UMTS Interfaces and Protocols (Third Generation

Networks)
UMTS leveraged several industry-standard, established protocols. This includes
CC, MM, SM (GSM), GTP (GPRS), BICC, SS7, SS7-over-IP/ATM, UDP, IP, and
others. However, new protocols have been developed for the UTRAN interfaces.
Section 5.4.1 introduces protocol structure at the new Iu interfaces. The detailed
specifications for each of these protocols are available from the 3GPP website.
Section 5.3.1 describes these protocols in brief.

UTRAN interfaces and protocol structure

Figure 5-4 shows the general protocol model for UTRAN interfaces, i.e. Iub, Iur, Iu-
CS, and Iu-PS. The structure consists of two horizontal layers: the Radio Network
Layer and the Transport Network Layer.
The Radio Network Layer is concerned with user data and control information.
The Transport Network Layer is concerned with the transport technologies used for
the UTRAN interfaces. The two layers are logically independent of each other. This
makes it possible to change the Transport Network Layer without affecting Radio
Network Layer, if required. In Release 99, the Transport Network Layer is based on
ATM. In Release 5, IP is used.
Figure 5-4 Generic protocol model for UTRAN interfaces.
The user plane includes the user data between the UE and the network and the data
bearers. The user data consists of data streams characterized by frame protocols
specific to a UTRAN interface.

The control plane includes the application protocols and the signaling bearers,
which transport the control information. The application protocols used at
different UTRAN interfaces are:
Iu-CS: Radio access network application protocol (RANAP)
Iu-PS: RANAP
Iub: Node B application protocol (NBAP)
Iur: Radio network system application protocol (RNSAP)
The transport network control plane includes the access link control application
protocol (ALCAP). ALCAP is used to set up transport bearers to carry user and
control plane information. It is not visible to the Radio Network Layer.
Several alternatives are available for the Physical Layer implementation within
UTRAN. The specified options in 3GPP release at Iu interfaces are:
Layer 1 synchronized option, i.e., PDH/SDH/SONET.
 Layer 1 IP nonsynchronized option, i.e., Ethernet or any other suitable point-to-
point or point-to-multipoint technique.
Iu-CS interface protocol structure. In UMTS, the interface between RAN and CN
is Iu. Iu-CS is the interface specified between the RAN and the 3G MSC. The Iu-PS
interface is defined between the RAN and the 3G SGSN. In order to have uniformity,
3GPP specifies a single protocol at Radio Network Layer for the Iu-CS and the Iu-PS
interfaces. The radio access network application protocol (RANAP) is the Radio
Network Layer protocol for the Iu interface. The RANAP peer entities reside in 3G
MSC/SGSN and the SRNC. The RANAP functions are specified in 3GPP TS 25.413
in detail. In summary, RANAP procedures support the following key functions.
Radio access bearer (RAB) management including RAB setup, modification, and
release
Iu connection management
Facilitate general UTRAN procedures from the core network, e.g., paging
requests from the CN to UE
Services to upper layers including the transportation of upper layer nonstratum
protocols (i.e., call control, session management, and mobility management)
messages between the UE and CN
Overload and error handling
SRNS relocation
UE location reporting
Trace invocation for a specified UE
Security functions including ciphering and integrity checks
RANAP uses services provided by the Transport Network Layer to transfer
RANAP messages across the Iu interfaces. Figure 5-5 shows the Transport Network
Layer protocol stack. The transport layer ensures error free message transfer
between two RANAP entities. The Service Connection and Control Part (SCCP)
offers both connectionless and connection-oriented services. Each active UE is
assigned a separate logical link in case of connection-oriented service between two
RANAP entities. The SCCP utilizes services provided by the lower layers to transport
messages between two entities. Layer 3 Broadband Message Transfer Part (MTP3b)
provides message routing, discrimination, and distribution. It also provides link
management functions including load sharing between linksets. The SSCF maps the
requirements of above layers to the requirements of SSCOP. The SSCOP provides
the mechanism for the establishment and release of connections and the reliable
exchange of signaling information between the signaling entities. In cases where the
IP transport option is chosen, the services are provided by M3UA, SCTP, and IP.
AAL5 is used to adapt the upper layer protocol to the requirements of the lower ATM
cells.
The radio network layerIu user plane protocols carry the user data over the
bearers that are set up by the Transport Network Layer.

Figure 5-5 Iu-CS interface protocol structure.

The frame protocol in the Iu interface supports both CS and PS domain user data
traffic.

As described in the previous section, the purpose of the transport network control
plane is to set up, maintain, and release bearers to transport the data via the user
plane. The AAL2 signaling protocol capability set 1 (ALCAP), which is described in
ITU-T specification Q.2630.1, is used. ALCAP is a Layer 3 protocol. Its responsibility
is to set up and manage ATM Adaptation Layer 2 (AAL2) connections.
In the user plane, ATM Adaptation Layer 2 (AAL2) is used as the user data bearer.
AAL2 has been specifically designed to transport short-length packets.
Iu-PS interface protocol structure. The Iu-PS interface is specified between the
RAN and the 3G SGSN (Figure 5-6). As described in the previous section, 3GPP
specifies a single protocol at the Radio Network Layer for the Iu-CS and the Iu-PS
interfaces, i.e., RANAP for the control plane and Iu for the user plane. Both of these
are defined in the previous section.
No transport network control protocol is needed. Unlike GPRS, where the GTP
tunnel ends at the SGSN, the GTP tunnel in UMTS extends up to RNC. The tunnel
ID and IP address, which is required to establish a tunnel, is included in the upper
layer protocols.
Like GPRS, GTP-U uses UDP/IP. AAL5 is used to carry the packet-switched user
traffic over the Iu-PS interface.

Figure 5-6 Iu-PS interface protocol structure.

Iur interface protocol structure. Iur is the interface between the RNCs (Figure 5-7).
One of the RNCs assumes the controlling role and is termed the serving RNC
(SRNC); the other RNC is termed the drifting RNC (DRNC).

The Radio Subsystem Application Part (RNSAP) is a Radio Network Layer

protocol used at the Iur interface. RNSAP includes procedures for network control
signaling between two RNC nodes:
Radio link management and reconfiguration
Radio link supervision
Common control channel (CCCH) signaling transfer
Paging
Relocation execution
RNSAP uses the services of the Transport Layer for reliable transfer of signaling
messages in both connectionless and connection-oriented modes. The SCCP allows
a separate independent logical connection with individual UE. If the ATM transport
option is chosen between two RNCs, the SCCP uses MTP3-B, SSCF-NNI, and
SSCOP services for networking and routing of messages. In cases where the IP
transport option is chosen, these services are provided by the M3UA, SCTP, and IP.

Figure 5-7 Iur interface protocol structure.

Iub interface protocol structure. Iub is the interface between the Node B and the
RNC (Figure 5-8).
The Node B application protocol (NBAP) is a Radio Network Layer control plane
protocol at the Iub interface. NBAP includes the procedures to manage the logical
resources at Node B. NBAP procedures support the following functions:
Cell configuration management
Radio link management and supervision
Common transport channel management
System information management
Configuration verification/alignment
Measurement of common and dedicated resources
System network protocols
Access and nonaccess stratum protocols. The Access Stratum (AS) is defined as
the group of protocols (all layers) embedded in the UTRAN and between the edge
nodes (UE and RNC). The Nonaccess Stratum (NAS) is defined as the group of
protocols between the UE and the CN. These protocols are carried transparently
through the UTRAN. Figures 5-9 and 5-10 show the Access Stratum and Nonaccess
Stratum protocol boundaries in the control and user planes, respectively.

Figure 5-8 Iub interface protocol structure.

Figure 5-9 Control plane protocols.

Figure 5-10 User plane protocols.

RAN protocols (Access Stratum) are described in the previous section. The
protocols belonging to the Nonaccess stratum group are:
CS domain
Call control management (CC)
Mobility management (MM)
 PS domain
Session management (SM)
GPRS mobility management (GMM)
The call control management protocol contains the functions and procedures for
call establishment, monitoring, and release for circuit-switched voice and multimedia
calls.The mobility management protocol includes procedures for UE mobility and
authentication. As shown in Figure 5-9, the CC protocol uses the connection service
provided by the MM sublayer. The MM sublayer in turn uses the connection services
provided by the Radio Resource Connection (RRC) Layer. The RRC handles the
control plane signaling of Layer 3 between the UE and UTRAN. It establishes,
maintains, and releases the signaling connection and radio bearers for UE on
request from the upper layer. The RNC uses the relay functionality to map the CC
messages into RANAP for forward transmission to core network.
Like the CC protocol, the session management protocol is used to activate, modify,
and delete PDP contexts. The prerequisite to a SM context for a UE is the existence
of a GMM context. The GMM includes the functions and procedures for the UE
mobility and authentication procedure in the PS domain.

N E X T P O S T: Example UMTS Procedures (Third Generation Networks)

P R E V I O U S P O S T: UMTS Network Architecture (Third Generation Networks)

R ELATED L INKS

o Roaming in Wireless Networks

Roaming and Wireless Networks
Interstandard Roaming
Prepaid and Postpaid Subscriber Roaming
Basic Structure of Roaming
Roaming Services
:: SEARCH WWH ::

Search

Custom Search

Help Unprivileged Childre