peter nas f5--focus-day-tues
TRANSCRIPT
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• Introduction
• Problem description
• Use cases and solutions
• Summary
Agenda
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With data use at unprecedented levels due to smart phone
popularity and usage patterns, signaling in the LTE network
presents use cases never before experienced by operators.
Yes we all might have plenty of signaling experience…. but
how about Diameter signaling behavior??
Introduction
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What is the Fundamental Pain:
Explosive Mobile Data Growth
What is the pain? - Need to expand capacity but with much lower
revenues
- How to keep the costs well below the revenue line
Bring costs per Mb down: Launching of LTE networks (..trend towards All-IP)
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Why Diameter? Signaling Growth Predictions
• Smartphones, tablets
and mobile broadband
spread
• IP-based services
multiply
• Usage patterns change
• LTE
• Network architecture
changes and growth
• New trends increase
signaling load (M2M,
VoLTE, virtualization)
Data and Signaling Growth
So
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e: F
5 a
nd
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rio
us s
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re
se
arc
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• SS7 signaling is much more voice/conversational services oriented, Diameter is mobility management AND database access oriented
• Initially much more mobility management due to LTE Islands
• Diameter is a session oriented peer-to-peer protocol and not like SS7 designed for networks, meaning things like:
• no dedicated management messages, failures „to discover‟ with each new request, relies on reliable transport, no defined traffic priorities, etc.
• Customer and application + handset behavior much more unpredictable
• Unpredicatable when, where and how it will hit you...
• Massive smartphone signaling after “incidents”
What is SO different?!!
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LTE is happening now… 60+ networks launched
269 LTE
devices
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Meet the LTE Challenges • Element Connectivity
• How to design a scalable network architecture
• Many new network elements and traffic growth
• Message Normalization
• How to deal with different vendor‟s Diameter implementations
• Load Balancing
• How to avoid careful planning per server
• How to protect against signaling spikes, signaling Tsunami
• Routing and Subscriber Guidance
• How to guide transactions toward specific servers
• How to manage network-wide routing and binding (like to PCRF, OCS)
• Roaming for LTE
• How to manage LTE - LTE global roaming
• How to manage LTE – 2G/3G interworking
• Topology Hiding
• How to hide network topology
• How to add clients and servers to the network without changing others
• Visibility into Diameter Control Plane
• How to view what‟s going on
• How to test and simulate with minimal impact
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How to manage those differences and create new opportunities
• Use a load balancer (and smart router) in front of your billing systems and/or elements like HSS, PCRF
• Protect your network for high Diameter signaling loads to nodes like OCS, HSS, PCRFs
• Protect your Radius servers from smartphone generated signaling peaks
• Have a gateway between Diameter and LDAP, Radius, SS7-MAP and others
• Re-use existing investments and processes
• DRA, DEA, IWF for LTE networks
• Internal network
• Create a scalable architecture
• Manage signaling loads
• Roaming for LTE
• MVNO market
• IMS, more Diameter signaling
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Use Case: Diameter Router for Charging and DRA/DEA
Gx/Gy
S6a
HSS
MME
GGSN
PCRF
GGSN
MME
Gx/Gy
S6a
IPv4 SCTP
IPv4 TCP (could be IPv6,
IPsec, TLS, etc. as well
OCS
OCS pool 1
OCS
OCS pool 2
HSS
PCRF
Gy
Gy
S6a/S6d
Gx
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Key use cases:
- Routing between MME and HSS
- Routing & balancing to OCS (ongoing)
- Session binding (ongoing)
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How a PCRF is connected with a range of Diameter interfaces:
Policy Control Ready for the Next Wave
Gy
Gz
Subscription Profile
Repository (SPR)
Rx
AF Sp
Offline Charging System (OFCS)
Policy and Charging Rules Function
(H-PCRF)
Online Charging System (OCS)
Service Data
Flow Based Credit Control
Gxx
BBERF
Policy and Charging Rules Function
(V-PCRF)
S9
VPLMN
HPLMN
Gx
Gateway
Sd
TDF
PCEF
Sy
Source: 3GPP TS 23.203
AF= Application Function
BBERF= Bearer Binding & Event Reporting Function
TDF= Traffic Detection Function
PCEF= Policy & Charging Enforcement Function
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• (Over)load control or better flow control
• We limit load before OCS Or in other words: Never hit OCS load control mechanism with undesired
side effects
• Also applicable to other elements like HSS, PCRF, etc.
Use Case: Overload Protection
Overload control
by OCS
Flow control
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XXX Network Diagram Optimized
Charging System
Server 1
GGSN-1
Charging System
Server 2
GGSN-3
Charging System
Server 3
GGSN-5
Charging System
Server 4
GGSN-7
Charging System
Server 5
GGSN-9
GGSN-2
GGSN-4
GGSN-6
GGSN-8
GGSN-10
GGSN-11
Hmm, this is a mesh.. or mess
Charging System
Server 1.2 – active server
GGSN-1-1
.....
GGSN-1-8
Charging System
Server 1.1 – active server
Note: one server can handle 85%
Charging System
Server 1
GGSN-1
Charging System
Server 2
GGSN-3
Charging System
Server 3
GGSN-5
Charging System
Server 4
GGSN-7
Charging System
Server 5
GGSN-9
GGSN-2
GGSN-4
GGSN-6
GGSN-8
GGSN-10
GGSN-11
Charging System
Server 1.2 – active server
GGSN-1-1
.....
GGSN-1-8
Charging System
Server 1.1 – active server
Note: one server can handle 85%
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Use Case: Contextual Routing
Routing Example based on IMSI
Maintains a database routing DB mapping between IMSIs and OCSs
IMSI is extracted from Subscription-Data Grouped AVP in CCR-I/AAR
IMSI Range:
1xyz-4xyz
IMSI Range:
5xyz-9yxz
CCR IMSI 55555 GGSN-1
GGSN-2
OCS
OCS pool 1
OCS
OCS pool 2 CCR IMSI 22222
CCR IMSI 11112
CCR IMSI 11112
CCR IMSI 22222
CCR IMSI 55555
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Use Case: Load Balancing
GGSN-1
GGSN-3
GGSN-2
Session 4
Session 5
OCS-2
OCS-1
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Use Case: Protocol Gateway
Diameter LDAP
HTTP
Diameter
PCRF Directory
Server
GGSN
Billing
Billing
Diameter MAP
MME HLR
Diameter, RADIUS, LDAP, SQL, HTTP, COPS, GTP‟, Web-Services, JMS, MAP, CAMEL,
CORBA, SIP
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Use Case: LTE Roaming Guidelines
• Defined in GSMA PRD IR.88
• Diameter solution can be installed at VPMN, HPMN and IPX level
S4
SGS
VPMN HPMN
Proxy Proxy
S6a
S6d
S9
IPX
h-PCRF v-PCRF
HSS
MME
SGSN
Proxy
Agent
Proxy
Agent
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• LTE Traffic Steering
• External events based routing
• Like priority routing during “Catherina events”
• Billing proxy
• MVNO/MVNE security functions
Use Case: Specialized applications like:
Non preferred
network DSR
MM MME MME
HSS
VPLM1 VPLM2
HPLM
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3rd party applications
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Conclusions
• Diameter signaling is a fundamental part of 3G,
LTE and IMS networks
• Network usage, signaling, is very different than before
• Unpredictable
• Users, handsets and applications driven
• For purpose build Diameter Routers are needed
• Best place for DRA, DEA and more
• Diameter Routers are ideal place to add more value
• Spider in value-add web
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Peter Nas
Sr Solutions Architect Sales
Mobile: +31 628 02 59 28
E-mail: [email protected]
20 For more information visit us at: www.traffixsystems.com