RADIO ACCESS NETWORK

ARCHITECTURE

5.1 System Architecture

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

5.1 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

Functional network elements

User

Equipment (UE)

interfaces with user and radio interface

Radio

Access Network (RAN, UMTS Terrestrial RAN

= UTRAN)

handles all radio-related functionality

Core

Network

switches and routes calls and data connections

to external networks

PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network)

operated

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

UE consists of two parts

Mobile

Equipment (ME)

the radio terminal used for radio communication

over Uu interface

UMTS

Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)

a smartcard that holds the subscriber identity

performs authentication algorithms
stores authentication and encryption keys
some subscription information that is needed at the
terminal

UTRAN consists of two elements

Node

converts data flow between Iub and Uu interfaces

participates in radio resource management

Radio

Network Controller (RNC)

owns and controls radio resources in its domain

the service access point (SAP) for all services that
UTRAN provides the CN
e.g., management of connections to UE

Main elements of CN
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

HLR (Home Location Register)

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

(a) HLR (Home Location Register)

a

database located in users home system that stores

the master copy of users service profile
service profile consists of, e.g.,

information on allowed services, forbidden

roaming areas
supplementary service information such as
status of call forwarding and the call
forwarding number

 it

is created when a new user subscribes to the

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

HLR also stores the UE location on the level of

MSC/VLR and/or SGSN

(b) MSC/VLR (Mobile Services Switching

Centre/Visitor Location Register)

the switch (MSC) and database (VLR) that serve the

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

used to switch CS transactions

VLR

holds a copy of the visiting users service

profile, as well as more precise information on
the UEs location within the serving system

(c) GMSC (Gateway MSC)

the

switch at the point where UMTS PLMN is

connected to external CS networks
all incoming and outgoing CS connections go through
GMSC

(d) SGSN (Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio

Service) Support Node)
functionality

is similar to that of MSC/VLR but is

typically used for Packet Switched (PS) services
the part of the network that is accessed via SGSN is
often referred to as PS domain

(e) GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node)

functionality

is close to that of GMSC but is in

relation to PS services

External networks can be divided into two groups

CS

networks

provide circuit-switched connections, like the existing telephony

service
ISDN and PSTN are examples of CS networks

PS

networks

provide connections for packet data services

Internet is one example of a PS network

Main open interfaces

Cu

interface

the electrical interface between USIM smartcard

and ME

Uu

interface

the WCDMA radio interface

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

 Iu

interface

connects UTRAN to CN

Iur

allows soft handover between RNCs

Iub

interface

interface

connects a Node B and an RNC

5.2 UTRAN ARCHITECTURE

5.2.1 Radio Network Controller
5.2.2 Node B (Base Station)

UTRAN

consists

RNS
a

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

subnetwork within UTRAN

consists of one Radio Network Controller (RNC) and one or
more Node Bs

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

5.2.1 RADIO NETWORK

CONTROLLER

RNC (Radio Network Controller)

the

network element responsible for radio resources control

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

 RADIO
RESOURCE
CONTROL

Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages

the

major part of the control signaling between UE and

UTRAN
carry all parameters required to set up, modify and release
Layer 2 and Layer 1 protocol entities

The mobility of user equipment in the connected mode

is controlled by RRC signaling
measurements,

handovers, cell updates, etc.

3GPP BEARERS FOR SUPPORTING

PACKET-SWITCHED SERVICES

UTRAN

CN

TRAFFIC BEARERS STRUCTURE SUPPORTING

PACKET-SWITCHED SERVICES

3GPP Bearer
a

dedicated path between mobile and its serving GGSN

for a mobile to send or receive packets over a 3GPP PS CN
a 3GPP Bearer in a UMTS network would be a UMTS
Bearer

 Constructed

by concatenating

Radio Access Bearer (RAB)

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

SIGNALING AND TRAFFIC

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN MOBILE
AND SGSN

The signaling connection between mobile and SGSN is

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

Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection

includes

Signaling Radio Bearers and Traffic Radio

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

Radio Access Network Application Part (RANAP)

connection
includes

Iu Signaling Bearers and Iu Traffic Bearers

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

5.2.1.1 LOGICAL ROLE OF THE RNC

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

responsible

for load and congestion control of its own

cells
executes admission control for new radio links

In case one mobileUTRAN connection uses

resources from more than one RNS (due to
handover), the RNCs involved have two separate
logical roles
Serving

RNC (SRNC)
Drift RNC (DRNC)

Serving RNC
SRNC

for one mobile is the RNC that terminates both

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

 basic

Radio Resource Management operations are

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

Drift RNC
DRNC

is any RNC, other than the SRNC, that

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

5.2.2 NODE B (BASE STATION)

Main function of Node B

perform the air interface L1 processing, e.g.,

channel coding and interleaving
rate adaptation
spreading
also performs some basic Radio Resource
Management operations, e.g.
inner loop power control

It logically corresponds to the GSM Base Station

 INTERLEAVING

The transmission of pulses from two or more

digital sources in time-division sequence over a
single path

5.3 GENERAL PROTOCOL MODEL

FOR UTRAN TERRESTRIAL
INTERFACES
5.3.1 General
5.3.2 Horizontal Layers
5.3.3 Vertical Planes

5.3.1 GENERAL

The general protocol model for UTRAN

terrestrial interfaces
the

layers and planes are logically independent of

each other
parts of the protocol structure may be changed in the
future while other parts remain intact

5.3.2 HORIZONTAL LAYERS

The protocol structure consists of two main layers

Radio

network layer
Transport network layer

5.3.3 VERTICAL PLANES

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

5.3.3.1 CONTROL PLANE

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

Application protocol is used for

setting

up bearers to UE, i.e.

radio access bearer in Iu
radio link in Iur and Iub

5.3.3.2 USER PLANE

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

5.3.3.3 TRANSPORT NETWORK

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

Includes signaling bearer needed for ALCAP

Transport network control plane

acts

between control plane and user plane

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

5.3.3.4 TRANSPORT NETWORK USER

PLANE

Transport Network User Plane

data

bearer(s) in user plane

signaling bearer(s) for application protocol

5.4 IU, THE UTRANCN INTERFACE

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

Iu interface
an

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

Iu can have two main different instances and one

additional instance
Iu

CS
connect UTRAN to Circuit Switched (CS) CN
Iu PS
connect UTRAN to Packet Switched (PS) CN
Iu BC (Broadcast)
support Cell Broadcast Services
connect UTRAN to the Broadcast domain of CN

5.4.1 PROTOCOL STRUCTURE FOR IU

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

The following figure

depicts

the Iu CS overall protocol structure

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

5.4.1.1 Iu CS CONTROL PLANE

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

 SS7

MTP (Message Transfer Part )

(Signaling Data Link
Level) (Physical Level)

SS7

SS7

SS7

(Signaling Link Level)

SS7

(Signaling Network
Level)

SS7

MTP3-b

SCCP ISUP
ISDN-UP (ISUP) (Signaling
Connection)
( SP )

(User)( ) (SP )

(User Part)

TCAP
(Transaction

Capabilities TC)
(Transaction Capabilities Application
Part TCAP)
SS7 (Application Layer)
(Application Service Element
ASE)

SS7

(
080 ) TCAP

SAAL-NNI is further divided into

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

SSCF (Service Specific Coordination Function)

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

SSCOP

 ATM IN BRIEF

 AAL2 AND AAL5

Above the ATM layer we usually find an ATM

adaptation layer (AAL)
AAL

process

the data from higher layers for ATM

transmission
segment the data into 48-byte chunks and reassemble
the original data frames on the receiving side

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

AAL0

no adaptation is needed

the

other adaptation layers have different properties

based on three parameters

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

Iu interface uses two AALs

AAL2

(connection-oriented
services) (real-time data streams)
(variable bit rate VBR)

AAL2
AAL5

5.4.1.2 IU CS TRANSPORT NETWORK

CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK

Transport Network Control Plane protocol

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

5.4.1.3 IU CS USER PLANE

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

5.4.2 PROTOCOL STRUCTURE FOR IU

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

The following figure

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

5.4.2.1 IU PS CONTROL PLANE

PROTOCOL STACK

Control Plane protocol stack

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

IP-based signaling bearer consists

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

SCTP (RFC 2960)

IuPS
IP
IPv4 IPv6

M3UA
M3UA
SCTP SCCP

SCCP
MTP3

IP ATM
MTP3

RANAP


(Transport
Network Layer)
SSCOP SCTP

5.4.2.2 IU PS TRANSPORT NETWORK

CONTROL PLANE PROTOCOL STACK
Transport Network Control Plane is not applied
to Iu PS
Setting up of GTP tunnel

requires

an identifier for the tunnel and IP addresses

for both directions
these are already included in RANAP RAB
Assignment messages

5.4.2.3 IU PS USER PLANE

PROTOCOL STACK

Iu PS User Plane
multiple

packet data flows are

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

5.4.3 RANAP PROTOCOL

RANAP

defines

interactions between RNS and CN

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

 three

classes of EP

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

RANAP functions
relocation
RAB

(Radio Access Bearer) management

Iu release
report unsuccessfully transmitted data
common ID management
paging

 management

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

RANAP FUNCTION-

Relocation handles both SRNS relocation and

hard handover (including inter-system case
to/from GSM)
SRNS

relocation

the serving RNS functionality is relocated

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

 Inter-RNS

hard handover

relocate the serving RNS functionality from

one RNS to another and to change the radio
resources correspondingly by a hard handover
in Uu interface
prerequisite UE is at the border of the
source and target cells

RANAP FUNCTION-

RAB (Radio Access Bearer) management combines

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

RANAP FUNCTION-

Reporting unsuccessfully transmitted data

allows

CN to update its charging records with

information from UTRAN if part of the data sent was
not successfully sent to UE

Common ID management
the

permanent identification of the UE is sent from

CN to UTRAN to allow paging coordination from
possibly two different CN domains

RANAP FUNCTION-

Paging
used

by CN to page an idle UE for a UE terminating

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

RANAP FUNCTION-

Management of tracing
CN

may, for operation and maintenance purposes,

request UTRAN to start recording all activity related
to a specific UEUTRAN connection

RANAP FUNCTION-

UECN signaling transfer

transfer

of the first UE message from UE to UTRAN

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

RANAP FUNCTION-

Security mode control

used

to set the ciphering or integrity checking on or

off
when ciphering is on
the signaling and user data connections in the
radio interface are encrypted with a secret key
algorithm

 when

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

RANAP FUNCTION-

Management of overload
control

the load over Iu interface against overload due

example, to process overload at the CN or UTRAN

a simple mechanism is applied that allows

stepwise reduction of the load and its stepwise
resumption [( ) ], triggered by a timer

RANAP FUNCTION-

Reset

reset

the CN or the UTRAN side of Iu interface in

error situations
one end of the Iu may indicate to the other end that it
is recovering from a restart, and the other end can
remove all previously established connections

RANAP FUNCTION-

Location reporting
allows

CN to receive information on the location of a

given UE
includes two elementary procedures
control the location reporting in RNC
send the actual report to CN

5.4.4 IU USER PLANE PROTOCOL

Iu User Plane protocol

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

 the

protocol has two modes

transparent mode

GTP-U Iu FP

applied for RABs that assume fully transparent

operation
support mode

real-time
for predefined SDU (Service Data Unit) sizes
performs framing of user data into segments of
predefined size

the SDU sizes typically correspond to

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

5.4.5 PROTOCOL STRUCTURE OF IU

BC, AND THE SABP PROTOCOL

Iu BC interface
connects

RNC in UTRAN with the broadcast domain

of Core Network, namely with Cell Broadcast Centre
used to define Cell Broadcast information that is
transmitted to mobile user via Cell Broadcast Service
e.g. name of city/region visualized on the mobile
phone display

 Iu

BC is a control plane only interface

the protocol structure of Iu BC is shown as follows

SABP (Service Area Broadcast Protocol)

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

 load

handling

responsible for determining the loading of the broadcast

channels at any particular point in time

reset

permits CBC to end broadcasting in one or more Service

Areas

5.5 UTRAN INTERNAL INTERFACES

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

5.5.1 RNCRNC INTERFACE (IUR

INTERFACE) AND THE RNSAP
SIGNALLING

5.5.1.1 Iur1 Support of the Basic Inter-RNC

Mobility
5.5.1.2 Iur2 Support of Dedicated Channel
Traffic
5.5.1.3 Iur3 Support of Common Channel Traffic
5.5.1.4 Iur4 Support of Global Resource
Management

The following figure shows the protocol stack of RNC

to RNC interface (Iur interface)
Iur interface provides four distinct functions
support of basic inter-RNC mobility (Iur1)
support of dedicated channel traffic (Iur2)
support of common channel traffic (Iur3)
support of global resource management (Iur4)

5.5.1.1 IUR1 SUPPORT OF THE

BASIC INTER-RNC MOBILITY

This functionality requires the basic module of

RNSAP signaling
provides

the functionality needed for the mobility of

the user between two RNCs
does not support the exchange of any user data traffic

If this module is not implemented

the

only way for a user connected to UTRAN via

RNS1 to utilize a cell in RNS2 is to disconnect itself
temporarily from UTRAN (release the RRC
connection)

The functions offered by Iur basic module include

support

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

Since this functionality does not involve user data

traffic across Iur
User

Plane and Transport Network Control Plane

protocols are not needed

5.5.1.2 IUR2 SUPPORT OF

DEDICATED CHANNEL TRAFFIC

This functionality
requires

dedicated channel module of RNSAP signaling

allows dedicated and shared channel traffic between two
RNCs

This functionality requires also

User

Plane Frame Protocol (FP) for dedicated and

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

Frame Protocol for dedicated

channels (DCH FP) defines the
structure of
the

data frames carrying the user

data
the control frames used to exchange
measurements and control
information

Frame Protocol for common

channels (CCH FP) describes
the

User plane procedure for the

shared channel

The functions offered by Iur DCH module

establishment,

modification and release of the dedicated

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

5.5.1.3 IUR3 SUPPORT OF

COMMON CHANNEL TRAFFIC

This functionality
allows

the handling of common channel (i.e. RACH, FACH

and CPCH) data streams across Iur interface
Note
CPCH Common Packet CHannel
RACH Random Access CHannel
FACH Forward Access CHannel

It requires
Common

Transport Channel module of RNSAP

protocol
Iur Common Transport Channel Frame Protocol
(CCH FP)

If signaled AAL2 connections are used

Q.2630.1

[Q.aal2 CS1] signaling protocol of the

Transport Network Control Plane is needed

The functions offered by Iur common transport

channel module
set-up

and release of the transport connection across

Iur for common channel data streams
splitting of the MAC layer between SRNC (MAC-d)
and DRNC (MAC-c)
flow control between MAC-d and MAC-c

MAC MAC

MAC-b

(broadcast) (logical channel)

(transport channel)
UE MAC-b
Node B cell MAC-b

 MAC-d

(dedicated)
UE MAC-d
SRNC UE MAC-d
MAC-c/sh
(common) (shared)

UE MAC-c/sh
CRNC (Controlling RNC) cell
MAC-c/sh

5.5.1.4 IUR4 SUPPORT OF GLOBAL

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

common

radio resource management between RNCs

advanced positioning methods
Iur optimization

The functions offered by Iur global resource

module
transfer

of cell information and measurements

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

5.5.2 RNCNODE B INTERFACE

AND THE NBAP SIGNALING
5.5.2.1 Common NBAP and the Logical O&M
5.5.2.2 Dedicated NBAP

Figure 5.10 shows the protocol stack of RNC

Node B interface (Iub interface)

Figure 5.11 shows the logical model of Node B

seen from the controlling RNC

Figure 5.11 Logical Model of Node B

Logical model of Node B includes

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

Elements of the logical model

Node B Communication Contexts for dedicated and

shared channels

1.

corresponds to all the dedicated resources

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

attributes (not exhaustive)

list of Cells where dedicated and/or shared
physical resources are used
list of DCH which are mapped on the
dedicated physical resources for that Node B
Communication Context
list of DSCH and USCH [TDD] which are
used by the respective UE

the complete DCH characteristics for each

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

for each Iub DCH Data Port, the

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

2.

Common Transport Channel

configured in Node B, on request of CRNC

attributes (not exhaustive)

Type (RACH, CPCH [FDD], FACH, DSCH,

USCH [TDD], PCH)

Associated Iub RACH Data Port for a

RACH, Iub CPCH Data Port for a CPCH
[FDD], Iub FACH Data Port for a FACH, Iub
PCH Data Port for PCH

Physical parameters

3.

Transport network logical resources

3.1 Node B Control Port

Functionality

exchange the signaling information for

the logical O&M of Node B

the creation of Node B Communication

Contexts

the

configuration of the common transport

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

3.2 Communication Control Port

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

3.3 Traffic Termination Point

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

3.4 Iub RACH Data Port

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

5.5.2.1 COMMON NBAP AND THE

LOGICAL O&M

Iub interface signaling (NBAP, Node B

Application Part) is divided into two essential
components
common

NBAP

defines the signaling procedures across the

common signaling link

dedicated

NBAP

used in the dedicated signaling link

User Plane Iub frame protocols

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

Common NBAP (C-NBAP) procedures

used

for the signaling that is not related to one

specific UE context already existing in Node B
defines all the procedures for the logical O&M
(Operation and Maintenance) of Node B

such as configuration and fault management

Main functions of Common NBAP

set-up

of the first radio link of one UE, and selection

of the traffic termination point
cell configuration
handling of the RACH/FACH/CPCH and PCH
channels
initialization and reporting of Cell or Node B specific
measurement
Location Measurement Unit (LMU) control
fault management

5.5.2.2 DEDICATED NBAP

When the RNC requests the first radio link for

one UE via C-NBAP Radio Link Set-up procedure
Node

B assigns a traffic termination point for the

handling of this UE context
every subsequent signaling related to this mobile is
exchanged with dedicated NBAP (D-NBAP)
procedures across the dedicated control port of the
given Traffic Termination Point

Main functions of the Dedicated NBAP

addition,

release and reconfiguration of radio links

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

5.6 UTRAN ENHANCEMENTS

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

Release99 UTRAN architecture

defines

the basic set of network elements and

interface protocols for the support of Release 99
WCDMA radio interface

Enhancement of the Release99 UTRAN

architecture
support

new WCDMA radio interface features to

provide a more efficient, scalable and robust 3GPP
system architecture

Four most significant additions to the UTRAN

architecture introduced in Release 5 are
described in the subsequent sections

5.6.1 IP TRANSPORT IN UTRAN

ATM

the

transport technology used in the first release of

UTRAN

IP transport
introduced

in Release 5

In addition to the initially defined option of

AAL2/ATM, user plane FP frames can also be
conveyed
over

UDP/IP protocols on Iur/Iub

over RTP/UDP/IP protocols in Iu CS interface

5.6.2 IU FLEX

Release99 architecture presented

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

5.6.3 STAND ALONE SMLC AND

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

SAS

connected

to RNC via Iupc interface

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

provides positioning (GPS related) data to

RNC
performs the position calculation function for
UE assisted GPS

SAS and Iupc interface are optional elements

Iupc

the

first version, supported only Assisted GPS

later versions, support for other positioning methods

5.6.4 INTERWORKING BETWEEN

GERAN AND UTRAN, AND THE IUR-G
INTERFACE

Iu interface
scheduled

to be part of the GSM/EDGE Radio Access

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

Effect

RNSAP

basic mobility module is enhanced to allow

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

Iur-g interface
refer

to the above-mentioned set of Iur functionalities

that are utilized also by GERAN

5.7 UMTS CORE NETWORK

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

UMTS radio interface, WCDMA

a

bigger step in radio access evolution from GSM

networks

UMTS core network

did

not experience major changes in 3GPP Release99

specification

Release99 structure was inherited from GSM

core network
both

UTRAN and GERAN based radio access network

connect to the same core network

5.7.1 RELEASE 99 CORE NETWORK

ELEMENTS

Two domains of Release99 core network

Circuit

Switched (CS) domain

Packet Switched (PS) domain

The division comes from the different

requirements for data
depending

on whether it is real time (circuit

switched) or non-real time (packet data)

Figure 5.12

Release99

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

CS domain has the following elements

Mobile

Switching Centre (MSC), including Visitor

Location Register (VLR)

Gateway

MSC (GMSC)

PS domain has the following

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

In addition to the two domains, the network

needs various registers for proper operation
Home

Location Register (HLR)

Equipment Identity Register (EIR)

contains the information related to the

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

5.7.2 RELEASE 5 CORE NETWORK

AND IP MULTIMEDIA SUB-SYSTEM

Release 4 included the change in core network CS

domain
MSC

was divided into MSC server and Media

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

Release 5

contains

the first phase of IP Multimedia Sub-system

(IMS)
this will enable a standardized approach for IP-based
service provision via PS domain

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

MSC or GMSC server

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

 IMS

includes the following key

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

Media Gateway Control Function

(MGCF)

handle protocol conversions

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