Annex

Additional Radio Events for the

PS domain in UMTS
July 2004

Confidential and Proprietary

Copyright 1998-2004 Actix Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

July 2004

Contents
1

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 2

PS SIGNALLING CONNECTION PMM UMTS ONLY....................................... 3

2.1 PS SIGNALLING CONNECTION CONCEPT.......................................................... 3
2.2 SETUP OF THE PS SIGNALLING CONNECTION .................................................. 4
2.3 RELEASE OF THE PS SIGNALLING CONNECTION .............................................. 5
2.4 ATTRIBUTES FOR PS SIGNALLING CONNECTION .............................................. 6

GPRS MOBILITY MANAGEMENT EVENT DIAGRAM (GMM) UMTS ONLY .. 7

3.1 GMM PROCEDURES ....................................................................................... 7
3.2 ATTRIBUTES FOR GMM ................................................................................ 10

4 SESSION MANAGEMENT (SM) UMTS ONLY WITH INTER-SYSTEM

HANDOVER TO/FROM GPRS ................................................................................. 12
4.1 SM PROCEDURES......................................................................................... 14
4.2 ADDITIONAL NOTES INTER-RAT HANDOVER AND SM ..................................... 16
4.3 ATTRIBUTES FOR SM.................................................................................... 17

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

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1 Introduction
Three new event diagrams will handle the PS NAS signalling and associated procedures for
UMTS. The events apply to radio interface logs only (e.g. drive test logs).
PMM
GMM
SM

PS Signalling Connection monitoring

PS Mobility Management monitoring
Session Management monitoring

There are three new corresponding event diagrams (.aev), format groups (.xml), and
attributes (.xml) files.
There are also changes to some of the already existing files, mainly due to the fact that
some old attributes in the UMTS.xxx are now moved to the above new files, with the
intention of including the PS properties (attributes, format groups) in the specific PS files
rather than keep them in the more general UMTS files.
Description of events, attributes and values are specified in the relevant sections below.
Note on diagrams:

red dotted lines between states represent transition that have been added to cope
with corrupted log files that occasionally skip messages.

Note on timers:

Several NAS procedures are supervised by a re-transmission mechanism. The

principle is to provide the requesting node with the possibility to resend a particular
message in the case that the peer entity does not reply in time. 3GPP specifies the
max number of re-transmissions, the time between two consecutive re-transmissions
and, in most cases, the expected behaviour of the requesting node in the abnormal
event that no reply is received after the last attempt.
For some of the procedures (e.g. PDP Context Activation from SGSN) the PS NAS
Event Diagrams handle the supervision timers; the abortion event is detected by the
timer expiry because the requesting node is not expected to signal the abortion the
other node. However, for the cases in which the requesting node is expected to abort
the procedure with explicit signalling (e.g. PDP Context Activation from UE) the
supervision timer is not implemented.

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2 PS Signalling Connection PMM UMTS only

2.1

PS Signalling Connection concept

The PPM event diagram traces the PS signalling connections, from the setup to the release
phases.
A PS signalling connection is a logical signalling resource between terminal and SGSN. It
relies on the presence of both radio (RAN UE) and Iu-PS interface (RAN SGSN)
logical/physical resources:
UE

RNC

SGS

PS Signalling Connection

Logical radio resources

RRC Connection

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Logical Iu-PS resource

Iu-PS Connection

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Every NAS procedure (e.g. PS Attach or PDP context Activation) between UE and SGSN
can take place only if the PS Signalling connection is already established between the two
nodes.

2.2

Setup of the PS Signalling Connection

As shown in the diagram above, in order to establish a PS Signalling connection, a RRC and
Iu-PS connections need to be present for the UE.
While on the radio side the RRC Connection is shared between CS and PS Signalling
connections, on the Iu interface side the Iu resources are logically separated.
The PS signalling connection establishment is always initiated by the UE via:
RRC: Initial Direct Transfer with PS domain indication

UE

RNC

SGS

RRC Connection

RRC:Initial Direct Transfer (PS)

Iu-PS Connection is setup
RRC:Security Mode Command
or
RRC:Downlink Direct Transfer (PS)

PS Signalling Connection is established

Successful PS Signalling connection Setup

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

2.3

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Release of the PS Signalling Connection

The PS Signalling Connection is normally released via a RRC Connection release procedure
or a PS Signalling connection release procedure. The latter occurs usually when a CS
connection is also present and can be triggered by both UE and RAN/SGSN
1) RRC connection Release procedure
RRC: RRC Connection Release
UE

RNC

SGS

PS Signalling Connection

RRC: RRC Connection Release

Iu-PS Connection is released

RRC:RRC Connection Release Complete

PS Signalling Connection is released

Successful PS Signalling connection release case 1

2) Signalling Connection Release procedure

RRC: Signalling Connection Release with PS domain indication
RRC: RB Release also explicitly indicates the release of the PS signalling connection
UE

RNC

SGS

PS Signalling Connection

RRC:Signalling Connection Release

or
RRC:RB Release (with PS Sig.Conn.Release)

Iu-PS Connection is released

RRC:RB Release Complete1

PS Signalling Connection is released

Successful PS Signalling connection release case 2
1

Only if RB Release is used

RRC: Signalling Connection Release Request with PS domain indication

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

UE

July 2004

RNC

SGS

PS Signalling Connection

RRC:Signalling connection release

Request

RRC:Signalling Connection Release

Iu-PS Connection is released

PS Signalling Connection is released

Successful PS Signalling connection release case 3

2.4

Attributes for PS Signalling Connection

Attribute

Values

Triggers
After Initial direct Transfer (PS):

Successful
Uu_PS_SigConn_Setup

RRC:Security Mode Cmd (PS) or RRC:DL

Direct Transfer (PS)
After Initial direct Transfer (PS):

Failed

RRC:RRC Conn. Rel. or RRC:Sig. Conn.

Rel. (PS) or RRC:Sig. Conn. Rel. Req.
(PS)
After Sig. Conn. is set up:

Successful

RRC:RRC Conn. Rel. or RRC:Sig. Conn.

Rel. (PS) or RRC:Sig. Conn. Rel. Req.
(PS)
After RB Release:

Uu_PS_SigConn_Release

RB Release Complete
Failed
Abnormal
release

Uu_PS_SigConn_Duration Value in msec.

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RB Release Failure
After Initial direct Transfer (PS) or Sig.
Conn. is set up or RB Release:
RRC:RRC Conn. Req.
Time elapsed between the successful
setup and the successful/abnormal
release of the PS Signalling Connection

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3 GPRS Mobility Management event diagram (GMM) UMTS only

3.1

GMM procedures

Most of the GMM procedures are common to UMTS and GPRS. In this initial version of
GMM event diagram only the UMTS events are detected. The following GMM procedures
are analyzed:

PS Attach

PS Detach

Routing Area Update

PS Attach
A PS Attach is always initiated by the UE via:
Attach Request
The message is included either in RRC:Initial Direct transfer or in RRC:Uplink Direct
Transfer messages.

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

UE

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RNC

SGS

RRC Connection

UE is GMM-deregistered

Attach request (n)

Attach Accept (m)

Attach complete1

Iu procedures

UE is GMM-registered
Successful PS Attach

Note that in case of missing reply to Attach Request, the UE should re-send the message,
up to a total of 4 re-transmissions. The same mechanism is used by the SGSN to supervise
the reply (when expected) to Attach Accept.
The PS Attach procedure can fail for several reasons, the most common of which are
detected by the GMM Event diagram and listed below (see the table of attributes for more
details):

Attach rejected by the SGSN (Attach Reject msg)

Attach request not replied (after the 5th attempt)

Attach Accept not replied (after the 5th attempt)

PS Detach
A UE can be PS detached explicitly (the procedure can be initiated by either the UE or the
SGN) or implicitly (normally by the SGSN only)
The GMM Event diagram can only detect an explicit PS Detach procedure; regardless of the
initiating node, the explicit PS Detach is triggered by:
Detach request
The message is included either in RRC:Initial Direct Transfer or in RRC:Uplink Direct
Transfer messages if UE initiated, in a RRC:Downlink Direct Transfer if SGSN initiated.

Only if P-TMSI is included in Attach Accept message

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

UE

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RNC

SGS

RRC Connection
UE is GMM-registered

Detach request (n)

Detach Accept1

Iu procedures

UE is GMM-deregistered
Successful PS Detach

The failure scenarios covered by the Event Diagram occur only in case of UE initiated
Detach without power-off:

The network release the underlying RRC connection instead of accepting the Detach
request

Detach request not replied (after the 5th attempt)

Routing Area Update (RAU)

RAU is always initiated by the UE, which needs to be already PS Attached (or GMMregistered). However, the Event diagram copes with abnormal scenarios where a RAU is
triggered from a UE that is considered PS Detached. In any case, the procedure is initiated
via:
Routing Area Update request
The message is included either in RRC:Initial Direct transfer or in RRC:Uplink Direct
Transfer messages.
UE

RNC

SGSN

RRC Connection
RAU request (n)
RAU Accept (m)

RAU complete1

Iu procedures

Successful Routing Area Update

1

Only if triggered by the UE and with power-off flag

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As for the PS Attach procedure, a re-transmission process can be triggered by missing

replies to Request and Accept messages. Therefore, the failure scenarios of RAU are very
similar to the ones of PS Attach:

RAU rejected by the SGSN (Attach Reject msg)

RAU request not replied (after the 5th attempt)

RAU Accept not replied (after the 5th attempt)

Except for Network Failure reasons, when a RAU fails the UE is still considered PS
Attached. The diagram is a simplified interpretation of the 3GPP specs (24.008), where more
specific failure scenarios are specified. However, all of the most common scenarios are
covered.

3.2

Attributes for GMM

Attribute

Values

Succ_1_Attempt
..
Succ_5_Attempt

Triggers
Attach Accept if this message includes
P-TMSI
Attach Complete if preceding Attach
Accept do not include P-TMSI
The attempts refer to the number of
Attach Request messages sent
After Attach request:

Rejected
Attach Reject

Uu_PS_Attach

After Attach request:

Aborted

RRC:RRC Conn. Rel. or RRC:Sig. Conn.

Rel. (PS) or RRC:Sig. Conn. Rel. Req.
(PS) or RRC connection Request or
RAU Request or Detach Request (from
SGSN with re-attach not required)
After Attach Accept:
th

expiry of T3350 (after the 5 attempt)

Detach Request from UE (with poweroff) or from SGSN

Succ_1_Attempt
..
Succ_5_Attempt
Uu_PS_Detach

After Detach Request from UE (with

power-off):
Detach Accept
The attempts refer to the number of
Detach Request messages sent
After Detach Request from UE (with
power-off):

Aborted

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expiry of T3321 (after the 5th attempt) or

RRC Connection release

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

Attribute

Values

Succ_1_Attempt
..
Succ_5_Attempt

July 2004

Triggers
RAU Accept if this message includes PTMSI
RAU Complete if preceding RAU Accept
do not include P-TMSI
The attempts refer to the number of RAU
Request messages sent
After RAU request:

Uu_PS_RAU

Rejected
RAU Reject
After RAU request:

Aborted

RRC:RRC Conn. Rel. or RRC:Sig. Conn.

Rel. (PS) or RRC:Sig. Conn. Rel. Req.
(PS)
After RAU Accept:
expiry of T3350 (after the 5th attempt)

Uu_PS_Attach_Duration

Value in msec.

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Time elapsed between the request and

the completion of a successful PS Attach

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

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4 Session Management (SM) UMTS only with inter-system handover to/from GPRS

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

4.1

July 2004

SM procedures

As in GMM most of the SM procedures are common to UMTS and GPRS. This initial version
of SM event diagram is focused on UMTS events; in most of the inter-system (3G 2.5G)
handover scenarios also some GPRS events are considered. However the Event diagram
set only UMTS attributes.
The following procedures are analyzed:

PDP Context Activation

PDP Context Deactivation

Limitations:

PDP Context Modification events

Although the Event Diagram can trace the number of PDP Contexts simultaneously
active for the UE, there is no differentiation between primary and secondary contexts
(PDP differentiation based on TI will be added in the next releases.

PDP Context Activation

Both UE and SGSN can ask for the activation of a Primary PDP Context. Only the UE can
ask for the activation of a Secondary PDP Context.
The UE can have a PDP Context only if is PS Attached.

UE

RNC

SGSN

RRC Connection
Request PDP context Activation1
Activate PDP Context Request

Iu procedures

Activate PDP Context Accept

New PDP Context

Successful Activation of a Primary PDP Context

Only for SGSN initiated procedure

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

UE

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RNC

SGSN

RRC Connection

Activate Secondary PDP Context

Activate Secondary PDP Context

Iu procedures

New Secondary PDP Context

Successful Activation of a Secondary PDP Context

Both SGSN and UE initiated PDP Context Activation procedures provide a mechanism for
re-transmitting a message when an expected reply is not received.
These are the failure scenarios covered:

Activation rejected by the SGSN (Activate PDP Context Reject msg)

Activation request not replied by the SGSN (after the 5th attempt)
Activation rejected by the UE (Request PDP Context Activation Reject msg)
Activation request not sent by UE following SGSN initiation (after the 5th attempt)

- PDP Context Deactivation

Both UE and SGSN can ask for the deactivation of a PDP Context. The deactivation
procedure is the same for both primary and secondary PDP contexts and is triggered via:
Deactivate PDP Context Request

UE

RNC

SGSN

RRC Connection
Deactivate PDP Context Request

Iu procedures
Deactivate PDP Context Accept

PDP Context is deactivated

Successful Activation of a Secondary PDP Context

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The only failure scenario detected for the PDP context Deactivation procedure is a missing
reply to the Deactivation Request:

4.2

Deactivation request not replied (after the 5th attempt)

Additional notes Inter-RAT Handover and SM

This is a summary of scenarios occurring in PS Inter-RAT Handover (UMTS GPRS)

that are handled by the SM Event Diagram:

The first event usually detected by the SM Event Diagram is a PDP context Activation
with UE in UMTS coverage. However, the diagram also recognizes:
1. A PDP context deactivation (from UMTS).
This may occur if the logs start with the UE already having an active PDP context.
2. An inter-RAT Cell Change Order from UTRAN, which causes a UMTS GPRS
transition for a UEs in Cell_DCH or Cell_FACH state.
3. A GPRS UMTS transition. In this case, it is always assumed that only one PDP
Context is active at the time the transition occurs. Moreover the GPRS SM/GMM
activity eventually occurring before the transition is not taken into account.

Just like during UMTS coverage the number of PDP Contexts active in GPRS is tracked,
although such information is not displayed until the UE returns to UMTS coverage.
Throughout the GPRS session only a in GPRS flag will appear. No attributes are
displayed for SM events occurring in GPRS.
However, once the UE is in GPRS mode, the following GPRS NAS procedures are
detected:
1. PDP context Activation/Deactivation
2. PS Detach
3. PS Attach
The detection of the above procedures in GPRS is fundamental in order to keep track of
the correct number of PDP Contexts active when the UE returns eventually to 3G.

The SM diagram takes into account the following inter-system handover and cell reselection procedures:
-

Inter-RAT Cell Change Order from UTRAN (UMTS GPRS)

Inter-RAT Handover to UTRAN (GPRS UMTS)
Inter-RAT Cell Re-Selection to UTRAN (GPRS UMTS)
Inter-RAT Cell Change Order to UTRAN (GPRS UMTS)

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

4.3

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Attributes for SM

Attribute

Uu_PS_PDPAct_From_UE

Values

Triggers

Succ_1_A
ttempt

After Activate PDP Context

Request or Activate Secondary
PDP Context Request:

..

Activate PDP Context Accept

Succ_5_A
ttempt

The attempts refer to the number

of Activate PDP Context Request
messages sent by UE

Rejected_
by_NW

After Activate PDP Context

Request:
Activate PDP Context Reject
After Request PDP context
Activation:

Aborted

RRC:RRC Conn. Rel. or RRC:Sig.

Conn. Rel. (PS) or RRC:Sig. Conn.
Rel. Req. (PS) or RRC connection
Request

Succ_1_A
ttempt

After Activate PDP Context

Request:

..
Succ_5_A
ttempt
Rejected_
by_NW

Activate PDP Context Accept

The attempts refer to the number
of Request PDP Context Activation
messages sent by SGSN
After Activate PDP Context
Request:
Activate PDP Context Reject

Uu_PS_PDPAct_From_NW
Rejected_
by_UE

After Request PDP context

Activation:
Request PDP context Activation
Reject
After Request PDP context
Activation:

Aborted

RRC:RRC Conn. Rel. or RRC:Sig.

Conn. Rel. (PS) or RRC:Sig. Conn.
Rel. Req. (PS) or RRC connection
Request or (after the 5th attempt)
expiry of T3385

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

Attribute

Values

July 2004

Triggers
After Deactivate PDP Context
Request from UE:

Succ_1_A
ttempt
..

Uu_PS_PDPDeact_From_UE

Succ_5_A
ttempt

Deactivate PDP Context Accept

from SGSN or Activate PDP
Context Request or Request PDP
context Activation
(NOTE: the last two cases are
used to cope with eventual missing
Deactivation Accept message from
the logs)
After Deactivate PDP Context
Request from UE:

Aborted

expiry of T3390 (after the 5th

attempt) or RRC:RRC Conn. Rel.
or or RRC connection Request or
Detach request
After Deactivate PDP Context
Request from SGSN:

Succ_1
_Attempt
..
Uu_PS_PDPDeact_From_NW

Succ_5
_Attempt

Deactivate PDP Context Accept

from UE or Activate PDP Context
Request or Request PDP context
Activation
(NOTE: the last two cases are
used to cope with eventual missing
Deactivation Accept message from
the logs)
After Deactivate PDP Context
Request from SGSN:

Aborted

Uu_PDP_State

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expiry of T3395 (after the 5th

attempt)

PDP Act
Request

1st Activate PDP Context Request

or 1st Request PDP context
Activation

PDP
Deact
Request

1st Deactivate PDP Context

Request (UE of SGSN)

in GPRS

Cell Change Order from UTRAN

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Additional Radio Events for the PS domain in UMTS

Attribute

Values

July 2004

Triggers
Beginning of the file
Last PDP deactivated

No PDP

GPRS to UMTS transition with no

PDP Active
Detach request from PDP(x)
Inactive or PDP Context
Deactivation pending states

1 PDP
..

Number of PDPs active

3 PDPs
PDP_Session_ID

0..n

Incremented every time a new

PDP Context is setup

Uu_TimeBetweenPDP_ReqAndAct

Value in
msec.

Time between Activate PDP

Context Request (or Request PDP
Context Activation) and Activate
PDP Context Accept

Uu_TimeBetweenPDP_ReqAndDeactReq

Value in
msec.

Time between Activate PDP

Context Request (or Request PDP
Context Activation) and Deactivate
PDP Context Request

Uu_TimeBetweenPDP_ActAndDeact

Value in
msec.

Time between Activate PDP

Context Request (or Request PDP
Context Activation) and Deactivate
PDP Context Request

Uu_TimeBetweenPDP_DeactReqAndDeact

Value in
msec.

Time between Deactivate PDP

Context Request and Deactivate
PDP Context Accept

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