Mobility Management (MM)

Different MM schemes for CS and PS mode

MM states
Involved protocols
Procedures

References:
Kaaranen, Ahtiainen, Laitinen, Naghian, Niemi: UMTS Networks Architecture, Mobility
and Services. Wiley 2001, Ch. 5.2 (MM states) and 10.3 (MM procedures)
3G 23.060 GPRS Service Description
3G 24.007 Mobile radio interface signaling layer 3, General aspects
UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

Mobility Management (MM) Basics

Mobility Management
covers all procedures, methods and identities
required to maintain knowledge about the UEs locations when it is
moving in the network
Involved entities
UE
CN

SGSN (PS mode, transitions between PMM states)

MSC/VLR (CS mode, transitions between MM states)
HLR (in home network)

in MM/PMM connected mode

RNC (cell and/or URA updates)

GGSN/GMSC

in case of roaming
visited PLMN

UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

CS Mobility Management States

MM in CS mode is highly related to connection management
no active call
(nor signaling)

call completion
MMIdle

call setup or
LA update

active call
(or signaling)
MMConnected
cell known

LA known
(paging possible)

IMSI detach

MMDetached

IMSI attach or
LA update (UE is switched on)

LA unknown
(no paging)

UE switched off
MM state is maintained in UE and MSC/VLR
UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

PS (GPRS) Mobility Management States

M S M M S ta te s

3 G -S G S N M M S ta te s

PM M-

PM M-

DETACHED

DETACHED

GPRS detach

D e ta c h ,

P S D e ta c h

P S A tta c h R e je c t,
P S A tta c h

GPRS attach

D e ta c h ,
P S D e ta c h

P S A tta c h R e je c t,
P S A tta c h

R A U R e je c t

P S S ig n a lli n g
C o n n e c t i o n R e le a s e
P M M -ID L E

P S S ig n a lli n g
PMM CO NNECTED

S M - A C T IV E o r
P S S ig n a lli n g

IN A C T IV E

P M M -ID L E

PMMCO NNECTED

S M - A C T IV E o r

IN A C T IV E

IN A C T IV E

S M - A C T IV E o r
P S S ig n a lli n g

IN A C T IV E

C o n n e c t i o n E s t a b lis h

Signaling
connection
between
MS and SGSN
(addressing
by U-RNTI)

U-RNTI: UTRAN - Radio Network Temporary Identity

S e r v in g R N C
r e lo c a t i o n

PS Mobility Management (PMM) is

independent of Session Management (SM),
e.g. availability of IP address & traffic activity
PMM is independent of the number and state of PDP
contexts for the subscriber
In both the PMM-IDLE and the PMM-CONNECTED states,
session management may or may not have activated a PDP
context (assigned a dynamic IP address)

Source: 3GPP 23.060-4.1.0

UMTS Networks

C o n n e c t i o n R e le a s e

S M - A C T IV E o r
C o n n e c t i o n E s t a b lis h

Paging only
(no signaling
connection
between MS
and SGSN)

R A U R e je c t

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

Signaling Connection
No

signaling connection exists (MM/PMM-IDLE state)

UE has no relation to UTRAN, only to CN
no data transfer
paging identification by IMSI, TMSI, P-TMSI

Signaling connection exists (MM/PMM-CONNECTED state)

Addressing by U-RNTI
UE position can be known on different levels:
- URA level (UTRAN registration area): URA is a specified set of
cells, which can be identified on the broadcast channel (BCCH)
- Cell level: Different channel types can be used for data transfer:
- Common transport channels (RACH, FACH, CPCH, DSCH)
- Dedicated transport channels (DCH)
Source: 3GPP 25.301-4.1.0, ch 6.2
UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

Relations between CM/SM, MM/PMM and RRC

States
CM/SM state(s)
Subscription
(UE-SGSN-GGSN)
Core
Network

UTRAN

PDCP
address

inactive

active

detached

idle

connected

Signaling
connection
(UE-SGSN)

none

yes

RRC state
(UE-RNC)

idle

connected

MM/PMM state
(UE, SGSN, HLR)

(cell_DCH, cell_FACH,
cell_PCH, or URA_PCH)

Paging using
TMSI/P-TMSI
UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

Addressing
using RNTI
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PS Mobility Management States

PMM-DETACHED State:
No communication between the MS and the SGSN
MS and SGSN hold no valid location or routing information for the MS
MS MM state machine does not react to system information related to
the SGSN
MS is not reachable by the PLMN, as the MS location is not known to
the SGSN
MM context establishment:
GPRS-attach procedure: establish MM contexts in the MS and the SGSN
When PS signalling connection is established between the MS and
the SGSN for performing the GPRS attach, the state changes to
PMM-CONNECTED in the SGSN and in the MS
The PS signalling connection is made up of two parts: an RRC
connection and an Iu connection

UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

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PS Mobility Management States

PMM-CONNECTED State:

MS location is known in the SGSN with an accuracy of a serving RNC

Location of the MS is tracked by the serving RNC
MS performs the routing area update procedure when RAI changes
A PS signaling connection is established between the MS and the SGSN

Release of signaling connection (move to PMM-IDLE state):

In SGSN: PS signalling connection release or failed downlink transfer with cause

"IMSI unknown in RNC" changes the state to PMM-IDLE
In MS: enter the PMM-IDLE state when its PS signaling connection to the SGSN
has been released or broken (release or failure is explicitly indicated by the
RNC to the MS or detected by the MS > RRC connection failure)
Signaling connection is also released if a URA update fails because of "RRC
connection not established", or if the URA update timer expires while the MS is
out of coverage
SGSN may decide to release the PS signaling connection after a signaling
procedure (e.g. routing area update)

MM context release:

GPRS detach changes the state to PMM-DETACHED

UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

8 o

PS Mobility Management States

PMM-IDLE State:
MS location is known in the SGSN with an accuracy of a routing area
Paging is needed in order to reach the MS, e.g. for signalling
MS and SGSN have established MM contexts
MS performs a routing area update if the RA changes
(signaling towards the HLR is needed if the (new) SGSN does not have
an MM context for this MS)
Establishment of signaling connection (move to PMM-CONNECTED state):
MS and SGSN enter the PMM-CONNECTED state when the PS signalling
connection is established between the MS and the SGSN
MM context release:
GPRS detach procedure changes the state to PMM-DETACHED
SGSN may perform an implicit GPRS detach any time after the MS
reachable timer expiry; the MS's MM context is deleted, preferably after
a certain (implementation dependent) time; the HLR may be informed
about the deletion
UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

9 o

Mobility Management
Involved Protocols (PS mode)
Protocols used by MM procedures
Uu: RRC protocol
Iu: RANAP protocol
Gr (SGSN and HLR): MAP protocol
Gf (SGSN and EIR): MAP protocol
Gs (SGSN and VLR): BSSAP+ protocol

Source: 3GPP 23.060-4.1.0, Ch 6.4

UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

10 o

Mobility Management Procedures

Connected state
Cell update (PS mode): UE-UTRAN interaction
URA update (PS mode): UE-UTRAN interaction
Idle state
RA Update (PS mode): UE-CN interaction (transparent to UTRAN)
LA Update (CS mode): UE-CN interaction (transparent to UTRAN)

See also Kaaranen, ch 10.3

UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

11

Cell Update (PS)

UE

RNC

reason for
cell update

RRC: cell update

RRC: cell update confirm

exchange of RRC msgs

UMTS Networks

PS mode:
-> explicit cell update procedure
Reasons for cell update
cell reselection
periodic cell update
uplink data transmission
paging response
re-entered service area
radio link failure
unrecoverable RLC error

CS mode:
continuous exchange of cell
information during call (or transaction)

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

12

URA Update (PS)

UE

RNC

reason for
URA update

RRC: URA update

PS mode:
-> explicit URA update procedure
Reasons for URA update
URA identity changes
periodic URA update

RRC: URA update confirm

exchange of RRC msgs

UMTS Networks

Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

13

RA Update (with change of SGSN)

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Oliver Waldhorst, Jens Mckenheim

Oct-11

14

LA Update (CS)
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Oct-11

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