sap's view on lte roming

LTE Roaming: Making it Work,

Making it Reality William Dudley, Group Director, Product Management, SAP Mobile Services

March 27, 2013

© 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 2 Public

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TODAY’S SPEAKER

William Dudley

Group Director,

Product Management

SAP Mobile

Services


AGENDA

An Overview of the LTE Landscape through Q1 2013

A Quick IPX Primer

LTE Roaming Basics

LTE Roaming Details

But there‟s more than just roaming to consider

LTE Roaming: Making it Work, Making it Reality

An Overview of the LTE Landscape for Q1 2013


Global LTE Data – The Latest Stats

• At the beginning of 2013, there were 63.33 million LTE subscribers

North America: 55%

APAC: 40%

Europe: 4.4%

Rest of World: 0.6%

• Overall Mobile Data traffic doubled between Q3 2011 and Q3 2012 and is

expected to grow 12x by 2018 from 2012

• LTE subscriptions are predicted to reach 1.6 billion by 2018

Source of data: Informa Telecoms and Media

March 11, 2013 – through GSA


0

50

100

150

200

250

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

2 17

47

144

LTE Deployments in MNOs

97 new commercial LTE

networks were launched in

2012

104 new network

commitments were

confirmed

VoLTE services first

launched commercially

1800 MHz emerged as the

dominant global LTE

network band

Majority of launches use

LTE-FDD mode (13 LTE

TDD systems worldwide)

234 by end of

2013

Source: Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)


4G / LTE impacts data usage growth

A crucial factor promoting the increase in mobile

speeds is the increasing proportion of 4G mobile

connections. The impact of 4G connections on

traffic is significant, because 4G connections,

which include mobile WiMAX and Long-Term

Evolution (LTE), generate a disproportionate

amount of mobile data traffic.

Cisco found in a report released in February that in

2012 only 1 percent of global connections were 4G

but that 1 percent drove 14 percent of all global

mobile data traffic.

By 2017, 4G connections will represent 10 percent

of global connections but will generate 45 percent

of the data traffic, Cisco predicted..

A 4G connection generates 28 times more traffic

than a non-4G connection

• ABI Research notes that LTE Traffic will grow by over

200% in 2013 • Verizon Wireless indicated that 50% of its data usage is now LTE

• Smartphone app downloads in 2012 were 36.2 billion in 2012, up 88%

from 2011.


The Global LTE Market Summary – Start of Q1 2013


Device Support

Virtually all major, high-

end devices are

supporting a variety of

LTE Frequency Bands,

today.

Most roaming friendly

might be the CDMA

version iPhone 5 (can

even use a GSM SIM)

Blackberry Z10 (Global

version) is also very

roaming friendly.

LTE Band 3 (1800 MHz) is

the most common

Device Market / Model Information LTE Band Freq Band (Mhz) Additional Information

17 700 US 700 MHZ Lower Block

5 850

4 1700 AWS

25 1900

US Verizon 13 700 US 700 MHz Upper Block

20 800

8 900

3 1800

7 2600

20 800

3 1800

7 2600

8 900

3 1800

5 850

1 2100

South Korea 3 3 800

17 700 US 700 MHz Lower Block

4 1700 AWS

1 2100

US Verizon 13 700 US 700 MHz Upper Block

US Sprint 2 1900

12 700

4 1700 AWS

1 2100

20 800

8 900

25 1900

7 2600


4 1700 AWS

1 2100


4 1700 AWS

13 700 US 700 MHz Upper Block

5 850

3 1800

25 1900

1 2100

5 850

3 1800

1 2100

US AT&T, Canada

Model RM-2820 (US AT&T, Canada)

Apple iPhone 5 Model A1428 (GSM - US AT&T)

Model A1429 (CDMA - US VzW, Sprint)

Model A1429 (GSM)

Blackberry Z10

Samsung Galaxy S III

Nokia Lumina 920

Global

South Korea 1

South Korea 2

US AT&T, Canada

US Cricket, US Cell, metroPCS

Model RM-281 (Global)

Global (Europe, Asia-Pac)


A Quick IPX Primer


What’s an IPX anyway?

Standard definition of an IPX:

• A global, private, managed, very high-quality IP network

• Used to interconnect multiple networks

• Providing guaranteed End-to-End Quality of Service – mandated by SLAs

• Intended to enable deliver of:

• Voice, data, video and other content between connected networks, across multiple

implementations and standards

• IPX networks are intended to deliver multiple services across a single connection

– but one that can dedicate bandwidth to specific services

• IPX networks should meet or exceed GSMA/i3Forum QoS specifications


LTE and IPX

The overall objective for LTE (Long Term Evolution) is to provide extremely high performance

and speed on mobile broadband.

LTE requires a full Internet Protocol (IP) network architecture and is designed to support voice

in the packet domain

IPX represents the answer to LTE‟s secure, scalable and reliable architecture requirement

3GPP Family Technology Evolution

GSM GPRS EDGE UMTS HSPA HSPA+ LTE LTE-Advanced

1990 2000 2010 2011 2014 2011


IPX Benefit Perception is High

The main benefits of an IPX platform

Source: Questex Asia

Enables mobile operators to

consolidate multiple connections

into a single, managed, IP

connection

23%

It‟s a private, managed,

secure and service aware IP

network 24%

Support for different

commercial and

operational models

19%

It helps cut

interconnection and

operational costs

21%

Allows for

commercial

transparency

9%

Other

1%


The LTE Connection

When will IPX platforms become essential to next-generation networks?

LTE is and will continue to be a driver for IPX services, accelerating in 2013.

1.5% Other

4% Never

22.5% 4-5 years

63% 1-3 years

9% This year


Mobile Operators See the Need for Speed …

Really, they see the need for IPX… especially when it comes to LTE Roaming.

Operators noted that “lack of a common standard for Diameter” as well as

“Diameter variants” to “Diameter Interoperability problems” as major drivers

to moving their LTE Roaming to an IPX

Another operator noted that IPX was essential for VoLTE … they did not wish

to ultimately manage interoperability issues across hundreds of

interconnections.


LTE roaming: Meeting Service Demands

How can we meet MNO Service Demands in an LTE Roaming Environment ?

Utilize a hosted Diameter Hub on an IPX network

• Only one connection needs to be configured

• Greatly reducing testing time per destination

• An IPX, by definition can support LTE-standard high QoS

• Speeding up time-to-market / global enablement of LTE roaming, driving

revenues

• Reducing efforts - minimizing resources involved in service roll-out, saving

costs

• LTE Hubbing can mediate differing Diameter implementations


LTE Roaming Basics


LTE and Roaming: Diameter protocol

A first step in mobile roaming is to get access to the Visited network

Procedure for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA)

In 2G and 3G networks, the signaling traffic associated with this

procedure is handled by SS7 networks

We as a messaging hub provider know this type of traffic because it

enables SMS as well

In LTE networks, the protocol for this signaling traffic is called

Diameter

IP native – IPX is its natural home for interconnects

Not just roaming; additional applications are being standardized


Diameter protocol

Not new: based on well-known Radius protocol

Works on the principle of Transactions: a pair of

• 1x CER: Capabilities-Exchange-Request sent

• 1x CEA: Capabilities-Exchange-Answer received

A Diameter Session is a series of Diameter transactions with the same

Session ID – usually a request and response (or answer).


LTE Roaming Via IPX

Multiple LTE Networks connect to the IPX through an Edge Agent

Edge Agent

Edge

Agent

LTE Operator A LTE Operator B

LTE Operator C

Secondary

Diameter

Relay Agent

Primary

Diameter

Relay Agent

Edge

Agent

IPX


The Edge Agent can be HOSTED by the IPX Provider

IPX

HSS

MME

PCRF (H or V)

DEA

DEA

HSS

MME

PCRF (H or V)

DRA

DEA

DEA

DRA

S6a / S6d S6a / S6d

Mobile Service Provider A Mobile Service Provider B


Diameter Interfaces in Roaming: S6a – S6d

S6a is the most important interface or reference point – lies between Home

Subscriber Server (HSS) and Mobile Management Entity (MME)

Transport of subscriber related data and location information

Authorizing a user to grant access to visited network

Transport of authentication information

S6d will only be used in some cases to transfer subscriber information

between the SGSN and the HSS


SCENARIO 1: LTE ROAMING ARCHITECTURE

UE is connected to Visited Network – Home Routed Traffic

SGSN

HSS

MME

PDN GW SGW

PCRF

GPRS Core (e.g. 2.5-3-3.5G)

Internet

Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

E-UTRAN

eNodeB

eNodeB

eNodeB

GERAND (2/2.5G)

UTRAN (3G)

Operator IP Services

(IMS, PSS, etc)

Rx

S12

S4

S3

Gx

Gb

lu

S10

S1-U

S1-MME

X1

X1

X1

SGi

S6a

S11

SGSN

HSS

MME

PDN

GW SGW

PCRF


Internet


E-UTRAN

eNodeB

eNodeB

eNodeB

GERAND (2/2.5G)

UTRAN (3G)


(IMS, PSS, etc)

Rx

S12

S4

S3

Gx

Gb

lu

S10

S1-U

S1-MME

X1

X1

X1

LTE-Uu

UE

SGi S6a

S11

Visited Network (vPLMN)

Home Network (hPLMN)

S8

Diameter


SCENARIO 2: LTE ROAMING ARCHITECTURE

UE is connected to Visited Network – Local Breakout

SGS

N

HSS

MME

PDN

GW SGW

PCRF



E-UTRAN

eNodeB

eNodeB

eNodeB

GERAND (2/2.5G)

UTRAN (3G)


(IMS, PSS, etc)

Rx

S12

S4

S3

Gx

Gb

lu

S10

S1-U

S1-MME

X1

X1

X1

SGi

S6a

S11

SGSN

HSS

MME

PDN

GW SGW

PCRF


Internet


E-UTRAN

eNodeB

eNodeB

eNodeB

GERAND (2/2.5G)

UTRAN (3G)


(IMS, PSS, etc)

Rx

S12

S4

S3

Gx

Gb

lu

S10

S1-U

S1-MME

X1

X1

X1

LTE-Uu

UE

SGi S6a

S11

Visited Network (vPLMN)

Home Network (hPLMN)

S9

Internet

Diameter


LTE Roaming Details


Diameter Details – S6a

IPX Home Network Visited Network

MME HSS DRA

Authorization

ULR/ULA

AIR/AIA AIR/AIA

ULR/ULA

AIR/AIA Authentication-Information-Request/Answer

ULR/ULA Update-Location-Request/Answer

IDR/IDA Insert-Subscriber-Data-Request/Answer

PUR/PUA Purge-UE-Request/Answer

(See 3GPP 22.272; Section 7.3 – over 150 information elements)

IDR/IDA IDR/IDA S6a interface

(3GPP 29.272)

Not shown: Basic Diameter set-up (e.g. CER/CEA)

PUR/PUA PUR/PUA


The S9 Interface and Local Break-out

Standard in 2G/3G roaming: traffic routed to the home network

This is also what we see in LTE roaming today

New in LTE: Visited Access – a.k.a. local break-out

Uses Diameter over S9 interface

Lies between the H-PCRF and the V-PCRF (Policy Charging and Rules

Function)

These functions use Diameter to exchange information about the quality of

service a roaming customer should get as well as charging information once

Local Breakout has begun.

The benefits of local break-out are:-

Lower latency experienced by the roaming device

Lower GRX bandwidth requirement between Home network and Visited network

Not happening yet !


Diameter Details: S9

IPX Home Network Visited Network

PCRF PCRF DRA

CCR/CCA CC-Request/Answer

RAR/RAA Re-Auth-Request/Answer

CCR/CCA CCR/CCA S9 interface

(3GPP 29.215)

Not shown: Basic Diameter set-up (e.g. CER/CEA)


Diameter – MAP Interworking Functionality

In this scenario, the Visited PLMN has not

implemented LTE and/or IMS.

• A likely and common scenario

The IPX hosted DSC provides Interworking

Function (IWF) between the MAP-based

protocol (Gr) and Diameter-based protocol

(S6a/S6d).

The IPX hosted DEA provides mapping to the

GR functionality. This makes the LTE network

appear like a GPRS network to the VPLMN

For more information see: GSMA IR.88 and 3GPP TS 29.305

“IWF”

hPLMN (LTE)

IPX

vPLMN (3G)

HSS

PDN

PGW

SGSN (R7 or R8)

GERAN UTRAN

Diameter S6d

MAP Gr

SGi

Gp

Iu Gb


Challenges

We have met some interesting challenges along the way:

IMSI based routing instead of realm based routing

Header re-writes ( 3gpp standardisation )

Non specification compliance

New technologies

GRX routing issues


Real World Challenges they don’t tell you about

Non-standard realms / Interoperability

• The customer in this case did not wish to use the 3GPP standard

realm format, instead wanting to use a „local‟ realm between us and

customer.

• We updated the relevant AVPs so that the realm was standardised

for all attached customers, thus “hiding” the “local realm” that the

customer wished to use

epc.mnc###.mcc###.3gppnetwork.org converts prop.proprietary.abc


Things to look out for…

Working with an IPX provider with Diameter hubbing (and hosted Diameter Edge

Agents) can provide a unique perspective - they can see both sides of the end-to-end

scenario.

Understanding Diameter Result_Codes:

• Result_Code = 2001 Success! – This is what you look for.

• Result_Code = 3002 DIAMETER_UNABLE_TO DELIVER

Commonly seen when one party is not properly connected

• Result_Code = 5001 DIAMETER_ERROR_USER_UNKNOWN

Seen when the user is not identified by the HSS over S6a/S6d

• Result_Code = 5003 DIAMETER_AUTHORIZIATION_REJECTED

For S6a/S6d, that there are no suitable cells in the tracking area.

• Result_Code = blank

Per 3GPP 29.272 (Section 7.4.3), some specific responses are provided in the Experimental-Result AVP

3GPP*5420 – Means that there is no EPS (e.g. LTE) subscription for the IMSI (e.g. subscriber‟s device)

3GPP*5004 – Means that the subscriber is not allowed to roam on that visited network

3GPP*4181 – Means the HSS has suffered some transient failure – The requesting node can try again, later.


A Few Words about Connectivity

Diameter

Strawberry: dedicated VPN on IPX access circuit – just for Diameter

Vanilla: Diameter carried in GRX VPN

CoS: AF31 is applicable – in particular in the Vanilla case

LTE User traffic

Will be carried by the GRX

No smoothies please

We do not want to mix vanilla and strawberry: no dedicated VPN for

Diameter and LTE user traffic

Too complex to make this work with the community


Connectivity with Hosted DEAs

Diameter

Diameter traffic carried between Mobile Operator network and hosted

DEA is essentially internal traffic to the operator

Therefore we want to carry the traffic in a dedicated VPN, not shared

with anyone else

We would want to apply CoS AF31

User traffic

• Carried by GRX, as usual


Connectivity Review

IPX

Operator A

Operator B

HSS

MME

DEA

DEA

PGW

SGW

Diameter Hub

S8

Subscriber from Operator B, roaming in

Operator A.

Diameter VPN

GRX VPN

Internet


But there is more than just roaming to consider


Advanced Roaming Support via IPX

Diameter Edge Agent

• Secure gateway to

outside world

• Interconnected with

Diameter hub

Steering of Roaming

• Improve user

experience

• Work through trusted

relationships

Policy Control

• Secure quality

service for roamers

• Local break-out

scenarios and VoLTE

call scenarios

Advanced LTE Roaming Support


Managing Complexity via Diameter Hubbing

Overall Source: Ulticom


VoLTE Interworking

VoLTE is becoming reality very

quickly.

The use of an IPX with Diameter

Hubbing will result in:

• Fewer connections

• Localized configuration

changes

• Optimized routing between

multiple MNOs

• Interoperability between varying

standards or between

standards compliant and non-

standards compliance


Finally, consider Hosted RCS Services

IPX Voice and Video

• Voice over

LTE/HSPA/WiFi

• Video 1:1/1:N, Video

Cast

• Video Messaging

Rich Messaging

• IM/Chat

• Content share

• File Share

Social Presence

• Availability status,

• location

• Capability discovery

• Avatar

IPX Hosted Rich Communication Services


RESOURCES

Mobile Operator Guide 2013:

http://www54.sap.com/solutions/tech/mobile/featured/offers/mobile-operator-

guide.html

SAP Mobile Services Community: https://community.sapmobileservices.com/

http://www54.sap.com/solutions/tech/mobile/featured/offers/mobile-operator-guide.html






https://community.sapmobileservices.com/

https://community.sapmobileservices.com/

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