User Guide 238/1553-HSD 101 02/1 Uen D4

Iub over Satellite

Contents
Introduction
Basic Characteristics
Benefits
Additional Information

Feature Operational Description

Network Requirements
Feature Operation Sequence Diagram

Parameters
Introduced Parameters
Affected Parameters

Network Impact
Subscriber Capacity
Network Performance
Hardware
Inter-Node Interface
Other Network Elements

Associated Features and Affected Functions

Prerequisite Features
Affected Features
Related Features
Affected System Functions

Performance
KPIs
Counters
Events

Operation and Maintenance

Activate the Feature
Deactivate the Feature
Engineering Guidelines

1 Introduction
This document describes the optional feature Iub over Satellite and its main benefits and
impacts in the WCDMA RAN.

The Iub over Satellite feature allows the connection of a remote Node B to an RNC to be
accomplished by backhauling the Iub interface control plane, user plane and the
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) traffic over satellite, mostly in the geostationary orbit.
The satellite serves as a repeater in the network. Reception of signal from one location
(Node B) and retransmission of that signal to a different location (RNC) is accomplished
by the transponders of the satellite.
1.1 Basic Characteristics
This section describes the basic characteristics of the feature.

Feature identity: FAJ 121 478: Iub over Satellite

Release: Introduced in W10.0, enhanced in W16A and W16B

Dependencies

This feature requires the following RAN feature to be active:

◾ FAJ 121 440 : System integrated GPS network synchronization

This feature affects no other features.

1.2 Benefits
Iub over satellite enables satellite links to be used for the Iub connection between the
base station and the RNC. The feature grants the following benefits:

◾ Provides the possibility to deploy base stations in places where no terrestrial

transport is available or is too expensive to deploy.

◾ Enables nomadic base stations that can be preconfigured and ready to take into
service in any part of the network reducing the time for getting WCDMA coverage
or added capacity.

1.3 Additional Information

For more information about this feature and related topics, refer to System Description.

2 Feature Operational Description

This section describes the Iub over Satellite feature in more detail, including network
configuration requirements.

2.1 Network Requirements

The following must be fulfilled at feature activation:

◾ The license for Iub over Satellite feature, CXC 403 0183 is enabled.

◾ The feature System integrated GPS network synchronization is active.

2.2 Feature Operation Sequence Diagram

Figure 1 gives a high-level view of how Iub over Satellite is configured.
Figure 1 Iub over Satellite Network Configuration

The Iub over Satellite feature allows to have both types of Iub links in the same RNC.
The functionality is provided by the "Same RNC for Satellite and Terrestrial IubLinks"
enhancement, available since W16B. It requires some blades to be dedicated to satellite
links and the rest of the blades to be dedicated to terrestrial links. Two profiles are
available in the RNC, with two sets of parameters used for different Iub link transmission
types. The satellite cells use satellite parameters and the terrestrial cells use terrestrial
ones. Similarly, UE registered in satellite cells uses the satellite values of parameters and
timers while UE registered in terrestrial cells uses terrestrial values.

If a module becomes inoperative, for example due to board failure, the Iub links
allocated to this module are reallocated to another working module automatically. When
the Iub Over Satellite feature is used, satellite Iub links are reallocated to satellite
modules and terrestrial Iub links are reallocated to terrestrial modules.

Figure 2 shows the automatic IubLink reallocation in a board failure scenario.

 Figure 2 Automatic IubLink Reallocation at Failover

3 Parameters
This section describes parameters introduced by the Iub over Satellite feature.

3.1 Introduced Parameters

Table 1 describes the parameters introduced by the feature enhancement "Same RNC for
Satellite and Terrestrial IubLinks" in W16B.

Table 1 Introduced Parameters

Parameter Description
IubLinkType New enumeration, specifying the type of
Iub link:
0 = TERRESTRIAL
1 = SATELLITE
RncModule::supportedIubLinkType Specifies the type of Iub links that RNC
module can handle. The
supportedIubLinkType attribute is used
by the RNC only when the proper license
has been installed and the feature is
activated in the RncFeature MO.
Otherwise the default Link Transmission
Profile (LTP) is used
IubLink::linkType Specifies the type of Iub link. The
linkType attribute is used by the RNC only
when the proper license has been installed
and the feature is activated in the
RncFeature MO. Otherwise the default LTP
is used.
LinkTransmissionProfile New MO class. Manages link transmission
profiles in RNC. It is used by the RNC to
store the correct parameter settings for
the cells and UE handled by the Iub link.
Used to handle the terrestrial and satellite
Parameter
LinkTransmissionProfile::iubLinkType
LinkTransmissionProfile::userLabel
LinkTransmissionProfile::dchUeRrcTypeFrameSynchRef
LinkTransmissionProfie::dchAmrSpeechFrameSynchRef
LinkTransmissionProfile::dchPsDataFrameSynchRef
LinkTransmissionProfile::dchCsDataFrameSynchRef
LinkTransmissionProfile::dchStreamingCsDataFrameSynchRef Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
LinkTransmissionProfile::dchStreamingPsDataFrameSynchRef Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
LinkTransmissionProfile::dchAmrWbSpeechFrameSynchRef
LinkTransmissionProfile::cchFrameSynchRef
CchFrameSynch::reservedBy
CchFrameSynch::userLabel
Figure 3 shows the configuration of satellite and terrestrial parameters.
Description
Iub links. It cannot be defined or removed
by the operator.
Specifies which type of Iub links uses the
LTP. The iubLinkType attribute is used by
the RNC only when the proper license has
been installed and the feature is activated
in the RncFeature MO. Otherwise the
default LTP is used.
Provides the possibility to put a user-
friendly label on the MO instance. The
value is not used by RNC.
Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
set for UeRrcType.
Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
for the DCH AMR Speech Radio Access
Bearer (RAB) type.
Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
for the DCH PS data RAB type.
Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
for the DCH CS data RAB type.
for the DCH streaming CS data RAB type.
for the DCH streaming PS data RAB type.
Reference to the DchFrameSynch attribute
for the DCH AMR Wide-band speech RAB
type.
Reference to the CchFrameSynch attribute.
List of references updated automatically by
the RNC, that point back toward the MO
instances that have references to this MO
instance.
Provides the possibility to put a user-
friendly label on the MO instance. The
value is not used by RNC.
 Figure 3 Satellite and Terrestrial Parameters

IubLink

The linkType attribute has to be configured for each IubLink.

Note: The Iub over Satellite licensed feature needs to be activated to configure the
attribute correctly

Preconfigured Profiles

Preconfigured satellite and terrestrial profiles contain references to framesynch

parameter sets.

Parameter Sets

Preconfigured framesynch parameter sets can be changed by operator

Satellite Blades and Terrestrial Blades

Sctp and RncModule corresponding to a slot, must be configured per each blade. This is
done once for satellite blades in the node.

3.2 Affected Parameters

The implementation of this feature affects no parameters.

4 Network Impact
This section describes how the Iub over Satellite feature affects the network functions
and capabilities.

4.1 Subscriber Capacity

No feature-specific information is identified.
4.2 Network Performance
The Frame Synchronization function provides timing and supervision of traffic frames
between the RNC and the Node B, in both the uplink and the downlink directions. The
following parameters are modified in Node B to handle the satellite connections:

◾ toaeDch - time of Arrival Early Point in Dedicated Channel

◾ toaeCch - time of Arrival Early Point in Control Channel

The following parameters are modified in RNC to handle the satellite connections:

◾ edchDataFrameDelayThreshold - Maximum dynamic delay that E-DCH MAC-es

flows sent from Node B (over Iub) to RNC through Iur can have, without being
detected as an Iur hard congestion.

◾ dto - downlink transport delay offset

◾ uto - uplink transport delay offset

◾ toAWS - time of arrival window start-point in the downlink

◾ toAWSUL - time of arrival window start-point in the uplink

◾ toAWE - time of arrival window end-point in the downlink

◾ toAWEUL - time of arrival window end-point in the uplink

◾ toAE - time of arrival early point in the downlink

◾ toAEUL - time of arrival early point in the uplink

The Node Synchronization function measures the phase difference between the RNC
Frame Number (RFN) counter and the Node B Frame Number (BFN) counter. The
following parameters must be modified:

◾ maxAllowedIubRtt - maximum allowed Round Trip Time for node synchronization

of the Iub link

◾ sampleIntervalInit - time interval between samples for the Node

Synchronization algorithm operating in the initialization state

The SCTP parameters that must be modified to support longer satellite delays over Iub
interface in the RAN are listed below:

◾ heartbeatInterval - time added to the Retransmission Timeout (RTO) of a

specific address when setting up the period of time between sending heartbeats

◾ heartbeatPathProbingInterval - the interval between consecutive heartbeats

during the path probing

◾ initialAdRecWin - the initial value of the advertised receiver window credit

◾ nThreshold - the value of the threshold used to ask the SCTP user to stop the
delivery of data on an association

◾ mBuffer - the size of the buffer used for storing user data (buffered by SCTP)
pending to be sent or retransmitted in an association

◾ maximumRto – maximum Retransmission Timeout value set in SCTP

 ◾ initialRto – initial Retransmission Timeout value set in SCTP

◾ minimumRto – minimum Retransmission Timeout value set in SCTP

The Core Network communicates to the UTRAN through the Iu-CS and Iu-PS interfaces.
This communication uses the RANAP protocol. The core network also communicates with
the UE by direct transfer messages that are passed transparently to the UE through the
RNC and node-B, using the RRC protocol. The following list of parameter adaptations are
recommended for the Ericsson core network (MSC) supporting Iub links over Satellite:

◾ PAGTIMEFRST1LA - this parameter defines the time supervision for page response
of the first paging attempt in one location area

◾ PAGTIMEFRSTGLOB - the time supervision for page response of the first global
paging attempt

◾ PAGTIMEREP1LA - the time supervision for page response of repeated paging in

one location area

◾ PAGTIMEREPGLOB - the time supervision for page response of the repeated global
paging

◾ PAGTIMEREPLATA - the time supervision for page response of repeated LATA

paging

◾ PROPDELUMTSM - the propagation delay value for WCDMA access

◾ TIMLOCRELDATA - the timer value for the time supervision of the LOCATION
RELATED DATA procedure

◾ TIMLOCREPTM - the supervision timer value for the handling of location report

◾ TIMSTOPREPTM - the timer value of the time supervision for the RANAP Location
Reporting Control (Event = Stop direct) message

◾ TIMNREAM - the time supervision period between the sending of the PAGING
message and successful assignment of traffic channel using the NotReachable
timer

4.3 Hardware
This feature requires a satellite modem and transceiver for transmission over the satellite
as shown in Figure 1.

The Iub over satellite feature is heavily dependent on the Satcom solution between the
two nodes. For this to be correct, an end to end integration project is required to ensure
the following:

◾ Satcom solution is configured correctly.

◾ The satellite link dimensioning matches the wanted traffic model.

◾ The QoS works end to end.

4.4 Inter-Node Interface

No feature-specific information is identified.
4.5 Other Network Elements
No feature-specific information is identified.

5 Associated Features and Affected Functions

This section describes how the Iub over Satellite feature affects other features and
functions.

5.1 Prerequisite Features

Table 2 lists the Ericsson RAN features that are required for deploying the WCDMA Iub
over Satellite solution.

Table 2 Prerequisite Features

Feature Description

System integrated GPS network FAJ 121 440

synchronization

5.2 Affected Features

This feature affects no other feature.

5.3 Related Features

Table 3 lists features that are recommended to use in conjunction with Iub over Satellite.

Table 3 Recommended Features.

Feature Description

HSDPA TN Optimization FAJ 121 895

Configurable Transport Bearer QoS class FAJ 121 966

Enhanced UpLink TN Optimization FAJ 121 1054

Flexible QoS and Allocation/Retention FAJ 121 1093

Handling

Traffic Handling Priority FAJ 121 1094

HSDPA QoS Scheduler FAJ 121 1115

Enhanced Uplink Introduction Package FAJ 121 1023

Soft Congestion Based on Iub FAJ 121 1340

EUL QoS Scheduler FAJ 121 1111

System integrated GPS network FAJ 121 440

synchronization

Unified ATM/IP admission control for Iub FAJ 121 1327

Stand Alone SRB 3.4 kbps FAJ 121 1158

DL Flow Control for PS FAJ 121 963

interactive/background on DCH

AQM based congestion control for HSDPA FAJ 121 1664

5.4 Affected System Functions
Table 4 lists functions affected by the Iub over Satellite feature.

Table 4 Affected System Functions

Function Description

Synchronization If the Iub over Satellite feature is active, different values of Frame
Synchronization parameters are used for satellite and terrestrial connections.

Idle Mode and Common If the Iub over Satellite feature is active, the value of t300sat is broadcasted to
Channel Behavior satellite cell with SIB1 instead of t300 value that is reserved for terrestrial in
satellite cells

Connection Handling If the Iub over Satellite feature is active, t300sat timer is used as RRC Connection
Request Retransmit Timer for UEs connected to satellite cells.

6 Performance
This section describes performance indicators, counters and events associated with the
Iub over Satellite feature.

6.1 KPIs
Because of the restrictions of satellite based transmissions, the following limitations
apply:

◾ Max delay 750 ms

◾ Max delay variation 100 ms

◾ Performance is best effort based on the circumstances in the satellite part of the
network, where no specific throughput can be guaranteed.

6.2 Counters
This feature has no directly associated counters.

6.3 Events
This feature has no associated events.

7 Operation and Maintenance

This section provides O&M information for the Iub over Satellite feature.

7.1 Activate the Feature

7.1.1 Preconditions

The feature FAJ 121 440 : System integrated GPS network synchronization must be
activated before activating Iub over Satellite.

7.1.2 Activate the Feature

 The feature is license-controlled for each RNC.

Note: This procedure outlines the configuration sequence. For details on the parameter
values to be set, see Configuration Parameters.

Prerequisites

◾ License key CXC 403 0183 for FAJ 121 1478: Iub over Satellite is available.

Steps

1. Set the SCTP parameters in Nodes B used for satellite connections.

2. If HSDPA is used, set the HSDPA Flow Control parameter.

3. Set the RNC Node Synchronization parameters.

4. Select the board or boards to handle the satellite links and ensure that no Iub
links are allocated to them.

Note: The selected boards are configured to be Satellite Blades, while the
remaining boards are Terrestrial Blades.

5. Set the SCTP parameters on the satellite blades.

6. Set the supportedIubLinkType parameter in all RncModule MOs from the chosen
boards to SATELLITE.

Note: To configure the RNC dedicated to satellite connections only, perform

steps 4-6 for all RncModule MOs.

7. Set the DSCP parameters of RAN equipment and 3PP components. Apply the
same configuration to all IP routers in the transmission path.

Result:
A coordinated QoS algorithm between the 3PP and the 3G access components is
established.

8. Set the Ericsson Core Network MSC parameters.

9. Install the license key for the Iub over Satellite feature in the RNC.

10. Set the featureState attribute in the RncFeature=IubOverSatellite MO to

ACTIVATED.

11. Set the linkType parameter to SATELLITE for every IubLink connected via
satellite.

For more information about licenses, refer to Licenses and Hardware Activation
Codes.

7.1.2.1 Configuration Parameters

Parameters to be set during the activation procedure of the Iub over Satellite feature.

SCTP Parameters for Nodes B

These parameters must be set on all Nodes B used for satellite connection.

Parameter Satellite Recommended

heartbeatInterval 30 (s)
initialAdRecWin 131072 (bytes)
nThreshold 75 (kB)
mBuffer 100 (kB)
maximumRto 100 (cs)
initialRto 70 (cs)
minimumRto 70 (cs)

HSDPA Flow Control Parameter

The maxHsRate bit rate parameter determines the maximum bit rate for Iub Flow
Control capacity allocations sent by Node B, for one HSDPA user.

Parameter Terrestrial Value Resolution Unit Satellite

Name Default Range Recommended
Value
maxHsRate 15 1..10000 1 0.1 Mbps < Satellite BW

RNC Node Synchronization Parameters

Parameter Satellite Recommended

maxAllowedIubRtt 1000
sampleIntervalInit 1000

SCTP Parameters for Satellite Blades

Parameter Satellite Recommended

heartbeatInterval 30 (s)
heartbeatPathProbingInterval 500 (cs)
initialAdRecWin 131072 (bytes)
nThreshold 75 (kB)
mBuffer 100 (kB)
maximumRto 100 (cs)
initialRto 70 (cs)
minimumRto 70 (cs)

The Sctp instance and the RncModule can be distinguished by their the slot identifiers.
The following parameters can be used to determine the slot:

◾ Sctp::rpuId indicates the ReliableProgramUniter instance and

ReliableProgramUniter::admActiveSlot indicates the slot

◾ RncModule::rpuRefs indicates the ReliableProgramUniter instance and

ReliableProgramUniter::admAciveSlot indicates the slot
 The Sctp and RncModule MOs of the satellite blade must have satellite parameter
values. The Sctp and RncModule MOs of the terrestrial blade must have the legacy,
terrestrial values.

DSCP Parameters of RAN Equipment and 3PP Components

Service Type Value

Network Synchronization DSCP=46
All Control Plane Traffic DSCP=46
User Plane, Speech DSCP=34
User Plane, all PS Traffic DSCP=26
O&M Access DSCP=26

All QOS/DSCP tagging is only done by RAN equipment. The satellite and all other
transport equipment need to be transparent. No repainting in the transport network is
allowed to ensure end-to-end transparency.

Note: These values can require alignment due to traffic model in the network.

Ericsson Core Network MSC Parameters

Parameter Value
PAGTIMEFRST1LA 5s
PAGTIMEFRSTGLOB 5s
PAGTIMEREP1LA 8s
PAGTIMEREPGLOB 8s
PAGTIMEREPLATA 8s
PROPDELUMTSM 500 ms
TIMLOCRELDATA 6s
TIMLOCREPTM 6s
TIMSTOPREPTM 3s
TIMNREAM 20s

7.2 Deactivate the Feature

7.2.1 Preconditions

This feature has no preconditions for deactivating.

7.2.2 Deactivate the Feature

Steps

1. Set the administrativeState attribute in every satellite IubLink MO to LOCKED.

2. Set the featureState attribute in the RncFeature=IubOverSatellite MO to

DEACTIVATED.
 Parameters modified before activating the feature do not need to be rolled back
when the feature is deactivated. When the feature is deactivated, all Iub links are
handled as terrestrial.

For more information about licenses, refer to Licenses and Hardware Activation
Codes.

7.3 Engineering Guidelines

No feature-specific engineering guidelines have been identified.

© Ericsson AB 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced in any
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Iub over Satellite