or external network.

Its main job is to query the HSS & find the location of The S-CSCF.

The I-CSCF may act as a hiding entity into a home network’s IMS.

5.5.3 CONTROL PLANE INTERWORKING ELEMENTS

1. MEDIA GATEWAY CONTROL FUNCTION (MGCF)

The MGCF is a gateway that enables communication between IMS & CS

users. All incoming call control signaling from CS users is destined to the MGCF
that performs protocol conversion between the ISDN user part (ISUP), or the
Bearer Independent Call Control (BICC), & SIP Protocols & forwards the
session to IMS. In similar fashion all IMS originated sessions towards CS users
traverses through MGCF. MGCF also controls media channels in the associated
user plane entity, the IMS Media Gateway CIMS-MGW.

2. BREAKOUT GATEWAY CONTROL FUNCTION (BGCF)

The BGCF is responsible for choosing where a breakout to the CS domain

occurs. The outcome of a selection process can be either a breakout in the same
network in which the BGCF is located or another network. If the breakout happens in
same network, then the BGCF selects a Media Gateway Control Function (MGCF)
to handle a session further. If the breakout takes place in another network, then the
BGCF forwards a session to another BGCF in a selected network.

3. SIGNALLING GATEWAY (SGW)

 An SGW is used to interconnect different signaling networks such as
SCTP/IP based & SS7 signaling networks. The SGW performs signaling
conversion (both ways) at the transport level between the SS7 based transport of
signaling & the IP based transport of signaling (i.e. between Sigtran SCTP/IP &
SS7 MTP). The SGW doesn’t interpret application layer (Eg.-BICC, ISUP)
messages. The SGW is often included in the MGC.

When user A (Eric) wants to have a session with user B (Pat), UE A generates a SIP INVITE request
& sends it to the P-CSCF. The S-CSCF processes the request, executes service control, which may
include interactions with application servers (ASs) & eventually determines an entry point of the
home operator of user B based on user B’s address & forwards the request to the I-CSCF of operator
B. The I-CSCF contacts the HSS to find the S-CSCF that is serving user B. The request is passed to
the S-CSCF. The S-CSCF takes charge of processing the terminating session, which may include
interactions with application servers (ASs) & eventually delivers the request to the P-CSCF. After
further processing (Eg.- conversion & privacy checking), the P-CSCF delivers the SIP INVITE
request to UE B. UE B generates a response , 183 session progress , which traverses back to UE A
following the route that was created on the way from UE A. After a few more round trips, both sets
of UE complete session establishment & are able to start the actual application (Eg.- a voice
conversation). During session establishment an operator may control the usage of bearers intended
for media traffic.
 To be able to provide a full conversational voice service over LTE, a number of
functions are required to be supported by the different domains.

IMS level provides the basic communication functionality, including

supplementary service support. For Vo-LTE, the authentication mechanism has also been
mandated to secure the possibility for roaming in the future.

The Evolved Packet Core system also provides additional functionality for IMS
APN management, Voice indication to UE, QoS handling, and P-CSCF discovery. Note that
a separate APN is required for IMS, and it is highly recommended to use a special APN also
for self-management traffic (XCAP). EPC also provide additional functionality for e.g.,
SRVCC, Access Domain Selection, and CSFB.

6.2 Vo-LTE CALL FLOW – HIGH LEVEL STEPS

1. Detect available network. Check that compatible frequency band exist.

2. Attach to the LTE network. Check that network is voice capable.

3. Setup IMS APN and find P-CSCF Make sure IMS APN can be established.

4. Registerin IMS Register and authenticate in IMS

5. Place a call / receive a call Call establishment can be made.

6.4 Vo-LTE CHARGING SYSTEM

CDF (Charging Data) and CGF (Charging Gateway) functions are realized in the product Multi
Mediation (MM): Can be co-located on same hardware optimizing the hardware needs for a
mediation solution

OCS (Online Charging System) is realized in the product Mobile Broadband Charging (MBC):
MTAS Ro support All charging information provided by MMTel nodes.

Charging system supports Rf & Ro mechanisms.

Online charging for VoLTE subscribers shall only be done by IMS.

 Offline charging for VoLTE subscribers shall primarily be done by IMS however certain CS co-
existence use cases may result in charging information from CS core as well e.g. mid call services in
an Mg deployment

There are number of reasons why CS coexistence may be needed for an operator including
for example:

Reuse of existing CS roaming agreements

CS Emergency call handling already in place

Lack of LTE radio coverage in some areas

6.5 CIRCUIT SWITCHED FALL-BACK (CSFB

CSFB is a standardized solution utilizing existing MSC-network to provide services to LTE-

capable devices before homogenous LTE-coverage is built. CSFB allows a UE to be reachable and
fall-back to CS voice service when connected to LTE. The UE moves to 2G/3G access to establish a
call. Network pages UE over LTE to indicate an incoming call on CS. CSFB can also be used to
handle roaming as well as early emergency call solution. CSFB has impact on UE, CS core, LTE
RAN and EPC. In CSFB, upon a voice call origination attempt or when receiving a page for CS
voice (via SGs interface), the UE is moved to WCDMA/GSM and the voice is sent over one of these
access networks. The page response is sent over the new RAT on the Iu or A interface. The UE will
return to LTE after call completion if LTE is preferred and coverage exists. The CSFB function is
only possible to realize in areas where E-UTRAN coverage is overlapped with GSM and WCDMA
coverage. The MME can be configured to make sure that during ongoing Vo-LTE call, CS Fallback
will not be allowed. This that ongoing voice call will not be interrupted due to incoming CSFB
paging. Support for CSFB with packet handover is introduced in 15A. CSFB will allow retaining
current roaming relationships between operators, since CS voice is still used. CSFB can also be used
to handle early emergency call solution.

6.6 ROAMING IN Vo-LTE

Ericsson proposes phasing approach for the stable architecture based on the VoLTE
Introduction status. Figure shows the first step of possible VoLTE roaming phasing. In this revision,
the introduced VoLTE network supports CS roaming and CSFB use cases. In the CS roaming case,
VoLTE user is roaming and attaches to VPMN in “CS-Mode”. In case that the roaming agreement
exists however no Camel agreement exists, all originating services will be executed in the VPMN
MSC which means that an originating dual service engine deployment exists. Users terminating
service engine is in IMS (HPMN). As the user is not registered in IMS, T-ADS (SCC-AS) will direct
the call to the CS domain using the MSRN (Mobile Station Roaming Number). In case that Camel
agreement exists. User A’s (ICS user) call routed to the H-PLMN IMS for execution of originating
IMS services using ICS Mg/Camel. In case that the 2G/3G and LTE data only radio coverage is
available when VoLTE user is roaming, the user does a combined EPS/IMSI attach (TS.23.221) to
VPMN. Profile is downloaded from HSS (UDA) to MME with default APN (internet). As no PS
voice available, CSFB procedures are initiated in the VPMN

6.7 Vo-LTE MANAGEMENT

All Ericsson products constituting the Vo-LTE end-to-end solution support Performance
management (PM), Fault management (PM) and Configuration management (CM) based on IMS
release together with OSS-RC. The end-to-end CM guideline and the end-to-end trouble shooting
guideline are provided in a part of Vo-LTE end-to-end CAL Store.

7.1 BENEFITS OF Vo-LTE

With VoLTE, operators can make use of the wider capabilities of IP-based networks to
deliver high-capacity mobile-broadband services and launch interoperable communication services.
VoLTE is a foundation for a modern user experience including services like HD voice, video calling,
HD conferencing, IP messaging and contact management (as specified in GSMA’s Rich
Communication Services program [2]), as well as new innovative services – all available anywhere,
on any device.

With IMS/MMTel as the base for VoLTE, operators can evolve their voice services and add
video calling – described in the GSMA specification for IMS conversational video [3]. VoLTE can
leverage the world’s largest mobile user community (the Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services
Digital Network - MSISDN), as well as traditional telecommunication principles such as guaranteed
end-to-end QoS, support for emergency and regulatory services, global interoperability and mobility,
interconnect and international roaming.
7.2 FUTURE SCOPE OF Vo-LTE

The telecomm technology has evolved from 2G(Kbps), 3G, 4G(100Mbps) & 5G is yet to
come in the up-coming years. We are moving towards voice centric services towards data centric
services. Using 2G & 3G technology users can access to both voice (circuit switched) & data (packet
switched) services. But in 4G only data services (packet switched) are available as all the voice
services can be easily accesses through 2G & 3G. So what about the voice? Hence IMS was
introduced which is used in the Vo-LTE technology.

A debate regarding the introduction of IMS technology happened between ONE VOICE &
VoLGA(Voice over LTE generic access). VoLGA introduced the concept of LGA system that could
be used between user end & MSC. Unluckily its idea of implementation died. Ultimately ONE
VOICE introduced the IMS system, which was standardized by GSMA & given a name as IR 92
(Vo-LTE).

The IMS system can offer :

Voice

Enriched comms

High Definition (HD) videos

Enterprise services Multimedia services

All the new cab services & applications like OLA, Uber etc. use the IMS system as their
operating service platform. Meru cab service has declined in these years. So, this is an
example of services over 4G LTE. Like these applications, many more apps & services can
be discovered & they can use the huge bandwidth provided by the upcoming technologies
like 5G & so on.

8.1 BOOKS

LTE SAE System Overview (Global Services) - ERICSSON

8.2 WEBSITES

www.ericsson.com

www.slideshare.net

www.youtube.com

www.altanaitelecom.files.wordpress.com

www.3gpp.org
 www.3gpp.org

www.techonline.com

www.radcom.com

www.anritsu.com

www.ipv6.com

www.commons.wikimedia.org

www.catis-blog.com

www.tech.queryhome.com

www.techhive.com

8.3 DATA SHEETS & WHITE PAPERS

Anritsu Vo-LTE an_0214_v1

http://internal.ericsson.com/book-pages

MTE with Vo-LTE