Network Convergence

Exploring the convergence of Mobile, Broadband and Wi-Fi Brought to you by

• What is Convergence and why do we need it

• 3GPP ATSSS
• Other convergence options
• How do you try it today
• The modes of convergence

Numerous Networks provides consultancy and technical services to help anyone who wants to use Wi-Fi as a
serious mobile offering and get the best experience out of their infrastructure. That involves ensuring Wi-Fi
services are ready for mobile use while providing options to converge Wi-Fi, cellular and broadband together
for the best uninterrupted user experience. www.numerousnetworks.co.uk
Numerous Networks have been enhancing the user experience of carrier grade Wi-Fi for more than 10 years.
ben@numerousnetworks.co.uk

November 19 1
 The Need

• BT are one of the largest

companies to state the
importance of convergence
in their strategy

“Seamless, consistent connectivity ” – Howard Watson, CTIO BT

November 19 2
 What is causing the need
The overall objective is to converge an user’s experiences into a • Primary network modes
single expected experience. • Home Wi-Fi / Office Wi-Fi / Public Wi-Fi
• Cellular
• Network convergence is part of the required technical approach
• Transitionary network modes
• Leaving Home Wi-Fi to use a cellular connection
• Arriving at the Office Wi-Fi from a cellular connection
It should not • Stepping into a coffee shop and using public Wi-Fi
cost me more
than I expect
• Supplementary network modes
• Adding cellular to slow Wi-Fi to create a minimum speed
• Add cellular to DSL backhaul to deliver a minimum
public/private Wi-Fi
Predictable
service at a
• Failure Modes
predictable • Filling in congested (slow) Home DSL backhaul with fast 4G
cost cellular
It should always
(typically)
I should not • Filling in slow public Wi-Fi with fast 4G cellular
have to know (or
perform to a
care) about
minimum
standard which I
what I am • Service differentiating network modes
connected to
am paying for • Local firewalled / VPN’d network for internal enterprise data
• Public network to connect to secure enterprise cloud

November 19 3
 The role of convergence for everyday network issues
Convergence solves this problem

1 2
Start services at home on Wi-Fi Drive away:
Weak Wi-Fi = bad app experience

November 19 4
 What is Convergence
Public Public Wi-Fi
Cellular

Home Wi-Fi
The Simple Description

The use of Multiple Networks

To deliver a Combined or Converged Network
Capable of providing the end user with access to the Data
Network at a quality level which they expect
Private
Cellular

November 19 5
Convergence Standardisation Bodies
Defining Documents
A sample of the bodies defining and standardizing the next generation of convergence

Recommended Read
A great summary directed towards supporting
broadcast and multimedia
http://5g-xcast.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/5G-
Xcast_D4.2_v3.0_web.pdf

November 19 6
 Convergence in 3GPP

Defining Documents
ATSSS is optional and has a preliminary specification + Technical Report to guide the evolution

Technical Report suggests many

more convergence options.
TBD what happens here
Initial Specification allows ATSSS to be implemented using MP-TCP as it has some adoption. e.g. Apple
Some OTT
solutions might
disrupt here too

November 19 7
Mobile Device Convergence
Steering in ATSSS Not noticed by
Service Provider
Preferences
User Preferences
the end user

• Using multiple networks needs to be simple to the end user;

• all the complexity of selecting the network and managing the Data Path Decision

choice of network for the data is automatically handled

Quality Quality
• according to some governing rules or requirements Assessment Assessment

• made by the device or the network or both

Network Network
Network
W1 C1
Network
W2
Wn
Industry term Traditionally
The procedure for selecting an access network for a Wi-Fi OR
new data flow is known as ‘steering’ the connection Cellular
8

November 19 8
 Mobile Device Convergence
Switching & Splitting in ATSSS Service Provider
User Preferences
Preferences

• There is an increasing trend to use multiple connections at the same time to achieve an
experience target;
• No drops. Moving a data flow from one network to another without interruption Data Flow / Packet
• Quick responses. Using multiple networks and selecting the response which Decision & Direction
comes back quickest
• More data. Using multiple networks at the same time to increase the bandwidth Quality Quality
Assessment Assessment
• Load balancing. Choosing the network which is least contended / congested
Network Network
Network
W1 C1
Network
W2
Industry term Industry term Wn
The procedure of moving an ongoing data The procedure of splitting the traffic of an
flow from one access network to another ongoing data flow across multiple access
is known as ‘switching’ the connection networks is known as ‘splitting’ the connection

November 19 9
 Key Concept for Convergence

3GPP define the Multi-Access Packet Data Unit (PDU)

• The Multi-Access PDU enables the concept of using multiple network access paths to
transfer data from a single data source (such as an application)
• It is fundamental to all multipath approaches

Multi-Access
UE PDU session
N3 UPF-1
A MA PDU Session may be established either: NG-RAN
(optional)
IP
a) when it is explicitly requested by an ATSSS-capable UE; or
Virtual Child PDU N2
N6
b) when an ATSSS-capable UE requests a single-access PDU Interface session #1 AMF
N11
SMF
N4 UPF-A
Session but the network decides to establish a MA PDU Session WL N2
5G
instead. AN

WLAN N3IWF UPF-2

Child PDU N3
(optional)
session #2 AN

Multipath PDU as defined by 3GPP R16 in 23.793

November 19 10
ATSSS Technical Report TR 23.793
extending the support for Steering, Switching, Splitting

23.50x R16 specifies only one higher layer option which is MP-TCP. Low Layer steering is also
defined as ATSSS-LL but no additional protocol is applied

However, 23.793 Technical Report proposes Multipath Convergence could take one of the
following options
1. NULL tunnel (IP flow steering)
1. All packets from the same flow are sent on the same access (based on 5-tuple)
2. GRE tunnel
1. Both access types can be used at the same time over individual tunnels
3. Trailer based L3 Generic Multi-Access (GMA)
1. Trailers used to allow for packet ordering when using multiple access
4. User Plane Convergence using L4 multipath
1. MP-TCP Can currently only be NULL tunnel
2. QUIC / MP-QUIC Other IETF protocol will be allowed
3. SCTP Only MPTCP specified in R16 but none are ready
4. UDP Generic

November 19 11
3GPP R16 ATSSS and the practicalities
Practicalities
• MPTCP is a higher layer multipath protocol which works for TCP flows only.
• It can be difficult to schedule traffic in order to avoid head of line blocking
• Other methods such as MP-QUIC aim to remove these difficulties and also support all traffic types
• Some non-TCP applications cannot fall back to TCP and will not benefit (e.g. some real time
voice/video)
• ATSSS- Lower Layer is suitable for steering and switching flows of any type
• It applies no additional protocol so could only be used for steering (today) and maybe switching in
the future
• It is required for all ethernet PDU types
• Something similar is available TODAY on some broadband / LTE hybrid home equipment
• And as over the top applications on smartphone devices. (They currently need to use the
VPN service on the UE to capture all the traffic)
• No mention of dual 3GPP Access – Private LTE (e.g. CBRS) + Public LTE
• Even where the device has 1 radio, the use case for seamless handover in a Dual-Sim Dual-Standby
(DSDS) environment is important for offload continuity

November 19 12
Other non-standardized challenger solutions
Any application
traffic
Broadly based on Generic UDP L4 convergence
• These challenger solutions are implementing a proprietary UDP approach to perform aggregation
• There are 3 deployment models
• On mobile devices there are two integration methods
• SDK integrated into an application, acts similar to an L4 aggregation such as MPTCP or
MPQUIC
• Whole device aggregation using the VPN service to capture traffic. All applications see a
virtual IP address of the aggregation tunnel to the aggregation server (equivalent to ATSSS) Captured by VPN
• For Home Gateways and Access Points an SDK exists which can be integrated into the network
stack Proprietary Congestion Control /
re-ordering scheme / packet-
• All traffic types can be supported access assignment / FEC /
encryption
• New congestion control is implemented to optimise the use of the links and has been empirically tuned to
suit the varying latencies between Wi-Fi and Cellular networks
• Enhancements such as Forward Error Correction are already in use in these solutions Single virtual interface
• Up to date encryption can be used (but will be an overhead)
Dual IPSEC tunnels
• Provides all the desired aggregation modes and is already tuned for mobile behaviour
• Offers out of box redundancy and gapless handover for real time media streams (e.g. IP calling)
• Offers aggregation to achieve a minimum bandwidth while preferring a primary low cost access
when available.

November 19 13
 Implementations available to try user plane
convergence on your own mobile device – today!
Multipath TCP Multipath QUIC Proprietary UDP
From Tessares; From Quentin De Coninck; From Connectify;
a major contributor to the MP TCP IETF RFC a major contributor to the MP QUIC IETF RFC The largest distributed public over the top application

t
exis
th er n s
s o lutio
riou P so
Va UD
tary
e
Source Code
pri
pro
ATSSS future (as defined in TR23.793) expects to allow for any one of these options:
User Plane Convergence Method using L4 Multipath Solutions (MP-TCP, QUIC, MP-QUIC, SCTP, UDP generic)
November 19 14
 Using rules to manage ATSSS

• After the establishment of a MA PDU

Session, the UE receives a prioritized list
of ATSSS rules from the SMF

• Traffic steering policy: This rule is used to select an access

when initiating a new data flow.
• Traffic switching policy: This rule is used to determine when a
data flow should be moved from 3GPP to non-3GPP or vice
versa.
• Traffic splitting policy: This rule is used to determine when a
data flow should be split across 3GPP and non-3GPP.

Structure of the ATSSS rule

November 19 15
 How performance is measured and governed
measures which feed into rule set
PCF (Policy) sets rules
Loss, Latency, Jitter Measures
Performance Management Function
• Requires measurement and reporting of Packet Loss, Jitter,
RTT
• Need careful combination to avoid rapid switches and bad
decisions

Traffic distribution based on ensuring

no packets get out of order

November 19 16
 Modes of Convergence - 1

Networks are combined to provide a user experience target which includes

stability or consistency of the connection, perceived minimum speed and
optimisation of cost to the end user and service providers
Tech Capture
3GPP description of convergence options. Part 1

Data flows to be sent over Data flows to be sent over

the MA-PDU session the MA-PDU session

Typical fallback Certain traffic types

scenario such as a are assigned to a
home broadband Steering Mode = Active-Standby Steering Mode = Priority-based priority network.
MA-PDU

router. The primary

Session MA-PDU
Session
Fallback to a low
access is preferred
Non-3GPP
Access
3GPP
Access
Non-3GPP
Access
3GPP
Access
priority access occurs
unless it is failing Low Overflow
of there is
Active Standby High
Priority Priority traffic
performance
impairment
November 19 17
 Modes of Convergence - 2
Combination options exist to handle multiple use cases where traffic can be
overflowed or copied onto an alternative network

Tech Capture
3GPP description of convergence options. Part 2

Data flows to be sent over Data flows to be sent over

the MA-PDU session the MA-PDU session
All traffic copied. Rare
When the user choice but found today in some
may not matter (e.g. over the top applications
unlimited data plan) offering gapless handover.
Use best network (e.g. Steering Mode = Best-Access Steering Mode = Redundant
The redundancy is
MA-PDU MA-PDU
smallest delay) and Session Session generally only happening
Non-3GPP Non-3GPP
overflow to secondary Access
3GPP
Access Access
3GPP
Access during a transition period
to ensure minimum Best
when the primary
access
network quality is below
service quality Overflow
standard
traffic

November 19 18
 Modes of Convergence - 3

More networks = more opportunities to provide a quality of service to the

customer while balancing the load between networks.

Tech Capture
3GPP description of convergence options. Part 3

Data flows to be sent over

the MA-PDU session

Data is split between the

access on a percentage basis
(only suitable for non-GBR
Steering Mode = Load-balance
flows) MA-PDU
Session
Non-3GPP 3GPP
Access Access

50% 50%

November 19 19
 Links
https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-Y.3130-201801-I/en
https://www.broadband-
forum.org/technical/download/TR-348.pdf
https://www.broadband-
forum.org/technical/download/TR-378.pdf
Huawei's GRE Tunnel Bonding Protocol
Recommended Reads
(Informational)
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8157 5G X Cast
A great summary directed towards supporting
broadcast and multimedia
Generic Multiple Access (GMA) Convergence http://5g-xcast.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/5G-
(Informational) Xcast_D4.2_v3.0_web.pdf
https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-zhu-intarea-gma-04

https://portal.3gpp.org/desktopmodules/Specificatio https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/mptcp/documents/
ns/SpecificationDetails.aspx?specificationId=3254
https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-deconinck-quic-
multipath-03

MPTCP Scheduling and the importance of head of line blocking mitigation

http://blog.multipath-tcp.org/blog/html/2014/03/30/why_is_the_multipath_tcp_scheduler_so_important.html

DT slides on convergence testing experience

https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/banana/Z6ch6F50ICL8E5DKEox2Qcw-yl4/2

November 19 20