ITSF 09 - Time & Sync in Telecoms

3rd-5ft November 2009 - Rome

WCDMA RAN
IP backhauling
TIM Network
Architecture and
Synchronization aspects

TIM - Telecom Italia

Alessandro Guerrieri

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 Agenda

• Synchronization in 3G
Radio Access Network
• Iub interface evolution
from ATM to IP
• Iub over IP and
synchronization
solutions

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 Synchronization in 3G Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network Core Network

MSC
Iub Iu
Uu RBS RNC MGW

SGSN
Radio Interface Frame
Synchronization Synchronization
Node
frequency error Synchronization
< 50 ppb
Network
Synchronization

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 Synchronization in 3G Radio Access Network

Network Synchronization is responsible for the distribution of clocks, and allows

the clocks to operate at the same frequency in different nodes. Note that clock
in this context does not deal with the time of day, but with frequency only.

Node Synchronization is the basis for the numbering of frames between the
RNC and RBS nodes, and for frame timing. The correct operation of Node
Synchronization is dependent on the proper operation of Network
Synchronization.

Frame Synchronization is responsible for the numbering of user frames, and for
the transmission and reception of frames to and from the RNC node at the
correct times, to compensate for transfer and processing delay in the RNC-RBS
path. The correct operation of Frame Synchronization in the Intra-RNS case is
dependent on the proper operation of the Node Synchronization.

Radio Interface Synchronization is responsible for the alignment of radio frames

between the RBS and the UE.

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 Iub interface
evolution
in TIM
Radio Access
Network

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 Iub Interface over ATM: the 3GPP Standard
Radio Network Transport User Plane
Control Plane Network
Control Plane

Radio Layer

PCH FP

TFCI2 FP
RACH FP
Node B

FACH FP

DSCH FP
USCH FP
CPCH FP
DCH FP
Radio Application Part
Network (NBAP)
Protocols
Layer

ALCAP
Q.2630.1

Q.2150.2
Transport Transport Layer
SSCF-UNI SSCF-UNI
Layer Protocols (TNL)
SSCOP SSCOP
AAL Type 5 AAL Type 5 AAL Type 2

ATM

Physical Layer

ALCAP protocol stack: for AAL2 connections setup

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 RAN Reference architecture – before 2005

UTRAN Core Network

Iub
Iub, Mub BTS ATM Sw
BTS MSC
BTS RNC
SDH ATM Sw Iub Iu MGW
Iur
Iu
BTS SDH RNC SGSN

BTS Iub, Mub

Iub
BTS ATM Sw
E1 Links
STM1 links Iur MSC
(local) Iub
BTS ATM Sw MGW
BTS Iu
Iub, Mub SDH ATM Sw RNC
BTS SGSN

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 UTRAN Protocol layers - Iub over ATM

WCDMA Radio Network Layer

Radio Radio Specified by 3GPP
Application Application
Layer Channels

ATM AAL5
Transport Network Layer
AAL2

Adaptation AAL0
Common ITU-T specifications used
Layer
VC (Virtual Channel)
ATM Layer

VP (Virtual Path)

Physical E1 - STM1 (PDH-SDH)

Layer

ATM Transport according to 3GPP R99

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 UTRAN Protocol layers - ATM over Eth (generic)

WCDMA Radio Network Layer

Radio Radio Specified by 3GPP
Application Application
Layer Channels

ATM AAL5
Transport Network Layer
AAL2

Adaptation AAL0
Common ITU-T specifications used
Layer
VC (Virtual Channel)
ATM Layer
VP (Virtual Path)
Eth Layer PWE3 (Martini circuits) over Eth
Physical
Layer Electrical / Optical - GbE

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 RAN Reference architecture – after 2005

UTRAN Core Network

Iub
BTS ATM Sw
BTS Iub, Mub MSC
BTS GTW-A RNC
GTW-B
Iub Iu MGW
OPM Iur
Iu
BTS GTW-A RNC SGSN
Iub, Mub
BTS Iub
BTS ATM Sw
E1 Links
STM1 links Iur MSC
(local) Iub
BTS ATM Sw MGW
BTS Iu
Iub, Mub OPM GTW-B
RNC
BTS GTW-A SGSN

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 Iub over TI GbE backbone

E1
RNC
GTW-A

GTW-B E1
OPM TI
RNC
(GbE)
E1
Link E1
OSS GTW-A
Link STM-1 VC 12
Link STM-1 VC 4
Ethernet
E1

ATM
ATM PWE3/Ethernet ATM

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 Iub (ATM) over GbE

3G metro
Centrale di
attestazione RNC
SOL GTW_B
rame GTW_A feeder
ADM
Rete ottica
SDH metropolitana OPM
Modem Modem ADM 8630 CWDM CWDM 8840
SHDSL SHDSL STM1
NodeB

metro
Circuito ATM

PWE3 (Martini circuits)

VLAN per UMTS

nxE1 GBE nxSTM1

SOL SDH DWDM Infr. GBE SDH

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 Iub over IP

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 UTRAN Iub over ATM

WCDMA Radio Network Layer

Radio Radio Specified by 3GPP
Application Application
Layer Channels

ATM AAL5
Transport Network Layer
AAL2

Adaptation AAL0
Common ITU-T specifications used
Layer
VC (Virtual Channel)
ATM Layer

VP (Virtual Path)

Physical Physical Connection (E1/E3/STM1)

Layer

ATM Transport according to 3GPP R99

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 UTRAN Iub over IP

WCDMA Radio Network Layer

Radio Radio Specified by 3GPP
Application Application
Layer Channels

Transport Network Layer

Common ITU-T specifications used

Transport
Layer IP

Physical Electrical / Optical (GbE)

Layer

ATM Transport according to 3GPP R99

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 Iub over IP Protocol Stack

Radio Network Network Synch Radio Network

Control Plane User Plane

Radio DCH, HS-DSCH, E-DCH

Network NW FACH, PCH, RACH FPs
Layer NBAP Sync and Node Sync (over
FACH)

Transport
Network
Layer NTP (**)
SCTP (*) UDP UDP
IP IP IP
Ethernet Ethernet Ethernet

(*) SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol)

(**) NTP (Network Time Protocol )

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 Iub over IP

Eth
RNC
Eth

Eth
Eth OPM
RNC

Eth
Link E1 OSS
Link STM-1 VC 12
Link STM-1 VC 4
Ethernet Eth

IP IP IP

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 Iub over IP Architecture (FTTB)

NodeB Remote
Feeder
GE Optical SL GE
Fiber
Site
Ring
SGU OPM
naked Site
Metro
fiber FEEDER
METRO
METRO di raccolta
1GE 1GE
10GE 10GE
1GE
GE
Optical
Network

DWDM or RNC
naked fiber 1GE GE
10GE 10GE

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 Iub over IP - “Layer 3 Architecture”

RPS HSRP

Layer 3 connection Layer 3 connection

MdR = Def Gateway MdR = Def Gateway
Remote
MdR Feeder Eth

Eth OPM
Optical Packed Metro
Layer 2 Network
RNC MdR

Remote Eth
RSTP Feeder
RdG

DCN HSRP
(OSS)

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 Synchronization
over IP
solution

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 Network Synchronization over IP
Iu over IP/ETH Iu over ATM/SDH
• Client - Server synchronization architecture.
A Network Synch NTP Server is integrated in
RNC and a client is in RBS
2 MHz GPS
SS
• Synch - Server connection is based on NTP
SASE Protocol (Network Time Protocol) over UDP/IP
NTP
• Network synchronization for an IP connected
IP/Ethernet RBS is achieved by aligning the frequency of
Network the RBS to the frequency of an NTP server
with traceability to a G.811 source.

• RBSs are synchronized using ad hoc clock

recovery algorithm that uses NTP packets
(OCXO in RBS)
SC SC
• No other synchronization functionalities
SS Synchronization Server required (external devices, Synch nodes, GPS
etc.)
SC Synchronization Client

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 Network Sync details

Iu over
RNC ATM (SDH) Core
Sync Iub over IP Sync Timing Network
Client Server Unit

In order to meet performance requirements, the Synch Client sends an NTP request at regular intervals.
The regulator selects the NTP packet frequency based on its need. The range of 1-10 packets per second.
The higher request frequency is used at start-up or acquisition to make convergence time shorter, and then
when steady state is reached, the rate is decreased.

RNC Iu over IP Core

Sync Iub over IP Sync Timing Network
Client Server Unit
SASE

In case Iu is connected only over IP, there will be no transmission interface available from which the RNC
can take its synchronization. In this case, the RNC must take its synchronization from the physical
synchronization port on its Timing Unit. The signal to this physical synchronization port can be e.g. a 2.044
MHz signal from a SASE, or from an SDH multiplexer on site
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 Iub over IP – Network Synch Protocol Stack

Radio Network Network Synch Radio Network

Control Plane User Plane

Radio DCH, HS-DSCH, E-DCH

Network NW FACH, PCH, RACH FPs
Layer NBAP Sync and Node Sync (over
FACH)

Transport
Network
Layer NTP (**)
SCTP (*) UDP UDP
IP IP IP
Ethernet Ethernet Ethernet

(*) SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol)

(**) NTP (Network Time Protocol )

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 Backhauling requirements for Iub over IP

• Service requirements: no additional requirement for the backhauling IP

network compared to the "ATM over GbE" solution.

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 Backhauling requirements for Iub over IP
The max PDV is generally not a sufficient requirement for the
purpose of qualifying a packet network as able to carry timing
over packets.
This is especially true in the definition of the start up
conditions: in this case the PDV statistics is fundamental (e.g. PDV
in order to select a suitable number of good packets) Lowest distribution
delay
• Current requirement in TIM network: when best 1% packets distribution
have less than 20 microseconds delay variation, locking
happens quite fast (<16 minutes)

However when longer starting periods are acceptable, the

limits might be expressed in terms of PDV (i.e. 99% of the
packets below x ms depending on the actual acceptable start
up period).
The assumption is also that changes in the PDV disitribution PDV
are detected. distribution
After the clock has been locked, the PDV limits (e.g. 99% of
packets < 10 ms) can also be considered sufficient thanks to
OCXO stability (that can keep few ppb per day).

Note: an alternative approach often used is to specify the

requirements in terms of G.8261 (i,e, test cases 12 to 17 in
Appendix VI.5.2 with traffic model 2 according to Appendix
x msec
VI.2.2). However this is sometimes not practical.

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 TI Optical Packet Metro

• 100 Node Bs active today

NodeB Remote
Feeder
using Iub over IP and optical
GE Optical
Fiber
SL GE
fiber
• FTTB with dedicated naked
Site
Ring
SGU OPM
naked Site
Metro
METRO
fiber FEEDER METRO di raccolta fiber (no GPON)
• Project started in 1H 2008
1GE 1GE
10GE 10GE
1GE

• Hundreds of Nobe B over IP

GE
Optical
Network

DWDM or RNC planned for 2009-2010

naked fiber 1GE
10GE 10GE
GE
• Very stable solution
• No synchronization
problems
• 24 MdR (Metro di Raccolta)
• 60 Metro 30 sites
• 70 Metro Feeder
• 180 Remote Feeder (180 SGU sites)
• OPM Load between Feeder and Metro: 5%-10%
• Number of nodes between Node B and RNC: 4 (Remote Feeder, Metro Feeder,
Metro, MdR)
• OPM Traffic Handling: QoS priority (3 queues)
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 QoS for Iub over IP

• QoS separation at IP level, using DSCP (Differentiated Services Code

Points). [0...63].

• QoS separation at Ethernet level by using the Priority Bits (L2 Ethernet
priority 802.1p). P-bit [0..7]

Bearer X DSCPX P-BitX

Bearer Y DSCPY P-BitY

Bearer Z DSCPZ P-BitZ

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 QoS Mapping – TIM choices
3 QoS Priority Levels
• Maximum: Network Synchronization and Conversational/Streaming traffic
• Medium: PS R99 DCHs and NBAP signaling
• Best effort: HSDPA/HSUPA
Layer 3: Layer 2:
DSCP P-bit
46 Sync 5
High Priority
18 CS & Stream Sync, CS, Stream
22 3
Medium Priority
PS R99, NBAP PS R99, NBAP
0 0
Best Effort
HSxPA HSxPA

Our Optical Packed Metro is a Layer 2 network working with 3 P-bit values (5, 3, 0), so we
had to adapt the mapping of DSCP to P-bit to the existing situation.

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 QoS Mapping – TIM choices (2)
Layer 3: Layer 2:
DSCP P-bit

46 Sync 5
18 CS & Sync, CS,
Stream Stream

22 3
PS R99, PS R99,
NBAP NBAP

0 0
HSxPA HSxPA

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 Conclusions

• Iub over IP is the solution for:

─ the transport bottlenecks removal
─ the evolution of the network towards new services:
─ HSDPA Evolution 64QAM (up to 21 Mbps)
─ HSDPA Evolution MIMO (up to 28 Mbps)
─ HSDPA Evolution MultiCarrier (up to 42 Mbps)
─ LTE (150/300 Mbps)

• Live traffic shows good performance and no quality, reliability or

throughput variations.
• Iub over IP (optical fiber) deployment started in 1H 2008
• 100 Node Bs active today using Iub over IP and optical fiber
• Hundreds of Nobe B over IP planned for 2009-2010 in the TIM Radio
Access Network

• Iub over IP (with sync based on NTP over IP) is a very stable solution:
no synchronization problems in real network (18 months)

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 Acknowledgements:

Lorella Parmeggiani
(TI Opical Packet Metro Engeniering)

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 Thanks for
Your Attention

Alessandro Guerrieri

TIM Telecom Italia

Wireless Access Engineering
alessandro.guerrieri@telecomitalia.it

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