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Today, we will talk about GTP tunnels used in

the LTE network (LTE GTP Tunnel I)
September 26, 2013 | By Chris (tech@netmanias.com) | Netmanias Tech-Blog | www.netmanias.com

Today, we will talk about GTP tunnels used in the LTE network.
As seen in Figure (a) below, IP packets sent by an LTE device (UE) are delivered from an eNB to a P-GW
through GTP tunnels. What it means is that "all IP packets that a UE sends are always delivered through an
eNB to a P-GW regardless of their specified destination IP addresses (i.e., even though their destination IP
addresses are different)".
Lets find out more now.
1. UE to eNB
A UE sends an IP packet with its destination IP address set to e.g. 74.125.71.104 (IP address of
www.google.com) to an eNB through a radio link. The original packet sent by the UE will look something like
this:
The IP packet sent by the UE

Outer IP Header: SIP=eNB, DIP=S-GW

IP Header: SIP=UE, DIP=74.125.71.104

IP Payload

2. eNB to S-GW
Upon receiving the IP packet from the UE, the eNB adds a GTP tunnel header, consisting of three individual
headers a GTP header, UDP header, and IP header for GTP tunneling - in front of the IP packet. Then, the IP
packet (sent by the eNB to an S-GW) will be as follows:
The header added by the eNB (GTP tunnel header)

Outer IP Header: SIP=eNB, DIP=S-GW

The IP packet sent by the UE

UDP Header GTP Header: TEID=X IP Header: SIP=UE, DIP=74.125.71.104

IP Payload

So, if only an IP routing network exists between the eNB and the S-GW, the routing network performs routing
based on the destination IP address of the packet (i.e. the IP address of the S-GW, the destination IP address
shown in the outer IP header), and then delivers the IP packet to the S-GW accordingly.
3. S-GW to PGW
The S-GW, upon receiving the IP packet from the eNB, modifies its GTP header and IP header (outer IP header)
as follow:
The header added by the S-GW (GTP tunnel header)

The IP packet sent by the UE

Outer IP Header: SIP=S-GW, DIP=P-GW UDP Header GTP Header: TEID=Y IP Header: SIP=UE, DIP=74.125.71.104

IP Payload

4. P-GW to PDN (www.google.com)

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Today, we will talk about GTP tunnels used in the LTE network (LTE GTP
Tunnel I)

Then, the packet is delivered to the P-GW accordingly. The P-GW then removes all three headers (Outer IP
header/UDP header/GTP header) from the packet and delivers the original packet sent by the UE to the
Internet.
The IP packet sent by the UE

Outer IP Header: SIP=eNB, DIP=S-GW

IP Header: SIP=UE, DIP=74.125.71.104

IP Payload

As you may notice, an explanation of a TEID (tunnel endpoint ID) included in the GTP header has not given
here. Lets say there are 100 UEs that are connected to a S-GW and P-GW. Since one GTP tunnel is generated
per UE (more than one can be practically generated, though), 100 GTP tunnels will be are generated. Now, the
LTE network has to be able to distinguish which GTP tunnel belongs to which UE. For this purpose, a TEID is
assigned to each UE. So, for example, the TEID is marked as TEID = UL S1-TEID (ex. 0x12345678) for the link
from the eNB to the S-GW and as TEID=UL S5-TEID (ex. 0xabcdef12) for the link from the S-GW to the P-GW in
the Figure below.
Now that TEIDs specific to UEs are used, the LTE network can distinguish its subscribers (UEs) from one
another by checking their TEIDs instead of IP addresses P-GWs check both TEIDs and IP addresses of UEs, eNBs
and S-GWs check TEIDs only).
Another thing about the TEIDs is that they are unidirectional. That is, they can only serve for one direction,
either uplink or downlink. So, for the traffic from the Internet to the UE in the Figure (b) below, a new TEID is
assigned and used for the links from the P-GW to the S-GW and from the S-GW to the eNB.

S1 GTP tunnel
UE

S5 GTP tunnel

eNB

S-GW

P-GW

IP packet
1

Dst IP : S-GW
Src IP : eNB
TEID: UL S1-TEID
Dst IP : Internet
Src IP : UE

Dst IP : Internet
Src IP : UE

GTP-U tunnel

Dst IP : P-GW
Src IP : S-GW
TEID: UL S5-TEID
Dst IP : Internet
Src IP : UE

Dst IP : Internet
Src IP : UE

(a) from the UE to the Internet

S1 GTP tunnel
UE

S5 GTP tunnel

eNB

S-GW

P-GW

IP packet
4

Dst IP : UE
Src IP : Internet

Dst IP : eNB
Src IP : S-GW
TEID: DL S1-TEID
Dst IP : UE
Src IP : Internet

Dst IP : S-GW
Src IP : P-GW
TEID: DL S5-TEID
Dst IP : UE
Src IP : Internet

GTP-U tunnel

Dst IP : UE
Src IP : Internet

(b) from the Internet to the UE

In the Figure, the routes from the eNB to the S-GW, and from the S-GW to the P-GW were named as S1 GTP
tunnel and S5 GTP tunnel, respectively. That was just because the interface between an eNB and an S-GW

Netmanias Tech-Blog: Today, we will talk about GTP tunnels used in the LTE network (LTE GTP
Tunnel I)

and one between S-GW and P-GW were named as S1 and S5 respectively in the LTE network reference
model in 3GPP specification. Practically there is no difference in the format of the packets used in two GTP
tunnels.
Also, a letter U at the end of GTP-U stands for user plane and was added to indicate that it is user data
that travels through the tunnel. Likewise, a letter C was added at the end of GTP-C to indicate that control
(signaling) packets, not user (UE) data, are delivered through the tunnel.

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