Smartphone Solutions

White Paper
Issue

2.0

Date

2012-07-17

Change History
Issue1.0
DescriptionThis is the first release.
Date2012-07-17
Prepared BySmartphone ecosystem R&D support team
Approved ByZhao Qiyong (employee ID: 00119431)

Contents
Change History .................................................................................ii
1 Executive Summary ......................................................................1
2 Challenges on Networks by Mobile Internet Applications ........ 2
2.1 Application Categories and Characteristics ....................................................... 2

2.2 Characteristics of Small-Packet Services (SNS, IM, and VoIP) and their Impact on
Networks ................................................................................................ 4
2.3 Characteristics of Video Service and Their Impact on Networks ............................ 5
2.4 Cloud Service Characteristics and Impact on Network ........................................ 6
2.5 Web Applications Characteristics and Impact on Network .................................. 7
2.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 7

3 Challenges on Network by Mobile Internet Terminals ................8

3.1 Terminal Capabilities and Challenges on Network .............................................. 8
3.2 OS Development and Challenges on Network ................................................ 10
3.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 11

4 Solutions ...................................................................... 12
4.1 E2E Solutions ........................................................................................... 12
4.1.1 Problem Description.................................................................... . 12
4.1.2 Solutions.....................................................................13

4.2 PS Solutions ............................................................................................ 14

4.2.1 Problem Description.....................................................................14
4.2.2 Solutions.....................................................................17

4.3 UMTS RAN Solutions ................................................................................ 18

4.3.1 Problem Description .......................................................................... 18
4.3.2 Solutions ................................................................................. 20

4.4 LTE Solutions .................................................................................23

4.4.1 Problems Description ........................................................................ 23
4.4.2 Solutions ................................................................................. 24

5 Summary ...................................................................... 29
5.1 Challenge Overview ................................................................................ 29
5.2 Solutions and Suggestions ............................................................................30

A Acronyms and Abbreviations .....................................................32

B Reference ...................................................................... 37
C Contributors ......................................................................38

Figures
Figure 3-1 Traffic volumes for each mobile operating system ................................................... 10
Figure 4-1 Signaling load on wireless networks by different applications over iOS and Android .......... 12
Figure 4-2 Signaling load differences from a network with Huawei equipment ............................. 13
Figure 4-3 Repeated activation request impacts on network activations and KPI ........................... 14
Figure 4-4 Unexpected signaling impact due to firewall faults ................................................. 15
Figure 4-5 PDP update Procedure Triggered by IU/RAB Release Signaling .................................... 15
Figure 4-6 PDP update due to Service Request messages ....................................................... 16
Figure 4-7 Comparison of paging volumes between CS domains and PS domains in operator M network
............................................................................................................................. 16
Figure 4-8 Small packets for smartphones ......................................................................... 19
Figure 4-9 Access signaling increases due to frequent services of smartphones ............................. 19
Figure 4-10 Decreased efficiency in air interface under MBB model ........................................... 20
Figure 4-11 Signaling flow during a data transmission process before the PCH function and the Enhanced
Fast Dormancy function are enabled ................................................................................ 21
Figure 4-12 Signaling flow during the transmission process of a big data packet after the PCH function
and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function are enabled ......................................................... 21
Figure 4-13 Signaling flow during the transmission process of a small data packet after the PCH function
and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function are enabled ......................................................... 21
Figure 4-14 UE always-online solution in LTE ..................................................................... 25
Figure 4-15 Signaling-control solution for users with high mobility during handovers in LTE networks .. 26
Figure 4-16 Dynamic DRX solution in LTE networks ............................................................. 27
Figure 4-17 Service-based differentiated control solution in LTE Networks .................................. 28

Tables
Table 2-1 Mainstream mobile Internet categories and characteristics .................................................. 2
Table 2-2 Impacts and solutions ........................................................................................... 7
Table 3-1 3GPP capabilities for typical smartphones ...................................................................... 8
Table 3-2 Screen resolution and video capability for typical smartphones ........................................ 9
Table 3-3 Background behaviors for screen off between iOS and Android devices ............................ 11
Table 3-4 Terminal chips supporting 3GPP Release 8 fast dormancy .................................................. 11
Table 5-1 Impact of mainstream mobile internet services................................................................ 29
Table 5-2 Impact of Smartphone on the network.......................................................................... 30
Table 5-3 Solution overview (based on 3GPP Release 8 protocol and earlier versions) ................. 30

1 Executive Summary
The quickly development of Smartphone energizes the weary mobile Internet.
The same as the innovative traditional Internet, Smartphone is blossoming
freely and have been widely used in our daily life, learning, and working.
Based on function attributes and data packet features, mobile Internet
applications are categorized into instant messaging (IM), voice over IP (VoIP),
streaming, social networking services (SNS), web browsing, cloud, email, file
transfer, gaming, and machine-to-machine (M2M) dialog. The mobile Internet
applications can also be classified in other ways.
The 3GPP protocol was defined to meet the requirements of persistent
connection and peak throughput at initial stage. However, various Internet
applications generate traffic models which are extremely different from
traditional voice services. These traffic models bring severe challenges for the
3GPP protocol.
Major changes in traffic characteristics are the increases in small packets, short
connections, signaling and data traffic, and abnormal traffic. For Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System (UTMS) networks in idle status, all these
changes lead to sharp increases on signaling and other system resource load.
They also bring severe threat on network performance, and affect application
data throughput capability and network profitability in the long run.
For the healthy development of mobile broadband (MBB) in the long term,
developers are all seeking methods to achieve improvements for technique
standards, existing networks, and smartphones. Developers are considering
improvements in the following aspects:
For standard design, the factors, such as small packets, bearer efficiency,
network architecture, and protocol layer optimization are considered.
For existing networks, original traffic models for reference are changed,
software, hardware and parameters are reconfigured, and new features
are enabled.
For Smartphone and applications, a win-win situation is expected
between network resource consumption and user experience. This paper
proposed solutions and suggestions targeting at identified problems
caused by smartphones and applications in deployed UMTS and LTE
networks based on 3GPP Release 8 and earlier versions.
These solutions cannot replace network reconstructions or capacity expansion
to meet the requirements of increasingly growing subscribers, signaling and
data traffic.
1

2 Challenges on Networks by
Mobile Internet Applications
2.1 Application Categories and Characteristics
Mobile Internet is the combination of mobile communications and
Internet. Mobile communications and Internet have gained their own great
achievements. However, their terminal modes, network architectures,
application categories, and user behaviors differ obviously. If the Internet
mainly providing data service is integrated into mobile communications
which provide voice service, great impacts are inflicted on network resource
efficiency, capacity, and signaling.
With the development of mobile Internet in recent years, its service categories
and characteristics are different from traditional Internet. Table 2-1 describes
the categories of current mobile Internet and their main characteristics.
Table 2-1 Mainstream mobile Internet categories and characteristics
Description

Typical
Application

Characteristic

IM

Sending or receiving instant

messaging

Whatsapp, Wechat,
iMessage

Small packets, less

frequently

VoIP

Audio and video calls

Viber, Skype, Tango,

Face Time

Small packets,
continuously

Streaming

Streaming media such as

HTTP audios, HTTP videos,
and P2P videos

YouTube, Youku,
Spotify, Pandora,
PPStream

Big packets,
continuously

SNS

Social networking sites

Facebook, Twitter,
Sina Weibo

Small packets, less

frequently

Web Browsing

Web browsing including

wireless access protocol
(WAP) page browsing

Typical web
browsers are Safari
and UC Browser

Big packets, less

frequently

Cloud

Cloud computing and

online cloud applications

Siri, Evernote, iCloud

Email

Mails including webmail,

Post Office Protocol 3
(POP3), and Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Gmail

File Transfer

File transfer including P2P

file sharing, file storage,
and application download
and update

Mobile Thunder,
App Store

Gaming

Mobile gaming such as

social gaming and card
gaming

Angry Birds, Draw

Something, Words
with Friends

M2M

Machine Type
Communication

Auto meter reading,

mobile payment

Category

Big packets
Big packets, less
frequently

Big packets,
continuously
Big packets, less
frequently
Small packets
2

The preceding features are defined as follows:

If packet per second (PPS) is greater than 20, the data is transmitted
continuously.
If PPS is less than 10, the data is transmitted less frequently.
A data packet larger than 1000 bytes is defined as a big packet.
A data packet less than 600 bytes is defined as a small packet.
Main traffic volume for mobile Internet is used for web browsing, and the
rest is used for streaming media and file transfer. Mobile Internet is widely
deployed and the traffic rate increases. Smartphones are equipped with more
functions. Mobile streaming media services will be widely used and the main
traffic volume will be occupied by video service. Instant communications with
text, voice, and video are more preferable, and network access becomes
more frequently. Meanwhile, the technique Hypertext Markup Language
(HTML5) becomes increasingly mature. Cloud service will replace traditional
web browsing and file transfer as the dominant player. The smartphones for
mobile Internet become small and diverse. More and more smart machine
terminals and M2M services, such as smart electrical household appliances,
auto meter reading, and mobile payment come into being.

2.2 Characteristics of Small-Packet Services

(SNS, IM, and VoIP) and their Impact on
Networks
Small packet services on mobile Internet consist of SNS, IM, and VoIP.
Depending on the traffic conditions, small packets are divided into
intermittent small packets and continuous small packets. Intermittent small
packets, continuous small packets and their impact on networks are analyzed
in the following.
Factors leading to intermittent small packets include the following items:
Short messages with little information, such as friends presence update,
text chatting, and IM
Periodic keep alive messages, for example, keep alive messages for
connections between servers and subscribers
For these messages with less than 2000 bytes total traffic and less than 20
packets, the transmission duration is less than 3s, and the interval is 30s to
40 minutes periodically. On one hand, these messages lead to frequent RRC
status switches. The RRC status switches from IDLE/PCH to FACH/CELL_DCH
frequently. Service requests and IU releases become more frequent, which
bring great signaling impact on RAN and PS network terminals. On the other
hand, the data transmission duration is short. Radio channels remain in the
CELL_DCH status for a long period of time due to an inactive timer, which is a
waste of radio channel resources.
Servers maintain network connections with clients. When the clients send
requests, servers send notifications to receive ends. Paging messages are
generated over the network and air interface. If emergencies occur or
timed messages are required, servers send messages to large numbers of
smartphones in the network at the same time. This inflicts severe impact on
paging.
Continuous small packets are mostly generated in audio calls and video calls
in VoIP applications.
During a call, the packet interval is 40 ms to 60 ms and the length of a packet
is smaller than 300 bytes (100 bytes for an audio packet and 300 bytes
for a video packet). The forwarding performance of a network terminal is
calculated using the packet length of 500 bytes. Too many small packets lead
to unqualified forwarding.
Packet aggregation can eliminate the impact of small packets on networks.
The following mechanisms are used to eliminate the impact of small packets
on networks.
NSRM: Requests from multiple applications are delayed for a certain
period of time and then sent together.
APNS, C2DM: One application manages notifications of all applications.
4

2.3 Characteristics of Video Service and Their

Impact on Networks
YouTube, Netflix, and Youku provide Over the Top (OTT) services that use
HTTP to transfer video traffic. Compared with the User Datagram Protocol
(UDP)-based Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) used by desktop video, HTTP
can achieve firewall traversal using a proxy server. HTTP can also facilitate
adaptation to radio network environment changes using the gateway caching
technique.
HTTP progressive steaming and HTTP adaptive streaming protocols are
typically used for video transfer. HTTP adaptive streaming protocols include
Apple HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Microsoft HTTP Smooth Streaming (HSS),
and 3GPP Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH). In these protocols,
all files are downloaded using HTTP. The file size depends on a video's bit
rate and duration. The typical value ranges from a few hundred KB to tens of
MB. In the downlink, all are big IP packets with more than 1400 bytes. In the
uplink, TCP ACK and HTTP Get packets are transmitted. Large bandwidth is
required for downloading data from the server with best effort.
Subscriber experience for video services is determined by buffering
performance in clients. The download speed in the buffer area determines
the time a subscriber has to wait before a video is played and the number
of pauses during video playing. For video transmitted over UDP, UDP packet
loss can prevent pauses during video playing. However, pixelation occurs. For
HTTP video transmitted over TCP, if TCP packets are lost in networks, servers
retransmit these packets. The TCP throughput decreases, and the download
rate of the client decreases. The pause duration prolongs.
Videos transmitted using HTTP contain a great deal of information, and large
bandwidths are required. The following options can be used to mitigate these
problems.
Pacing: reduces the transmission rate to an appropriate level to fulfill
the display of the video and reduces downloaded buffering capacity for
clients to prevent bandwidth waste.
Code adapting: Video transcoding based on smartphone screen size and
network bandwidth can reduce the bit rate of video signals.
Caching: caches the data at the network side to improve video delivery
rate and reduce transmission traffic.

2.4 Cloud Service Characteristics and Impact

on Network
Cloud services include infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service
(PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Common subscribers typically
use SaaS services. One category of SaaS is uploading data to network for
computing in the cloud, such as Siri and Google voice search. Another
category is online interaction and synchronization, such as Evernote. More
uplink traffic would be generated with the first category of cloud service.
With telecommunications evolved from narrowband to broadband, from
wireline access to radio access, information uploading becomes more and
more convenient. Cloud computing with strong capabilities replaces local
computing. Local data is transmitted to the cloud for computing, and then
the cloud sends back the calculation results. More uplink traffic is generated
when the application transmits data to the cloud. Tests show that 10 KB to
20 KB uplink traffic is generated for every one Siri service or other voice input.
However, the downlink traffic is about 2 KB to 20 KB. With the popularity
of SaaS, the network traffic models in the future will change. Terminal
specifications and network deployment must be prepared in advance.
Abundant uplink traffic enables swift response to the information that
subscriber inputs, which fulfills better subscriber experience.
For PaaS, frequent data backup and synchronization between the terminal
and cloud lead to more bandwidth demand on the network. The applications
manage the subscriber contents and save them on the data center server.
When the contents are visited, applications obtain the latest data from the
data center server. Subscribers are not aware that the data is saved in local
disks or on the network. Each operation on terminals (login, adding contents,
query, and modification) causes one time of data backup and synchronization.
For networks, these operations generate more frequent synchronizations and
more traffic volume. Local buffer and background synchronizations effectively
improve subscriber experience and network friendliness. The optimal network
can be selected to enhance data synchronization efficiency and prevent the
pause during subscriber operations.

2.5 Web Applications Characteristics and

Impact on Network
Web browsing service is most widely used on mobile Internet at present.
Most mobile phone browsers send requests with HTTP to download HTML
web pages from a web server. The HTML web pages are parsed and shown
on mobile phones. The data volume transmitted over mobile phone browsers
is equal to that over personal computer browsers, and data distortion never
occurs.
Mobile phone browsers, such as Opera Mini and UCWEB browse web pages
with a third-party agent server. A mobile phone sends a browsing request to
the third-party server. The third-party server connects the mobile phone and
the website. The website transmits data to the third-party server. The thirdparty server compresses the data and generates smaller pages with less traffic
volume for the mobile phone browser. The mobile phone browser parses
the compressed data and displays it on the screen. In this mode, the data
transmission volume is smaller, but data distortion occurs.
HTML5 provides browsers with overall applications using the technologies of
Canvas, WebSocket, Storage, Audio, and Video. Most local programs function
appropriately. Web-based applications bring great impact on network traffic
volume and behaviors. Therefore, subscriber service usages and commercial
modes change, which leads to greater impact on telecommunications
industry.

2.6 Conclusion
Table 2-2 describes mobile Internet impact on networks and relative solutions.
Table 2-2 Impacts and solutions
Impact
Signaling

Capacity and
subscriber experience

Cause

Solutions

Uplink small packets,

including keeping alive and
status query messages

Qualcomm Network Socket Request

Manager (NSRM)

Checks the updates with

periodic polling

Push mechanisms in the operating

system, including Apple Push
Notification Service (APNS) and Cloud
to Device Messaging (C2DM)

The transmission contains a

large amount data.

Compressions such as UCWEB

Adaptive content protocols, including
HTTP and Live Streaming
Local cache

3 Challenges on Network by
Mobile Internet Terminals
3.1 Terminal Capabilities and Challenges on
Network
With development of mobile internet, network capabilities and smartphone
capabilities are changing quickly. Nowadays, most smartphones comply with
3GPP Release 6, and only some comply with 3GPP Release 7 or Release 8. The
number of smartphones for LTE is increasingly growing with rapid deployment
of LTE networks. Table 3-1 describes the 3GPP radio access capabilities for
typical smartphones (in time sequence from left to right).
Table 3-1 3GPP capabilities for typical smartphones
Capability

iPhone 4
(iOS4.2)

iPad 2
(iOS4.2)

HTC HD7
(Windows
phone7)

Nexus S
(Android2.3)

iPhone 4S
(iOS5)

Lumia 800
(Windows Galaxy S II HD New iPad
Phone 7.5 LTE(Android4.0) (iOS5.1)
Mango)

Chip

Infineon
X-Gold
618

Qualcomm
MDM6610

QSD8250

1GHz
Hummi
ngbird

Qualcomm
MDM6610

Qualcomm
MSM8255

Qualcomm
MSM8660

Qualcomm
MDM9600

3GPP

R6

R6

R6

R6

R6

R6

R7

R8

HSDPA

Cat.8 - 7.2 Cat.8 - 7.2

Mbps
Mbps

Cat.8 7.2 Mbps

Cat.8 7.2 Mbps

HSUPA

Cat.6 Cat.6 5.76 Mbps 5.76 Mbps

Cat.5 2.0 Mbps

Cat.6
5.76 Mbps

Cat.6
5.76
Mbps

No

No

No

LTE

No

No

Cat.10 Cat.10 Cat.14 14.4 Mbps 14.4 Mbps 21.1 Mbps

Cat. 24 42 Mbps

Cat.6
Cat.6
Cat.6 5.76 Mbps 5.76 Mbps 5.76 Mbps
No

Yes

Yes

More and more smartphones support HSPA+ features like 64QAM, multi
input and multi output (MIMO), continuous packet connectivity (CPC), and
enhanced Cell_FACH. The new iPad compliant with 3GPP Release 7 has a
downlink capability of Cat. 14 Mbit/s to 21.1 Mbit/s. The new iPad supports
DC-HSDPA feature in Release 8, with a downlink capability of Cat. 24 Mbit/s
to 42 Mbit/s. What's more, new iPad also supports HSPA+ and LTE Cat.3.
Smartphone screen size and resolution have been improved rapidly. Lumia
800 screen resolution is 480 x 800 pixels, and the screen resolution for the
latest Samsung terminal is 720 x 1280 pixels. New iPad screen resolution
reaches 1536 x 2048 pixels. All mainstream devices support 1080P@30fps video
display.

The computing capability and multi-radio capability for smartphones develop quickly,
and their screen becomes larger and larger. Mobile Internet applications shift from
email to abundant services, such as web browsing, instant messaging, SNS, VoIP, cloud
service, video on demand, and live cast. Table 3-2 describes the screen resolution and
video capability for several new smartphones.

Table 3-2 Screen resolution and video capability for typical smartphones
Lumia 800
(Windows Phone
7.5 Mango)

Galaxy SII HD LTE

Android4.0

New iPad (iOS5.1)

Screen resolution

480 x 800 pixels,

3.7 inches
(~252 ppi pixel
density)

720 x 1280 pixels,

4.65 inches
(~316 ppi pixel
density)

1536 x 2048 pixels,

9.7 inches
(~264 ppi pixel
density)

Video capability

720P@30fps

1080P@30fps

1080P@30fps

For web browsing and video playing services, higher screen resolution leads
to increases in traffic volume. Power consumption has been a bottleneck for
smartphones all along.

3.2 OS Development and Challenges on

Network
The most widely used operating systems for smartphones are Apple iOS,
Google Android, and Microsoft Windows Phone. Figure 3-1 shows network
traffic volumes for each mobile operating system.
From January, 2011 to May, 2012, iOS devices accounted for more than
50% of the network traffic volume, and even up to 60% sometimes.
From January, 2011 to May, 2012, the network traffic volume increased
steadily from 15% to 20% of the total.
Windows Phone followed behind with a traffic volume accounting for
less than 5%.
Figure 3-1 Traffic volumes for each mobile operating system
70.00%
60.00%

iOS

50.00%

Android
40.00%

Java ME
30.00%

BlackBerry
20.00%

Symbian
10.00%

Other

00.00%
July,
2011

August,
2011

September,
2011

October,
2011

November,
2011

December,
2011

January,
2012

February,
2012

March,
2012

April,
2012

May,
2012

Source: netmarketshare
Based on mature iOS and software on protocol stack, Apple devices provide
services of fast dormancy, being online permanently, and push notifications.
The network resource utilization and user experience of push services
due to permanent online requirement are different for iOS and Android
devices. For iOS, background applications do not generate cellular data
flows. The heartbeats of background services are regarded as those for
Apple push server. These services are in the deactivated status. For Android,
most background services have a single heartbeat. The unified heartbeat
mechanism in iOS reduces the frequent network connection requests and
disconnection signaling during screen off. Table 3-3 describes the comparison
of background behaviors for screen off between iOS and Android devices.

10

Table 3-3 Background behaviors for screen off between iOS and Android devices
Background
Behavior

Android OS

iOS

QQ

Heartbeat cycle: 540s

No heartbeat

Whatsapp

Double heartbeats: one

with cycle of 285s, and
the other with a cycle of
900s

No interaction if heartbeat stops in

15 minutes of screen off

Facebook

Heartbeat cycle: 3600s

No heartbeat

Twitter

Heartbeat cycle: 900s

No heartbeat

Sina microblog

No heartbeat

No heartbeat

OS heartbeat

Gtalk cycle: 28 minutes

Heartbeat cycle adaptive to firewall

aging time: 30 minutes

Number of
interactions per
hour

30

Network connection requests for iOS and Android are 2 and 30 respectively
in one hour according to Table 3-3. When the terminal is in the connected
status but without push messages, the number of connections for devices
Android operating system is 15 times of that for devices using iOS operating
system. Frequent connection requests from devices with the Android
operating system bring congestion for network.

3.3 Conclusion
Due to short connection duration and large power consumption, chip
suppliers, including QCT, STE, Renesas, and Intel provide chips with fast
feature for smartphones. Huawei launched Ascend P1 mobile phone in
January, 2012. The U9201L and U9501L customized by operators are
launched in 2012. All these mobile phones support the 3GPP Release 8 fast
dormancy feature.
Table 3-4 Terminal chips supporting 3GPP Release 8 fast dormancy
Chip
Vendors

QCT

Renesas

STE

Moto

Icera

Intel
(Infineon)

MediaTek

Fast
dormancy

Support

Support

Support

Partially
support

Support

Support

Support

For frequent access requests generated by background behaviors, the C2DM

and push services are added to Android 2.2. However, these mechanisms
have not been widely applied in current applications.

11

4 Solutions
To embrace the development of mobile Internet and Smartphone capabilities,
Huawei provides innovative solutions for end to end (E2E), PS core network,
UMTS RAN, and LTE based on network characteristics and protocol standards.

4.1 E2E Solutions

4.1.1 Problem Description
Heartbeat messages for most smartphone applications maintain connections
with servers and update their status. Many Applications adopt small heartbeat
intervals to update the status. Frequent heartbeats together with smartphone
fast dormancy feature are the root cause of massive signaling on wireless
networks, as shown in Figure 4-1.
Figure 4-1 Signaling load on wireless networks by different applications over iOS and Android
Signaling Times per Hour by iOS App

Signaling Times per Hour by Android App

140.00

70.00
60.00

65.45

Source : Huawei mLAB

57.14

50.00

80.00
60.00

30.00

40.00

20.00

0.00

120.00

100.00

40.00

10.00

120.00

17.31

15.00
4.00

20.00
0.00

20.00

15.00
4.00

2.00

12.00

Source: Huawei mLAB

In actual network applications, some applications generate large amount of
signaling. A certain VoIP causes more than 300 signaling messages over an
Android terminal per hour. Figure 4-2 shows Service Requests per user at busy
hour.

12

Figure 4-2 Signaling load differences from a network with Huawei equipment

S e r v i c e r e q ue s t p e r us e r @B H

1000
950
900
850
800
750
700
650
600
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

Service
requestper
user@BH

493
504
505
532
541
547
549
607
616
641
742
858
899

User ID
1

2001

4001

6001

8001

10001

12001

14001

16001

18001

20001

Too frequent signaling brings too much load to wireless and core network
equipment.

4.1.2 Solutions
Some optimizations can be adopted for networks and devices to reduce
Service Request messages and network overload.
URA/CELL_PCH
Fast dormancy saves batteries for smartphones if no data is transmitted.
Terminals in URA/CELL_PCH status can stay connected to radio
networks, and power consumption reduces. In this status, even frequent
interactions of heartbeat and service data do not cause too many radio
connections and releases.
Enhanced fast dormancy enables the network to keep smartphones
in URA/CELL_PCH status more effectively. Enhanced fast dormancy
requires mutual supports and cooperation from chip suppliers, terminal
providers, and wireless networks.
Optimized Heartbeat Mechanism
Smartphone application providers and developers must consider
wireless network characteristics to reduce the too frequent heartbeats.
Therefore, the impact on networks is decreased and terminal power
consumption is lower.
Network Control on Signaling from Terminals
For terminals incapable of URA/PCH_CELL, wireless network controls
their behaviors to reduce impacts on signaling. The core network and
radio access network can be united together to control signaling. The
core network identifies the terminals with signaling impact, and the
radio access network controls the terminal signaling.
13

22001

Proposals:
In the short term, the URA/CELL_PCH can be applied to reduce overall
network signaling. Subsequently, the network control on signaling from
terminals can be applied to ensure network security and reliability. In
the middle- to long-term, the optimized heartbeat mechanism can be
applied to control signaling from the service source.

4.2 PS Solutions
4.2.1 Problem Description
PS-PB1: Repeated Activation Request Signaling
Smartphones must be online permanently, and they keep attempting
activations if any failure occurs.
For activation failures due to network faults, smartphones continuously
attempt to be activated, so that services can be activated once the
network equipment recovers. On live networks, network equipment faults
seldom occur. Activation failures are mostly caused by incorrect terminal
configurations, absence of subscription, and lack of call cost. If such failures
occur, services cannot be activated in a short period. Repeated activation
request signaling leads to extensive unnecessary signaling load.
Repeated activation request signaling is generated when activation fails.
Many repeated activation requests are accompanied with activation failures,
and therefore activation success rate decreases.
On networks of operator T, repeated activation request signaling caused by
activation failures accounts for 98.76% of total signaling. Total activation
success rate is lower than 3% as shown in Figure 4-3.
Figure 4-3 Repeated activation request impacts on network activations and KPI
PDP Activation Success Rate (%) (Blackberry.net)
2,500,000

25.00%

2,000,000

20.00%

1,500,000

15.00%

1,000,000

10.00%

500,000

5.00%

PDP Activation Req 1.24%

PDP Reactivation
Req 98.76%
TPTAL
Success Rate(%)

20
10
-1
220
5
00
10
-1
220
5
01
10
-1
220
5
02
10
-1
220
5
03
10
-1
220
5
04
10
-1
220
5
05
10
-1
220
5
06
10
-1
220
5
07
10
-1
220
5
08
10
-1
220
5
09
10
-1
220
5
10
10
-1
220
5
11
10
-1
220
5
12
10
-1
220
5
13
10
-1
220
5
14
10
-1
220
5
15
10
-1
220
5
16
10
-1
220
5
17
10
-1
220
5
18
10
-1
220
5
19
10
-1
220
5
20
10
-1
220
5
21
10
-1
220
5
22
10
-1
25
23

0.00%

Source : Asian Operator T

14

If unexpected network faults occur, repeated activation requests cause severe

network overload. The AAA server cannot be reached due to operator B
firewall faults, and many activations fail. A large number of terminals send
repeated activation requests and generate signaling about five times more
than that in normal conditions. The wireless network is overloaded as shown
in Figure 4-4.
Figure 4-4 Unexpected signaling impact due to firewall faults

Firewall
breakdown

PS-PB2Smartphone Signaling Impacts on GGSN in

Direct Tunnel Networking Mode
In direct tunnel networking mode, IU Release and Service Request messages
trigger a PDP update procedure over the Gn interface. The serving GPRS
support node (SGSN) and gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) process
related signaling. The details are shown in Figure 4-5 and Figure 4-6.
Figure 4-5 PDP update Procedure Triggered by IU/RAB Release Signaling

15

Figure 4-6 PDP update due to Service Request messages

Frequent data services and fast dormancy for smartphones cause many IU
releases and service requests. On a common network, the signaling impacts
the RNC and SGSN. In direct tunnel networking mode, the signaling has more
impact on the SGSN, and the impact even spreads to the GGSN.

PS-PB3: Continuous Paging Signaling Increases

The push notifications from smartphones bring growing paging. On networks
of Asian operator M, for example, the paging volume in circuit switched (CS)
domain remains stable in ten months. However, the paging volume in packet
switched (PS) domain increases by three times. See Figure 4-7 for more
information.
Paging is implemented in a large coverage area, with nearly one hundred cells
or base stations involved. The growing paging volume brings heavy load for
wireless network and paging channel congestion occurs.
Figure 4-7 Comparison of paging volumes between CS domains and PS
domains in operator M network

16

4.2.2 Solutions
For the problems described in section 4.2.1 "Problem Description", PS core
network provides solutions to reduce signaling impacts on networks from the
following aspects.
Configure the network to control terminal behaviors to prevent repeated
activation requests and unexpected signaling.
Do not apply the direct tunnel networking mode for terminals using
huge signaling volume, so as to reduce the impact on networks. Use
intelligent paging in LTE networks.

PS-SLT1: Repeated Activation Request Controls

For repeated activations, the network can form fake activations by using
certain cause values, and even separate subscribers to reduce impacts on
networks.
Terminal providers must process the rejected cause value delivered by
networks, and standardize terminal behaviors. Terminal providers, network
equipment suppliers, and operators can discuss terminal behaviors jointly and
provide optimization proposals.
T3446 timer is introduced as the backoff timer in 3GPP Release 10. Therefore,
the network can control terminal behaviors and reduce signaling impacts. If
repeated activations are detected, the network can use the timer to control
the waiting time of terminal.
Proposals:
For GU networks, the network side controls repeated activations to
reduce the impacts on existing networks.
For LTE networks, if 3GPP Release 10 is realized, repeated activation
control is based on backoff timer.

PS-SLT2: PS Smart Direct Tunnel

In direct tunnel networking mode, appropriate signaling load planning for
GGSN must be used to prevent network overload.
The SGSN identifies signaling from terminals and traffic volume, and uses
direct tunnel solutions flexibly to reduce signaling impacts on the GGSN.
Direct tunnel is not used for terminals with frequent signaling. Direct tunnel
is only available to some specific terminals such as USB Dongle, which can be
determined based on international mobile equipment identity (IMEI).
17

Proposals:
Appropriately evaluate and plan the GGSN based on the direct tunnel
solution and traffic models.
Operators determine whether to apply the direct tunnel solution based
on network traffic volume and signaling.

PS-SLT3: LTE Intelligent Paging

With continuous increases of paging volume, intelligent paging is introduced
to narrow the paging areas and reduce network paging load. Intelligent
paging in LTE networks are fulfilled by PS network and LTE radio access
network. The UMTS is achieved in RAN side. For LTE intelligent paging,
paging controls differ for smartphones with different mobility. Paging in a
single eNodeB is used for smartphones with small mobility. Paging -in multiple
eNodeBs in a TA or TAL is used for smartphones with large mobility. LTE radio
paging load and paging success rate can be balanced.
Proposals:
Use intelligent paging for LTE networks to reduce paging loads for
wireless networks.

4.3 UMTS RAN Solutions

4.3.1 Problem Description
UTRAN-PB1: Increase in Access Request Signaling
Small packets are mostly transmitted in smartphone services. Smartphones are
frequently synchronized with Internet server in short cycles. Large numbers
of PS services are generated and each has small data volume as shown in1
Figure 4-8. For power saving, some smartphones send signaling connection
release indication procedure (SCRI) to RNC release RRC connection. Each small
packet transmission must experience RRC connection, synchronization of PS
data, and release of RRC connection. Frequent connections and releases lead
to access signaling storm as shown in Figure 4-9.
Frequent services for smartphones cause large signaling volume. The RNC
must process more signaling, and the LBBP CPU usage increases. Some
operators do not take measures to tackle smartphone signaling storm.
Overloads for RNCs and eNodeBs affect the network stability.

18

Figure 4-8 Small packets for smartphones

Smartphone Legacy UE

Signalling activity
Data activity

Time
Figure 4-9 Access signaling increases due to frequent services of smartphones

35000000
30000000
25000000
20000000
15000000
10000000
5000000
0
2010-6-22 2010-7-21 2010-8-3 2011-4-11 2011-4-12 2011-4-18 2011-4-19

UTRAN-PB2: Paging Signaling

The paging due to push services of smartphones affect PS core network and
wireless network. In UMTS, Paging Area is the entire location area, routing
area, and UTRAN registration area. If UEs in idle/URA_PCH status receive
paging, about 1000 cells can receive the paging. The increasing number of
these UEs leads to paging channel congestion, high paging drop rate,

UTRAN-PB3: Decreased Efficiency in Air Interface

Small packets for smartphones lead to signaling impact and decreased
efficiency in air interface. Small packets are characterized by small data
volume, short duration, frequent transmissions, and long online time. When
data transmission ends, enhanced dedicated channel (DCH) resources are
released only after inactive timer expires. Therefore, large numbers of UEs
stay in CELL_DCH status. Uplink and downlink power is consumed on
dedicated signaling channels, high speed dedicated physical control channel
(HS-DPCCH), and E-DPCCH. Decreases in data transmission power lead to
decreases in cell throughput and air interface efficiency. For cells under full
load, an average of 40 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) users are
online. The HSDPA throughput is less than 1 Mbit/s, and only 30% power is
used for data transmission. The air interface efficiency is low.
19

Figure 4-10 Decreased efficiency in air interface under MBB model

HSDPA TOP Average Throughput

VS.HSDPA.UE.Mean.Cell

4.3.2 Solutions
In the UMTS RAN, the following measures are taken to solve the typical
network problems mentioned in section 4.3.1:
Reduce activation request signaling, enable the control of smartphones
state transition on the network side, and enhance common channels
to avoid impact on the network caused by repeated activation request
signaling.
Implement hierarchical paging, narrow the paging area, and reduce the
paging signaling in air interfaces.
Improve the air interface utilization efficiency by control channel
overhead reduction and smart state transition.

UTRAN-SLT1: Solution to the Signaling Storm in UTRAN

The PCH function and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function can be used to
reduce the number of RRC access signaling. If the Enhanced Fast Dormancy
function is enabled, the RRC will not be released after the RNC receives the
SCRI signaling sent by the smartphone. Instead, the smartphone is transferred
to the CELL_FACH/PCH. The amount of RRC signaling is therefore greatly
reduced. Figure 4-11 shows the signaling flow during a data transmission
process before the PCH function and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function
are enabled. Figure 4.12 shows the signaling flow during the transmission
process of a big data packet after the PCH function and the Enhanced Fast
Dormancy function are enabled. Figure 4.13 shows the signaling flow during
the transmission process of a small amount of data after the PCH function
and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function are enabled.

20

Figure 4-11 Signaling flow during a data transmission process before the PCH function
and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function are enabled

Old PS procedure

Figure 4-12 Signaling flow during the transmission process of a big data packet after
the PCH function and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function are enabled

New PS procedure- P2F2DF2P(Big Data Packet)

Figure 4-13 Signaling flow during the transmission process of a small data packet after
the PCH function and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function are enabled

New PS procedure- P2F2P(small Data Packet)

Proposals:
In the short term, the PCH function and the Enhanced Fast Dormancy function
is used to reduce the impact of signaling storm.
In the long term, enhanced common channel can be used to reduce the number
of network access-related signaling and reduce the impact of signaling storm.
21

UTRAN-SLT2: UTRAN Hierarchical Paging

Enable the hierarchical paging function to narrow the paging area and
reduce the paging load of the UMTS network. For example, paging is firstly
performed in the cell where the activity of the smartphone recently took
place. If the paging fails, the RNC pages the smartphone in the entire location
area (LA), routing area (RA), or UTRAN registration area (URA).
Proposals:
Enable the hierarchical paging function to reduce the paging load of the
UMTS network.

UTRAN-SLT3: Air Interface Efficiency Improvement in

UTRAN Networks
Reduce the control channel power by control channel overhead reduction
and interference reduction, so that most of the power in the cell can be
used to transmit data. For example, the uplink CQI feedback period can be
adjusted dynamically based on the cell load or service characteristics and the
DPCCH power offset can be adjusted based on the cell load auto negotiation
function; using CCPIC technique can reduce DPCCH interference to other
channels.
Enable the smart state transition function. For smartphone services (such
as the heart beat service and IM service), the duration between a data
transmission is short and interval between two data transmission processes
is long. Therefore, after data transmission, the smartphone can be quickly
transferred from the dedicated channel to the common channel to save the
resource of the dedicated channel and improve the air interface utilization
efficiency.
DTX_DRX (CPC) of CELL_DCH is introduced in UMTS Release 7. When the
smartphone does not transmit or receive data in the dedicated channel, its
transmitter or receiver is closed to reduce interference on other phones, save
the resource of the dedicated channel, as well as improve the utilization
efficiency of the air interface.
Enhanced common channel (HS-FACH/HS-RACH and CELL_FACH-DRX) is
introduced in UMTS Release 7 and UMTS Release 8. A large number of small
data packets can be transmitted in the CELL_FACH instead of in the CELL_
DCH to save the dedicated channel resources.
Proposals:
In the long term, save the dedicated channel resources and improve
air interface efficiency by control channel overhead reduction and the
smart state transition function.
In the long term, save the dedicated channel resources by CPC and
enhanced common channel.
22

4.4 LTE Solutions

4.4.1 Problems Description
The frequent use of mobile phones, the heart beats, and message push
of various applications lead to frequent exchanges between smartphones
and the network. This generates a large amount of signaling related to the
network access and state transition, and negatively affects the network
stability. According to the UMTS network operation experience, the number
of network accesses initiated by smartphones, which are the mainstream
terminal type in LTE networks, is more than 40 times that of the feature
phones. Therefore, the above challenge still exists.
Meanwhile, the capability improvement of smartphone hardware and the
frequent use of applications lead to a surge in traffic. It is predicted that from
2012 to 2016, the growth rate of traffic will reach 60% or higher, which will
lead to network congestion. Services such as P2P and FTP that have large
data volume and low requirements for delays may affect the user experience
of other services, such as video and web browsing.
The popularization of smartphones and the increase in mobile applications
also change people's habits in using phones. The busy-hour is no longer
limited in only one or two time range, but extends to more than ten hours.
Meanwhile, the wireless bandwidth capability improves and the screens
of phones become larger and larger. These bring severe challenges to the
standby time supported by the phone battery, and power-saving issue
becomes more and more urgent
To ensure good user experience and stability of LTE networks, the following
solutions can be adopted:
Signaling control. This solution ensures network stability without
affecting user experience.
Power-saving. With this solution, phones quickly enter into the sleep
state when it is not involved in data transmission. This reduces power
consumption and extends the standby time.
Differentiated service control. With this solution, the quality of services
with higher priorities can still be ensured even if traffic congestion
occurs.

23

4.4.2 Solutions
LTE-SLT1: Signaling-Control in LTE Networks
According to the analysis of the live network, LTE signaling impact mainly
occurs in the following two situations:
A large number of smartphones access the network simultaneously,
resulting in an overloaded network.
A large number of smartphones are performing services that require
frequent exchanges, such as heart beats, message push, and
state information notice. This leads to frequent state transition of
smartphones between the idle state and connected state.
The following solutions are provided to deal with the previous problems:

LTE-SLT11: Smooth Admission Control Solution in LTE

Networks
In the scenario where a large number of terminals access the network
simultaneously, 3GPP protocol has provided the following two solutions:
When a large number of smartphones access the network
simultaneously and traffic congestion occurs, the eNodeB can reject
the RRC connection request (the RRC_CONN_REQ message) sent by
smartphones that access the network later. The rejection message
includes the waiting time for next access. In this case, network
congestion is avoided and network stability is ensured.
AC barring. In the 3GPP protocol, another overload control
mechanism is defined. When an eNodeB enters an overload state,
it broadcasts messages to deliver different AC Barring (Access Class
Barring) parameters settings to different smartphones to ensure that
smartphones access the network at different time. This helps to avoid
severe network overload.

24

LTE-SLT12 Smartphones Always-Online Solution in

LTE Networks
To decrease frequent RRC connection setup and release of smartphones,
implement differentiated control on smart phones that are using different
services, as shown in Figure 4-14.
For smartphones that involve in frequent transmission of small packets, such
as IM, Facebook, and SNS, keep the RRC connection of the phone online until
no such service is used.
For smartphones that do not involve in frequent transmission of small
packets, such as video streaming or FTP services, release the RRC
connection of the phone immediately after the service is complete.
Figure 4-14 UE always-online solution in LTE
Data trafc

eNB

UE1:Access the service which is

frequent small packet,such as
IM/Facebook
1.Keep UEs in RRC-Connect to reduce signaling
overload;

t
DRX

hugedata

lowtraffic

only hearbeat

2.Control UE out of UL sync based on traffic

statistic result to configure longer DRX cycle
to save more power.

UE2:Access the service which is

not frequent small packet,such
as Video streaming

1. Control UE to idle mode

ASAP after finishing
service access

t
Dynamic
DRX

2.Apply normal DRX

LTE-SLT13 Signaling Control for High Mobility Users

During Handovers in LTE Networks
When the online time of smartphones becomes longer, especially the phones
frequently using frequent small-packet services, frequent mobility causes more
handovers of smartphones and an increase in signaling.
The handovers caused by the frequent use of services cannot be avoided.
However, during the use of frequent small-packet services, many smartphones
are always online even when the users are not using the smartphones. When
small packet services are used, smartphones communicate with the network
by exchanging the heart beats, real-time message push, and state notification
between terminal application and servers. The interval between interactions
is generally more than 60s. During the interval, the small amount of data
is often transmitted in a short time. If a smart phone with high mobility
transmits the small packet service, the signaling impact caused by the high
mobility may exceed the signaling saved in always online state.
25

Trafc characteristic statistic

faster to un-sync

To solve this problem, transit the phone to the idle state as soon as possible
to avoid the signaling impact caused by high mobility, as shown in Figure 4-15.
Figure 4-15 Signaling-control solution for users with high mobility during
handovers in LTE networks

UE1
keeps high mobility

UE2
keeps low mobility

Transit UE 1 to idle state to

reduce signaling impact on
handovers

Keep the RRC connection

of UE2 online when using
frequent small-packet services

Proposals:
At the early stage of the LTE network deployment, when there is a small
number of users and a small amount of signaling, admission control in
LTE networks is recommended to improve the stability of eNodeBs.
When the number of users and the signaling impact are increasing,
always-online solution and signaling-control solution during handovers
for high mobility users are recommended to prevent the signaling
impact caused by frequent access procedures and

LTE-SLT2: Smartphones Power-Saving solution in LTE

networks
The online time of smartphones becomes longer and the screens of
smartphones become larger. Therefore, the power consumption problem
gains more and more attentions from users and directly affects user
experience. The solutions to this problem are as follows:

LTE-SLT21: DRX Solution in LTE networks

In the 3GPP protocol, the DRX control mechanism is defined. This mechanism
provides the Short DRX Cycle and Long DRX Cycle parameters, which enable
smartphones to enter the dormant state quickly after data transmission
is complete. In the dormant state, the smart phones do not monitor the
physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to save power.
26

Proposals:
At the early stage of the LTE network deployment, there is a small
number of users and a small amount of signaling. The DRX solution
is recommended to help UEs save power and reduce the amount of
signaling generated due to frequent transition to the idle state.

LTE-SLT22: Dynamic DRX Solution in LTE Networks

Different DRX parameters are configured for different types of UEs, such as
smartphones, USB dongles, customer premises equipment (CPE). Different
types of services vary in packet transmission times, and must be configured
with different DRX parameters. DRX configuration is differentiated based on
UE types and service types to achieve a minimum consumption of power.
Figure 4-16 Dynamic DRX solution in LTE networks

UE1
USB dongle
Do not transit the UE
to the DRX state

UE2
uses services
that have high
requirements on
real time

UE2
uses services
without real-time
requirements

Congure a short DRX period

do not affect services

Congure a long DRX period

to ensure a long dormant time

Figure 4-16 shows the solution.

Proposals:
As the number of users and the amount of signaling impact becomes
greater, the eNodeB transits UEs to the always-online state, which
leads to a long online time. Therefore, the dynamic DRX solution is
recommended to save power for UEs.

27

LTE-SLT3: Service-based Differentiated Control in LTE

Networks
The increasing use of smartphones leads to a fast growing in traffic data,
which challenges the LTE network. To improve user experience in the
network, operators need to guarantee the experience-sensitive services.
Air interface resources are the bottleneck in LTE networks. In traffic
congestion, service control is differentiated based on the telecom operators'
policies and the types of users and services to preferentially guarantee the
experience of high-priority users and the users that use high-priority services,
as shown in Figure 4-17.
Figure 4-17 Service-based differentiated control solution in LTE Networks
UE

eRAN
Differentiated
control
on data based
on users and
services

UE1

eNodeB
Subscriber awareness

Service awareness

Congestion awareness

User information
and service
information

MME

SGW

PGW

Scheduler
UE2

Proposals:
This solution is recommended when operators require differentiated
control on services on the same bearer, such as P2P throttling and HTTP
guarantee.

28

5 Summary
5.1 Challenge Overview
Mobile Internet services, terminal capabilities, and network capabilities
promote and affect each other, together facilitating the development of MBB.
Table 5-1 describes the impact of mainstream mobile internet services on
terminal capabilities and channel capabilities.
Table 5-1 Impact of mainstream mobile internet services
Category

29

Description

Characteristics

Impact

IM

Instant messaging

Small packets are

sent occasionally

Increasing signaling for

calling and called parties and
reduced resource efficiency

VoIP

Internet telephone
service, including
voice and video
calls

Small packets are

sent continuously

Reduced resource efficiency

Streaming

Streaming media
such as HTTP
audios and videos,
P2P videos

Big packets are

sent continuously

Large amount of downlink

data downlink data

SNS

Social networking
websites

Small packets are

sent less frequently

Increasing signaling for

calling and called parties
and increasing uplink and
downlink data

Web
Browsing

Web page
browsing, including
WAP

Big packets are

sent less frequently

Increasing signaling and

downlink data

Cloud

Applications,
including cloud
computing and
online cloud
applications

Big packets

Increasing signaling and

uplink data

Email

Emails, including
Web mail, POP3,
and SMTP

Big packets are

sent less frequently

Increasing signaling and

uplink and downlink data

File
Transfer

File transfer,
including P2P, file
Big packets are
storage, application
sent continuously
download and
update

Increasing signaling and

uplink and downlink data

Gaming

Mobile gaming,
such as social
gaming and bridges

Big packets are

sent less frequently

Increasing signaling and

uplink and downlink traffic
data

M2M

Machine type,
communication

Small packets

Increasing signaling for calling

and called parties and reduced
resource efficiency

Table 5-2 describes the impact of Smartphone on the network.

Table 5-2 Impact of Smartphone on the network
Category

Description

Impact

Radio Protocol
Capability

More Smartphone support

HSPA+ and LTE.

Reduce the amount of data by new

technology.

Fast Dormancy
Feature

More Smartphone support

Release 8 fast dormancy.

Transit Smartphone to the dormant

state quickly.

Screen
Resolution/Video
Play Capability

Screen resolution and video

play capability is improved.

Improved content quality leads to an

increasing uplink and downlink data.

Background
Heart Beat

The background heart beats

by the operating system of
Smartphone are unified.

Improve user experience and reduce

signaling.

5.2 Solutions and Suggestions

With the development of MBB, the entire industry, including OTT, smart
terminals, and network equipment providers, take measures to improve their
E2E ability to meet the above challenges. Most of the measures can be taken
together at the same time or independently at different times, others need
to be taken with the cooperation of different equipment working together.
The specific policies and applications in different scenarios will be described in
detail in the related documents. Table 5-3 describes the measures.
Table 5-3 Solution overview (based on 3GPP Release 8 protocol and earlier versions)
Category

Problem Description
E2E-PB1: signaling
increase caused by
frequent small packets

Solution
E2E-SLT11: Qualcomm NSRM
E2E-SLT12: push service provided by
operators or third parties, such as
terminal OS vendors, service providers

E2E-PB2: increasing data

caused by big data packet
E2E

E2E-SLT21: compressions including

UCWEB
E2E-SLT22: content adaptive protocols
including HTTP live streaming and
DASH.
E2E-SLT23: local cache
E2E-SLT24: small cell and WLAN in
HetNet

30

PS

PS-PB1: repeated
activation request
signaling

PS-SLT1: repeated activation request

control

PS-PB2: Smartphone
signaling impacts on
GGSN with direct tunnels

PS-SLT2: PS smart direct tunnel

control

PS-PB3: increasing paging

signaling in LTE

PS-SLT3: smart paging in LTE

UTRAN-PB1: increasing
access signaling

UTRAN-SLT1: signaling storm solution

in UTRAN
UTRAN-SLT11: PCH function
UTRAN-SLT12: enhanced fast
dormancy
UTRAN-SLT13: enhanced common
channel in Release 7 or Release 8

UMTS
RAN

UTRAN-PB2: increasing
paging signaling

UTRAN-SLT2: UTRAN hierarchical

paging

UTRAN-PB3: air interface

utilization efficiency
decreases

UTRAN-SLT3: UTRAN air interface

utilization efficiency improvement
UTRAN-SLT31: the HSPA parameter
optimization (such as CQI feedback
period and DPCCH power offset
dynamic adjustment)
UTRAN-SLT32: smart state transition
in UTRAN
UTRAN-SLT33:CCPIC
UTRAN-SLT34: continuous packet
connectivity (CPC)
UTRAN-SLT35: enhanced common
channel in Release 7 or Release 8

LTE-PB1: increasing access

signaling

LTE-SLT1: signaling control in LTE

networks
LTE-SLT11: smooth admission control
solution in LTE
LTE-SLT12: Smartphone always-online
solution in LTE

LTE

LTE-SLT13: signaling-control during

handovers for high mobility users in
LTE
LTE-PB2: power
consumption of
Smartphone

LTE-SLT2: Smartphone power- saving

in LTE
LTE-SLT21: DRX solution in LTE
LTE-SLT22: dynamic DRX solution in
LTE

LTE-PB3: user experience

deterioration

31

LTE-SLT3: service control

differentiated based on users,
services, and congestion state in LTE

Acronyms and
Abbreviations

Term

English Description

3G

Third Generation Cellular network

service as defined by the International Telecommunicat
(www.itu.int)

3GPP

3rd Generation Partnership Project (www.3gpp.org)

A
AAA

Authentication Authorization and Accounting

APP

Application

AS

Application Server

C
CBC

Cell Broadcast Center

CPC

Continuous Packet Connectivity

CPE

Customer Premises Equipment

CQI

Channel Quality Indicator

D
DASH

Dynamic and Adaptive Streaming over HTTP

DC-HSDPA

Dual Carrier HSDPA

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DNS

Domain Name Service

DPI

Deep Packet Inspection

DRA

Dynamic Routing Agent

DRX

Discontinuous Reception

DSAC

Domain Specific Access Control

DTX

Discontinuous Transmission
32

E
EAB

Extended Access Barring

EAP

Extensible Authentication Protocol

E-DPCCH

E-DCH Dedicated Physical Control Channel

eNB

Evolved NodeB

eMBMS

Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

ePDG

Evolved Packet Data Gateway

ETSI

European Telecommunications Standards Institute

E-UTRAN

Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

F
FD

Fast dormancy

FLUTE

File Delivery over directional Transport

G
GGSN

Gateway GPRS Support Node

GU

GSM and UMTS

GTP

GPRS Tunneling Protocol

H
HeNB

Home evolved NodeB

HLR

Home Location Register

HLS

HTTP Live Streaming

HS-DPCCH

High Speed-Dedicated Physical Control Channel

HSPA+

High Speed Packet Access Plus

HSS

Home Subscriber Server

HS-DPCCH

HS-DSCH Dedicated Physical Control Channel

HTCP

Hypertext Cashing Protocol

HTML

HyperText Markup Language

HTTP

Hypertext Transfer Protocol

33

IaaS

Infrastructure as a Service

IETF

Internet Engineering Task Force

IFOM

IP Flow Mobility and Seamless Offload

IM

Instant Messaging

IMEI

International Mobile Equipment Identity

IP

Internet Protocol

I-CSCF

Interrogating CSCF

I-SBC

IMS Session Border Controller

ITU

International Telecommunications Union

L
LA

Location Area

LSGW

LTE SMS GW

LTE

Long Term Evolution

M
M2M

Machine to Machine

MAPCON

Multi Access Packet Data Network Connectivity

MBMS

Multicast Service Multimedia Broadcast

MME

Mobility Management Entity

MCC

Mobile Country Code

MNC

Mobile Network Code

M-TMSI

Mobile Subscriber Identity MME- Temporary

N
NAI

Network Access Identifier

NAS

Non-access Stratum

NMS

Network Management System

NNI-SBC

Network to Network Interface Session Border Controller

O
OA&M

Operations and Maintenance

OCS

Online Charging Server

OS

Operation System

OTT

Over-the-Top

P
P2P

Peer to Peer

PaaS

Platform as a Service
34

PCC

Policy and Charging Control

P-CSCF

Proxy CSCF

PLMN

Public Land Mobile Network

PCRF

Policy and Charging Rules Function

PDN

Packet Data Network

PDN GW/PGW

Packet Data Network Gateway (H=Home or V=Visited)

PLMN

Public Land Mobile Network

PPI

Pixels per inch

POP3

Post Office Protocol version 3

PS

Packet Switched

PSI

Public Service Identifiers

Q
QCI

QoS Class Identifier

QoS

Quality of Service

R
RA

Routing Area

RAN

Radio Access Network

RAT

Radio Access Technology

RNC

Radio Network Controller

RRC

Radio Resource Control(3GPP)

RTP

Real-time Transport Protocol

35

SaaS

Software as a Service

SCRI

SIGNALLING CONNECTION RELEASE INDICATION

S-CSCF

Serving CSCF

SLP

SUPL Location Platform

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SAE

System Architecture Evolution

SBC

Session Border Controller

SCG

Service Continuity Gateway

SGW

Serving Gateway

SMS

Short Message Service

SNS

Social Networking Services

S-TMSI

S-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (consists of MMEC

and M-TMSI)

SIP

Session Initiation Protocol

T
TA

Tracking Area

TA-List

Tracking Area-List

TAI-List

Tracking Area Identity-List

TAU-List

Tracking Area Update-List

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

TWAP

Trusted Wireless Access Proxy

TWAG

Trusted Wireless Access Gateway

U
UDP

User Datagram Protocol

UE

User Equipment (a.k.a. mobile handset or access terminal)

UMTS

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

URA

UTRAN Registration Area

V
VoIP

Voice over IP

W
WAP

Wireless Application Protocol

36

Reference

111 [APNS]: Apple Push Notification Service,

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/NetworkingInternet/
Conceptual/RemoteNotificationsPG/ApplePushService/ApplePushService.html
222 [C2DM]: Android Cloud to Device Messaging,
https://developers.google.com/android/c2dm/
333 [NSRM]: Network Scoket Request Manager,
http://www.qualcomm.com/media/documents/managing-background-data-trafficmobile-devices
444 [HLS]: HTTP Live Streaming, ietf draft,
http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming
555 [HSS]: Smooth Streaming, http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/smoothstreaming/
666 [DASH]: Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP, 3gpp specification 26.247
777 [HTML5]:W3C Working Draft,
http://www.w3.org/TR/2011/WD-html5-20110525/
888 3GPP TS 23.060

a.5.0

2011-09-27

General Packet Radio Service

2011-09-27

Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio

(GPRS);Service description;
999 3GPP TS 36.413

a.3.0

Access Network (E-UTRAN); S1 Application Protocol (S1AP)

1111 3GPP TS 23.401

a.5.0

2011-09-27

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

enhancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access
1111 3GPP TS 24.008

9.4.0

2010-09-28

Mobile radio interface Layer 3

specification; Core network protocols; Stage 3

1111 3GPP TS 25.413

10.3.0

2011-09-27

UTRAN Iu interface Radio Access

Network Application Part (RANAP) signaling

1111 3GPP TS 36.413, S1 Application Protocol (S1AP)
1111 3GPP TS 36.331, Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification
1111 3GPP TS 23.401, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for Evolved
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access
1111 3GPP TS 25.331: Radio Resource Control (RRC); protocol specification.
1111 3GPPTS 25.308: UTRA High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA).
1111 3GPPTS 25.321: Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification.
1111 3GPPTS 25.903: Continuous connectivity for packet data users .
2222 3GPPTS 25.319: Enhanced uplink; Overall description;
2222 3GPPTS 25.317: High Speed Packet Access (HSPA);
37

Contributors

Contributors

Department

Frank zhao

mLAB (Huawei MBB lab)

jiaweijie

mLAB (Huawei MBB lab)

wangbin

mLAB (Huawei MBB lab)

xiguobao

PS solution design team

mijunwen

UMTS solution design team

shuaiyanglai

LTE solution design team

38

Copyright Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2012. All rights reserved.

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Trademark Notice
, HUAWEI, and

are trademarks or registered trademarks of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Other trademarks, product, service and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
General Disclaimer
The information in this document may contain predictive statements including,
without limitation, statements regarding the future financial and operating results,
future product portfolio, new technology, etc. There are a number of factors
that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the predictive statements. Therefore, such information

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

Huawei Industrial Base
Bantian Longgang
Shenzhen 518129, P.R. China
Tel: +86-755-28780808
Version No.: M3-034414-20120911-C-2.0

is provided for reference purpose only and constitutes neither an offer nor an
acceptance. Huawei may change the information at any time without notice.

www.huawei.com