NETMANIAS TECH-BLOG Please visit www.netmanias.

com to view more posts

LTE Network Architecture: Basic

July 01, 2013 | By Chris Yoo (tech@netmanias.com)

Obviously, the hottest issue in mobile communication today is LTE. All three top telecommunication operators
in Korea are trying hard to promote their brands, each containing the technical term "LTE" somewhere, for
greater exposure of the brands to the public. So, we will briefly go over what network elements make the LTE
network today.

The Figure below is an illustration of an LTE Network Reference Model (NRM), i.e., the structure of the LTE
network.

UE (User Equipment)

 It refers to a user device, and can be either a smartphone or a USB dongle used for data
communication purpose only (i.e., a USB type which is connected to a laptop for wireless Internet).
 Each UE has a “USIM card with built-in IMSI required for identification/authentication of subscribers”
that can be inserted in it.
 It also has a built-in LTE chip and thus can attach to an LTE network.

eNB (Evolved Node B)

 An eNB is called an "LTE base station" and is an equipment that provides radio connection between a
UE and an LTE network.
 In the Figure above, only the connection between the UE and the eNB is wireless and all the rests are
wired (through IP network).

1
Netmanias Tech-Blog: LTE Network Architecture: Basic

S-GW (Serving Gateway)

 For S-GW, it is hard to find a word that can describe all of its various features at once. However, one
of the most representative characteristics will be the fact that it serves as an anchoring point for
inter-eNB handover. When a UE attempts to disconnect from eNB1 that it has connected to for
Internet use and connect to eNB2 (this is called a handover, and communication is not interrupted
during this handover), an S-GW serves as an anchoring point for the handover from eNB1 to eNB2.
As you know, you drop an anchor to make something stay in one place. So, what it means is, the S-
GW is used as an axis during the handover of a UE from eNB1 to eNB2.
 Or you can say it in style, "S-GW serves as an anchoring point in intra-LTE mobility".

P-GW (PDN Gateway)

 A P-GW is very versatile.

 First, it assigns an IP address to a UE (through the initial attach procedure for the UE defined in 3GPP,
not through DHCP protocol).
 Second, we just learned that an S-GW serves as an anchoring point for eNBs. Similarly, a P-GW works
as one as well, but for S-GWs. When a UE switches from S-GW1 to S-GW2 as it travels (from an eNB
managed by S-GW1 to an eNB managed by S-GW2), a P-GW serves as an anchoring point.
 Third, it applies different QoS policies per UE (i.e., performing priority, bandwidth control, etc.).
 Fourth, it manages accounting data per UE. Accounting data generally include information such as
uplink/downlink traffic volume (# of bytes, # of packets), access times, etc. A P-GW delivers these
data, in (Charging Data Record (CDR) format, to an OFCS. In other words, it generates and manages
all the information including the time at which each subscriber attaches, the amount of data the
subscriber uses, and the time period during which the subscriber stays connected, and forwards the
same to an OFCS.

One thing to note, user data travel through a UE, eNB, S-GW and P-GW to communicate with the Internet.
So, no user data travels through other network entities (e.g. MME, PCRF, etc.).

MME (Mobility Management Entity)

 An MME serves as "brain" of the LTE network, performing following duties:

 First, it authenticates a UE using EPS-AKA protocol. As key information needed for authentication of
the UE is stored in an HSS, the MME performs authentication of the UE, on behalf of the HSS, using
the key information received from the HSS.
 Second, it manages EPS bearers, logical paths (logical channel and GTP tunnels) established along
the route of {UE - eNB - S-GW - P-GW} in order to let a UE to connect to the PDN (i.e., the Internet). It
is in charge of establishing, modifying, terminating, etc. of the GTP tunnels.
 Third, it manages the mobility of a subscriber. That is, it checks whether the subscriber's UE is
currently attached to the network or not, and if it is, whether the UE is using the Internet (in
connected state) or not (in idle state).

HSS (Home Subscriber Server)

 An HSS is a central server DB of an LTE network that contains (1) key information needed for
authentication, and (2) subscriber profiles of each UE.
 In subscriber profiles, QoS class information (e.g. priority, maximum bandwidth available, etc.)
specific to the service subscribed by each user is stored.

2
Netmanias Tech-Blog: LTE Network Architecture: Basic

 When a UE attaches an LTE network, an HSS delivers key information needed for authentication and
user profile to an MME. Then, the MME, the brain for the LTE access network, authenticates the UE
and generates an EPS bearer based on the user profile (subscribed QoS information).

PCRF (Policy and Charging Rule Function)

 A PCRF defines rules for policy and charging to be applied to each UE. QoS information to be applied
to a UE is determined according to policies, and information on whether to charge offline or online is
determined based on charging rules. That is, the primary function of a PCRF is defining rules for QoS
and charging for each UE. The PCRF forwards these rules to a P-GW, which then performs controlling
(QoS, charging, etc.) of the UE based on the rules forwarded.

SPR (Subscriber Profile Repository)

 Policy and charging rules (access profile) of each UE is not stored in a PCRF, but in a DB called SPR.
 So, the PCRF retrieves a UE's access profile from the SPR as needed.

OCS (Online Charging System)

 Most of mobile communication service providers offer postpaid services in Korea. However, quite a
lot of them provide prepaid services in other countries.
 For example, if a user who purchased a "1GB prepaid card valid for one month", the network should
be able to manage the data usage of the user in "real-time" and stop the Internet service when the
1GB is used up (or the period of one month is expired). And that is what an OCS is for.
 A P-GW monitors the real-time usage and forwards the same to an OCS. The OCS, then centrally
manages the usage available (called balance or credit) per user to identify those who have no more
balance or credit, and informs the P-GW so that it can stop the Internet service for them.

OFCS (Offline Charging System

 As explained earlier, an OFCS is a system that centrally manages CDRs forwarded by a P-GW.

PDN (Packet Data Network)

 You can think of it as the Internet. For now, let's just say PDN = Internet = IP Network.

For more details about LTE network architecture, see Netmanias technical document, "LTE Network
Architecture: Basic"

3
 Netmanias Research and Consulting Scope

99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13

eMBMS/Mobile IPTV
CDN/Mobile CDN
Transparent Caching
BSS/OSS
Services Cable TPS
Voice/Video Quality
IMS
Policy Control/PCRF
IPTV/TPS
LTE

Mobile Mobile WiMAX

Network Carrier WiFi
LTE Backaul
Data Center Migration
Carrier Ethernet
FTTH
Wireline
Data Center
Network
Metro Ethernet
MPLS
IP Routing

Visit http://www.netmanias.com to view and download more technical documents.

We design the future

Consulting
Carrier Ethernet

Transparent

We design the future protocols

IP/MPLS

Caching

Analysis
Wi-Fi
CDN

Concept Design
We design the future LTE IMS DRM
Infrastructure Services

Networks
POC
eMBMS

Training

Analyze trends, technologies and market

Report
Technical documents
Blog
One-Shot gallery
Future

About NMC Consulting Group (www.netmanias.com)

NMC Consulting Group is an advanced and professional network consulting company, specializing in IP network areas (e.g., FTTH, Metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS), service
areas (e.g., IPTV, IMS and CDN), and wireless network areas (e.g., Mobile WiMAX, LTE and Wi-Fi) since 2002.
Copyright © 2002-2014 NMC Consulting Group. All rights reserved.