04 Protocols Overview

IPA 2800 MGW
Protocols in MSS/MGW
Training Document
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Contents
Contents
1
Objectives ................................................................................. 5
Introduction............................................................................... 6
3
3.1
3.2
Network Transfer Mode ............................................................ 7

Comparison between Synchronous and Asynchronous
Multiplexing ................................................................................ 7
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) .......................................... 7
4
4.1
ATM cell..................................................................................... 9
Fields in the ATM cell header ................................................... 10
5
5.1
5.2
ATM connection...................................................................... 12
ATM virtual connections ........................................................... 12
Network elements involved in the transport of user plane
information................................................................................ 13
Statistical multiplexing........................................................... 16
7
7.1
ATM protocol .......................................................................... 17

Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) groups ............................... 20
ATM Adaptation Layer............................................................ 22
9
9.1
9.2
Switching in ATM network ..................................................... 27

Switching in ATM layer ............................................................. 27
AAL type 2 switching ................................................................ 28
10
10.1
10.2
10.3
Signalling in 3G network ........................................................ 30

Signalling protocol layers .......................................................... 30
AAL type 2 signalling ................................................................ 31
General protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial interfaces .......... 33
11
11.1
11.2
11.3
ATM traffic management ........................................................ 35

Traffic management functions................................................... 35
Traffic contract and negotiation................................................. 39
ATM layer service categories.................................................... 41
12
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
Resource management in ATM network ............................... 43

Physical Layer Trail Termination Point (phyTTP) ...................... 44
ATM interface ........................................................................... 44
Access profile of ATM interface ................................................ 45
VP/VC Link termination point .................................................... 47
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13
13.1
13.2
13.3
Routing and digit analysis ..................................................... 48

Digit analysis ............................................................................ 48
Routing ..................................................................................... 48
Routing objects in ATM network ............................................... 49
14
14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4
14.5
IP addressing in MSS system network elements ................. 51

Introduction to TCP/IP (optional topic) ...................................... 51
IP addresses for Release 4 Core network elements ................. 61
IP address and stack configuration for IPv4 .............................. 63
LAN architecture in MSC Server network configuration............. 65
Redundancy in MSC Server system ......................................... 68
15
15.1
15.2
IP connectivity in MGW Rel.4................................................. 69

IP connectivity configuration of Multimedia Gateway ................ 70
IP Backbone in Nokia MGW...................................................... 73
16
Configuring IP connection for IP backbone Nb user

plane ........................................................................................ 76
17
17.1
TDM Backbone (optional topic) ............................................. 81

TDM backbone in Nokia MGW.................................................. 81
18
18.1
SIGTRAN ................................................................................. 82
Stream Control Transmission Protocol...................................... 83
19
19.1
19.2
19.3
Overview H.248 ....................................................................... 84

H.248........................................................................................ 84
BICC......................................................................................... 85
Applying protocol stacks ........................................................... 87
20
20.1
20.2
User plane routing .................................................................. 88

Control and user plane routing.................................................. 90
User Plane Analysis.................................................................. 91
21
21.1
Appendix (for reference only) ................................................ 95

Further note on the number and types of IP addresses
for network elements ................................................................ 95
Sub-networking principles in MSC Server ................................. 98
21.2
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Objectives
After completing this module, the student should be able to:
List all the necessary internal and external IP addresses for relevant units
in MSS and MGW.
Name the three planes in ATM protocol reference model and their
functions.
List the three main protocol layers of ATM and describe their functions.
Describe the main functions of AAL type 2 signalling protocol.
Define the bandwidth of an ATM interface and its tube structure.
Create Virtual Paths and Virtual Channels in an ATM interface.
Define traffic descriptors, service class as well as Quality of Service

parameters of the channels.
Describe the relation of BICC protocol with the device control protocol
H.248 with the help of a basic call case
Define the protocol structure in MSS for device control protocol H.248
needed between MSS and MGW
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Introduction
Signalling is the exchange of information specifically concerned with the
establishment and control of connections, and with management, in a
telecommunications network.
To work efficiently, signals must be understood. Therefore, signalling systems
must be standardised for all users.
Sometimes groups of users may have differing standards. In this case, the
translation system that operates between the standards must be compatible for
all systems.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an international
organisation within which governments and the private sector co-ordinate
global telecom networks and services.
Signalling standards are nowadays set by the Telecommunication
Standardisation Sector of the ITU (ITU-T) and Third Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) organizations.
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Network Transfer Mode
3.1
Comparison between Synchronous and

Asynchronous Multiplexing
Asynchronous multiplexing (which is used in ATM technology), is more
efficient than synchronous multiplexing technologies, such as Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM).
With TDM, each user is assigned to a time slot or time slots, and no other
station can send in that time slot or those time slots. If a station has a lot of data
to send, it can send only when its time slot comes up, even if all other time slots
are empty. If, however, a station has nothing to transmit when its time slot
comes up, the time slot is sent empty and is wasted. With asynchronous
multiplexing nature, 'bandwidth on demand' is offered, that is, the user traffic
can be sent at any available time slot according to the agreement between the
user and the network.
3.2
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

The basic functioning of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) can be compared
to an inner city street with separate lanes for different traffic types. For example
there can be one or more lanes for normal traffic, maybe reserved lanes for bus
traffic and finally bicycle lanes all with different properties and resource needs.
ATM, also known as cell relay, is a fast packet switching and multiplexing
technology. ATM was developed as part of the work on broadband ISDN to
support a universe of services (for example, voice, data and video over public
network).
ATM is a connection-oriented, error-detecting protocol. ATM does not offer
error correction. Error correction is the responsibility of end user nodes.
Minimizing error correction in intermediate nodes provides the advantages of
increased speed of switching and elimination of associated delay.
ATM provides efficient support for transmission of bursty wideband services
and offers an integrated solution to voice (circuit mode as well as packet voice),
data, and video. ATM provides quality of service (QoS) guarantee and
reliability even when resources are shared and thus ATM provides the benefit of
sharing network resources and predictable network behaviour based on packet
switching technology.
ATM utilises statistical multiplexing to take advantage of the inherently bursty
nature of applications. For a group of bursty connections, less bandwidth can be
reserved than if bandwidth reservation would be based on the peak rate of the
connections. Achieved transmissions cost savings are considerable.
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The fundamental strategy behind ATM is to split the information into small
fixed-size units, called 'cells', that are easy to handle. The fixed size of the cell
allows efficient switching. ATM networks allow statistical multiplexing (that is,
multiplexing of many connections with variable rate characteristics), which
altogether reduces the overall bandwidth requirements.
Figure 1. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
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ATM cell
The user traffic is split and delivered in fixed length packets called ATM cells.
The size of the cell is 53 bytes, which is divided into a 5-byte header and a
48-byte payload field. The ATM cell is relayed based on a label in the header:
Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) and Virtual Path Identifier (VPI).
53 bytes
Header
5 bytes
Figure 2.
Payload
48 bytes
ATM cell structure
There are two formats of an ATM cell (depending on the type of the interface):
ATM UNI (User-Network Interface) cell that is used for

communication between ATM endpoints and ATM switches.
ATM NNI (Network-Node Interface) cell that is used for

communication between ATM switches.
For ATM interfaces in 3G networks, User-Network Interface (UNI) refers to the

interface between terminal equipment and a network termination where access
protocols apply. The interface between a RNC and a WCDMA BTS is seen as
an UNI interface.
Network-Node Interface (NNI) is the interface between two network nodes like
a RNC and an MGW.
Figure 3 shows the specified ATM interfaces between network elements in a 3G
network.
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ATM is employed
Iu-CS
Iub
Uu
RNC
BS
UE
A
MGW
NNI
UNI
B
PSTN
MSC
Iur
NNI
Iu-PS
NNI
UNI
BS
RNC
UNI
Gn
Gi
BS
SGSN
Figure 3.
GGSN
IP network
ATM interfaces in 3G network.
There is a slight difference between the first byte of the UNI and NNI header.
The NNI header does not include the Generic Flow Control (GFC) field.
Instead the NNI header has a Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) field that occupies
the first 12 bits, allowing larger trunks between public ATM switches.
GFC
4.1
VPI
VCI
VPI
VCI
VCI
PT
VCI
CLP
PT
CLP
HEC
HEC
Payload
Payload
User Network Interface (UNI)
Network Node Interface (NNI)
Payload
(48 bytes)
Figure 4.
VCI
VCI
GFC
VPI
VCI
VPI
VPI
Header
(5 bytes)
Generic Flow Control

Virtual Path Identifier
Virtual Channel Identifier
PT
CLP
HEC
Payload Type
Cell Loss Priority
Header Error Control
Basic ATM cell format
Fields in the ATM cell header

Generic Flow Control (GFC)
Provides local functions, such as identifying multiple stations that share a single
ATM interface. This field is typically not used and is set to its default value.
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Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)
In conjunction with the VCI, identifies the next destination of a cell as it passes
through a series of ATM switches on the way to its destination.
Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI)
In conjunction with the VPI, identifies the next destination of a cell as it passes
through a series of ATM switches on the way to its destination.
Payload Type (PT)
Indicates in the first bit whether the cell contains user data or control data. If the
cell contains user data, the second bit indicates congestion, and the third bit
indicates whether the cell is the last in a series of cells that represent a single
AAL5 frame.
Cell Loss Priority (CLP)
Indicates whether the cell should be discarded if there is congestion in the

network. If the CLP bit equals 1, the cell should be discarded in preference to
cells with the CLP bit equal to zero.
Header Error Control (HEC)
Calculates the checksum only on the header itself. The network instantly
discards any cell that fails the header error check.
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ATM connection
ATM is a connection-oriented technique. The end-to-end route is defined
through the network at the beginning of the connection setup and the route
remains the same throughout the connection. ATM cells are routed on the same
route to both directions. This guarantees that the cells arrive in the receiving end
in the same order they where sent. Furthermore, cell delay variation is also
minimised and since routes are known it is possible to predict link behaviour.
5.1
ATM virtual connections

Virtual connections (VC) are used for providing connectivity between
communicating endpoints. There are two types of ATM connections:
Virtual Channel Connection (VCC)
Virtual Path Connection (VPC).
Each ATM cell contains a label in its header to explicitly identify the VC, to
which the cell belongs. This label consists of two parts: Virtual Channel
Identifier (VCI) and Virtual Path Identifier (VPI).
Virtual Channel Connection (VCC) is a logical connection in ATM.
Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI) identifies a particular VC link under a given
VPC. A specific value of a VCI is assigned each time a VC is switched in the
network. Hence, it has only local meaning.
Virtual Path Connection (VPC) is a logical grouping of VCCs having the
same endpoints. Thus, all the cells flowing in a single VPC are switched
together. Virtual paths are used for bundling a number of virtual channels into a
higher bandwidth stream routed through ATM switches. That is, crossconnection and switching can be done on a higher level and not on individual
VCC level.
Virtual Path Identifier (VPI) identifies a group of VC links at a given
reference point that share the same VPC. A specific value of a VPI is assigned
each time a VP is switched in the network.
Transmission path is a bundle of VPs. The following figure shows the relation
among VCs, VPs and a transmission path.
VC
VP
Transmission path
VP
VC
Figure 5.
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Relation between a transmission path, VPs and VCs
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Virtual paths help to reduce the control cost by grouping connections that share
common paths through the network into a single unit. Network management
actions can then be applied to a small number of groups of connections instead
of a large number of individual VCC connections.
Virtual Path Connections (VPCs) have many advantages:
Simplified network architecture
Network transport functions can be separated into those related to individual

logical connections (VCC) and those related to a group of logical connections
(VPC).
Increased network performance and reliability
The network deals with fewer, aggregated entities.

Segregation of traffic
A form of priority control can be implemented by segregating traffic types

requiring different quality of service (QoS).
Reduced processing and short connection setup time
Much of the work is done when the VPC is set up. By reserving capacity on a
VPC in anticipation of later call arrivals, new VCCs can be established by
executing simple control functions at the end points of the VPC; no call
processing is required at transit nodes. Thus, the addition of new VCCs to an
existing VPC involves minimal processing which decreases the connection
setup delay.
Enhanced network services
The VPC is used internally in the network but is also visible to the end user.
Thus, the user may define closed user groups or closed networks of VC bundles.
5.2
Network elements involved in the transport of

user plane information
The following are the definitions of the network elements involved in the
transport of user plane information (from ITU-T I.311):
VP cross-connect is a network element, which connects VP links. It translates
VPI (not VCI) values and is directed by management plane functions not by
control plane functions.
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VC cross-connect is a network element, which connects VC links. It terminates

VPCs and translates VCI values and is directed by management plane functions
not by control plane functions.
VP-VC cross-connect is a network element that acts both as a VP crossconnect and as a VC cross-connect. It is directed by management plane
functions not by control plane functions.
VP switch is a network element that connects VP links. It translates VPI (not
VCI) values and is directed by control plane functions.
VC switch is a network element that connects VC links. It terminates VPCs and
translates VCI values and is directed by control plane functions.
VP-VC switch is a network element that acts both as a VP switch and as a VC
switch. It is directed by control plane functions.
Routing functions of virtual channels are done at a VC switch/crossconnect. This routing involves translation of the VCI values of the incoming
VC links into the VCI values of the outgoing VC links.
Figure 6 and Figure 7 show examples of VP and VC switching.
Figure 6.
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VC and VP switching
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Figure 7.
VP switching
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Statistical multiplexing
Statistical multiplexing is one of the main benefits of ATM. Operators can
utilise statistical multiplexing to take advantage of the inherently bursty nature
of applications. Users of ATM networks generate numbers of cells according to
the amount of information they want to transfer. The amount of network
resources required by users changes as a function of time. When these resources
are shared among users, like in ATM, it is very unlikely that all users send at
their peak cell rate simultaneously. This means that the network operator can
either reduce the amount of resources required for a fixed load or it can
accommodate more load with the same amount of resources. This phenomenon
is called statistical multiplexing. The network resources are shared among users
with either VCCs or VPCs.
Figure 8 shows an example of statistical multiplexing. The picture on the lefthand side shows required amount of bandwidth when the capacity of each
connection is reserved according to the peak cell rate. The picture on the right
hand side shows the so-called statistical multiplexing gain, when principle of
statistical multiplexing is used in the bandwidth reservation.
Figure 8.
Statistical multiplexing gain
When virtual paths are used, two levels of multiplexing exist: VC level and
VP level. At the VC level, VCs are statistically multiplexed on a VP. At the VP
level, VPs are either deterministically or statistically multiplexed on a physical
link.
If VPs are deterministically multiplexed, they do not share the bandwidth
reserved for them with the other VPs on the same link. The sum of the reserved
bandwidths of the VPs cannot exceed the bandwidth of the link. If VPs are
statistically multiplexed, they do share the bandwidth nominally reserved for
them with the other VPs on the same link. VPs do not have strictly reserved
bandwidths.
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ATM protocol
The ATM reference model includes three planes, which consist of all layers:
User plane is responsible for user information transfer and associated controls
(such as flow control and error control)
Control plane performs call and connection control functions
(such as signalling procedures).
Management plane contains two components:
Layer management, which performs management functions relating to

layer's resources and parameters (for instance, OAM information flows).
Plane management, which performs management functions related to the

system as a whole.
The ATM protocol reference model includes three functional layers:
Physical layer
ATM layer
ATM adaptation layer (AAL)
Convergence Sublayer (CS)

ATM Adaptation Layer
Segmentation And Reassembly (SAR)
ATM Layer
ATM Layer
Transmission Convergence (TC)

Physical Layer
Physical Medium (PM)
Figure 9.
ATM protocol layers
The physical layer defines the transmission medium, electrical characteristic,

network interfaces, and a signal-encoding scheme. The ATM physical layer is
divided into two parts:
Physical medium dependent sublayer
Transmission convergence sublayer
Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer
This layer is responsible for coding, decoding, scrambling, and adaptation to the
medium. PMD sublayer is dependent on the physical medium used. ATM can
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use any physical medium capable of carrying ATM cells, such as SDH, SONET
and E1.
Transmission Convergence (TC) sublayer
The convergence sublayer handles all the processes involved in taking cells
to/from the ATM layer, and performs bit rate adaptation, header protection, cell
delineation, and adaptation to the physical mediums structure.
Existing transmission networks are widely based on Plesiochronous Digital
Hierarchy (PDH). Although the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) forms
the basis of transport of the ATM traffic, there is need to transport ATM cells
also using PDH transmission networks. PDH-based ATM interfaces are used for
providing low-speed link connections between the ATM network elements.
PDH interfaces are especially suitable for links between RNC and base station
(BS), where the bandwidth requirements are low and capacity and cost
optimisation are necessary. Interface types are E1, T1 and JT1.
In addition to traditional PDH order multiplexing levels (for example, between
E1 or E3 level), inverse multiplexing, which provides flexible transmission
capacity building according to the operator's needs, is also supported at the
ATM physical layer.
The user traffic is split and delivered in fixed length packets called ATM cells.
The size of the cell is 53 bytes, which is divided into a 5-byte header and a
48-byte payload field.
53 bytes
Header
5 bytes
Figure 10.
Payload
48 bytes
ATM cell structure
The ATM layer adds the cell header to the 48-byte cell payload after it has
been assembled in the ATM adaptation layer (AAL), and extracts the header
before the cell is delivered to the AAL. The layer translates the values of the
VCI and VPI at the ATM switches or cross-connects. In addition, multiplexing
and switching of cells takes place at the ATM layer. The ATM layer provides
virtual connections between end points and maintains the contracted quality of
service (QoS) by applying a traffic contract procedure at a call setup time. It is
also used to "police" the agreed traffic contract while the connection is in
progress.
The ATM adaptation layer (AAL) provides data link services for upper layer
protocols. AAL is needed for adapting upper-layer protocol data units such as
TCP/IP and signalling to ATM layer. Furthermore voice codecs generate short
voice packets, which must be adapted to ATM layer services.
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The AAL maps user data from higher layer into standard ATM cells to be
transported over an ATM network. Then it collects information from the ATM
cells for delivery to higher layers. AAL layer includes two sublayers:
Convergence sublayer (CS)
Segmentation and assembly sublayer (SAR)
User data
Convergence Sublayer (CS)
AAL
Segmentation and Reassembly
Sublayer (SAR)
48 bytes
Header
ATM Layer
Payload
Header
Payload
Physical
Layer
Transmission Convergence
(TC)
Physical Medium Dependent
(PMD)
Figure 11.
Header
Payload
Scramble frame and adapts

the signals to the optical or
electrical transmission
medium
SDH O/H
5 bytes 48 bytes
STM-1 Frame
ATM adaptation layer functions
Convergence sublayer (CS) provides the AAL service to the higher layer
protocol. This sublayer is service dependent. It performs a variety of functions
that depend on the actual service being supported, including clock recovery,
compensating for cell delay variation and dealing with other problems
introduced by the network (e.g. cell loss).
Segmentation and reassembly sublayer (SAR) provides segmentation of the
users' information (together with any supporting information added by the
convergence sublayer) into 48-byte segments that form the payload field of an
ATM cell. It also reassembles the contents of the ATM cell information fields
into higher layer information formats.
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7.1
Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) groups

The purpose of Inverse Multiplexing in ATM network (IMA) is that the
capacity of many low-bit-rate transmission lines can be combined into a group
that is seen as a single virtual link by the ATM layer of a network element. The
existing PDH transmission medium can be utilised as an IMA group:
between WCDMA BTS and a Radio Network Controller (RNC)
between two RNCs.
between MGW and RNC
There can also be a SDH transmission medium between a WCDMA BTS and a
RNC , between two RNCs or between MGW and RNC.
How does the inverse multiplexing work?
When user traffic is transmitted across the IMA link, the ATM cell stream is
passed from the ATM layer to the IMA sublayer. In the IMA sublayer, the
ATM cell stream is split on a cell-by-cell basis, and the traffic is distributed
evenly onto the physical links, in which IMA frames carry the traffic to the
receiving end of the IMA link. At the receiving end of the IMA link, the
original ATM cell stream is recreated and passed back to the ATM layer. The
transmitting end (the near-end) must align the transmission of IMA frames to all
physical links, which allows the receiving end (the far-end) to adjust for
differential link delays by measuring the arrival times of the IMA frames on
each physical link.
How are the IMA groups created?
The IMA groups are created at both ends of the transmission lines, which are
seen as one virtual IMA link. The PDH exchange terminals at both ends of the
IMA virtual link have to be tied up to the same kind of functional units.
The maximum number of transmission lines at Iub interface, between Nokia
WCDMA BTS and a RNC, that can be grouped into one IMA group is 8 x E1
(2 Mbit/s) lines or 8 x T1/J1 (1,5 Mbit/s) lines. At Iur interface, between two
RNCs, the maximum number is 16 x E1 or T1/J1 lines. At Iu-Cs interface,
between MGW and RNC, the maximum number is 8 x E1 (2 Mbit/s) lines or 8
x T1/J1 (1,5 Mbit/s) lines.
When creating IMA groups, the transmission lines are identified with the PDH
Exchange Terminals (PETs) that they are connected to. All the PETs of one
IMA group have to belong to the same NIP1 functional unit. There can be
several IMA groups per one functional unit, but all the transmission lines of one
IMA group must go to the same direction.
A PET can only belong to one IMA group. However, a PET can be transferred
from one IMA group to another, provided that the groups share the same
functional unit. When transferring a PET from one group to another, the
operator may also have to make changes in the switching.
Note
When configuring IMA groups, the grouped transmission lines should all have
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the same physical route in order to keep the delays between the physical links as
small as possible. That is, the IMA frames from one link should not have to wait
for a long time for the IMA frames from other links before they are recombined
into an ATM cell stream at the receiving end of the IMA virtual link.
Note
One of the transmission lines in the IMA group is defined initially as a Timing
Reference Link (TRL). The transmission line defined as the TRL cannot be
removed from the IMA group and added to another IMA group.
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ATM Adaptation Layer

Several AALs are currently specified to support different types of traffic. The
following figure shows the characteristics of user traffic supported by each
AAL.
Bit rate
Constant
Timing required
between source & dest.
Variable
Synchronised
Not synchronised
Connection oriented
Connection mode
Voice,
circuit
emulation
Example of
traffic types
AAL
AAL1
Video,
voice with
silence
removed
AAL2
Connection oriented
or connectionless
Data,
SMDS
Data,
Frame
Relay,
IP
AAL3/4
AAL5
ATM layer
Physical layer
Figure 12.
ATM adaptation layers and supported traffic
AAL1
AAL1 is for constant bit rate (CBR) information, which requires timing
synchronisation between the source and destination. It is appropriate for
transporting telephone traffic, uncompressed video traffic and circuit emulation
service.
AAL2
AAL2 is for variable bit rate (VBR) information, which requires a strict
relationship between the transmission and reception clocks. It provides the
bandwidth efficient transmission of short, variable length packets in delaysensitive applications. AAL2 multiplexes short packets from multiple users into
one ATM connection. It has been mainly designed for transporting compressed
voice in mobile networks, but will also be used for compressed voice in wireline
applications. This AAL is aimed at compressed video, which will vary its bit
rate significantly.
AAL3/4
AAL3/4 is for data transmission in a connection oriented or connectionless

mode. This is aimed at variable bit rate information, which has no strict timing
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relationship between the transmitter and receiver. It is used to transmit Switched

Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) packets over an ATM network.
AAL5
AAL5 supports connection oriented or connectionless variable bit rate data. No

timing relationship is required between the transmitter and receiver. It is used to
transfer most non-SMDS data, such as IP over ATM and Local Area Network
(LAN) emulation, signalling channels, and Frame Relay/ATM interworking.
AAL5 is also known as Simple and Efficient Adaptation Layer (SEAL). It
provides a similar data transport service to AAL3/4, but it provides the service
in a much simpler way and with significantly fewer overheads, and it does not
include a multiplexing capacity.
8.1.1
ATM adaptation layer 2 (AAL2)

The human speech contains significant periods of silence and requires low
network bandwidth for transmission. Compressed voice is inherently variable
bit rate (VBR) but delay sensitive. The AAL2 enables these low bit rate and
delay sensitive applications to share a single ATM VCC thus improving the
network bandwidth utilisation and reducing the call establishment time as
shown in Figure 13.
In order to meet the QoS requirements for real time applications ATM and
AAL2 has been selected as transport technology for the Iub Iur and Iu-cs in
UMTS Release 99 and Release 4. The AAL2 layer is multiplexing the transport
channels into ATM VCCs as individual AAL2 connections. AAL2 is able to
multiplex up to 248 connections into one ATM VCC.
Voice/user data is accumulated into a short packet having a 3-byte header.
These short packets are accumulated into a standard ATM cell. The packet
header consists of a channel identification number, packet length, user-to-user
indication, and a header error control code. Each cell's payload has a one-byte
start field to indicate the next packet's starting point, which maximises the
packet packing density in cell assembly for low bit rate voice. In addition, the
silence compression function on a codec works effectively using AAL2,
because in a silent period in a conversation, the short packets do not have to be
accumulated into a cell.
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Low bit rate voice

ch#4
ch#3
Silence
....
ch#2
....
ch#1
CID in the header
Short packet
Standard
ATM cell
hh ch#1
ch#1
hh ch#2
ch#2
hh ch#3
ch#3
H
H
hh ch#4
ch#4
hh ch#2
ch#2
....
H
H
Start field
Figure 13.
AAL2 cell packing
AAL2 is especially suitable for carrying voice packets that are produced by
speech codecs. Also longer packet lengths up to 64 Kbytes are supported by
AAL2.
AAL2 is divided into two sublayers:
Service specific convergence layer (SSCS) performs the segmentation and
reassembly function for application packets longer than CPS packet size
(that is, 45 bytes by default), but also packet size of 64 bytes can be used.
Common part sublayer (CPS) enables variable-size packets (0 - 64 bytes)
from different users to be assembled in an ATM cell payload and transmitted on
the same ATM virtual connection. A packet (minicell) received from a user is
converted to a CPS packet with a 3-byte header that includes a single byte
Channel ID (CID) to distinguish AAL2 connections within a single ATM VCC.
Multiplexing and demultiplexing in the AAL2 occurs in the CPS. The Common
Part Sublayer
(CPS) encapsulates the segments created by the SSCS layer by adding a 3-byte
header. The encapsulated segments are called CPS Packets and their size is at
maximum 48 bytes (note that segmentation to 64 bytes is also allowed). The
AAL2 multiplexer assembles the CPS Packets into CPS PDUs (with 1 byte
header). The PDU:s are in fact the payload of the ATM cells and their
maximum size is 48 bytes.
In order to increase the multiplexing gain a timer is initialized whenever the
CPS PDU is smaller than 48 bytes i.e. the CPS Packets waiting in the assembly
buffer are not filling an ATM cell. The ATM cell is filled up with padding bits
and sent when the timer value expires and there is no new CPS Packet arriving
to the multiplexer. A longer timer value results in larger delay and higher
multiplexing gain, i.e., the load of ATM links is reduced. In order to reduce the
delay on the AAL2 layer the value of the timer is often set to zero. This way an
ATM cell is generated upon arrival of a CPS Packet into empty assembly buffer
regardless of its size.
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User data
Higher layers
AAL2 SSCS
Segmentation and
reassembly function
for application packets
AAL2
AAL2 CPS
CPS AAL2 channel
multiplexing and
demultiplexing
ATM layer
CPS
SSCS
Common Part Sublayer

Service Specific Convergence Sublayer
Figure 14.
8.1.2
ATM adaptation layer 2 sublayers
ATM adaptation layer 5 (AAL5)

AAL5 includes two main sublayers: Segmentation and Assembly Sublayer
(SAR) and Convergence Sublayer (CS). The CS is divided into the Common
Part Convergence Sublayer (CPCS) and the Service Specific Convergence
Sublayer (SSCS) as shown in Figure 15. The CPCS and the SAR sublayer are
called the Common Part of the AAL type 5. SAR and CPCS layers are common
for all AAL5 service users. Those AAL5 common part sublayers can be
implemented as the combination of a SAR chip and a device driver or as a pure
software implementation.
Different Service Specific Convergence Sublayer protocols (SSCSs) to support
specific AAL user services or groups of services are defined. The SSCS may
also be null, in the sense that it only provides for the mapping of application
protocol to the Common Part Convergence Sublayer (CPCS) and vice versa.
The Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) is, when active,
responsible for providing mechanisms for the establishment, release and
monitoring of signalling information exchanged between peer signalling
entities. In practice SSCOP provides for example: flow control and thus a
switch or end system can control the rate at which it receives signalling
messages. Each SSCOP PDU contains a sequence number, this allows SSCOP
to determine if one PDU has been lost and request retransmission. SSCOP can
also ensure sequential integrity by using these sequence numbers.
Connection establishment and resynchronization involves negotiation of buffer
sizes and other transfer characteristics and renegotiation of these parameters
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should a connection fail. The health of a connection is monitored via exchange

of status messages and connections are maintained through use of keep alive
messages.
Higher layers
CS
SSCOP
Reliable data transfer
AAL5 CPS
CPCS
Transparent transport of
SDUs
SAR
SDU segmentation and
reassembly
CPCS
Common part
AAL5
SAR
SSCF
Maps Layer 3 to SSCOP
SSCS
AAL5 SSCS
ATM layer
Figure 15.
ATM adaptation layer 5 sublayers
AAL5 can be used for IP over ATM traffic, signalling traffic bearer, and
FR/ATM interworking. Internal control connections of RNC/MGW (ATM
module) are based on ATM AAL5 connections between units. AAL5 capability
is available in all units having ATM connectivity (in some units only for system
internal use, e.g. message passing).
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Switching in ATM network

In ATM network, the user traffic can be switched in ATM layer or ATM
adaptation layer (AAL). The switching in ATM adaptation layer used in mobile
network is AAL type 2 switching.
9.1
Switching in ATM layer

The basic operation of an ATM switch is straightforward: The cell is received
across a link on a known VCI or VPI value. The switch looks up the connection
value in a local translation table to determine the outgoing port (or ports) of the
connection and the new VPI/VCI value of the connection on that link. Then, the
switch retransmits the cell on that outgoing link with the appropriate connection
identifiers. Because all VCIs and VPIs have only local significance across a
particular link, these values are remapped, as necessary, at each switch.
There are two levels of switching capability within an ATM switch (which
perform switching at ATM layer): Virtual Path (VP) switching and Virtual
Channel (VC) switching.
Virtual path (VP) switching
VP switching occurs when only the VPI field within the cell header is used to
describe the destination of the cells. This has the advantage that many VCIs
destined for the same network endpoint can be "bulk switched".
VP switches terminate VP links. A VP switch translates incoming VPIs to the
corresponding outgoing VPIs according to the destination of the VPC whereas
VCI values remain unchanged.
VP switching is shown in Figure 16.
Virtual channel (VC) switching
VC switching takes place when all cells on a physical interface are identified
and switched to their destination through the switch fabric based on a
combination of the VPI/VCI values. A table is maintained on each interface
identifying input and output ports associated with certain VPI/VCI.
The VCI values are changed in a VC switch and the VPI values are changed as
they pass through a VP switch. However, VCI values are not changed when
passing through a VP switch.
VC switching is shown in Figure 16.
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VC switch
Port
Port
VCI 9
VCI 10
VPI 3
VP switch
VCI 9
VCI 10
VPI 23
VPI 36
VCI 15
VPI 8
VCI 26
VCI 9
VCI 10
VPI 9
Port
Figure 16.
9.2
Virtual channel and virtual path switching
AAL type 2 switching

AAL2 supports multiplexing of different sources on a single ATM virtual
connection. The Channel Identifier (CID) is used to distinguish AAL
connections within a single ATM VCC. An AAL2 switching system performs
AAL2 level switching, while an ATM node performs only ATM level
switching. The traditional VPI/VCI table used for ATM cell switching is
extended one more level by introducing CID entries to identify AAL type 2
connections. An ATM cell received at an AAL type 2 switch is first
demultiplexed into AAL type 2 connections (CIDs), then switched and
assembled into outgoing ATM cells according to the entries found in the
VPI/VCI/CID table.
If an AAL2 connection is routed through ATM switches that do not support
AAL2 switching, it is considered to be AAL2 trunking and those switches
support only ATM level switching.
In Figure 17, the traffic from the users is multiplexed by AAL2 in one ATM
cell. These kinds of connections are referred to as virtual AAL2 connections
inside the virtual ATM connection.
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User 1
User 2
RNC
MGW
Upper layer
Upper layer
BS
User 3
Upper layer
AAL2
ATM H
AAL2
Process
ATM H
#1 #2 #3
ATM cell
#1 #2 #3
ATM cell
PHY
PHY
AAL2 connections
VCC
ATM connection
Figure 17.
AAL2
Process
H
#5 #6 #7
Process
ATM H
ATM cell
#5 #6 #7
ATM cell
PHY
VCC
ATM connection
ATM virtual connections and AAL2 connections
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10
Signalling in 3G network
10.1
Signalling protocol layers

Signalling protocol can be looked at as an application running on top of the
lower, physical, ATM and AAL layers.
C-Plane
Signalling
protocol
U-Plane
User data
Signalling
AAL
AAL
ATM layer
Physical layer
Figure 18.
ATM protocol for signalling and user data
Signalling occurs over a Signalling ATM Adaptation Layer (SAAL) residing

between the ATM layer and the signalling protocol. The SAAL provides
reliable transport of signalling messages between two ATM systems to include
the recovery of multiple gaps within the data stream. The SAAL is composed of
two sublayers: Common Part and Service Specific Part.
The Common Part is based on AAL5, which consists of Segmentation and
Reassembly Sublayer (SAR) and Common Part Convergence Sublayer (CPCS)
functions. The common part ensures information transfer and detection of
corrupt service data units.
The Service Specific Part is divided into:
Service Specific Co-ordination Function (SSCF)
Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP)
The SSCF maps signalling messages from the upper level in to SSCOP while
SSCOP provides mechanisms for establishing, releasing, and monitoring
signalling information exchange between signalling entities.
There are two types of SAAL:
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SAAL-NNI
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SAAL-UNI
SAAL-NNI complies with ITU-T Q.2140 B-ISDN AAL - Service Specific

Co-ordination Function for Signalling at the Network-Node Interface (SSCF at
NNI), Q.2144 B-ISDN Signalling ATM Adaptation Layer (SAAL) Layer
Management for the SAAL at the Network-Node Interface (NNI), Q.2110 BISDN SAAL - Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP).
SAAL-UNI complies with ITU-T Q.2110 B-ISDN AAL Service Specific
Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) and Q.2130 B-ISDN AAL Service
Specific Co-ordination Function (SSCF) for signalling at the User-Network
Interface (UNI).
Note
AAL type 2 signalling protocol and Node B Application Protocol (NBAP)
application protocol use UNI SAAL in point-to-point signalling connections in
3G RAN Iub interface where there is no SS7 signalling network available.
10.2
AAL type 2 signalling

AAL2 signalling protocol is a separate new protocol not an extension of any
existing ATM signalling protocols. This approach increases the speed of AAL2
connection establishment because intermediate "ATM-only" switches do not
delay the process by storing and forwarding AAL2 signalling protocol
messages. A further benefit is that switched AAL2 connections can be
established on top of any ATM network regardless of the protocol used for
establishing ATM level connections. The ATM level connections can be
established using any existing ATM signalling protocol, for example, ITU-T
Broadband ISDN User Part (B-ISUP), ATM Forum Private Network-Network
Interface (PNNI), ITU-T Q.2931, or ATM Forum User-Network Interface
(UNI).
RNSAP/RANAP
AAL2 SIG
SCCP
STC
MTP3b
NBAP
SSCF-UNI
SSCF-NNI
SSCOP
AAL5
ATM
Physical
Figure 19.
AAL 2 signalling protocol
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The AAL type 2 signalling protocol provides functions to dynamically establish

and release AAL type 2 point-to-point connections as requested by AAL2
served users in a network comprised of AAL2 endpoints and AAL2 switches.
The AAL2 served user in 3G networks is the radio resource management and
handover control entity, which establishes/releases AAL2 connections when
new soft handover legs are established/released.
The AAL2 signalling protocol feature provides a clear and efficient interface to
the users of the AAL2 signalling protocol. The AAL2 signalling protocol is
used by higher layer functionalities for AAL2 connection establishment and
release of a connection.
AAL Type 2 Signaling

SETUP
AAL2
Switch
CID(x)
Signaling channel
AAL2 paths
AAL2
Switch
Path = ATM VCC

(Interface,VPI/VCI)
CID(x)
AAL2 ch = AAL2 path & CID

CID = 8-255
ATM
Switch
Figure 20 AAL Type 2 signalling
The feature contains procedures to establish an AAL2 connection, release an

AAL2 connection and maintenance functions to align the status of the AAL2
resources within the two peer AAL2 nodes. It offers a reset mechanism, which
is used to return one or several AAL2 channels to idle condition. It is invoked
after an unrecognised status of connection, for example, if the signalling peer
entity does not respond to message. The feature also contains a mechanism for
blocking and unblocking resources during test procedures, before service-in or
modification of it bandwidth.
The Signalling Transport Converter (STC) provides the generic signalling
bearer service for exchanging AAL2 signalling messages between protocol
entities. It provides assured data transport and service availability indication
services independent of the underlying signalling bearer. Examples of signalling
bearers are MTP-3 and SAAL UNI.
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Note
The signalling bearer converters use AAL5 connections. These signalling
connections are configured as permanent ATM connections between AAL
type 2 switches.
AAL2 signalling complies with ITU-T Q.2630.1 AAL type 2 signalling
protocol (Capability Set 1).
10.3
General protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial

interfaces
The protocol structures in UTRAN terrestrial interfaces (Iu, Iur, Iub) are
designed according to the same general protocol model as shown in Figure 21.
Radio
Network
Layer
Control Plane
User Plane
Application
Protocol
Data
Stream(s)
Transport
Network
Layer
Transport
Network
Control Plane
Transport
Network
User Plane
Transport
Network
User Plane
ALCAP(s)
Signalling
Bearer(s)
Signalling
Bearer(s)
Data
Bearer(s)
Physical Transmission layer
Figure 21.
General protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial interfaces
Horizontal layers
The protocol structure consists of two main layers:
Radio network layer
Transport network layer
All UTRAN-related issues are visible only in the radio network layer. The
transport network layer represents standard transport technology that is selected.
Vertical planes
There are four main planes in the protocol structure:

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Control plane
The control plane is used for all 3G specific control signalling. It includes
the application protocol (i.e. RANAP in Iu, RNSAP in Iur, NBAP in Iub)
and the signalling bearer for transporting the application protocol
messages.
The application protocol is used, among other things, for setting up
bearers to the UE (i.e. the radio access bearer in Iu and subsequently the
radio link in Iur and Iub). The signalling bearer for the application
protocol is always set up by O&M actions.
User plane
All information sent and received by the user, such as coded voice in a
voice call or the packets in an Internet connection, are transported via the
user plane.
The user plane includes the data stream(s) and the data bearer(s).
Transport network control plane

The transport network control plane is used for all control signalling
within the transport network layer. It includes the ALCAP protocol that is
needed to set up the transport bearers (data bearers) for the user plane. It
also includes the signalling bearers needed for the ALCAP.
ALCAP (Access Link Control Application Part) protocol is the generic
name for the transport signalling protocols used to set up and tear down
transport bearers.
When using the transport network control plane, the transport bearers for
the data bearer in the user plane are set up in the following fashion: First
there is a signalling transaction by the application protocol in the control
plane. This transaction triggers the setup of the data bearer by the
ALCAP protocol that is specific for the user plane technology.
It should be noted that ALCAP may not be used for all types of data
bearers. If there is no ALCAP signalling transaction, the transport
network control plane is not needed at all. This is the case when
preconfigured data bearers are used.
The signalling bearer for the ALCAP may not be of the same type as that
for the application protocol. The signalling bearer for ALCAP is always
set up by O&M actions.
Transport network user plane
The data bearer(s) in the user plane and the signalling bearer(s) for the
application protocol also belong to the transport network user plane. The data
bearers in the transport network user plane are directly controlled by the
transport network control plane, but the control actions required for setting up
the signalling bearer(s) for the application protocol are considered O&M
actions.
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11
ATM traffic management

ATM provides a mechanism to ensure that the quality of service (QoS) remains
as high as possible while the operator is able to utilise the network capacity in
an efficient way. The actions taken to achieve the QoS targets in ATM networks
are called traffic management. The operator can use ATM traffic management
for providing QoS for ATM connections. Also fairness of resource allocation
between users can be guaranteed with traffic management functions. Bandwidth
of ATM connections can be allocated flexibly according to application needs.
11.1
Traffic management functions

There are different functions to manage and control the traffic in ATM
networks. The two basic control functions are Connection Admission Control
(CAC) and Usage/Network Parameter Control (UPC/NPC). On top of this two
basic control functions, the following ones may be used in appropriate
combinations to support and complement the actions of UPC/NPC and CAC:
traffic shaping, priority control, frame discard etc.
11.1.1
Connection Admission Control (CAC)

Connection Admission Control (CAC) is used for checking that there are
bandwidth and buffer resources for requested connections. CAC is defined as a
set of actions taken by the network at the connection establishment phase in
order to decide whether a virtual channel/path connection can be accepted or
rejected. Sophisticated CAC algorithms allow maximal utilisation of network
element internal resources and external links while guaranteeing agreed
bandwidth and quality of service for all existing connections. CAC verifies
whether network (or node) is able to offer requested QoS without risking the
QoS of the existing connections.
ATM Network
Usea A
User
Setup
Figure 22.
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User B
Connection Admission Control (CAC)
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11.1.2
Usage / Network Parameter Control (UPC/NPC)

Usage/Network Parameter Control (UPC/NPC), also known as traffic policing,
is used for monitoring the compliance of ATM end systems to agreed traffic
contracts. Traffic contract defines traffic parameters (e.g. peak cell rate) for
each connection. UPC is applied in the User-Network Interface (UNI) and NPC
is performed in the Network-Node Interface (NNI).
User A
User B
UPC
UNI
ATM
Network
NPC
NPC
NNI
ATM
Network
UNI
UPC
Figure 2. Usage Parameter Control (UPC) and Network Parameter Control (NPC)
Traffic policing is defined as a set of actions taken by the network to monitor
and control the amount of incoming ATM traffic. The main purpose is to
protect resources from misbehaviour that can affect the QoS of other already
established connections. This is done by detecting violations of negotiated
parameters and taking appropriate actions. At the ATM cell level actions may
include cell passing, cell tagging (only for CLP=0 cell stream) and cell
discarding. UPC/NPC supports the QoS objectives for all compliant
connections.
Both UPC and NPC function can be enabled or disabled for all connections at
an interface.
11.1.3
Traffic shaping
Traffic shaping is a mechanism that alters the traffic characteristics of a stream
of cells on a connection to achieve better network efficiency whilst meeting the
QoS objectives, or to ensure conformance in a subsequent interface. Traffic
shaping is performed by delaying (buffering) cells until they can be transmitted
in accordance with the traffic parameters.
Traffic shaping capability is particularly important when connecting across a
public User-Network Interface (UNI) to a public network, since many such
networks are basing their tariffs to a particular aggregate bandwidth.
An ATM network does not need to guarantee QoS performance for nonconforming cells and thus a user wanting guaranteed QoS must shape traffic to
ensure conformance to the traffic parameters in an agreed traffic contract. A
network may employ shaping when transferring a cell flow to another network
in order to meet the conditions of a network-to-network traffic contract, or in
order to ensure that the receiving user application operates in an acceptable
way.
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User A
Shaping
Figure 5.
Network A
Network B
Policing
Shaping
Policing
Shaping
Shaping
Policing
Shaping
Policing
User B
Shaping
Generic placement of policing and shaping functions
Note
Traffic shaping capability is implemented in each RNC/MGW computer or
signal processing (DMCU/TCU) unit terminating/originating traffic. Traffic
originating unit provides shaping of generated ATM traffic according to
configured traffic parameters. In addition Multiplexing unit (MXU) and NIS
units shape outgoing traffic per port.
11.1.4
Priority control
Cell loss priority bit in ATM cell header can be used to generate different
priority cell flows within a virtual path or channel connection. A network
element may selectively discard cells with low priority (CLP=1) before higher
priority cell (CLP=0) in congestion situation.
11.1.5
Frame Discard
If a congested network needs to discard cells, it may be better to drop all the
cells of one Protocol Data Unit (PDU) rather than to randomly drop cells
belonging to different PDUs. If a single cell is discarded, it may cause the
retransmission of the whole PDU, which in turn may cause more traffic when
congestion is already occurring. Discarding a packet may help to avoid
congestion in the ATM network and can increase throughput.
The two most common congestion control mechanisms implemented in ATM
are:
Partial Packet Discard

If a cell is dropped from a switch buffer, the subsequent cells in the
higher layer protocol datagram are also discarded.
Early Packet Discard

When the switch buffer queues reach a threshold level, the entire higher
level datagrams are dropped.
Cell loss priority bit in ATM cell header can be used to generate different
priority cell flows within a virtual path connection or virtual channel
connection. Selective cell discard buffer management method ensures that lower
priority (CLP=1) ATM cells are dropped before higher priority CLP=0 cells in
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congestion situation. When buffer occupancy reaches pre-configured threshold

value, buffer management starts to discard incoming lower priority CLP=1
cells.
Early Packet Discard (EPD) and Partial Packet Discard (PPD) buffer
management methods can be taken into use for VCs carrying AAL5 traffic. The
EPD threshold is evaluated before a new AAL5 frame is admitted to the buffer.
If the buffer threshold is exceeded, all cells from the AAL5 frame are discarded.
PPD occurs if a user cell is discarded because of policing violations, a cell loss
priority (CLP1 or CLP0+1) threshold violation or if no free buffer space is
available. PPD discards all remaining user cells of the AAL5 frame except for
the last cell of the frame.
11.1.5.1
Partial Packet Discard (PPD)
This congestion control mechanism drops all subsequent cells from a PDU as
soon as one cell has been dropped. Once the switch drops a cell from a PDU,
the switch continues dropping cells from the same PDU until the end of the
PDU is indicated. The last cell is not discarded, as it is required to indicate the
end of the PDU and by implication indicate the start of the next PDU.
PPD offers limited improvement, because the switch begins to drop cells only
when the buffer overflows, the first cell dropped might belong to a packet in
which the majority of cells have already been forwarded. Also, when the switch
first drops a cell, the switch does not look in the buffer for earlier cells that
belong to the same packet. Therefore, cells from the corrupt packet may be
forwarded from the switch even though PPD is in effect.
Buffer positions
for cells
When the buffer reaches the
capacity, PPD discards the the
remaining cells, except the last
one.
PPD discards cells
Figure 6.
11.1.5.2
Partial Packet Discard (PPD)
Early Packet Discard (EPD)
Early Packet Discard (EPD) greatly reduces the number of corrupted PDUs
transmitted, offering significant improvement over PPD. Whenever the
proportion of the buffer in use exceeds a fixed threshold, the ATM switch will
begin dropping entire PDUs prior to buffer overflow. The switch drops the first
arriving cell and all subsequent cells of that particular PDU. This will continue
until the number of cells in the buffer drops below the set threshold.
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EPD only discards packets, which have already been buffered.
Buffer positions
for cells
When the buffer level exceeds the
EPD threshold, the cells are
selectively discarded from the entire
frames
EPD
Threshold
EPD Discards
Frames
Figure 7.
11.2
Early Packet Discard (EPD)
Traffic contract and negotiation

Traffic contract negotiated during connection establishment consists of the
connection traffic descriptor, the requested QoS class and the definition of a
compliant connection. The values of the traffic contract parameters can be
specified either explicitly or implicitly. A parameter value is explicitly specified
in the initial call establishment message. This can be accomplished via
signalling for SVCs (Switched Virtual Connections) or via the Network
Management System (NMS) for PVCs (Permanent Virtual Connections). A
parameter value is implicitly specified when its value is assigned by the network
using default rules.
11.2.1
ATM quality of service (QoS)

One of the advantages of ATM is the QoS. The ATM supports QoS guarantees
for different types of traffic. The quality of service defines the performance to
be guaranteed. There are six QoS parameters. Three of these are negotiated
between the end system and the networks.
The QoS parameters that are negotiated:
Cell Loss Ratio (CLR)
Cell Transfer Delay (CTD)
Cell Delay Variation (CDV)
The QoS parameters that are not negotiated:

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Cell Error Ratio (CER)
Severely Errored Cell Block Ratio (SECBR)
Cell Misinsertion Rate (CMR)
Propagation delay dominates the fixed delay component of CTD, while queuing
behaviour contributes to delay variations in heavily loaded networks. The
effects of queue service strategy and buffer sizes dominate loss and delay
variation performance in congested networks. Transmission link error
characteristics largely determine the CER, SECBR and CMR parameters.
11.2.2
Traffic descriptors
The traffic parameters describe traffic characteristics of a source. The traffic
descriptors are the generic list of traffic parameters, which describe the traffic
characteristics of an ATM connection.
The traffic descriptor consists of:
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Peak Cell Rate (PCR)

The PCR represents the maximum allowable cell rate. It is defined as the
inverse of the minimum inter-arrival time T between two consecutive
cells. T is called the peak emission interval of the connection.
Sustained Cell Rate (SCR)

The SCR represents a theoretical average of the cell average rate ( cell )
transmission sustained over the duration of a transmission, for a VBR
connection.
Burst Tolerance (BT)

The BT represents the maximum time in advance allowed to transmit a
cell compared to its nominal transmission time: TSCR = 1 / SCR.
The Maximum Burst Size (MBS)

The MBS specifies the maximum number of cells that can be transmitted
at PCR while still being compliant to the negotiated SCR
Minimum Cell Rate (MCR)

The MCR represents the minimum user's required bandwidth or the
minimum cell rate guaranteed for the user. It is the descriptor used for
ABR service.
Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVT)

The CDVT gives information on the maximum time in advance allowed
for a cell arrival. It can be used with PCR and SCR.
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11.2.3
Definition of a compliant connection

Once the connection has been accepted, the QoS requested is provided as long
as the connection is compliant with the traffic contract.
A connection is catalogued as compliant as long as the proportion of nonconforming cells does not exceed a certain positive threshold, the value of
which has to be specified in the traffic contract by the network operator. For
non-compliant connections, the network does not need to respect the contracted
QoS, that is, the network could release the connection. For compliant
connections, the requested QoS has always to be supported by the network.
11.3
ATM layer service categories

The traffic in ATM networks has different demands regarding the QoS. One
idea how to fulfil these requirements is to create so-called traffic classes, also
known as service categories. One service category has same kind of QoS
requirements.
Service Classes
Traffic Parameters
QoS Parameters
Figure 23.
Service classes divide connections into

"main" classes (real time, non-real time,
bursty, etc.)
Traffic parameters define mainly the
bandwidth requirements
QoS parameters define finally the QoS of the

connection: delay, cell loss, etc.
Relation between service classes, traffic parameters and QoS
ATM service categories include:

Constant Bit Rate (CBR) is used by applications that request a static amount
of bandwidth that is continuously available during the connection lifetime. This
amount of bandwidth is characterised by a peak cell rate value. In the CBR
capability, the source can emit cells at the peak cell rate at any time and for any
duration and the QoS commitments still pertain.
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Bandwidth
Time
Figure 24.
Constant bit rate (CBR)
Bandwidth
Time
Figure 25.
Unspecified but rate (UBR)
Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) is meant for non-real time applications that do not
have strict requirements for delay and delay variance. UBR does not have
guaranteed QoS and is also known as 'best effort' traffic class.
Note
CBR is equivalent to DBR (Deterministic Bit Rate), whereas VBR is equivalent
with SBR (Statistical Bit Rate). The CBR and VBR are the terms used by ATM
Forum, while the DBR and SBR are used by ITU-T.
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12
Resource management in ATM network

The resource management is used for reserving resources of an ATM exchange
for different purposes such as signalling, routing and IP over ATM connections
as well as for permanent cross-connections through an ATM network element.
The resource management covers the following areas:
Management of a Physical layer Trail Termination Point (phyTTP)
Management of ATM interfaces, related to a Physical layer Trail

Termination Point (phyTTP)
Management of the access profiles of ATM interfaces
Management of VP Link termination points
Management of VC Link termination points.
The following figures illustrate the resource creation order when building
connections on VC level.
VC connection creation order

phyTTP
ATM interface
Access profiles of ATM interfaces
VPL termination point (VPLtp)
VCL termination point (VCLtp)
VC connection
Figure 26.
ATM resource creation order
The ATM resources are created on the external interfaces of a network element
and they form the basis for VP and VC level connections to other network
elements.
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- VPI
- VPL service level: VP/VC
- usage e.g. MTP3SL, AAL2UD, IPOAM, AAL2SL, DNBAP, CNBAP
- service category: CBR/UBR
- traffic parameters: PCR, CDVT, SCR, Burst tolerance
- QoS class
2
Access profile of
ATM interface
- max bandwidth
- max VPI/VCI bits
- interface id
- UNI / NNI
- phyTTP id
AT
M
Ph log VP VC
y ica Lt Lt
TT l p, p
P int
erf
ac
VC
e VP Lt
p
Lt
p,
O&M traffic (UBR, IPOAM)

- VCI
- service category
- traffic and QoS parameters
Signalling traffic (CBR, MTP3SL)
User traffic (CBR, AAL2UD)
VC
Lt
p
VP
VCLt
Lt
p,
p
Phy TTP
ATM logical interface
- phyTTP id
- PET/IMA/ SET/
PROTGROUP
ATM logical interface

Phy TTP
RNC
3 4
VP
Lt VC
1 p, Lt
p
AT
M
VP logPh
VC
ica y
Lt Lt
p p, l TT
int P
erf
ac
VC
Lt VP
e
p
MGW
Lt
VC
p,
Lt
p
Figure 27. Resource management in the ATM network
12.1
Physical Layer Trail Termination Point (phyTTP)

The phyTTP is used to hide the properties of the physical resources from the
upper protocol layers. It is configured between the physical layer and the ATM
Layer. The only interesting property from the upper layer point of view is the
capacity of the phyTTP that can be used to transport the protocol data units of
the upper layer, for example ATM cells. A Physical layer Trail Termination
Point (phyTTP) can consist of one of the following: a single PET, an IMA
group, a single SDH VC path or an SDH protection group.
12.2
ATM interface
The ATM interface is an external logical interface, under which the connections
are built. The ATM interface can work as:
UNI (User Network Interface) or
NNI (Network Node Interface).
UNI refers to the interface between terminal equipment and a network

termination where access protocols apply. In an ATM network, the interface
between a RNC and a WCDMA BTS is seen as an UNI interface.
The NNI interface is the interface between two network nodes like a RNC and
an MGW.
When an ATM interface is created, it is tied up to a Physical layer Trail
Termination Point (phyTTP).
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The capacity of an ATM interface must be smaller than the capacity of the
object it is tied up to.
For further information on ATM Interface creation, refer to refer to Nokia online document.
12.3
Access profile of ATM interface

The access profile created for an ATM interface defines the connection
structure built under that ATM interface. The following parameters have
to be specified :
interface id
the maximum ingress and egress transmission bandwidth
the maximum ingress and egress bandwidth unit
the maximum number of VPI bits
the maximum number of VCI bits
Interface id
This parameter identifies the ATM interface whose access profile

you want to create. The parameter value is a decimal number
ranging from 1 to 320.The parameter is obligatory.
The maximum bandwidth values
This parameter identifies the numerical value of the maximum ingress

transmission bandwidth at the ATM interface. The parameter value is a decimal
number ranging from 10 to 9999.
The maximum allowed ingress and egress transmission bandwidth value given
for the access profile of a STM-1 interface is 149760 kbit/s, that is 353 207 c/s
(= the payload). The remaining resource (5760 kbit/s) is available only for the
physical layer overhead.
In case of an ATM interface connected to an E1 transmission link, the
maximum allowed bandwidth is 4528 c/s. In case of an ATM interface
connected to a T1 transmission link, the maximum value is 3622 c/s.
When an ATM interface is connected to an IMA group, IMA frames use a part
of the payload, as the IMA frame length is not currently modifiable. Therefore,
you can calculate the maximum allowed bandwidth for an ATM interface with
an IMA group with the following formula:
0.99 x <number of E1/T1 links> x <maximum allowed bandwidth for E1/T1>.
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For example, if the ATM interface is tied up to an IMA group with 3*2 Mbit/s
lines, the maximum bandwidth is 0.99*3*4528 c/s = 13448 c/s.
For further information on calculating bandwidth, refer to Inverse Multiplexing
for ATM (IMA) Specification Version 1.1, ATM Forum.
The maximum ingress and egress bandwidth unit
This parameter identifies the unit of the maximum ingress/egress transmission

bandwidth at the ATM interface. The parameter can have the following values:
CPS
Cells per second
KCPS
Kilo-cells per second
MCPS Mega-cells per second
Note
The egress bandwidth (for outgoing traffic) cannot be defined larger than the
capacity of the neighbouring ATM exchange; otherwise ATM cells are lost.
VPI bits and VCI bits
The maximum number of VPI bits defines the space (number of bits) available
for specifying the VPLtp's under the interface. This defines the maximum
number of Virtual Paths (VPs). For example, if the space reserved for VPI is 4
bits, it means that the maximum number of VPLtp's that can be created under
the ATM interface is 16 (= 24). This parameter identifies the maximum number
of allocated bits of the VPI sub field for the defined ATM interface. The
parameter is used by the system to select the appropriate VPI values when
establishing ATM connections. The parameter value can range from 1 to 8 for a
UNI interface and from 1 to 12 for an NNI interface.
The maximum number of VCI bits defines the space (number of bits) available
for specifying VCLtp's under the interface. This defines the maximum number
of Virtual Channels (VCs) that can be created inside each virtual path. For
example, if the space reserved for VCI is 8 bits, the maximum number of
VCLtp's that can be created under a VPLtp is (= 28) - 1 = 255 (VCI with value 0
is not allowed). This parameter identifies the maximum number of allocated bits
of the VCI sub field per VPLtp of the defined ATM interface. This parameter is
used by the system to select the appropriate VCI values when establishing ATM
connections.
The parameter value can range from 1 to 14 for both UNI and NNI
interface. You should select the lowest possible value.
The VCI values 1 - 31 are reserved for specific purposes. For example, VCI 3
and VCI 4 are reserved for O&M (operation and maintenance). For this reason,
you must use VCI number 32 or bigger for an external VC connection. When
creating an access profile, you should reserve at least 6 VCI bits (= 26 different
VCI values).
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It depends on the network level planning how the ATM interface and its access
profile, and thus the connections, should be created. For example, there can be
many Virtual Paths with a few Virtual Channels inside each path, or only a few
large VPs with numerous VCs inside each path.
12.4
VP/VC Link termination point

External termination points are created both on VP level and VC level. They are
the terminating ends of the VP/VC connections. Virtual Path Link termination
points (VPLtp's) must be created before any Virtual Channel Link termination
points (VCLtp's) and VC level connections can be created under the VPLtp.
Each VPLtp is related to one ATM interface. The interface configuration
defines the limits to the total VPLtp capacity reservations.
The number of VCLtps created under each VPLtp depends on the total VPLtp
capacity. Therefore, when reserving capacity for a VPLtp, you should plan how
many VC level connections are needed under that VPLtp.
Termination points are reserved for:
Signalling links on VC level
VCC endpoints and thus for allowing the creation of AAL type 2
connections for user traffic
IP over ATM connections on VC level
Permanent Virtual Connections (PVCs) on VP and VC level inside an

ATM network element.
When creating a VPLtp with VC service level, you define the purpose, for
which the VPLtp and the underlying VCLtps will be used.
For further information on VP/VC link termination point, refer to Nokia on-line
document.
Service category and conformance definition
In the current ATM network, the service category CBR (Constant Bit Rate) is
applied for user plane and signalling traffic, and the service category UBR1
(Unspecified Bit Rate) is applied for IP over ATM connections. The
conformance definition must comply with the service category used. The
VCLtp's created under a certain VPLtp of UBR1 type must have the same
service category and conformance definition as that VPLtp. However, you can
create VCLtp's of UBR1 type under a VPLtp of CBR type.
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13
Routing and digit analysis

Analysis and routing are needed in the network element for directing user plane
traffic, voice, or data connections to the desired destination and for finding free
resources for the connection. Analysis and routing also offer functions to
configure and manage the routing and analysis -related objects.
Digit analysis and routing are closely connected to each other. They function in
a call setup phase.
13.1
Digit analysis
The purpose of the digit analysis is to find a destination for the call and to select
a route to the destination.
Digit analysis analyses the digit sequences that it receives. Typically the
received sequence is an address of the receiving end, but digit analysis may be
used to analyse any number sequence that can be analysed hierarchically digit
by digit. The received digits are analysed in an analysis tree to locate the
destination for the connection. An analysis tree is a chain of records in an
analysis file beginning from the first digit of the analysed number sequence.
Each unique set of digits is associated with a destination.
Destination is comprised of one or more routing alternatives. A Subdestination
determines which ATM route is selected. A Subdestination is always mapped to
one route.
When the result of digit analysis is the route, it is the starting point of routing.
Digit analysis is used in the RNC for finding a route to a Backbone MGW or an
RNC (in Iur interface). The digit is analysed when a new connection at Nb is
needed; for example, a new call establishment or soft handover branch to the
existing call is going to be added.
Digit analysis gets the address of other network element and finds the route for
the destination by analysing the address. The address to be analysed in MGW is
the AAL2 Service Endpoint Address (A2EA) which uses AESA format. The
address points to a certain AAL2 or ATM termination point in the neighbouring
node.
13.2
Routing
Routing is used for finding free resources under a given route for connections
going to another network element.
A route can be seen as a common concept in ATM/TDM environment.
In ATM, concept of circuit groups/circuits, used in TDM, are replaced by new
concepts:
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Virtual Channel Connection Endpoint Group (VCCEG)
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Virtual Channel Connection Endpoint (VCCE)
Routing manages these objects and provides selection of VPCs/VCCs according

to needed quality of service (QoS) and traffic parameters.
The VCCE identifies the VC Link termination point (VCLtp), under which the
AAL2 connection (CID) is created.
In RNC and MGW, where AAL2 level signalled connections are used, only
AAL2 level routing is used for user traffic. Routing is used for finding a
suitable Virtual Channel Connection (VCC) candidate under a given route
having free resources and providing desired properties for the connection.
Under this selected VCC an AAL type 2 connection may be created. AAL type
2 is finally the level where all user traffic is carried between the ATM network
elements.
13.3
Routing objects in ATM network

In ATM network element, where AAL type 2 level routing is used as in RNC
and MGW, the routing objects are destination, subdestination, ATM route, VCC
endpoint groups and VCC endpoints.
Destination is the result of digit analysis and it is obtained on the basis of the
call origin and received address. Destination symbolises the end node where the
connection is routed.
Subdestination is a routing alternative and it always belongs to some
destination. Subdestination provides necessary routing data that is needed in the
connection establishment phase.
Routes in this context mean external ATM routes that consist of one or more
hunted Virtual Paths (VPs) or Virtual Channels (VCs), which connect two ATM
network elements and are using the same signalling protocol.
In RNC and MGW, only AAL type 2 level routing is used for all user traffic.
The AAL type 2 connections are built inside an AAL type 2 path (VCC). VCC
extends between two Virtual Channel Connection endpoints and it is identified
with an AAL type path identifier. Therefore, ATM routes consist always of
VCC endpoints.
VCC endpoint group is a group of individual VCC endpoints having similar
properties. Under one ATM route there may be one or several endpoint groups.
When routing starts selecting a VCC for the connection, it first finds a suitable
VCC endpoint group and then selects one VCC endpoint from that group
according to the routing algorithm.
After a suitable VCC has been selected by routing, AAL type 2 connection
control selects a free AAL type 2 channel for the AAL2 type 2 connection under
this VCC.
Operations related to the AAL type 2 connections are managed by AAL type 2
connection control, which also automatically allocates a Channel Connection
Identifier (CID) value for each AAL type 2 connection.
In ATM, routing has a close relationship to Connection Admission Control
(CAC). It is different from the TDM world. In TDM, when a free circuit is
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hunted, the resource is found for the connection. In ATM, CAC is needed after
selection of VPC/VCC. CAC decides finally if the new connection can be
accepted without violating the guaranteed quality of service for existing
connections.
The following steps show the function of the digit analysis and routing:
1.
Digits are directed into digit analysis.
2.
Digit analysis goes through the received digit sequence and the
information about the origin of the call in digit analysis tree in order to
find a destination for the call.
3.
The destination provides the subdestination. In the Iub and Iur interfaces
each destination currently provides only one subdestination.
4.
The subdestination determines which external ATM route is used for the
connection.
5.
The external ATM route is used for directing the call to another
exchange. Under the ATM route the routing selects an appropriate VCC
endpoint group.
6.
Under the VCC endpoint group the routing selects an appropriate VCC
endpoint and thus an appropriate virtual channel.
7.
Finally, AAL2 connection control selects a free AAL type 2 channel for
making the connection.
The number of ATM routes to be created depends on the number of

neighbouring network elements and the capacity of the exchange.
Under each ATM route there can be up to 16 endpoint groups, which have the
ingress and egress service categories as characteristics. These must fit with the
values of the Virtual Channel Link termination points (VCLtp's) that will
become endpoints. Each endpoint group can include max. 50 endpoints
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14
IP addressing in MSS system network

elements
14.1
Introduction to TCP/IP (optional topic)

Data communications involve the transmission and reception of data between
entities across different networks. An entity has the capacity to transmit and
receive data. In order for an entity to function correctly, all entities must agree
upon a protocol for successful communications.
A protocol is a set of rules defining data communications between entities.
A protocol can define many aspects of communications including what is the
nature of communications, how will the entities communicate, and when will
the communications take place. Most protocols can be represented in a layered
architecture or layered model.
Each layer performs a distinct function. It receives a Protocol Data Unit (PDU)
from the layer above it, performs some processing on it, adds a header to the
PDU, and sends the resulting PDU to the layer below it. The process of adding
headers to the PDU is called encapsulation. Sometimes if the PDU is larger
than an acceptable maximum due to technological limitations, the PDU may be
broken into smaller PDUs. This process is referred to as fragmentation.
Layer
ISO OSI Model
Application Layer
Presentation Layer
Session Layer
Transport Layer
Network Layer
(Data) Link Layer
Physical Layer
Figure 28.
TCP/IP Protocol Stack
Application
Transport (TCP, UDP)

ICMP, IGMP
Internet Protocol
ARP, RARP
Network Interface
(layer 1 and 2 are
not specified within
the Internet protocol suite)
OSI-model vs. TCP/IP
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The OSI model contains seven layers: Application, Presentation, Session,

Transport, Network (or Inter-network), Data link, and Physical layers. Each
layer performs a distinct function.
Because of its widespread use and relatively easy implementation, the usage of
TCP/IP protocols is, in practice, supported by every WAN and LAN technology
used today.
Today TCP/IP protocols are developed and standardised by the Internet
Engineering Task Force (www.ietf.org). IETF membership is free and there is
no subscription fee for documents.
Although TCP/IP can be mapped and explained with the classical layered OSIprotocol model, there are some differences. There are, for example, no session
or presentation layers defined, but the functionality of these is built directly into
application layer protocols.
Most data communication uses the client - server model. In this model, a client
sends a request to a server that maybe located on another network somewhere
on the Internet. The server processes the clients request and sends a reply to the
client. In order for the requests and replies to be understood, the client and the
server must speak the same language.
Communication
Network
Server
Client
Figure 29.
14.1.1
Client - server model interaction
Internet Protocol
Internet Protocol (IP) is a layer-3 protocol that is used to carry data over
different types of network. IP works in connectionless packet mode; that is, data
is transported to the destination without the establishment of a connection
between the source and the destination similar to a postal system. Each packet
will have an address for both sender and receiver, which is referred to as an IP
address. There are two types of IP address: private IP addresses and public IP
addresses. Public IP addresses are globally unique in that all IP packets in a
public network will have unique IP sender and receiver addresses.
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IP Address logic
House 1
House 2
New Street
House 1
House 3
Crossing
A
Old Street
Router A
Network 1
Host 1
Network 2
Host 2
Figure 30
Host 1
Host 2
Host 3
IP can be compared to street addressing
IP is used as the interconnection protocol in the Internet. The use of unique

addresses means that every machine connected to the Internet can send packets
to any other machine connected to the Internet, assuming this has not been
denied for security reasons. Each packet will have an address for the sender and
the receiver. Large deliveries may be divided or fragmented into several smaller
packets to help transportation. The network does not guarantee when and how
the packets will arrive. It is referred to as a best effort network.
The figure shows four different IP networks interconnected together. If Router 1
has packets that need to go to the Internet, it can send packets via Router 3 in IP
Network A or through Router 4 in IP Network B.
IP Network B
Router 1
IP Network C
IP Network A
Router 2
Router 3
Internet
Figure 31.
IP network example
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14.1.2
Internet Protocol Version 4

An IP address identifies a host on a network. The current version of IP is
IP version 4 (IPv4). The length of the IPv4 address is 32 bits. Because humans
find it difficult to write 32 binary bits, IP address are written in a dotted decimal
notation as A.B.C.D. Each number in this notation corresponds to an octet or 8
bits. Each octet has the decimal range of 0 (00000000) to 255 (11111111). For
example, the IP address for Nokias global web site (http://www.nokia.com) is
193.65.100.105. In this address 193 represents the most significant octet of the
IP address.
Since the range of each octet has been specified, the question now is how many
addresses are available. At the beginning of this section it was mentioned that
an IP address consists of 32 bits, and each bit has a binary representation of 0 or
1. Therefore, 232 results in 4295 million addresses (approximately). However,
not all IP addresses are available, since some are reserved for special purposes.
For instance, the IP addresses 0.0.0.0 and 255.255.255.255 are used for special
purposes. The IP address 255.255.255.255 is used for local broadcasting to all
hosts across a network.
Net ID
Figure 32
Host ID
IPv4 address structure
An IP address is composed of two parts: the Network ID (Net ID) and the Host
ID. The Net ID represents the network to which the host or gateway belongs to
and the Host ID identifies the specific host within that particular network. The
Net ID always precedes the Host ID. The number of bits used to represent the
Net ID and the Host ID varies depending if class or classless IP addressing is
used. All routing functions are based on the Net ID portion of the IP address.
14.1.3
Class based IP addressing

Class based IP addressing was the original mode of allocating addresses and a
detailed description of it can be found in RFC 791. Five classes of IP addressing
were defined:
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Class A addresses were designed for very large organisations, which will
have a substantial amount of computers attached to their network.
Class B addresses were designed for mid-size organisations having a

large amount of computers attached to their network.
Class C addresses were designed for small size organisations, which will
have a small number of computers attached to their network.
Class D addresses were designed for multicasting purposes.
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Class E addresses are reserved by the Internet for special use. Similarly,
class E type addresses have no Net ID or Host ID.
The figure below summarises the characteristics of each class of IP addresses.

Oktet 1
Oktet 2
Oktet 3
Oktet 4
11000000
01111010
01100010
01010000
192.122.98.
32 bits
binary format
0 1
dotted decimal format
7 8
31
0 Net ID
01 2
10
15 16
012 3
23 24
65534 users/net
128.0.0.1 to 191.255.255.254
Class C
254 users/net
192.0.0.1 to 223.255.255.254
Class D
268435454 groups
224.0.0.1 to 239.255.255.255
31
1110
Multicast
0 123 4
Figure 33.
Class B
31
Net ID
0 123 4
1111
16777214 users/net
0.0.0.1 to 126.255.255.254
31
Net ID
110
Class A
31
Reserved for special use
Class E
Characteristics of class based IP addresses
Furthermore, these bits can be used to compute the number of networks

supported by each class as well as the number of hosts per network supported
by each class. This is also illustrated above. Additionally, the number of bits
can be specified for Net ID and Host ID depending on the class.
14.1.4
Classless based IP addressing

The second type of addressing is known as classless addressing. Classless
addressing was developed as one of many solutions to address the shortage of
IP addresses in the earlier class based addressing. In this scheme the Net ID is
not confined to 7, 14, or 21 bits. The Net ID can be between 2 and 31 bits and
hence there is a need to indicate the boundary between the Net ID and Host ID.
A classless IP address is represented as a.b.c.d / x. The /x says that first x bits
of the IP address is a Net ID. In this addressing scheme, a netmask is used to
distinguish between the Net ID and Host ID bits of the IP address. A netmask
contains a series of 1s corresponding to the Net ID followed by a series of 0s
corresponding to the host ID. Examples of netmask are given below:
If IP address = a.b.c.d/24
Then netmask = 11111111.11111111.11111111.0000000 = 255.255.255.0
Then netmask = 11111111.11111111.11111110.0000000 = 255.255.254.0
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Then netmask = 11111111.11111111.11111100.0000000 = 255.255.252.0
Decimal Representation
IP Address
192.168.0.1
192.168.0.1
Binary Representation
11000000.10101000.00000000.00000001
11000000.10101000.00000000.00000001
Bitwise ANDing
Netmask
Network
Address
255.255.255.0
255.255.255.0
11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000
11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000
192.168.0.0
192.168.0.0
11000000.101010000.0000000.00000000
11000000.1010100.000000000.00000000
Figure 34.
Bit-wise Anding of IP address and netmask
The IP address and netmask are ANDed together bit wise resulting in the binary
representation of the network address
14.1.5
Internet Protocol version 6

IPv6 is the latest version of the Internet Protocol developed by IETF. One of the
main reasons for the introduction of IPv6 is that the number of IP addresses
available with the current IPv4 is running short. The address size of IPv6 is 128
bits, which is estimated to last a lot longer than the 32 bits in IPv4.
There are also other reasons for introducing IPv6 as highlighted in RFC1883:
Expanded addressing capabilities
The increased address space of 128 bits will allow IPv6 to support more levels
of addressing hierarchy, as well as more addressable nodes and simple autoconfiguration of addresses. IPv6 also includes a new type of address, anycast
address, which is used to send a packet to any one group of nodes in a network.
Header format simplification
In contrast to the header format of IPv4, some of the header fields of IPv6 have
been discarded or made optional. This change was invoked so that the commoncase processing cost of packet handling can be reduced and limit the bandwidth
cost of IPv6 header.
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Improved support for extensions and options
The changes implemented in IPv6 for header options permit more efficient
forwarding. Additionally there are less stringent limits on the length of options,
this adds flexibility of further options that can be implemented in the future.
Flow labelling capability
This is a new capability feature, which allows the labelling of packets belonging
to a particular traffic flow, for which the user requests special handling. This
includes non-default quality of service or real time service.
Authentication and privacy capabilities
IPv4 did not have any authentication and privacy capabilities. This was
compensated by the development of IPsec. IPv6 contains many features of IPsec
as well as other features to support authentication, data integrity, and data
confidentiality.
14.1.6
IP routing and routers

Any IP device that can forward IP packets (which have a destination address
other than its own) to other IP devices is called a router. The process of
selecting the best data link and next hop on the route to the right destination
network is called routing.
Application
Router
Routing is the process of selecting the
next destination using a routing table.
TCP/
UDP
IP
Relay
IP
Layer 3 switch
decides were to transmit
the IP packet next after
analysis of the IP header
information
depending on data link
and physical link layer,
segmentation or
reassembly may
necessary
IP
L2
L2
L2
L1
L1
L1
Router
Figure 35.
A router and its tasks
Routing can be either static or dynamic. In static routing the router will have a
fixed routing table, which includes the destination IP networks and
corresponding next hops. In dynamic routing, the routers exchange information
on the destination IP networks and corresponding next hops. This dynamic
information is exchanged via routing protocols like the OSPF (Open Shortest
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Path First), the RIP (Routing Information Protocol), the IGRP (Interior Gateway
Routing Protocol) and the BGP (Border Gateway Protocol).
In real life it is impossible and impractical to know the route to every IPnetwork in the world, so the routers and the hosts use a default gateway or
default route. If more accurate information is not known of a destination IPnetwork, then the packet will be sent to the default gateway. The default
gateway/default route is typically marked with the address 0.0.0.0 / mask
0.0.0.0 -notation. A typical routing table for Router 1 is shown below.
Destination
192.168.0.0
192.168.1.0
192.168.2.0
0.0.0.0
Mask
255.255.255.0
255.255.255.0
255.255.255.0
0.0.0.0
192.168.0.1/24
192.168.2.3/24
192.168.0.0/24
Router 2
192.168.0.5
192.168.1.5
Router 1
Ethernet 0
192.168.2.0/24
Next hop
Interface
Ethernet 0
Ethernet 1
Ethernet 0
Ethernet 1
Ethernet 1
192.168.1.1/24
192.168.1.0/24
192.168.0.5/24
192.168.1.5/24
192.168.0.7/24
Internet
Figure 36.
Router 3
IP routers and routing table
Let us assume that a malfunction occurs in Router 3. Therefore, Router 1 has to

find an alternative path to route its packets to the Internet.
IP is a connectionless protocol and routing will be done individually for each
and every packet even if they belong to the same data transfer. Every router
between the sender and the receiver performs the routing function.
Routers are needed in IP based LAN/WAN networks to interconnect IP network
that employ similar or dissimilar lower layer (data link) protocols. An IP packet
arriving from a network using one type of data link can be easily forwarded to
the next hop network based on another type of data link. A router is needed
even if both the sender and the receiver are connected to the same physical data
link network, that is, an Ethernet segment, but they are using IP addresses from
different IP subnetworks. In this case, packets from one subnetwork to the other
will have to be sent to a router, which has an interface to both subnetworks. The
router then forwards packets between the two IP subnetworks.
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14.1.7
Transport protocols
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and
SCTP are all layer-4 transport protocols. They are used to help in the end-to-end
transport of data over IP networks.
Appli cation
Appli cation
Communication
virtual connection
TCP/UDP
TCP/UDP/
SCTP
SCTP
Router
IP
Router
Relay
IP
IP
Relay
IP
IP
IP
L2
L2
L2
L2
L2
L2
L1
L1
L1
L1
L1
L1
Router
Figure 37.
Router
Peer-to-peer communication in the transport layer
Both TCP and UDP can help, for example, in segmenting user data to variablelength IP packets and adding a sequence number to each packet. From the
sequence number the receiver knows how to reassemble the user data even if
the actual IP packets arrive in different order to that transmitted.
correct loss or corruption of data.
FTP (Data)
H.248
(Data)
Ethernet IP
IP SCTP
TCP H.248
FTP (Data)
Ethernet
(Data)
Packet 1.
Figure 38.
Ethernet IP
IP TCP
Ethernet
SCTP
FTP (Data)
H.248
(Data)
Packet 2.
IP data flow
TCP
The Transmission Control Protocol is used to provide reliable data transfer

between two IP end points. Its functionality includes sequence numbering, flow
control, packet acknowledgements, and checksum for data corruption
supervision.
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UDP
The User Datagram Protocol is used to provide fast data transfer between two
IP endpoints. Data corruption can be checked with the use of checksum, but this
is optional. This protocol is used instead of TCP when speed is more important
than reliability, and/or upper or lower layer protocols already support reliable
data transfer functionality.
SCTP
SCTP is a reliable transport protocol operating on top of a potentially unreliable
connectionless packet service such as IP. It offers acknowledged error-free nonduplicated transfer of datagrams (messages). Detection of data corruption, loss
of data and duplication of data is achieved by using checksums and sequence
numbers. A selective retransmission mechanism is applied to correct loss or
corruption of data.
The main difference to TCP is multi-homing and the concept of several streams
within a connection. Where in TCP a stream is referred to as a sequence of
bytes, an SCTP stream represents a sequence of messages.
SCTP can be used as the transport protocol for applications where monitoring
and detection of loss of session is required. For such applications, the SCTP
path/session failure detection mechanisms, especially the heartbeat, will actively
monitor the connectivity of the session.
14.1.8
Application protocols
There is a wide range of application layer protocols. Some of them are listed in
this section.
Telnet
This application layer protocol is used for providing virtual terminal (VT)
sessions between IP capable equipment.
HTTP
HyperText Transport Protocol is an application layer protocol used to define

web contents and its transfer.
H.248
Megaco/H.248, the Media Gateway Control Protocol, is for control of elements

in a physically decomposed multimedia gateway, which enables separation of
call control from media conversion.
SNMP
Simple Network Management Protocol is an application layer protocol used for

network management in TCP/IP networks.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is an application layer protocol used for file transfers.
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ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol is a layer 3 control protocol used to carry

error and control messages between IP nodes.
Real Time Protocol and Real Time Control Protocol
RTP provides end-to-end network transport functions suitable for applications
transmitting real-time data, such as audio, video or simulation data, over
multicast or unicast network services. RTP does not address resource
reservation and does not guarantee quality-of-service for real-time services.
The data transport is augmented by a control protocol (RTCP) to allow
monitoring of the data delivery in a manner scalable to large multicast
networks, and to provide minimal control and identification functionality. RTP
and RTCP are designed to be independent of the underlying transport and
network layers. The protocol supports the use of RTP-level translators and
mixers.
14.2
IP addresses for Release 4 Core network

elements
This section gives some guidelines about how addresses are configured, and
what kind of addresses and network masks are needed in the IP backbone.
Both IP address allocation and subnets formation should be planned carefully
beforehand. A plan should cover at least the main principles for assigning
private and public IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and network masks, and the
interoperability of subnets and VLANs. It should also allow for the possible
need for subnet expansion to the maximum configuration, meaning that each
VLAN should have large enough IP address space.
Various types of traffic are transported between network elements in an MSS
site. The three main types that are relevant from the addressing point of view
are:
O&M traffic
Control plane traffic
User plane traffic
O&M traffic:
O&M traffic exists in every network element. The O&M traffic is IPv4 based,
and private IP addresses can be used for the O&M related units. O&M traffic
may also include charging and statistics related information, even though
charging traffic, for example, can be separated from O&M. The O&M units are
mainly OMUs and NEMUs, but there can also be CHUs and STUs.
Control plane traffic:
The control plane is used for controlling communication between network

elements. Control plane traffic is either IPv4 or IPv6 based. Most commonly
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public addresses are used. Examples of control plane units are the ISU in the
MGW, and the CCSU/SIGU in the MSS.
User plane traffic:
The user plane is used for carrying the actual user data. IP addresses must be
configured in TCUs and IP NIU.
Note: The decision of whether to use private or public addresses depends on the
site and backbone solution. If there are no external connections from the
backbone, all addresses can be private.
Standalone MSC Server
A standalone MSC Server has a maximum of 38 signalling units (*SU). The

unit types that may be used are CCSU, BSU and SIGU. These units are N+1
redundant.
The number of IP addresses required depends on how many of each unit are
used. Each unit has one IP address (IPv4). In cases when they are
communicating with MGW, they can also have IPv6 addresses. Additionally,
there are OMU (2N), (2N), CHU (2N) and BDCU (N+1) computer units that
need an IP address.
The number of IP addresses needed for a standalone MSS can be large

including addresses for a public control plane containing the signalling
Units. In cases where the units are communicating with MGW, they can
also have IPv6 addresses.
Standalone Gateway Control Server
A standalone Gateway Control Server (GCS) has a maximum of 30 signalling

units (*SU). The unit type that can be used is CCSU or SIGU. The units are
N+1 redundant. The number of IP addresses required depends on how many
pieces of each unit are used. Each unit has one IP address (IPv4). In cases when
the units are communicating with MGW, they can have also IPv6 addresses.
Additionally, there are OMU, STU, CHU (2N) and BDCU (N+1)
computer units that need an IP address.
Integrated MSC Server
An integrated MSC Server has a maximum of 14 signalling units (*SU),

and 16 BSUs. In cases when the units are communicating with MGW,
they can also have IPv6 addresses. In addition, there are OMU (2N), STU
(2N), CHU (2N) and BDCU (N+1) computer units that need an IP
address.
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An integrated GCS has a maximum of 33 signalling units (*SU). In cases

when the units are communicating with MGW, they can also have IPv6
addresses. In addition, there are OMU (2N), STU (2N), CHU (2N) and
BDCU (N+1) computer units that need an IP address.
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Multimedia Gateway for MSC Server
In a Multimedia Gateway, units that require IP addresses are TCUs, ISUs, IPNIU pairs, OMUs, the NEMU and LAN switches. Each TCU has four
Transcoder Processor Groups which all need separate addresses.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for an MGW is:
312 public user plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for TCUs
11 public control plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for ISUs
2 public user plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for IPGE/O pairs or 16 public

user plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for IPFE pairs
3 IPv4 addresses for management purposes for LAN switches
1 private O&M IPv4 address for OMUs
1 private O&M IPv4 address for NEMU
Circuit Switched Data Server
In a Circuit Switched Data Server, IP addresses are required for GSU (N+1),
OMU (2N) and LAN switches. In cases when the GSU units are communicating
with MGW, they can also have IPv6 addresses.
* For more details on IP connectivity refer to the Appendix of this module
and to Nokia Site connectivity documents and courses.
14.3
IP address and stack configuration for IPv4

The IP addresses and IP stacks needed for MSC Server system network
elements are configured using network element specific MML commands. The
following sections present the parameters that need to be configured in each
network element.
14.3.1
Network interface configurations for IPv4

When configuring network interfaces for network elements, you need to specify
the following:
Unit type
The type of computer unit in which you want to configure a network interface.
The program provides a list of computer units for you to choose from. This
parameter is obligatory.
Unit group
The unit group number of the computer unit in which you want to configure a
network interface. The maximum value of the parameter is determined by the
number of computer unit groups (or stages). This parameter is asked for only
when it is needed, in which case it is obligatory.
Unit index
The index of the computer unit in which you want to configure a network
interface. The maximum value of this parameter is determined by the number of
units. This parameter is obligatory if you want to assign a physical IP address to
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the network interface or if you are configuring a network interface in an N+1

redundant unit. You can use && mark to specify a group of indexes to be
configured.
Interface name
The name of the network interface that you want to configure. The name is from
3 to 8 characters long and must start with 'AA' (external ATM point to point
interface), 'AI' (internal ATM point to point interface), 'EL' (Ethernet interface
in DMX units), 'IFETH' and 'IFFGE' (Etherent interfaces in Chorus units), 'PPP'
(POS interface in IP-NIU units) or 'LO' (Loopback interface). You can use &&
mark to specify a group of interfaces to be configured. This parameter is
obligatory.
IP address
IP address for the network interface or for the interface pair of 2N redundant
unit. The address is specified in conventional dot notation (#.#.#.#).
The range of parameters for each part of the address is from zero to 255. If you
give several computer units with && mark, then the IP address you give is the
one to start with. It is assigned to the first unit you gave. The next IP address is
created by incrementing the previous address.
IP address type
The logical or physical IP address for the network interface.

Possible values are:
L = Logical IP address. This address belongs to the specified interface of the
specified functional unit. The logical IP address follows the active unit. The
logical IP address can be given to 2N and N+1 units. In N+1 units you have to
identify the unit type and unit index. In 2N units you only have to identify the
unit type of the 2N unit; the unit index is not needed.
P = Physical IP address.
This address is assigned to the specified computer unit permanently. Note that
with the physical IP address you have to identify both unit type and unit index.
Physical IP address is not allowed in IP-NIU type units.
netmask length
The length of the numerical part of the IP address (in bits). The value you enter
for this parameter must be a whole number between 4 and 30. The default
length of the netmask is determined by the IP address: 8 for class A address, 16
for class B address, and 24 for class C address.
The following parameters can have the default values:

Destination IP
The IP address of point-to-point link. Check that the interface really is point-topoint type with MML command.
MTU
The maximum transmittable size of a single, complete IP data unit. You can
only give MTU for some interfaces. For Ethernet interfaces the default MTU is
1500, for IP over ATM interfaces it is 9180.
State
This parameter indicates the initial administrative state of the interface

immediately after configuration. If the interface is configured for the first time,
the default value is UP. If state is omitted and the network interface has been
configured before, its state does not change.
The possible values of the parameter are:
UP = the interface is in use. This is the default value.
DOWN= the interface is blocked. This is the default for point-to-point (PPP)
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14.4
LAN architecture in MSC Server network

configuration
The basic building blocks for LAN connections are:
ESB20/ESB26: ESB26 is a 26 port 10/100BaseT/Tx Ethernet LAN switch plugin unit integrated into the MSCi, MSC Server, GCS and CDS mechanics.
ESA24: ESA24 is a 24 port 10/100BaseT/Tx Ethernet LAN switch plug-in unit
integrated into the MGW mechanics.
IP-NIU: IP-NIU is an IP network interface unit in the MGW. The IP-NIU for
Ethernet connectivity is implemented with IPFGE plug-in unit which offers
either 1 x 1000Base-LX/LH Ethernet + 1000Base-T Ethernet interface or 8 x
100Base-T Ethernet interfaces.
OSR 7609:OSR 7609 is a multilayer LAN switch/edge router, which is used in
the example configurations for providing in-site connectivity and the WAN
interface.
The Hot Standby Routing Protocol (HSRP) is required for redundancy purposes.
It allows a redundant router to automatically assume the function of an active
router in case the active router fails. HSRP is particularly useful when the users
on one subnet need continuous access to resources in the network.
14.4.1
MSC Server LAN

Integrated MSS control LAN
For the integrated MSS control LAN topology with duplicated multilayer LAN
switch / edge routers (OSR) and duplicated DNS servers there are several
alternative control cabinet configurations:
Each cabinet has a redundant ESB20/ESB26 pair for the control LAN. Each
signalling unit is connected to the ESB20/ESB26 pair of the same cabinet.
In the maximum configuration, the control LAN reserves 2 x 4 x 10/100Base-T
Ethernet ports in the OSR7609. If one OSR is used, redundant ESB20/ESB26
LAN switches are connected to different Ethernet line cards in the OSR. In twoOSR configurations the redundant ESB20 LAN switches are connected to
different OSRs.
If a redundant DNS pair is used on the site, both DNS units reserve 2 ports from
each OSR7609, or 2 ports from two different Ethernet line cards in one OSR
configuration. The other port is used for DNS queries and the other one is for
O&M. The same DNS is used for the MSS, GCS, CDS and MGW.
Standalone MSS control LAN
The following figure presents the standalone MSS control LAN topology with
duplicated OSRs and DNS servers:
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Figure 39 Control LAN topology for standalone MSC Server
Each cabinet has a redundant ESB20/ESB26 pair for the control LAN.
In the minimum configuration there is only IPCF and one IPCG0 cabinet,
whereas IPCG1, IPCG2 and IPCH cabinets are optional.
In the maximum configuration the control LAN reserves 2 x 5 x 10/100Base-T
Ethernet ports in an OSR7609. If one OSR is used, redundant ESB20 are
connected to different Ethernet line cards in the OSR. In two-OSR
configurations the redundant ESB20 are connected to different OSRs.
If a redundant DNS pair is used on the site, the both DNS units reserve 2 ports
from each OSR7609, or 2 ports from two different Ethernet line cards in a oneOSR-configuration. One port is used for DNS queries and the other is for O&M.
The same DNS is used for the MSS, GCS, CDS and MGW. See Domain name
system in MSC Server system for more information about the recommended
DNS solutions.
14.4.2
MSC Server virtual LANs

In the OSR the control and O&M LANs can be separated into different VLANs
based on the port that the traffic comes from. The O&M LAN traffic can be
further divided into three separate VLANs in the ESB20 on a per port basis:
O&M VLAN
Charging VLAN
BDCU VLAN
In the integrated MSC Server the radio network control traffic can be separated
into its own VLANs on a per port basis in the ESB20.
If necessary, some of the control plane signallings can be separated in the OSR
with help of the access lists. This separation can be done on the basis of an IP
address, TCP/UDP port number or protocol (SCTP, TCP, UDP).
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If the core network control plane signallings are the only user of the DNS
services, the DNS can be included in the control VLAN.
The following figure presents an example of traffic separation in MSS by using
virtual LANs:
Figure 40 MSC Server VLANs
The VLAN access lists (VACL) on the OSR are configured so that they apply
to all packets that are either routed into or out of a VLAN, or are bridged within
a VLAN.
The VACLs are only restricted for security packet filtering and redirecting
traffic to specific physical switch ports in OSR. The configuration principles are
as follows:
The MSS/GCS control VLAN packets are either bridged or routed to the
GCS and MGW control VLANs
The MSS/GCS O&M VLAN packets are routed to the OSS
The charging VLAN packets are either routed to the Charging Gateway
(CG) or customer care and billing centre (CCBS)
The BDCU VLAN packets are routed to the short message service centre
(SMSC) or to the NetAct" Traffica
The O&M port of the DNS belongs to the O&M VLAN
If charging traffic is separated into its own VLAN in the O&M LAN, a VLAN
trunk has to be defined between the ESB20 and the OSR, since both the
charging and O&M VLANs are using the same physical interface.
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14.5
Redundancy in MSC Server system

The MSC Server system network elements support the conventional DX200 and
IPA2800 redundancy schemes (such as 2N, N+1) in their functional units.
MGW supports MSP 1+1 protection system in its STM-1/OC-3c network
interfaces. Redundancy in the intra-site LAN is implemented as illustrated in the
following figure. MSS is shown as an example of a general way to connect a
single Ethernet interface of a network element to the OSR.
14.5.1
MSC Server LAN redundancy principles

Redundancy in CPU and ESB20
Each computer unit having a LAN interface (BDCU, BSU, CCSU, CHU, OMU,
SIGU, STU) has two functionally independent LAN interfaces. Thus each
computer unit has two separate connections to the LAN infrastructure. At any
given time, only one of the interfaces is used to carry traffic whereas the other
one is idle. Each computer unit independently makes the decision on which of
the two interfaces is active and which one is idle. The CPU LAN interfaces are
connected to different ESB20 switches. Thus, when selecting the LAN interface
the CPU simultaneously selects the ESB20 LAN switch, which it uses.
So, if the LAN cable or the LAN port in the CPU or ESB20 fails, the CPU can
perform switchover to the other interface and, at the same time, to the other
ESB20. During the switchover the IP address is retained and then the new MAC
address is advertised using a gratuitous ARP message with IPv4, and Neighbour
Discovery protocol with IPv6, after the interface switchover.
Figure 41 Redundancy in CPU LAN interfaces and ESB20
The physical layer supervision of the LAN interfaces in the CPU can only
detect failures in the link between the CPU and the ESB. Therefore the CPU
cannot make an interface changeover in cases when the link between ESB and
OSR fails. For this reason the redundant ESB20 pair can be interconnected in
order to supply a backup route to the OSR via the other ESB20. This
interconnection can be removed later if the CPU software is updated with higher
layer supervision, which can detect link failure behind an ESB.
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15
IP connectivity in MGW Rel.4

The IP connectivity feature provides Fast Ethernet (100Mbit/s) and 1Gbit/s
Ethernet connections for the IP backbone and IP Trunk user plane traffic. For
the control plane traffic, it provides connections for SIGTRAN and H.248
control.
IP connectivity is used for the following protocols:
RTP/RTCP
H.248
SIGTRAN
IP connection also adds the routing functionality to MGW Rel.4. The routing
functionality can be used for routing user plane (RTP), H.248 and SIGTRAN to
core network routers.
As regards the benefits, the IP backbone, connectivity provides the following:
Evolution path to All-IP Core protects the operator's investments
Ethernet and STM-1 interfaces give flexibility to connect MGW Rel.4 to

different network environments and to build variable solutions
IP as a common network platform provides agile network development
Transmission cost savings
Functionality
By default (1Gbit/s Ethernet) both control plane (SIGTRAN and H.248

signalling) and user plane traffic is routed through the same unit (IP-NIU).
However, if there is a need to increase the security of the control plane traffic, it
can be isolated from the user plane traffic by using the 100Mbit/s Fast Ethernet
(FE) connection from ISU or IP-NIU.
Figure 42 Isolating control plane from IP user plane
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When Ethernet connections are used for transporting IP traffic, the Address
Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used for IP address mapping. As regards routing,
MGW supports both IPv4 and IPv6 routing. Routing in both IPv4 and IPv6 is
based on static routing.
15.1
IP connectivity configuration of Multimedia

Gateway
The MGW has various types of interfaces to ensure its connectivity in different
environments. This section describes the functionality of the following
interfaces:
Ethernet
STM-1 for Packet over SDH/SONET (POS)
STM-1 for IP over ATM traffic (IPoA)
The traffic types listed above are connected from different types of IP-NIU
units. All units are configured using MML commands, but the configuration
parameters and values differ. Ethernet connections cannot be configured via
IP4S1 units.
One IP4S1 in the MGW has four STM-1 ports with VC3/VC4 mapping offering
an interface speed of 155 Mbit/s each. Note that at the moment VC3 can only be
used for IPoA, but not for POS.
Selection of the used interface is based on available backbone devices. Ethernet
connections are commonly connected to an OSR, and IPoA connections to an
MGX.
Cisco MGX switch is used as an example of an ATM switch. Cisco OSR LAN
switch / IP router is used as an example for providing the local IP connectivity.
POS connections can be connected to an OSR or an MGX.
The values of the parameters can be modified, but it is recommended that the
default values for the OSR, for example, are used.
Ethernet interface
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet interface from MGW for MSS (3GPP Rel-4) is possible with
IPGE/O type of IP-NIU.
The IP configuration is made using MML commands as described earlier in IP
address and stack configuration for IPv4 and IPv6 .
The Gigabit Ethernet interface is mainly used for user plane traffic and it is
connected directly to an OSR. With Gigabit Ethernet two types of physical
interfaces are possible: optical IPGO and electrical IPGE. The interfaces are of
the type 1000 Base-T, RJ-45 category 5, or 1000 Base-LX/LH SMF, LC
connector, MTU default 1500, No VLAN support, Encapsulation according
IEEE 802.3, Dual Stack.
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100 Megabit Ethernet
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100 Megabit Ethernet interfaces can be used in two ways: there can either be
separate IP-NIU with 100Mb interfaces or internal LAN switches with 100Mb
uplinks. In case of IP-NIUs, IPFE is used. An IPFE has eight interfaces to be
used for control plane and user plane traffic.
The IPFE units are of the type 100 Base-TX, RJ-45 category 5. The rest of the
configuration parameters are the same as with the Gigabit Ethernet interface
above.
Integrated LAN switches are used when control plane traffic is taken from the
ISU-units. These LAN switches are also used for O&M traffic. The ESA12
units used for integrated ESA 12 LAN switches are 12-port 10/ 100BaseT full
duplex Ethernet switches that comply with the IEEE standards 802.3, 802.1D,
802.3X, 802.1q and 802.1p.
Their functions include full/half duplex selection, auto negotiation
(enable/disable), back pressure support in HDX mode and flow control in FDX
mode. One or two trunks can be defined (1 - 6 ports per trunk).
IP over ATM interface (IPoA)
The MGW must support some suitable connection to the operators' existing
ATM networks. The uplink traffic from the MGW is connected to the MGX
using STM-1 link(s). The IPoA functionality connects the MGW's internal units
to the external devices via IP over ATM.
Packet over SDH/SONET interface (POS)
The Packet over SDH interface of the MGW is used for transmitting user plane
traffic to an IP backbone but can also be used for transmitting signalling
protocols
(RANAP, BSSAP) and Media Control Protocol (H.248) between a MGW and a
MSC Server. The IP over SDH/SONET requires some point-to-point link layer
protocol between IP and SDH, and the point-to-point protocol (PPP) is specified
for that.
The MGW can open PPP links for example to another MGW (over the Nb
interface) and to a core network router.
The PPP over SDH/SONET uses a high-level data link control protocol
(HDLC) such as standard framing.
Packet over SDH/SONET interface is a standard interface based on RFC2615
and RFC2472 (IPv6) specifications.
15.1.1
Configuring the physical layer

The physical layer is configured with a network element specific MML
command. The same MML is used for both IPoA and POS configurations.
You need to configure the following:
SDH exchange
This parameter identifies the SDH exchange terminal with a unique Numeric
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SES BIP threshold
This parameter identifies the numeric value of the SES (Severely Errored
Second) BIP (Bit Interleaved Parity check) threshold in the SDH interface.
This parameter is optional and the value can range from 1 to 8000 SDH
frames per second.
SD BER threshold
This parameter identifies the numeric value of the SD (Signal Degrade) BER
(Bit Errors Ratio) threshold in the SDH interface.
SF BER threshold
This parameter identifies the numeric value of the SF (Signal Fail) BER (Bit
Errors Ratio) threshold in the SDH interface.
diagnostic
This parameter identifies the status of the diagnostic loopback and is used for
testing purposes. It can be used for testing internal connections.
line loopback
This parameter identifies the status of the line loopback and is used for testing
purposes.
laser status
This parameter is used to switch the laser power on or off. The Off option can
be used for testing purposes, or to take SET out of use.
VC mapping
This parameter specifies the Virtual Container mapping on the SDH interface.
This parameter can have the following values:
VC3 = VC-3 mapping for STM-0 or 3xVC-3 mapping for STM-1
VC4 = VC-4 mapping for STM-1
SDH protocol
The parameter specifies which SDH protocol is used in the SDH interface.
This parameter can have the following values:
ITU = SDH standardised by ITU
ATMML = SDH specified by NTT ATM Mega Link Service
Physical layer configuration also includes configuring SDH protection group
and defining Physical Layer Trail Termination Point configuration. These are
configured using different MMLs.
Configuring Layer 2
Layer 2 is configured using MML commands. There are different MML

commands for IPoA and POS.
For IPoA, you need to configure the following parameters (LCC/SNAP or VCMux):
interface ID
This parameter identifies the ATM interface with a unique numerical value. The
value can range from 1 to 320. As a default a free ID is selected by the system.
interface type
This parameter describes the type of the ATM interface. The parameter can
have the following values:
UNI = User-Network Interface is interface between the terminal equipment and
a network termination where the access protocols apply.
NNI = Network-Node Interface is the interface at a network node which is used
to interconnect with another network node. The parameter is obligatory.
PhyTTP
This parameter identifies the physical resource that the interface is based on. It
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can range from 0 to 320. The parameter is obligatory.

administrative state
This parameter describes the administrative state of the ATM interface. The
parameter can have the following values:
Locked = The resource is administratively prohibited from performing services
for its users.
Unlocked = The resource is administratively permitted to perform services for
its users. The default value is unlocked.
For POS, you need to configure the following parameters (Point-to-point protocol (PPP)
configuration):
unit type
This parameter identifies the computer unit type. There are two possible values:
IPS1 and IPSP.
unit index
This parameter identifies the unit index for the computer unit. For IPS1, the
range of unit index is from 0 to 3.
physical trail layer
The physical trail layer termination point parameter identifies a phyTTP with a
unique numerical value. It can range from 1 to 320. This parameter is unique
within the network element.
network interface
This interface parameter identifies a network interface with a unique name. The
value of the parameter is PPPxx, where xx is a decimal number from 0 to 99.
This parameter is unique within the network element.
supervision interval
This parameter defines the supervision interval of the PPP link. If set to 0
supervision is not used. It can range from 0 to 3600 seconds. Default value is 10
seconds.
maximum receive
This parameter indicates the packet size that the peer can handle. It can range
from 128 to 16384 bytes. Default value is 1500 bytes.
PPP interface
This parameter identifies the management state of the PPP interface. Allowed
values are UP and DOWN (default).
15.2
IP Backbone in Nokia MGW

Nokia Multimedia Gateway provides the possibility to use IP backbone
networks as such for transporting media for circuit-switched connections
between gateways
(Nb reference point). In All-IP mobility core networks, the IP backbone is used
to transport speech traffic between the GGSN and Multimedia Gateway
(Gi reference point). The natural choice for transmitting media over IP in
backbone connections is the IP over SDH/Sonet.
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Media over the IP backbone is transferred using the real time protocol (RTP).
RTP provides end-to-end delivery services for data with real-time
characteristics, such as interactive audio. These services include payload type
identification, sequence numbering, time stamping and delivery monitoring.
This makes RTP an ideal protocol for real-time applications such as voice over
IP (VoIP).
The network interface unit in the Nokia Multimedia Gateway provides the
following options for transmitting media over IP:
1 Gigabit Ethernet interface (1000 Base-T, 1000 Base-LX; Full duplex,

auto-negotiation, flow control, MTU>1500 bytes)
8 Fast Ethernet interfaces (100 Base-TX; Full duplex, auto-negotiation,

flow control, MTU>1500 bytes)
STM-1 Packet over SDH/Sonet (VC-4, PPP support according RFC

1661,1662, 1669, 2615 and 2472)
STM-1 IP over ATM (VC-4, OC-3c, according RFC 2684 LLC/SNAP)
Separating signalling from user plane
By default, both signalling (containing SIGTRAN traffic and H.248 traffic) and
user traffic are routed via the IP-NIU unit using either fast Ethernet (FE) or 1G
interfaces.
If FE interfaces are used, Multimedia Gateway provides the possibility of
assigning separate physical interfaces for signalling traffic and user plane
traffic. This is to provide better security for signalling against external attacks.
If 1G interface is used for the user plane, then there is no possibility to isolate
signalling traffic into a separate physical Ethernet interface via IP-NIU. In such
cases, the signalling can be routed directly from ISU units to layer 2 switches
located at the Multimedia Gateway cabinet, and from those switches then onto
the router and MSC Server or gateway control server.
New hardware in Nokia MGW
All hardware units from the U1.5 release are applicable as such in the same
network element. They can be utilised in another network element, as well.
The following new hardware items are provided:
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Interface unit IP-NIU for IP user plane connectivity. If IP interface for the
user plane is not needed, then this unit is not needed.
Voice Announcement Unit (VANU). Voice announcement samples are

located and controlled via the VANU unit.
New signalling unit type CCP10. This signalling unit is a new

manufacture with a more powerful processor compared to the previous
CCPC2-A unit in the earlier releases. CCP10 also provides a redundant
Ethernet interface and integrated IPsec support. This unit is used for all
signalling units in new deliveries. The existing CCPC2-A units in ISU
use need to be upgraded to CCP10.
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15.2.1
Requirements for an IP backbone connected to a MGW Rel.4

IP backbone, located between two MGW Rel.4 network elements (Nb
interface), requires the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) to convey user
plane traffic. The Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) can be used to
monitor the RTP stream and to collect statistical data. RTP provides end-to-end
delivery services for data with real-time characteristics (such as interactive
audio transmission), thus making it an ideal protocol for real-time applications
such as Voice over IP (VoIP).
Depending on the requirements of different network environments and variable
site solutions, IP backbone must support at least one of the following
connections:
Fast Ethernet (100Mbit/s)
Ethernet (1Gbit/s)
When Ethernet connections are used for transporting IP traffic, the Address
Resolution Protocol (ARP) is required for IP address mapping.
As regards routing, IP backbone must either support IPv4 or IPv6 routing. This
is because routing daemons implement different routing protocols for IPv4 and
IPv6 (IPv4 and IPv6 must also be given separate routing tables). Routing in
both IPv4 and IPv6 is based on static routing.
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16
Configuring IP connection for IP

backbone Nb user plane
The user plane traffic within the IP backbone (Nb interface) is conveyed by
using the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). RTP provides end-to-end
delivery services for data with real-time characteristics, such as interactive
audio. These services include payload type identification; sequence numbering,
time stamping and delivery monitoring. This makes RTP an ideal protocol for
real-time applications such as voice over IP (VoIP).
When the IP backbone is used to connect two MGW Rel.4 network elements,
there are several options available for the operator to establish the connection.
However, all of the options require a new IP network interface unit (IP-NIU).
The table below lists the available IP-NIU options.
Table 1 IP-NIU options in IP backbone
Physical interface
Functional unit
Physical unit
Gigabit Ethernet
IPGE (electr.)
IPFGE
IPGEP (electr.)
IPGO (optic.)
IPGOP (optic)
Fast Ethernet
IPFE
IPFGE
IPFEP
The key factor determining which IP backbone solution will be used is whether
the operator wants to separate the control plane traffic from the user plane
traffic.
In an IP backbone RTP and RTCP protocols are used. In each sent RTP packet,
there is 5 ms or 20 ms of coded voice as a payload, depending on the used
interface and codec. This means that 400 or 100 RTP packets with voice as
payload are sent per each RTP session (call with 2 participants) every second,
respectively. In the Nb interface with G.711 codec, the RTP packet contains 5
ms of voice. In the Multi- Access VoIP interfaces and Nb interface with some
other codec than G.711 (for example, UMTS AMR), the RTP packet contains
20 ms of voice. Every 5 seconds, two RTCP packets (one for each way) are sent
per active session for control purposes.
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Figure 43 User plane IP stack
IP backbone with control plane and user plane separated
If the operator decides to use control plane isolation (for security or capacity
reasons), there are two options, which enable the encryption of the control plane
traffic with a separate device.
1.
When the Gigabit Ethernet physical interface is used for the user plane
traffic, IP-NIU (IPGE/IPGO) cannot be used to separate the control plane
traffic from the user plane traffic. However, it is still possible to isolate
control plane traffic by routing it directly from the ISU units into ESA12
(L2 switch). The new signalling unit CCP10 provides redundant LAN
interface for this purpose. The figure below illustrates the ESA12
solution.
Figure 44 IP backbone with Gigabit Ethernet (control plane and user plane
separated)
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2.
When the Fast Ethernet physical interface is used, IP-NIU can be used to
separate the control plane traffic from the user plane traffic. The 2N
redundant IP-NIU has 8 Fast Ethernet interfaces, of which one or several
interfaces can be exclusively dedicated to the control plane, thus
providing a separate LAN for control plane traffic. The remaining
interfaces can be dedicated to user plane traffic.
Note
The Nb interface can be created using ATM backbone, IP backbone or TDM
backbone. However, it is also possible to utilise more than one backbone
solution simultaneously.
16.1.1
IP connection with IP backbone for Nb user plane configuration

steps in MGW Rel.4
The IP connection for Nb user plane traffic between MGW Rel.4 and the IP
backbone must be configured during integration. User plane traffic is
transported through the IPFE/IPFEP/IPGE/IPGEP/IPGO/IPGOP unit.
1.
Configure the IP stack of the TCU unit
Configure the IP stack of the TPG units in TCU. Assign physical IP address for
the IP interface AI0 of the TPG units and give the IP address of the IFETH0
interface of the IP-NIU as the destination IP address. Then create the default
static route between the TPG units and the IP-NIU.
2.
Configure internal connections for IP-NIU
Configure the IPFE/IPFEP/IPGE/IPGEP/IPGO/IPGOP unit.

3.
Configure the external connection
Configure external connection through IP-NIU.

The following figure shows how to configure internal IP interfaces between
TCU units and IPFEP units, and how to connect the IPFE unit to an external
router via Ethernet connections. The AI interfaces of the IPFGE unit have the
same IP address as the Ethernet interface, only the type of the interface is
unnumbered.
The example shows how to configure internal IP over ATM interfaces
between TCU (TPG) units and the IPFEP unit.
The IPFEP-1 unit is the spare unit for the IPFEP-0 unit. In switchover the spare
unit inherits the logical IP addresses from the active unit, so the addresses are
only configured in the active unit. After configuring the internal IP interfaces,
you need to configure the external connections.
Configure a logical IP address for the Ethernet interface of IPFEP.
1. ZQRN:IPFEP,0:IFETH0:192.160.1.5;
Note
Before attempting to configure an IP address to the interface, the external
Ethernet cables should be attached to a router unit. If there is failure to the
connection, it will cause a 2-star recovery initiating alarm on the IPFGE unit.
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Configure the same logical IP address for the ATM interfaces of IPFEP. Note
that you do not need to specify the destination address, because Inverse ATM
Address Resolution Protocol (InATMARP) is used in the IP over ATM
interfaces between TPG and IPFEP.
2. ZQRN:IPFEP,0:AI0&&AI7,U:192.160.1.5;
Note
The external IP interface addresses must be configured in different subnets.
Configure physical IP addresses for the ATM interfaces of TPG units. The
destination IP address is the logical IP address of IPFEP.
3. ZQRN:TPG,0&&7:AI0:196.160.2.1,P,::192.160.1.5;
Create the default routes from TPG units to the IPFEP unit.
4. ZQKC:TPG,0&&7::192.160.1.5;
Example: Configuring Ethernet interfaces between IPFEP units and an

external router
Interrogate the state of the units.
5. ZUSI:IPFEP;
Create the Ethernet interfaces for the IPFEP unit.

6. ZQRN:IPFEP,0:IFFGE0:10.0.0.2:29;
ZQRN:IPFEP,0:IFFGE1:10.0.0.10:29;
ZQRN:IPFEP,0:IFFGE2:10.0.0.18:29;
Create static routes from IPFEP to the external router.

7. ZQKC:IPFEP,0::10.0.0.1:LOG;
ZQKC:IPFEP,0::10.0.0.9:LOG;
ZQKC:IPFEP,0::10.0.0.17:LOG;
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Figure 45 Nb over IP in MGW
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17
TDM Backbone (optional topic)

The Nokia MGW provides an interconnection between legacy SS7 TDM
networks and packet/cell -based networks. Signalling from MGW towards
TDM-based networks is handled using SS7 standards. The primary physical
interfaces used between legacy SS7 TDM networks and packet/cell -based
networks are E1/T1/J1 and STM-1/OC3.
TDM is used in the A-interface for transporting speech, data and SS7-based
signalling between MGW/MSC Server and the BSS. The A-interface is
connected either to MGW or to MSC Server depending on the needs of the
operator. The user plane traffic (speech and data) is always routed via MGW to
the TDM/ATM/IP backbone, while the control plane traffic (BSSAP signalling)
is routed either directly to MSC Server or transparently via MGW to MSC
Server.
17.1
TDM backbone in Nokia MGW

The Nokia Multimedia Gateway can be easily adapted to the existing mobile
environment by using the existing TDM-based transmission network also in the
Nb interface. If the existing transmission network is cost-effective, and if there
are no other reasons (such as need for more capacity) for changing the
transmission network type, it does not hinder taking the bearer independent
network architecture into use.
Upgrading to the MSS system inevitably requires changes in the network
because the control plane and user plane traffic are separated. The TDM
backbone enables reducing the number of simultaneous changes when
upgrading the network. In this way the MSS system deployment can be divided
into several easily controllable phases, thus lowering, for example, schedule risk
in the network installation phase.
Changing the backbone to a packet-based one for reaching all benefits from
bearer independent network architecture can then be scheduled to a later phase
according to operator-specific plans.
The physical interface towards other TDM networks is E1/T1/JT1.
Alternatively, STM-1 VC-12 (OC-3 V51.5 SPE) is provided for environments
where large interconnect points are desired. STM-1 VC-12 allows connecting of
63 E1 interfaces (or alternatively 84 T1 interfaces) over a single fiber.
To create the Nb over TDM routing objects for TDM resources controlled by
MSC server must be created in the MSS. In the MGW the procedure necessary
is to create a CGR.
1. Create a special circuit group (SPE CGR) with the USE parameter (ZRCC)
2. Add TDM circuits to the SPE CGR (ZRCA)
3. Change the state of the circuit group to WO-EX (ZCIM)
4. Change the state of the circuits to WO-EX (ZCIM)
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18
SIGTRAN
Signaling Transport SIGTRAN is a Working Group in IETF, primary purpose
of this working group is to address the transport of packet-based PSTN
signaling over IP Networks, taking into account functional and performance
requirements of the PSTN signaling. SIGTRAN defines a framework how
different existing signalling protocols can be transferred over IP, like Q.921
(PBX) , ISUP and SCCP.
IETF has standardized various ways for adapting SS7 signalling messages on
the IP network. They include M3UA (SS7 MTP3-User Adaptation Layer) and
SUA (SS7 SCCP-User Adaptation Layer). Nokia implements the MTP layer 3
of the M3UA adaptation with feature 50035 and SCTP ((Stream Control
Transmission Protocol) protocol used for adapting SS7 messages to the IP
connections by the feature 50037.
SS7 MTP3 User

Adaption layer
Figure 46
SS7 SCCP User

Adaption layer
MAP
TCAP
MAP
SCCP
TCAP
M3UA
SUA
SCTP
SCTP
IP
IP
SIGTRAN protocol stack options
The SIGTRAN M3UA (SS7 MTP3-User Adaptation Layer) provides the

applications with the same services as the MTP3 in the SCN (Switched Circuit
Network). It routes the MTP layer 3 messages from the applications to the
correct IP resources (SCTP associations). The M3UA supports the transfer of
the messages of any protocol layer that is identified to the MTP Level 3 layer as
a user part . The list of these protocols include for example the following: ISUP
(ISDN User Part), TUP (Telephone User Part), and SCCP (Signalling
Connection Control Part). The TCAP or RANAP messages are transferred
transparently by the M3UA as SCCP payload, as they are SCCP-User
protocols.)
The M3UA signalling channels always lead to a SEP (Signalling End Point)
network element. The STP (Signalling Transfer Point) function between SCNIP and IP-IP networks is supported when both networks share a SPC (Signalling
Point Code). Most of the SS7 signalling functionality remains identical to the
existing SCN (Switched Circuit Network) signalling. The SIGTRAN feature
affects only the transport layer of the SS7 signalling: It provides a new
adaptation layer designed to fit the MTP layer 3 messages on the IP network.
For this reason some of the existing concepts have been redefined. When the IP
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is used as transport media, the concept signalling channel refers to a logical

resource instead of a physical resource (PCM-TSL). The SIGTRAN M3UA
signalling channel acts as a link to the logical SCTP association set which leads
to the next network element. An SCTP association set consists of a group of
SCTP associations, each of which is an IP resource allocation. The concepts
signalling link set and signalling route set remain as defined by the ITU-T.
SIGTRAN can be used between a Signalling Gateway (SG) and a Media
Gateway Controller (MGC) or between any other exchanges like an MSC and a
HLR.
Addressing based
on SPCs!
DX200
Signalling point A
Signalling point B
Association Set (up to 16 associations)
MSC (Server)
SCTP Association
CCSU_0
HLR (Client)
CCSU_0
IP
CCSU_1
CCSU_2
CCSU_1
CCSU_2
CM
CM
SPC_1
IP Addresses
SPC_2
Figure 47 Associations
18.1
Stream Control Transmission Protocol

SCTP is a reliable transport protocol operating on top of a potentially unreliable
connectionless packet service such as IP. It offers acknowledged error-free nonduplicated transfer of datagrams (messages). Detection of data corruption, loss
of data and duplication of data is achieved by using checksums and sequence
numbers. A selective retransmission mechanism is applied to correct loss or
corruption of data.
The decisive difference to TCP is multhoming and the concept of several
streams within a connection which are referred to as associations. Where in
TCP a stream is referred to as a sequence of bytes, an SCTP stream represents a
sequence of messages.
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19
Overview H.248
Megaco is a new protocol developed by IETF Megaco Working Group together
with ITU-T Study Group 16 to be the standard for physically decomposed
multimedia gateway structures. References for Megaco are available in RFC
2805 (requirements) and RFC 3015, which have been replaced by RFC3525 in
June, 2003. The protocol is specified by IETF as Megaco and by ITU-T as
H.248, the latest one is H.248.1, version 2, in May, 2002.
Megaco addresses the relationship between Media Gateways (MG) and Media
Gateway Controllers (MGC). (See Figure1) This relationship has a master/slave
structure, where masters are MGCs and slave devices are MGs, which execute
commands sent by master devices.
Megaco is a one to one protocol, where each MG is controlled by only one
MGC.
Media Gateway (MG): The media gateway converts media provided in one type
of network to the format required in another type of network. For example, a
MG could terminate bearer channels from a switched circuit network and media
streams from a packet network.
Media Gateway Controller (MGC): Controls the parts of the call state that
pertain to connection control for media channels in a MG.
19.1
H.248
Megaco/H.248 addresses the relationship between the Media Gateway, which
converts circuit-switched voice to packet-based traffic, and the Media Gateway
Controller which dictates the service logic of that traffic. Megaco/H.248
instructs a MGW to connect streams coming from outside a packet or cell data
network onto a packet or cell stream such as the Real-Time Transport Protocol
(RTP).
There are two basic components in Megaco/H.248: terminations and contexts.
Terminations represent streams entering or leaving the MGW (for example,
analogue telephone lines, RTP streams, or MP3 streams). Terminations have
properties, such as the maximum size of a jitter buffer, which can be inspected
and modified by the MSS.
Terminations may be placed into contexts, which are defined as when two or
more termination streams are mixed and connected together. Contexts are
created and released by the MGW under command of the MSS. A context is
created by adding the first termination, and it is released by removing
(subtracting) the last termination.
A termination may have more than one stream, and therefore a context may be a
multi-stream context. Audio, video, and data streams may exist in a context
among several terminations
For transport of the protocol over IP, MSS and MGW shall implement both
TCP and UDP. For pure IP connections, H.248/SCTP/IP should be used. The
MGW is provisioned with a name or address (such as DNS name or IP address)
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of a primary and zero or more secondary MSS that is the address the MGW uses
to send messages to the MSS.
Protocol stack
MGW
H.248
context C
Ta
terminations
User data
Tb
SCTP
TCP
IPv4 or IPv6
L1
User data
Figure 48 H.248
19.1.1
Message structure
Megaco commands sent to the media gateway are grouped into an entity called
transaction. A transaction on the other hand contains actions, and actions
contain a list of commands. Each action applies only to one context. The reason
to have transactions is that transactions guarantee ordered command processing.
All commands within the same actions will be executed sequentially in the
order described in the transaction. Transaction on the other hand can be
executed in any order. Several transactions can be later concatenated into a
message. Such transactions remain independent though and no order is implied
by such a concatenation. A message is essentially a transport mechanism
19.2
BICC
The Bearer Independent Call Control Protocol (BICC, ITU-T Q.1902) is a call
control protocol designed to be able to transport call control signalling
information, independent of the used bearer technology and signalling message
transport technology. BICC accomplishes this by defining a set of procedures
separately for call control signalling and bearer control signalling. The actual
call control level signalling uses BICC, which is based on ISUP, and allows
different protocols, such as AAL2 signalling, to be used for bearer control
signalling. Signalling message transport independence means that BICC
signalling can be transported over several different signalling transports such as
MTP3, SSCOPMCE or SIGTRAN. Bearer independence means that the actual
used media can thus be ATM, IP/Ethernet or something else. Since BICC is
based on ISUP it provides natural interworking with ISUP and BICC networks
and allows the existing supplementary services to be used without
modifications.
The BICC protocol is an adaptation of the ISUP protocol definition, but it is not
peer-to-peer compatible with ISUP (see ITU-T Q.1912.1).
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In the MSS concept the User Plane (bearer) and the Control Plane (signalling
and call control) have been separated. There is a new Network Element (NE),
Media Gateway (MGW), which takes care of the User Plane and the MSS
controls it. MGW is the based on ATM HW and IPA2800 platform. It brings
new media and functions which must be taken into account in call control
signalling. For that reason Bearer Association Transport Application Service
Element/Application Transport Mechanism (APM/BAT ASE) has been
introduced in BICC. Its main task is to transfer the bearer-specific information
between the two MSSs on a Control Plane level.
Nokia implements BICC with feature 1330. This feature implements the BICC
CS2 signalling through the IP network between the two MSSs according to
ITU-T Draft Recommendations Q.1902.X /1/, /2/, /3/, /4/ specifications. This
includes the following:
Call and bearer establishment over ATM AAL1, AAL2 and IP
Codec negotiation procedure
Codec modify procedure
Out of band transport of DTMFs
APM/BAT ASE functionality
The vertical interface MGW-MSS (Mc in 3GPP) uses H.248 to convey the
bearer-related information. The needed bearer-information is transferred
between MSSs in BICC through APM-mechanism.
MSC Server
MSC Server
IAM
Bearer cntr
Bearer cntr
MGW address
MGW
MGW
Figure 49 BICC IAM
Nb interface is backbone interface. It can be IP or ATM. For both IP and ATM

backbone interface, BICC can be used on Nc interface.
Depending up on backbone, different bearer establishment methods are possible
between MGWs. For IP backbone, bearer control signalling is encapsulated
(tunneled) in BICC. Following methods are used for IP backbone.
Fast Forward setup
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Delayed Forward setup
Backward setup
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In case of ATM backbone, bearer control signalling is AAL type 2 signalling

between MGWs. For ATM backbone, following bearer establishment methods
are used.
Forward bearer set up
Backward bearer set up
Origination node always selects the bearer establishment method as well as used
bearer network connection characteristics
19.3
Applying protocol stacks

The various interfaces can be configured in many ways. An example is provided
below.
MSC Server
MSC Server
BSSAP RANAP
BSSAP
BSC
MTP
MTP
RNC
ISUP
BICC
M3UA
SCTP
IP
H.248
M3UA
SCTP
IP
SCCP
MTP3b
H.248
M3UA
SCTP
IP
SCCP
SCCP
RANAP
BICC
SCCP
M3UA
SCTP
IP
Backbone
MGW
MTP3b
AAL5
AAL5
ATM
ATM
Phy
Phy
MTP
MGW
MGW
PSTN
Figure 50 Creating protocols stacks
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20
User plane routing

MSC Server (MSS) can be deployed in an operator's 2G network by integrating
the MSS functionality into an existing MSCi, or as a standalone network
element. The MSC functionality is split into two distinct logical entities. The
MSS handles call control and controls Multimedia Gateways (MGW). The
MGW, on the other hand, handles user plane traffic.
The following figure illustrates the network architecture. Separating the control
plane from the user plane makes it easier for the operator to configure the
network in one MSC server area.
MSCi
MSS
TDM based
Backbone & PSTN
H.248/Megaco
Sigtran
A'
Packet based
Backbone (IP/ATM)
& TDM based PSTN
A & IuIu-CS
Iu-CS
Rel99
Rel 4
Figure 51
MSS Routing in Rel99 & Rel4
The MSS handles the following types of resources:
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Time Division Multiplex (TDM) resources. There are two types of

TDMs, that is, Local TDMs, connected to the MSS and Quasi TDMs,
connected to the MGW.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) resources
Internet Protocol (IP) resources
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20.1
Control and user plane routing

In UMTS Rel.4, the control plane and user plane routing functions have been
separated. The control plane routing closely corresponds to the traditional NSS
routing and analysis functions.
A new attribute (BNC characteristic) is introduced which can be used to affect
the control plane analysis with the help of routing, charging and EOS attribute
analyses, and extended pre-analysis. A new result parameter in the control plane
routing, User Plane Destination Reference (UPDR) is added to provide input to
the user plane routing functions and analyses. UPDR is defined on the circuit
group or route level.User Plane Routing Structure
MGW selection functionality in MSC Server must be able to make user plane
routing decisions for many different call scenarios. To enable the user plane
control there are defined six different phases of user plane analysis and two
databases.
MSS B
A Circuit Group is related to
incoming traffic. A PUPD indicates
Preceding User Plane
Destination(PUPD)
MSS A
A route is related to outgoing
traffic. A SUPDR indicates
Succeeding User Plane
Destination(SUPD)
Topology database
UPD:s
Interconnections
MSS A
MSS B
ROUTE
BSC
GSM
BSC
BICC CGR
A
Mc
Mc
A
RNC
RNC
WCDMA
Iu-CS
UPD: Refers to one or more MGW

sharing a common interconnection type
MGW
IP/ATM
Backbone
UPD 10
Figure 52 Overview of user plane entities
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MGW
Iu-CS
UPD 20 UPD: Refers to one or more MGW

sharing a common interconnection type
Error! Reference source not found.
The user plane routing and analysis consists of several entities connecting user
plane and control plane. The ultimate purpose of user plane routing and analysis
is to select MGWs and route user plane traffic.
The Multimedia Gateway (MGW) database is a common storage place in the
MSC Server (MSS) for MGW-specific parameters that are used for user plane
routing purposes. The user plane topology database contains user plane
topology information. The user plane control application uses topology data to
route the user plane to the proper destination.
A User Plane Destination (UPD) defines one or several MGWs controlled by
one MSS. In a UPD the MGWs share the same kind of interconnection type.
In the MSS routes are related to Succeeding User Plane References (SUPDR)
and BICC/SIP circuit groups to Preceding User Plane Destination References.
This creates a logical chain where analysis can be used to determine a route for
an outgoing call; this will lead to a SUPDR, which in turn is related to SUPD
ultimately leading to MGW selection. The same kind of logical chain can be
described for incoming calls where the analysis determines a circuit group,
which is related to PUPDR, which leads to a PUPD finally resulting in MGW
selection.
20.2
User Plane Analysis

One part of the user plane routing configuration is User Plane Analysis. It
consists several analysis chains, which are itemized by phase names. The
operator can define the relationship of parameters (call's and network's) and
analysis phases by User Plane Analysis' MML.
User Plane Analysis and its components are created by using UANHAN MML.
The analysis consists several sub analysis, which can be linked to chains and the
different kind of results.
20.2.1
Phases
The different phase of User Plane Analysis have relationship to each other. The
result of an analysis can be the input parameter for the next phase. All phases
are not executed for each call case. The analysis chain is variable depending on
the call setup case.
Nokia Networks Oy
91 (99)
3. CMN determination
2. Succeeding BNC Characteristics

determination
1. Preceeding UPD determination
5. Succeeding Action indicator

determination
4. Succeeding UPD determination
6. Inter-Connecting BNC
Characteristics determination
User Plane Analysiss' relationship
Figure 53
The different analysis types are executed in certain combinations depending on

the call case. In some cases only one analysis may be needed and in other
several. An example is the case of 3G call to 3G call under the same MSS but
two different MGW where only analysis number 6. Inter-connecting BNC
characteristics would be executed to determine the backbone type. More
complex cases can be constructed based on the analysis table.
Outgoing Signaling
Incoming Signaling
UE
MS
TRUNK
BICC
SIP
UE
6*
6*
6*
2,4,5,6*
2,4,6*
MS
6*
6*
6*
2,4,5,6*
2,4,6*
TRUNK
6*
6*
6*
2,4,5,6*
2,4,6*
BICC
1,6*
1,6*
1,6*
1,2,3,4,5,6*
1,2,4,6*
SIP
1,6*
1,6*
1,6*
1,2,4,5,6*
1,2,3,4,6*
Figure 54 Analysis combination table
1. Preceding UPD determination (incoming side)

2. Succeeding BNC characteristics determination (outgoing side)
3. CMN determination (general)
4. Succeeding UPD determination (outgoing side)
92 (99)
Nokia Networks Oy
5. Succeeding Action Indicator determination (outgoing side)

6. Interconnecting BNC characteristics determination (general) (*executed
only if more than one MGW is involved in the call in the same MSS area)
Phase Preceding UPD determination

This Phase is needed only for BICC and SIP signallings. RANAP signalling
is able to determine the appropriate UPD for a call.
Phase Succeeding BNC Characteristics determination

This Phase is needed to determine the bearer technology used towards
succeeding MGW. This Phase is valid with BICC and SIP signalling.
Phase CMN determination

This Phase is used to detect whether a MSC Server should act as a CMN node.
Pre-condition for this analysis execution is that Phase Succeeding BNC
Characteristics determination has been executed.
Phase Succeeding UPD determination

This Phase is needed only for BICC and SIP signallings. RANAP signalling is
able to determine the appropriate UPD for a call.
Phase Succeeding Action indicator determination
Phase Inter-Connecting BNC Characteristics determination
Nokia Networks Oy
93 (99)
94 (99)
Nokia Networks Oy
21
Appendix (for reference only)
21.1
Further note on the number and types of IP

addresses for network elements
This section concentrates on network element specific information, such as how
many addresses are needed in each element. Note that in the case of 2N
redundant units logical IP addresses are used and only one address per CPU pair
is needed.
Note
The numbers given in this section are indicative whereas the actual address
allocation should always be based on the latest information on the number of
units in each network element. The latest details can be checked from the
network element engineering descriptions that are included in network element
specific documentation.
Standalone MSC Server
A standalone MSC Server has a maximum of 38 signalling units (*SU). The

unit types that may be used are CCSU, BSU and SIGU. These units are N+1
redundant.
The number of IP addresses required depends on how many of each unit are
used. Each unit has one IP address (IPv4). In cases when they are
communicating with MGW, they can also have IPv6 addresses. Additionally,
there are 1+1 x OMU (2N), 1+1 x STU (2N), 3+3 x CHU (2N) and 3 x BDCU
(N+1) computer units that need an IP address.
The maximum number of LAN switches is 12.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for a standalone MSS is:
38 public control plane IPv4 addresses for the *SUs
In cases where the units are communicating with MGW, they can also have
IPv6 addresses.
7 private O&M IPv4 addresses for CPUs
12 IPv4 addresses for management purposes for LAN switches.
Standalone Gateway Control Server
A standalone Gateway Control Server (GCS) has a maximum of 30 signalling

units (*SU). The unit type that can be used is CCSU or SIGU. The units are
Nokia Networks Oy
95 (99)
N+1 redundant. The number of IP addresses required depends on how many

pieces of each unit are used. Each unit has one IP address (IPv4). In cases when
the units are communicating with MGW, they can have also IPv6 addresses.
Additionally, there are 1+1 x OMU, 1+1 x STU, 3+3 x CHU (2N) and 3 x
BDCU (N+1) computer units that need an IP address.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for a standalone GCS is:
Integrated MSC Server
An integrated MSC Server has a maximum of 14 signalling units (*SU), and 16

BSUs. In cases when the units are communicating with MGW, they can also
have IPv6 addresses.
In addition, there are 1+1 x OMU (2N), 1+1 x STU (2N), 3+3 x CHU (2N) and
3 x BDCU (N+1) computer units that need an IP address.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for an integrated MSS is:
If the integrated MSC Server includes the IP Trunk functionality, additional

addresses are needed for the IPET units and additional LAN switches. Each
IPET unit requires one IP address. The theoretical maximum number of IPET
units is 456, but in practice the maximum number is 304. The maximum
number of LAN switches is 44.
In total, the number of additional IP addresses needed for an integrated MSS
with IP Trunk functionality is:
304 public IP addresses for IPETs
Integrated Gateway Control Server
An integrated GCS has a maximum of 33 signalling units (*SU). In cases when

the units are communicating with MGW, they can also have IPv6 addresses. In
addition, there are 1+1 x OMU (2N), 1+1 x STU (2N), 3+3 x CHU (2N) and 5 x
BDCU (N+1) computer units that need an IP address. The maximum number of
LAN switches is 10.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for an integrated GCS is:
96 (99)
Nokia Networks Oy
If the integrated GCS includes the IP Trunk functionality, additional addresses

are needed for the IPET units and additional LAN switches. Each IPET unit
requires one IP address. The theoretical maximum number of IPET units is 456,
but in practice the maximum number is 304. The maximum number of LAN
switches is 44.
In total, the number of additional IP addresses needed for an integrated GCS
with IP Trunk functionality is:
304 public IP addresses for IPETs
Multimedia Gateway for MSC Server
In a Multimedia Gateway, units that require IP addresses are TCUs, ISUs, IPNIU pairs, OMUs, the NEMU and LAN switches. Each TCU has four PQ2
processors which all need separate addresses.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for an MGW is:
312 public user plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for TCUs
11 public control plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for ISUs
2 public user plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for IPGE/O pairs or 16 public

user plane IPv6/IPv4 addresses for IPFE pairs
1 private O&M IPv4 address for OMUs
1 private O&M IPv4 address for NEMU
Circuit Switched Data Server
In a Circuit Switched Data Server, IP addresses are required for 3 x GSU (N+1),
1 +1 OMU (2N) and LAN switches. In cases when the GSU units are
communicating with MGW, they can also have IPv6 addresses.
In total, the number of IP addresses needed for a CDS is:
3 public control plane IPv4 addresses for the GSUs
1 private O&M IPv4 address for OMU
Total number of IP addresses
The table below sums up the number of IP addresses required for each MSC
Server system element. Allocation of these addresses into their own subnets and
VLANs is described in the next chapter Subnetworking principles in MSC
server.
Nokia Networks Oy
97 (99)
Note
The numbers given in this table are indicative whereas the actual address
allocation should always be based on the latest information about the number of
units in each network element. The latest details can be checked from the
network element engineering descriptions, which are included in network
element specific documentation.
21.2
Sub-networking principles in MSC Server

The address allocation principles described here can be used in cases where
every different type of traffic is segmented to its own subnet. Address spaces
are shared between network elements. Note that the subnet examples given
below are only rough examples. Normally address allocation is a much more
complex issue that must be carefully considered case by case.
MSS's internal communication addresses between IPETs and TGSUs
MSS Priv
VLAN10
10.10.0.0/23
Control Plane Ipv4 addresses for units that require control plane addresses:
CP Publ
VLAN20
195.148.0/24
Control Plane Ipv4 addresses for units that require control plane addresses:
CP Publ
VLAN20
xxxx:xxxx:::xxx/64
User plane Ipv4 address:

UP Publ
VLAN30
130.12.0.0/22
User plane Ipv4 address:

UP Publ
VLAN30
xxxx:xxxx:::xxx/64
Addresses for O&M traffic

O&M Priv
VLAN40
10.10.2.0/25
Management addresses for LAN switches

MGMNT Priv
VLAN1
10.10.2.128/25
VLAN2
10.10.3.0/28
Addresses for DNS

DNS Publ
Since the IP-NIU interfaces in the MGW are configured as router interfaces, subnets must be created
between the IP-NIU and the OSR router. A Gigabit Ethernet requires two /29 subnets, and a Fast
Ethernet, sixteen /29 subnets. These subnets also include addresses that are configured in the OSR's
router interfaces. OSR is the multilayer LAN switch/edge router used in the example configurations
for providing in-site connectivity and the WAN interface.
98 (99)
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Figure 55 Example of addressing in MSC Server system network elements
Nokia Networks Oy
99 (99)

04 Protocols Overview

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04 Protocols Overview

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IPA 2800 MGW

Network Transfer Mode ............................................................ 7

ATM protocol .......................................................................... 17

ATM Adaptation Layer............................................................ 22

Switching in ATM network ..................................................... 27

Signalling in 3G network ........................................................ 30

ATM traffic management ........................................................ 35

Resource management in ATM network ............................... 43

Routing and digit analysis ..................................................... 48

IP addressing in MSS system network elements ................. 51

IP connectivity in MGW Rel.4................................................. 69

Configuring IP connection for IP backbone Nb user

TDM Backbone (optional topic) ............................................. 81

Overview H.248 ....................................................................... 84

User plane routing .................................................................. 88

Appendix (for reference only) ................................................ 95

Describe the main functions of AAL type 2 signalling protocol.

Define the bandwidth of an ATM interface and its tube structure.

Create Virtual Paths and Virtual Channels in an ATM interface.

Define traffic descriptors, service class as well as Quality of Service

Network Transfer Mode

Comparison between Synchronous and

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

Figure 1. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

ATM cell structure

ATM UNI (User-Network Interface) cell that is used for

ATM NNI (Network-Node Interface) cell that is used for

For ATM interfaces in 3G networks, User-Network Interface (UNI) refers to the

ATM interfaces in 3G network.

User Network Interface (UNI)

Network Node Interface (NNI)

Generic Flow Control

Basic ATM cell format

Fields in the ATM cell header

Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)

Indicates whether the cell should be discarded if there is congestion in the

ATM virtual connections

Virtual Channel Connection (VCC)

Virtual Path Connection (VPC).

Relation between a transmission path, VPs and VCs

Network transport functions can be separated into those related to individual

The network deals with fewer, aggregated entities.

A form of priority control can be implemented by segregating traffic types

Network elements involved in the transport of

VC cross-connect is a network element, which connects VC links. It terminates

Statistical multiplexing gain

Layer management, which performs management functions relating to

Plane management, which performs management functions related to the

The ATM protocol reference model includes three functional layers:

ATM adaptation layer (AAL)

Convergence Sublayer (CS)

Transmission Convergence (TC)

ATM protocol layers

The physical layer defines the transmission medium, electrical characteristic,

Physical medium dependent sublayer

Transmission convergence sublayer

Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer

ATM cell structure

Convergence sublayer (CS)

Segmentation and assembly sublayer (SAR)

Convergence Sublayer (CS)

Scramble frame and adapts

ATM adaptation layer functions