GWFD-111406 NB-IoT eDRX Mode

Applicable NEs

S-GW

Definition

3GPP presents the extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) technology for power

saving, which applies to IoT services featuring insensitivity to the transmission delay and

requiring low power consumption. The eDRX period can be minutes or even hours,

prolonging the period for monitoring the paging indication channel when the UE is in the

idle state. In this manner, the eDRX technology reduces the UE power consumption and

extends the battery lifespan.

The vUGW can cache downlink data packets for subscribers in eDRX mode. After

receiving downlink data packets, the S-GW caches them for the duration specified by the

MME. After the data path is set up, the S-GW then forwards uplink/downlink packets.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers This feature helps reduce power consumption of narrowband

Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, prolong the battery life,
and enhance the competitiveness of IoT services.

Subscribers This feature enables UEs to enter the deep sleep mode in the
periods without data transmission, thereby reducing the UE
power consumption and prolonging the battery life.
Application Scenario

eDRX applies to services requiring low power consumption and specific delay, such as the

bracelet, tracking, and street lamp control. A eDRX period is specified based on the delay

tolerance of services and carrier requirements. The eDRX period of seconds is

recommended for applications requiring low delay, and that ranging of minutes or hours

is recommended for delay-insensitive applications.

Availability

Involved NEs

NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

UE Not required Serves NB-IoT subscribers

and supports eDRX.

eNodeB eRAN V100R012C01 and later Supports eDRX.

MME vUSN V100R017C00 and later Supports eDRX.

S-GW vUGW V100R017C00 and Caches downlink data based

later on "DL Buffering Duration"
in the DDN ACK message
from the MME.

Requirement for the License

This feature is an optional feature and requires a license. The license control item for this

feature is "82207356 LKV3WNBDRX01 NB-IoT eDRX Mode."

Interaction with Other Features

There is no interaction between this feature and other features.

Impact on the System

This feature has no adverse impact on the system.

Application Limitations

For each eDRX subscriber, a maximum of 10 downlink data packets can be cached, and

packets with over 500 bytes are discarded. The number of packets for whom

the vUGW supports simultaneous caching is 5% of the total subscriber specification.

Implementation Principle

Related Concepts

eDRX

The maximum DRX period is 2.56 seconds on a traditional network because both low

power consumption and short delay are required. In a DRX period, the UE monitors the

page indicator channels (PICHs) only during the paging procedure, thereby reducing the

UE power consumption. The eDRX can extend the existing DRX period to 2.913 hours,

which further lowers the NB-IoT UE power consumption. See Figure 1.

Figure 1 eDRX

System Implementation
Figure 2 shows the networking architecture of the NB-IoT eDRX Mode feature. This

feature uses the control plane cellular Internet of Things (CP-CIoT) transmission mode,

and supports the S11-U interface.

Figure 2 Networking architecture of the NB-IoT eDRX Mode feature

Figure 3 shows the NB-IoT eDRX Mode data transmission procedure. The procedure is

described as follows:

1. The eNodeB notifies the UE through the SI message that eDRX is supported.

2. If eDRX is enabled on the UE, the UE sends an Attach Request or a TAU Request

message to inform the MME of eDRX support, and the MME determines the eDRX

paging period based on local policies.

3. After receiving a downlink data packet, the S-GW initiates a paging procedure

through a DDN message to the MME. The MME includes the DL Buffering Duration

and DL Buffering Suggested Packet Count IEs in the DDN ACK message to notify

the S-GW of the downlink packet cache duration and the number of packets to be

cached, respectively.

 How to obtain the downlink packet cache duration:

 After receiving a DDN ACK message, the S-GW checks whether the message

carries the DL Buffering Duration IE. If yes, the S-GW uses the value as the

downlink packet cache duration. If no, the S-GW does not update the downlink

packet cache duration.

 How to obtain the number of downlink packets to be cached:

 If the MME-sent DDN ACK message carries the IE DL Buffering Duration

and the bit 18 of the software parameter DWORD51 is set to 1, the S-GW

checks whether the message contains the DL Buffering Suggested Packet

Count IE, which informs the S-GW of the number of cacheable downlink

data packets. (A maximum of 10 downlink data packets can be cached.) If

the DL Buffering Suggested Packet Count IE is not carried, 10 downlink

data packets can be cached by default.

If bit 18 of the software parameter DWORD51 is set to 0, the S-GW ignores the

DL Buffering Suggested Packet Count IE and caches only one downlink data

packet.

4. The MME and eNodeB determine the paging time based on the eDRX period and

page the UE. After paging succeeds, a data link is reestablished, and the S-GW

sends the cached data to the UE.

Figure 3 NB-IoT eDRX Mode data transmission procedure

Charging and CDRs

None.

Feature Specifications
No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Number Name

Category Number Name

3GPP 23.401 v13.7.0 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN) access;

29.274 v13.6.0 3GPP Evolved Packet System (EPS); Evolved General

Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol
for Control plane (GTPv2-C);

Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C00 First release.

GWFD-111408 Data Over NAS

Applicable NEs

S-GW

Definition

IoT terminal data, in most cases, is transmitted in small packets at a low frequency. This

feature is the Control Plane Cellular Internet of Thing (CP-CIoT) defined by 3GPP
specifications for this type of services. This feature implements transmission of data

packets through non-access stratum (NAS) messages between a terminal and an MME

and over the S11-U interface between an MME and an S-GW. In this way, data radio

bearers (DRBs) over air interfaces or S1-U connections do not need to be set up

frequently during data transmission, improving data transmission efficiency and reducing

signaling overhead.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers This feature enables UEs to transmit service data using NAS
messages, without the need to establish DRBs over air
interfaces or S1-U connections. In this manner, less UE data
and signaling need to be transmitted, which reduces the
signaling load on networks and increases the number of
network connections for UEs.

Subscribers The UE uses NAS messages to send or receive service data,

reducing signaling exchange with networks and lowering the
power consumption.

Application Scenario

This feature applies to service data transmission of NB-IoT UEs and enables the

provisioning of multiple value-added services on the NB-IoT network. These services

include intelligent meter reading, intelligent parking, smart environmental monitoring,

and intelligent agriculture.

Availability
Involved NEs

NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

Terminal No special requirements Supports the CP-CIoT

transmission mode and the
IP protocol stack.

eNodeB eRAN V100R012C01 and later Transmits uplink and

downlink service data
packets.

MME vUSN V100R017C00 and later  Supports the

conversion between
user-plane data and
NAS messages.
 Transmits service data
packets over the S11-U
interface.

S-GW vUGW V100R017C00 and Sets up user-plane bearers

later between the S-GW and the
MME over the S11-U
interface.

Requirement for the License

This feature is an optional feature and requires a license. The license control item for this

feature is "82207072 LKV3WPSDTO01 Data Over NAS".

Interaction with Other Features

There is no interaction between this feature and other features.

Impact on the System

This feature has no adverse impact on the system.

 Application Limitations

 The vUGW does not support handover procedures.

 The vUGW does not support inter radio access technology (inter-RAT) mobility.

 The vUGW does not support multiple packet data network (PDN) connections.

 The vUGW does not support the establishment, modification, or removal of a

dedicated bearer.

Implementation Principle

Network Structure

Figure 1 shows the networking for the Data Over NAS feature.

Figure 1 Networking diagram for the Data Over NAS feature

Traditional data transmission needs to set up an S1-U connection and data radio bearer

(DRB) before data transmission. The UE transmits data packets to the eNodeB, and then

constructs GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User Plane (GTP-U) packets, and sends the packets

to the S-GW/P-GW.
 Signaling-plane data transmission requires the collaboration among the UE, RAN, and CN

(Core Network). The main optimization is described as follows:

 The UE transmits small data packets to the MME through NAS PDUs. In this process,

NAS encryption and integrity protection are performed between the UE and MME.

 After receiving NAS PDUs, the MME converts the PDUs into GTP-U messages and

sends them to the S-GW over the new S11-U interface. Then, the S-GW sends the

messages to the P-GW and the P-GW sends the messages to the IoT platform or

application server.

Figure 2 Comparison between signaling-plane data transmission and traditional data

transmission

Related Procedures

This section describes the Attach and TAU procedures, which are significantly different

from the procedures in traditional networking, and the IoT service data transmission

procedure.

 Attach
 UE-initiated data transmission

 Network-initiated data transmission

 Attach

Figure 3 show the Attach procedures during feature implementation. Compared with

traditional LTE procedures, these procedures provide the following special

processing on the MME and S-GW:

 The terminal and the MME negotiate the data transmission mode through the

Attach procedures. The terminal includes the "UE network capability" IE in the

Attach Request and TAU Request messages, indicating whether the terminal

supports the CP-CIoT data transmission mode.

 In the Create Session Request message, the MME notifies the S-GW of the TEID

of the S11-U interface and the NB-IoT RAT Type supported by the terminal. In

the Create Session Response message, the S-GW sends the S-GW-side TEID and

user-plane IP address to the MME. The information is used to set up user-plane

bearers based on the S11-U interface so as to replace the S1-U interface.

 The MME does not send the Initial Context Setup Request message to an

eNodeB for the eNodeB to set up E-RABs. Instead, it directly transfers the Attach

Accept message to the terminal by encapsulating it in the Downlink NAS

Transport message.
 Figure 3 Attach

 UE-initiated data transmission

Figure 4 UE-initiated data transmission

1. The UE establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection and sends

encrypted and integrity-protected uplink data in NAS messages.

NOTE:

The UE can include Release Assistance Information in NAS messages.

 If Release Assistance Information does not contain a downlink data

indication, the MME releases the connection immediately after sending

the data to the S-GW.

  If Release Assistance Information contains a downlink data indication and

connection release is required after downlink data is received, the MME

sends the data to the S-GW and waits for downlink data. After receiving

downlink data, the MME sends the data to the eNodeB and instructs the

eNodeB to release the connection after downlink data transmission over

the air interface is completed.

2. The eNodeB sends an S1-AP Initial UE message to the MME.

3. The MME checks NAS message integrity and decrypts data.

4. Optional: If no data path (S11-U connection) is established between the MME

and S-GW, the MME sends a Modify Bearer Request message to notify the S-

GW of the MME's downlink transmission address and TEID.

5. Optional: If the RAT type or UE location changes, the S-GW sends a Modify

Bearer Request message to the P-GW. The P-GW replies with a Modify Bearer

Response message.

6. Optional: The S-GW includes its address and TEID for uplink transmission in

the Modify Bearer Response message and sends the message to the MME.

7. The MME sends uplink data to the P-GW through the S-GW.

8. Optional: If Release Assistance Information in 1 does not contain a downlink

data indication, the MME immediately releases the connection after sending

uplink data to the S-GW/P-GW and goes to 13. If Release Assistance

Information contains a downlink data indication, the MME waits for downlink
 data. If no downlink data is received, 9 to 12 are skipped, and connection

release starts.

9. Optional: After the MME receives downlink data, it performs encryption and

integrity protection.

10. Optional: If downlink data is received, the MME sends the data in a NAS

message to the eNodeB. If uplink data contains a Release Assistance

Information indication, the MME is required to perform 13 after receiving

downlink data and sending the data to the eNodeB.

11. Optional: The eNodeB delivers NAS data to the UE. If the eNodeB receives an

S1 connection release message from the MME at the same time, the eNodeB

delivers NAS data and then releases the RRC connection as described in 13.

12. If NAS transmission is not performed within a certain period of time, the

eNodeB performs 13.

13. An S1 connection release procedure starts to release the S1-MME and

S11/S11-U connections.

 Network-initiated data transmission

Figure 5 Network-initiated data transmission

0. Downlink data packets destined for the UE are sent to the S-GW through the

P-GW.

1. Before the UE's user-plane connection is established, that is, the number of S-

GW contexts indicates that no downlink user-plane TEID is available, the S-GW

caches the data packets and identifies the MME for the UE.

2. The S-GW sends a Downlink Data Notification message to the MME.

3. The MME replies with a Downlink Data Notification Acknowledge message.

4. The MME sends a paging message to the eNodeB to initiate a paging

procedure.

5. The eNodeB sends a paging message to the UE.

6. The UE sends an Control Plane Service Request message to the MME as paging

response.

NOTE:

The MME can use NAS packet data units (PDUs) to send downlink data to the

eNodeB without triggering the establishment of a data radio bearer (DRB).

7. Optional: If no S11-U data path is established, the MME sends a Modify Bearer

Request message to the S-GW. The message contains the MME address,

downlink TEID, and RAT type. The S-GW can send downlink data to the UE.

8. Optional: If UE location changes, the S-GW sends a Modify Bearer Request

message to the P-GW. The P-GW sends a Modify Bearer Response message to

the S-GW.

9. The S-GW sends the cached downlink data to the MME.

10. The MME checks downlink data message integrity and encrypts data.

11. The MME sends downlink data in a NAS message to the eNodeB.

12. The eNodeB sends the downlink data in a NAS message to the UE.
 13. Optional: If the RRC connection remains connected, uplink and downlink data

can still be transmitted through NAS PDUs without the reestablishment of a

user-plane data bearer.

14. If NAS transmission is not performed within a certain period of time, the

eNodeB performs 16.

15. An S1 connection release procedure starts to release the S1-MME and

S11/S11-U connections.

Charging and CDRs

You can run ADD CDRFIELDTEMP to configure whether CDRs carry the CP CIoT EPS

Optimisation Indicator and UNI PDU CP Only Flag fields.

Feature Specifications

No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Number Name

Category Number Name

3GPP 23.401 v13.7.0 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN) access;

24.301 v13.6.1 Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for Evolved

Packet System (EPS);
 Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C00 First release.

GWFD-111409 Non-IP Data Over NAS

 Applicable NEs

 Definition

Applicable NEs

S-GW and P-GW

Definition

Non-IP subscribers' data packets do not carry IP headers or UDP headers. The P-GW

performs IP+UDP encapsulation for these data packets based on the configured address

and port number and sends them to the IoT platform or application server.

For most Internet of Things (IoT) services, data packets are transmitted at a low frequency

are usually are small packets ranging from 20 to 200 bytes, but the transport-layer

IP/UDP protocol stack data occupies a large proportion (28 bytes for IPv4 and 48 bytes

for IPv6). When the payload in a packet is less than 20 bytes and the UE uses non-IP data

transmission, this implementation increases the data transmission efficiency and air

interface capacity significantly.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers This feature increases the data transmission efficiency and

air interface capacity significantly.

Subscribers This feature requires small chip storage space and reduce UE
chip costs.

Application Scenario

This feature applies to small IoT service data packets, and is used together with GWFD-

111408 Data Over NAS feature. This feature increases the data transmission efficiency

and air interface capacity significantly.

Availability

Involved NEs

NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

UE Not required Supports non-IP data

transmission.

HSS Not required Stores and delivers

subscriber data of
subscribers using non-IP
transmission.

MME vUSN V100R017C00 and later Supports non-IP data

transmission.
Supports the S11-U
interface, establishment,
modification, and deletion
of the user-plane tunnel
over the S11-U interface,
NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

and data packet forwarding

over the S11-U interface.

S-GW vUGW V100R017C00 and Supports non-IP data

later transmission.
Supports the S11-U
interface, establishment,
modification, and deletion
of the user-plane tunnel
over the S11-U interface,
and data packet forwarding
over the S11-U interface.

P-GW vUGW V100R017C00 and Allocates IP addresses for

later subscribers using non-IP
transmission and performs
IP/UDP encapsulation based
on destination server
addresses.

Requirement for the License

This feature is an optional feature and requires a license. The license control item for this

feature is "82207357 LKV3WNBNIP01 Non-IP Data Over NAS".

Interaction with Other Features

Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

Dependency GWFD-111408 Data 82207072 Data transmission

Over NAS LKV3WPSDTO01 Data using the signaling
Over NAS plane is required
because Non-IP
Data Over NAS uses
the control plane
cellular Internet
of Things (CP-CIoT)
transmission mode.
 Impact on the System

This feature has no adverse impact on the system.

Application Limitations

Only IP addresses from local address pools can be allocated to non-IP subscribers, and

the IP address type (IPv4 or IPv6) must be the same as the M2M server address type. No

IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack addresses can be allocated to non-IP subscribers.

Implementation Principle

 Non-IP subscriber attach procedure

 Non-IP subscriber data transmission procedure

Figure 1shows the Non-IP subscriber attach procedure.

1. The non-IP subscriber sends a Create Session Request message, in which the PDN

Address Allocation (PAA) and PDN Type IEs carry the non-IP flag, to the S-GW/P-

GW. The S-GW/P-GW identifies the non-IP subscriber based on the non-IP flag and

performs access control accordingly.

2. The non-IP subscriber uses CP-CIoT data transmission. A non-IP data transmission

channel is created between the UE and MME/S-GW/P-GW, and uplink and

downlink data is transmitted through NAS PDUs and the S11-U channel.
Figure 1 Non-IP subscriber attach procedure

Figure 2 shows the Non-IP subscriber data transmission procedure.

1. The UE sends uplink non-IP data through a NAS PDU to the MME, and the MME

constructs a GTP-U packet with the uplink non-IP data and sends the packet to the

S-GW and P-GW.

2. After receiving the GTP-U packet, the P-GW performs UDP/IP encapsulation for the

packet based on the configured destination server address and then sends the

encapsulated packet to the IoT platform or an application server.

3. The downlink data transmission procedure of the non-IP subscriber is reverse from

the uplink data transmission procedure.

Figure 2 Non-IP subscriber data transmission procedure

Charging and CDRs

You can run ADD CDRFIELDTEMP to configure whether CDRs carry the pdp-type-

extension and sgi-pgp-tunnelling-method fields.

Feature Specifications

No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Number Name

3GPP 23.401 v13.7.0 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN) access;

29.274 v13.6.0 3GPP Evolved Packet System (EPS); Evolved General

Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol
for Control plane (GTPv2-C);
GWFD-111407 Signalling Congestion

Control Based on the Back-off Timer

Applicable NEs

S-GW and P-GW

Definition

Currently, carriers usually plan the same P-GW for machine-to-machine (M2M)

subscribers and end users. There are many M2M subscribers. If a large number of M2M

subscribers access mobile networks within a short period of time, for example, all power

meters of an electric power company simultaneously report data, congestion easily

occurs, which affects services of end users. Specific access point names (APNs) can be

planned for M2M services, and the P-GW identifies M2M services by APNs. When the P-

GW or a neighboring network element (NE) is congested, the Signalling Congestion

Control Based on the Back-off Timer feature enables the P-GW to perform APN-based

signaling congestion control using the PGW Back-off time attribute-value pair (AVP) so as

to prevent network storms.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers When the P-GW or a neighboring network element (NE) is congested,

flow control is performed for the signaling specific to the APN
enabled with the back-off time function. The signaling impact on
devices can be reduced.

Subscribers Internet experience of end users is preferentially guaranteed when

the P-GW or a neighboring NE is congested.

Application Scenario

Figure 1 Application scenario

Availability

Involved NEs

Functions of the NEs

NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

UE Not required Receives the MME-assigned back-off time and

initiates another attach based on the back-
off time.
NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

P-GW vUGWV100R017C00and Includes the PGW Back-off time AVP in Create

later Session Response messages when flow control
conditions are met.

S-GW vUGWV100R017C00and Transparently transmits the PGW Back-off time

later AVP in Create Session Response messages to
the MME.

MME vUSN V100R017C00and Performs flow control based on the PGW back-
later off timer and transparently transmits the
back-off time to the UE.

Requirement for the License

This feature is optional and requires a license. The license control item for this feature is

"82206922 LKV3WPSSBT01 Signalling Congestion Control Based on the Back-off Timer."

Impact on the System

Performance impact severity: low

This feature delays the activation of certain M2M subscribers and causes service loss

accordingly.

Application Limitations

No application limitation is involved.

Interaction with Other Features

Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

Dependency NSFD-000004 System None Before deploying

Overload Control the Signalling
Congestion Control
Based on Back-off
Timer feature,
check the System
Overload
Control feature
configurations:
 Check whether
flow control
based on APN
priorities has
been enabled.
If yes,
configure APN
priorities for
M2M
subscribers. By
default, the
lowest APN
priorities are
configured for
M2M
subscribers.
 Check whether
pseudo-
activation flow
control has
been disabled
for the APN
with the back-
off time
function. If
no, disable
this function
for the APN.
 The
configuration
about the
 Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

Signalling
Shaping Based
on Back-off
Timer feature
has a lower
priority than
that about the
APN Rate
Control
feature.

Implementation Principle

Implementation Principle

Implementation of the Signalling Congestion Control Based on the Back-off Timer feature

involves congestion identification and congestion control. Overload may occur on the P-

GW or a neighboring NE.

 Congestion identification

The P-GW identifies congestion based on the SPU's CPU usage or APN-specific

bearer activation success rate.

 P-GW over load

The P-GW monitors its own load in real time. If the SPU's CPU usage reaches a

specific threshold, the P-GW considers that overload occurs and triggers flow

control.

 Neighboring NE overload
 The capacity of a neighboring NE, such as the authentication, authorization and

accounting (AAA) server, policy and charging rules function (PCRF), online

charging system (OCS) server, or Diameter routing agent (DRA) may be

insufficient. As a result, if traffic bursts, a neighboring NE may not respond to

the P-GW's messages or may be overloaded, leading to a decreased APN-

specific bearer activation success rate. You can specify an overload threshold

and configure the P-GW to trigger flow control when the APN-specific bearer

activation rate reaches the threshold.

 Congestion control

When flow control conditions are met, the P-GW rejects Create Session Request

messages specific to the APN enabled with the back-off time function or sets

different overload thresholds and overload clearance thresholds for APNs, and

includes the PGW Back-off time AVP in Create Session Response messages. After

receiving a Create Session Response message from the P-GW, the S-GW instructs the

MME to suppress activation requests. The UE receives the MME-assigned back-off

time and initiates a PDN connection establishment request in a delayed manner or

another attach based on the back-off time.

 P-GW over load

The P-GW supports the APN enabled with the back-off time function. If signaling

overload occurs because the vUGW receives a large number of Create Session

Request messages in a short time, the vUGW performs flow control over signaling of

the APN enabled with the back-off time function and includes the PGW Back-off
 time AVP in the negative Create Session Response messages. In this manner,

the vUGW reduces the signaling load.

 Neighboring NE overload

The P-GW allows you to configure the APN-specific overload threshold and overload

clearance threshold. If the activation success rate is lower than the overload

threshold in multiple consecutive monitoring periods, the vUGW performs flow

control over signaling of these APNs and includes the PGW Back-off time AVP in the

negative responses. This implementation prevents overload of neighboring NEs and

improves reliability of the entire network. If the activation success rate is higher than

the overload clearance threshold in multiple consecutive monitoring periods,

the vUGW disables the back-off timer function.

Feature Specifications

No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Name

3GPP 3GPP TS 23.401 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)
access

3GPP 3GPP TS 29.274 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); Evolved GPRS
Tunnelling Protocol (eGTP) for EPS

Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C00 First release.

GWFD-111413 APN Based NB-IoT Access

Rate Control

Applicable NEs

P-GW

Definition

In a normal scenario of Internet of Things (IoT) services, a UE sends data packets at low

frequency. However, in an abnormal scenario, for example, when a UE is faulty or

retransmits packets upon timeout, a large number of data packets may be sent in a short

time, which may cause network congestion and affect service running. Therefore, the

Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduces rate control on UE data

transmission. The access point name (APN) Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature

enables you to configure a transmission rate threshold on the P-GW to control a UE's

number of uplink/downlink data packets over a packet data network (PDN) connection in

a specified period.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers This feature prevents network congestion caused by UE

failures and improves overall network reliability.

Subscribers The service success rate of common UEs increases and user
experience is improved.

Application Scenario

The APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature applies to data transmission in NB-

IoT control plane optimization and user plane optimization and is used to restrict UEs'

data transmission rate, which prevents network congestion caused by UE failures and

improves overall network reliability.

Availability

Involved NEs

NEs Supporting Functions of the NEs

Involved Versions

UE Not required Supports the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Control feature.

MME vUSN Supports the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

V100R017C10 and Control feature and forwards rate control
later parameters between the UE and P-GW.

S-GW/P-GW vUGWV100R017C10 Supports the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

and later Control feature. The transmission rate threshold
parameters are configured on the P-GW and forwarded
by the S-GW.

Requirement for the License

 This feature is optional and requires a license. The license control item for this feature is

"82207564 LKV3WNBARC01 APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control."

Interaction with Other Features

There is no interaction between this feature and other features.

Impact on the System

Performance Impact Severity: low

This feature has no adverse impact on the system.

Application Limitations

If a subscriber is activated, sends data packets, and then is deactivated, after the

subscriber is activated again, the previous data packets are not counted, and

the vUGW restarts the timer and resets the counter for rate control on this subscriber.

Implementation Principle

Related Concepts

 Control plane optimization

Service-layer data is transmitted through non-access stratum (NAS) messages

between UEs and MME and through the S11-U interface between the MME and S-

GW. Therefore, the data radio bearers (DRBs) and S1-U connections do not need to

be created and deleted repeatedly. This implementation improves the data

 transmission efficiency and lowers the network signaling load. For details, see GWFD-

111408 Data Over NAS.

 User plane optimization

Data, including the S1 Application Protocol (S1AP) associations for restoring DRBs

and S1-U connections, UE contexts, and bearer contexts, is stored on the UE,

eNodeB, and MME so that bearers can be restored quickly, reducing the network

signaling load.

Networking Structure

Figure 1 shows the networking structure of the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Control feature.

Figure 1 Networking structure of the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature

The APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature enables you to configure a

transmission rate threshold on the P-GW so that data packets exceeding the limit will be

discards. The P-GW sends the APN rate control parameters to a UE through the protocol

configuration option (PCO) field to control a UE's number of uplink/downlink data

packets over a PDN connection in a specified period. The MME/S-GW forwards messages

containing rate control parameters between UEs and P-GW.

Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the service flow of the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Control feature.

Figure 2 Service access flow of the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature

Figure 3 Service configuration change flow of the APN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Control feature
Feature Specifications

No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Number Name

3GPP 23.401 v13.7.0 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN) access;

24.301 v13.6.1 Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for Evolved

Packet System (EPS);

29.274 V13.7.0 Evolved General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

Tunnelling Protocol for Control plane (GTPv2-C);

32.251 V13.6.1 Telecommunication management; Charging

management; Packet Switched (PS) domain charging;

32.298 V13.5.0 Telecommunication management; Charging

management; Charging Data Record (CDR) parameter
description

Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C10 First release.

GWFD-111414 Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT

Access Rate Control

Applicable NEs
S-GW and P-GW

Definition

In a normal scenario of Internet of Things (IoT) services, a UE sends data packets at low

frequency. However, in an abnormal scenario, for example, when a UE fails or retransmits

packets upon timeout, a large number of data packets may be sent in a short time, which

may cause network congestion and affect service running. Therefore, the Third

Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduces rate control on UE data transmission.

The Serving public land mobile network (PLMN) Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control

feature enables you to configure a transmission rate threshold on the MME and allows

the MME to send the threshold to a UE and S-GW/P-GW to control the number of

uplink/downlink data packets in a fixed time (6 minutes).

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers This feature prevents network congestion caused by UE

failures and improves overall network reliability.

Subscribers The service success rate of common UEs increases and user
experience is improved.

Application Scenario

The Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature applies to data transmission

in NB-IoT control plane optimization and is used to restrict UEs' data transmission rate,
which prevents network congestion caused by UE failures and improves overall network

reliability.

Availability

Involved NEs

NEs Supporting Functions of the NEs

Involved Versions

UE Not required Supports the Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate
Controlfeature.

MME vUSN  Allows you to configure a transmission rate

V100R017C10 and threshold and sends the threshold to the UE and
later S-GW/P-GW.
 Calculates the number of UE-transmitted data
packets and discards excess packets according
to the threshold.

S-GW/P-GW vUGWV100R017C10 Controls the transmission rate of data packets and

and later discards excess packets according to the threshold.

Requirement for the License

This feature is optional and requires a license. The license control item for this feature is

"82207565 LKV3WNBPRC01 Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control."

Interaction with Other Features

Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

Dependency GWFD-111408 Data 82207072 The Serving PLMN

Over NAS LKV3WPSDTO01 Data Based NB-IoT Access
Over NAS Rate
Control feature
applies to data
 Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

transmission in NB-
IoT control plane
optimization.
Therefore,
the GWFD-111408
Data Over
NAS feature must
be activated.

Impact on the System

Performance Impact Severity: low

This feature has no adverse impact on the system.

Application Limitations

 The Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature applies only to data

transmission in NB-IoT control plane optimization.

 If a subscriber is activated, sends data packets, and then is deactivated, after the

subscriber is activated again, the previous data packets are not counted, and

the vUGW restarts the timer and resets the counter for rate control on this

subscriber.

Implementation Principle

Related Concepts

Control plane optimization

Service-layer data is transmitted through non-access stratum (NAS) messages between

UEs and MME and through the S11-U interface between the MME and S-GW. Therefore,

the data radio bearers (DRBs) and S1-U connections do not need to be created and

deleted repeatedly. This implementation improves the data transmission efficiency and

lowers the network signaling load. For details, see GWFD-111408 Data Over NAS.

Networking Structure

Figure 1 shows the networking structure of the Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Controlfeature.

Figure 1 Networking structure of the Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Control feature

The Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature enables you to configure a

transmission rate threshold on the MME. The MME then sends this threshold to the UE

and S-GW/P-GW. The S-GW/P-GW forwards data packets within the transmission rate

limit and discards data packets when the transmission rate exceeds the threshold.

Figure 2 shows the service flow of the Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate

Control feature.
 During a UE attach or PDN connection establishment procedure, the MME sends the

locally configured transmission rate threshold to the S-GW/P-GW through a Create

Session Request message. The S-GW/P-GW forwards data packets within the

transmission rate limit and discards data packets when the transmission rate exceeds

the threshold.

 The MME sends an Activate Default EPS Bearer Request message with the Serving

PLMN Rate Control IE to the UE, and the UE controls the transmission rate

accordingly.

Figure 2 Service flow of the Serving PLMN Based NB-IoT Access Rate Control feature

Feature Specifications

No specification is involved.
Standards Compliance
Category Number Name

3GPP 23.401 v13.7.0 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN) access;

24.301 v13.6.1 Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for Evolved

Packet System (EPS);

29.274 V13.7.0 Evolved General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

Tunnelling Protocol for Control plane (GTPv2-C);

32.251 V13.6.1 Telecommunication management; Charging

management; Packet Switched (PS) domain charging;

32.298 V13.5.0 Telecommunication management; Charging

management; Charging Data Record (CDR) parameter
description

Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C10 First release.

GWFD-400007 eMTC eDRX Mode

Applicable NEs

S-GW

Definition
3GPP presents the extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) technology for power

saving, which applies to IoT services featuring insensitivity to the transmission delay and

requiring low power consumption. The eDRX period can be minutes, prolonging the

period for monitoring the paging indication channel when the UE is in the idle state. In

this manner, the eDRX technology reduces the UE power consumption and extends the

battery lifespan.

The vUGW can cache downlink data packets for subscribers in eDRX mode. After

receiving downlink data packets, the S-GW caches them for the duration specified by the

MME. After the data path is set up, the S-GW then forwards uplink/downlink packets.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers This feature helps reduce power consumption of enhanced

Machine Type Communication (eMTC) UEs, prolong the battery
life, and enhance the competitiveness of IoT services.

Subscribers This feature enables UEs to enter the deep sleep mode in the
periods without data transmission, thereby reducing the UE
power consumption and prolonging the battery life.

Application Scenario

eDRX applies to services requiring low power consumption and specific delay, such as the

bracelet, tracking, and street lamp control. A eDRX period is specified based on the delay

tolerance of services and carrier requirements. The eDRX period of seconds is

recommended for applications requiring low delay, and that ranging of minutes is

recommended for delay-insensitive applications.

Availability

Involved NEs

NEs Involved Supporting Versions Functions of the NEs

UE Not required Serves eMTC subscribers

and supports eDRX.

eNodeB eRAN V100R012C01 and later Supports eDRX.

MME vUSN V100R017C10 and later Supports eDRX.

S-GW vUGW V100R017C10 and Caches downlink data based

later on "DL Buffering Duration"
in the DDN ACK message
from the MME.

Requirement for the License

This feature is an optional feature and requires a license. The license control item for this

feature is "82207741 LKV3WMTDRX01 eMTC eDRX Mode."

Interaction with Other Features

There is no interaction between this feature and other features.

Impact on the System

This feature has no adverse impact on the system.

Application Limitations

For each eDRX subscriber, a maximum of 10 downlink data packets can be cached, and

packets with over 500 bytes are discarded. The number of packets for whom

the vUGW supports simultaneous caching is 5% of the total subscriber specification.

Implementation Principle

Related Concepts

eDRX

The maximum DRX period is 2.56 seconds on a traditional network because both low

power consumption and short delay are required. In a DRX period, the UE monitors the

page indicator channels (PICHs) only during the paging procedure, thereby reducing the

UE power consumption. The eDRX can extend the existing DRX period to 43.9 minutes,

which further lowers the eMTC UE power consumption. See Figure 1.

Figure 1 eDRX

System Implementation

Figure 2 shows the networking architecture of the eMTC eDRX Mode feature.
Figure 2 Networking architecture of the eMTC eDRX Mode feature

Figure 3 shows the eMTC eDRX Mode data transmission procedure. The procedure is

described as follows:

1. The eNodeB notifies the UE through the SI message that eDRX is supported.

2. If eDRX is enabled on the UE, the UE sends an Attach Request or a TAU Request

message to inform the MME of eDRX support, and the MME determines the eDRX

paging period based on local policies.

3. After receiving a downlink data packet, the S-GW initiates a paging procedure

through a DDN message to the MME. The MME includes the DL Buffering Duration

and DL Buffering Suggested Packet Count IEs in the DDN ACK message to notify

the S-GW of the downlink packet cache duration and the number of packets to be

cached, respectively.

 How to obtain the downlink packet cache duration:

After receiving a DDN ACK message, the S-GW checks whether the message

carries the DL Buffering Duration IE. If yes, the S-GW uses the value as the
 downlink packet cache duration. If no, the S-GW does not update the downlink

packet cache duration.

 How to obtain the number of downlink packets to be cached:

 If the MME-sent DDN ACK message carries the IE DL Buffering Duration

and the bit 18 of the software parameter DWORD51 is set to 1, the S-GW

checks whether the message contains the DL Buffering Suggested Packet

Count IE, which informs the S-GW of the number of cacheable downlink

data packets. (A maximum of 10 downlink data packets can be cached.) If

the DL Buffering Suggested Packet Count IE is not carried, 10 downlink

data packets can be cached by default.

If bit 18 of the software parameter DWORD51 is set to 0, the S-GW ignores the

DL Buffering Suggested Packet Count IE and caches only one downlink data

packet.

4. The MME and eNodeB determine the paging time based on the eDRX period and

page the UE. After paging succeeds, a data link is reestablished, and the S-GW

sends the cached data to the UE.

Figure 3 eMTC eDRX Mode data transmission procedure

Charging and CDRs

None.

Feature Specifications
No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Number Name

3GPP 23.401 v13.7.0 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (E-UTRAN) access;

29.274 v13.6.0 3GPP Evolved Packet System (EPS); Evolved General

Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunnelling Protocol
for Control plane (GTPv2-C);

Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C10 First release.

GWFD-400003 eMTC Signalling Congestion

Control Based on the Back-off Timer

Applicable NEs

S-GW and P-GW

Definition

Currently, carriers usually plan the same P-GW for machine-to-machine (M2M)

subscribers and end users. There are many M2M subscribers. If a large number of M2M
subscribers access mobile networks within a short period of time, for example, all power

meters of an electric power company simultaneously report data, congestion easily

occurs, which affects services of end users. Specific access point names (APNs) can be

planned for M2M services, and the P-GW identifies M2M services by APNs. When the P-

GW or a neighboring network element (NE) is congested, the eMTC Signalling

Congestion Control Based on the Back-off Timer feature enables the P-GW to perform

APN-based signaling congestion control using the PGW Back-off time attribute-value

pair (AVP) so as to prevent network storms.

Benefits
For... Benefits

Carriers When the P-GW or a neighboring network element (NE) is congested,

flow control is performed for the signaling specific to the APN
enabled with the back-off time function. The signaling impact on
devices can be reduced.

Subscribers Internet experience of end users is preferentially guaranteed when

the P-GW or a neighboring NE is congested.

Application Scenario
Figure 1 Application scenario

Availability

Involved NEs

Functions of the NEs

Supporting
NEs Involved Versions Functions of the NEs

P-GW vUGWV100R017C00 Includes the PGW Back-off time AVP in

and later Create Session Response messages when flow
control conditions are met.

S-GW vUGWV100R017C00 Transparently transmits the PGW Back-off

and later time AVP in Create Session Response
messages to the MME.

MME vUSN V100R017C00 Performs flow control based on the PGW

and later back-off timer and transparently transmits
the back-off time to the UE.

UE Not required Receives the MME-assigned back-off time

and initiates another attach based on the
back-off time.

Requirement for the License

This feature is optional and requires a license. The license control item for this feature is

"82207742 LKV3WMTSBT01 eMTC Signalling Congestion Control Based on the Back-off

Timer."

Impact on the System

Performance impact severity: low

This feature delays the activation of certain M2M subscribers and causes service loss

accordingly.

Application Limitations

No application limitation is involved.

Interaction with Other Features

Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

Dependency NSFD-000004 System None Before deploying

Overload Control the Signalling
Congestion Control
Based on Back-off
Timer feature,
check the System
Overload
Control feature
configurations:
 Check whether
flow control
based on APN
priorities has
been enabled.
If yes,
Interaction Type Related Feature License Control Description
Item

configure APN
priorities for
M2M
subscribers. By
default, the
lowest APN
priorities are
configured for
M2M
subscribers.
 Check whether
pseudo-
activation flow
control has
been disabled
for the APN
with the back-
off time
function. If
no, disable
this function
for the APN.
 The
configuration
about the
Signalling
Shaping Based
on Back-off
Timer feature
has a lower
priority than
that about the
APN Rate
Control
feature.

Implementation Principle

Implementation Principle
 Implementation of the eMTC Signalling Congestion Control Based on the Back-off

Timer feature involves congestion identification and congestion control. Overload may

occur on the P-GW or a neighboring NE.

 Congestion identification

The P-GW identifies congestion based on the SPU's CPU usage or APN-specific

bearer activation success rate.

 P-GW over load

The P-GW monitors its own load in real time. If the SPU's CPU usage reaches a

specific threshold, the P-GW considers that overload occurs and triggers flow

control.

 Neighboring NE overload

The capacity of a neighboring NE, such as the authentication, authorization and

accounting (AAA) server, policy and charging rules function (PCRF), online

charging system (OCS) server, or Diameter routing agent (DRA) may be

insufficient. As a result, if traffic bursts, a neighboring NE may not respond to

the P-GW's messages or may be overloaded, leading to a decreased APN-

specific bearer activation success rate. You can specify an overload threshold

and configure the P-GW to trigger flow control when the APN-specific bearer

activation rate reaches the threshold.

 Congestion control

When flow control conditions are met, the P-GW rejects Create Session Request

messages specific to the APN enabled with the back-off time function or sets
 different overload thresholds and overload clearance thresholds for APNs, and

includes the PGW Back-off time AVP in Create Session Response messages. After

receiving a Create Session Response message from the P-GW, the S-GW instructs the

MME to suppress activation requests. The UE receives the MME-assigned back-off

time and initiates a PDN connection establishment request in a delayed manner or

another attach based on the back-off time.

 P-GW over load

The P-GW supports the APN enabled with the back-off time function. If signaling

overload occurs because the vUGW receives a large number of Create Session

Request messages in a short time, the vUGW performs flow control over signaling of

the APN enabled with the back-off time function and includes the PGW Back-off

time AVP in the negative Create Session Response messages. In this manner,

the vUGW reduces the signaling load.

 Neighboring NE overload

The P-GW allows you to configure the APN-specific overload threshold and overload

clearance threshold. If the activation success rate is lower than the overload

threshold in multiple consecutive monitoring periods, the vUGW performs flow

control over signaling of these APNs and includes the PGW Back-off time AVP in the

negative responses. This implementation prevents overload of neighboring NEs and

improves reliability of the entire network. If the activation success rate is higher than

the overload clearance threshold in multiple consecutive monitoring periods,

the vUGW disables the back-off timer function.

Feature Specifications

No specification is involved.

Standards Compliance
Category Name

3GPP 3GPP TS 23.401 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements

for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)
access

3GPP 3GPP TS 29.274 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); Evolved GPRS
Tunnelling Protocol (eGTP) for EPS

Release History
Feature Version Product Version Details

1 vUGW V100R017C00 First release.