03_atm Protocols and Signalling

3G Platform
3G ATM - ATM Protocols and

Signalling
Training Document
6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 1 (45)

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ATM Protocols and Signalling
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Contents
Contents
1 Objectives ...............................................................................................4
2 ATM protocol ..........................................................................................5
3 Physical Layer ......................................................................................10
4 ATM Adaptation Layer .........................................................................15

4.1.1 ATM adaptation layer 2 (AAL2) ..............................................................16
4.1.2 ATM adaptation layer 5 (AAL5) ..............................................................18
5 Switching in ATM network...................................................................20

5.1 Switching in ATM layer...........................................................................20
5.2 AAL type 2 switching ..............................................................................21
6 Signalling in 3G network .....................................................................23

6.1 Signalling protocol layers .......................................................................23
6.2 AAL type 2 signalling..............................................................................25
7 ATM as a transport network in 3G ......................................................28

7.1 ATM interface .........................................................................................29
7.2 General protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial interfaces.......................30
8 Review questions .................................................................................40

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1 Objectives
After completing this module, the student should be able to:
• List the three main protocol layers of ATM and describe their functions.
• Understand different implementation types of the physical ATM layer.
• Describe the main functions of AAL type 2 signalling protocol.
• Describe the main functions of AAL type 5 signalling protocol.
• Name and describe the ATM Signalling Protocol Layers.

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2 ATM protocol
The ATM reference model includes three planes, which consist of all layers:
User plane is responsible for user information transfer and associated controls (such
as flow control and error control)
Control plane performs call and connection control functions
(such as signalling procedures).
Management plane contains two components:
• Layer management, which performs management functions relating to layer's
resources and parameters (for instance, OAM information flows).
• Plane management, which performs management functions related to the system
as a whole.
Management Plane
User Plane Control Plane
Higher Layers Higher Layers

Plane Management
ATM Adaptation Layer
ATM Layer
Physical Layer
Layer Management
Figure 1. ATM protocol reference model
The ATM protocol reference model includes three functional layers:

• Physical layer
• ATM layer
• ATM adaptation layer (AAL)

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Convergence Sublayer (CS)

ATM Adaptation Layer
Segmentation And Reassembly (SAR)
ATM Layer ATM Layer
Transmission Convergence (TC)

Physical Layer
Physical Medium (PM)
Figure 2. ATM protocol layers
The physical layer defines the transmission medium, electrical characteristic, network
interfaces, and a signal-encoding scheme. The ATM physical layer is divided into two
parts:
• Physical medium dependent sublayer
• Transmission convergence sublayer
Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer

This layer is responsible for coding, decoding, scrambling, and adaptation to the
medium. PMD sublayer is dependent on the physical medium used. ATM can use any
physical medium capable of carrying ATM cells, such as SDH, SONET and E1.
Transmission Convergence (TC) sublayer

The convergence sublayer handles all the processes involved in taking cells to/from
the ATM layer, and performs bit rate adaptation, header protection, cell delineation,
and adaptation to the physical mediums structure.
Existing transmission networks are widely based on Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
(PDH). Although the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) forms the basis of
transport of the ATM traffic, there is need to transport ATM cells also using PDH
transmission networks. PDH-based ATM interfaces are used for providing low-speed
link connections between the ATM network elements. PDH interfaces are especially
suitable for links between RNC and base station (BS), where the bandwidth
requirements are low and capacity and cost optimisation are necessary. Interface types
are E1, T1 and JT1.
In addition to traditional PDH order multiplexing levels (for example, between E1 or
E3 level), inverse multiplexing, which provides flexible transmission capacity
building according to the operator's needs, is also supported at the ATM physical
layer.

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The user traffic is split and delivered in fixed length packets called ATM cells. The
size of the cell is 53 bytes, which is divided into a 5-byte header and a
48-byte payload field.
53 bytes
Header Payload
5 bytes 48 bytes
Figure 3. ATM cell structure
The ATM layer adds the cell header to the 48-byte cell payload after it has been
assembled in the ATM adaptation layer (AAL), and extracts the header before the cell
is delivered to the AAL. The layer translates the values of the VCI and VPI at the
ATM switches or cross-connects. In addition, multiplexing and switching of cells
takes place at the ATM layer. The ATM layer provides virtual connections between
end points and maintains the contracted quality of service (QoS) by applying a traffic
contract procedure at a call setup time. It is also used to "police" the agreed traffic
contract while the connection is in progress.
The ATM adaptation layer (AAL) provides data link services for upper layer
protocols. AAL is needed for adapting upper-layer protocol data units such as TCP/IP
and signalling to ATM layer. Furthermore voice codecs generate short voice packets,
which must be adapted to ATM layer services.
The AAL maps user data from higher layer into standard ATM cells to be transported
over an ATM network. Then it collects information from the ATM cells for delivery
to higher layers. AAL layer includes two sublayers:
• Convergence sublayer (CS)
• Segmentation and assembly sublayer (SAR)

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User data
Convergence Sublayer (CS)
AAL
Segmentation and Reassembly

Sublayer (SAR)
48 bytes
Header Payload Header Payload

ATM Layer
5 bytes 48 bytes
SDH O/H
Transmission Convergence
Header Payload
Physical (TC)
Layer
Physical Medium Dependent Scramble frame and adapts
(PMD) the signals to the optical or STM-1 Frame
electrical transmission
medium
Figure 4. ATM adaptation layer functions
Convergence sublayer (CS) provides the AAL service to the higher layer protocol.
This sublayer is service dependent. It performs a variety of functions that depend on
the actual service being supported, including clock recovery, compensating for cell
delay variation and dealing with other problems introduced by the network (e.g. cell
loss).
Segmentation and reassembly sublayer (SAR) provides segmentation of the users'
information (together with any supporting information added by the convergence
sublayer) into 48-byte segments that form the payload field of an ATM cell. It also
reassembles the contents of the ATM cell information fields into higher layer
information formats.
ATM adaptation layer protocols are handled only at the endpoints of the ATM
connection. Typically AAL type is transparent for intermediate ATM switches.

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ATM End System (BS) ATM network ATM End System (RNC)
ATM Adaptation Layer ATM Adaptation Layer

(AAL) ATM Switch (AAL)
ATM Switch
ATM Layer ATM Layer ATM Layer ATM Layer
Physical Layer Physical Layer Physical Layer Physical Layer
Physical medium Physical medium Physical medium
Figure 5. ATM adaptation layer at ATM end systems

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3 Physical Layer
The physical layer defines the transmission medium, electrical characteristic, network
interfaces, and a signal-encoding scheme. In conclusion the ATM physical layer
defines how cells are converted into a bit stream, and how the transmission and receipt
of bits on the physical medium are controlled. Furthermore ATM cell boundaries are
tracked, and cells are packaged into the appropriate types of frames for the physical
medium.
The ATM physical layer is divided into two parts: the physical medium-dependent
(PMD) sublayer and the transmission convergence (TC) sublayer.
Physical and logical interfaces
In the Nokia AXC there are the following interfaces that have both a physical and
logical implementation:
• PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy)
• SDH/Sonet (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy)
Figure 6. ATM over SDH

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Figure 7. ATM over PDH
Logical Interface
A logical interface is an interface that has a logical implementation on top of one or

more physical interfaces. In the Nokia AXC there are the following logical interfaces:
• Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) groups
• ATM over fractional interfaces (E1/JT1/T1)
• Circuit Emulation Service (CES) links
Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) groups
The purpose of Inverse Multiplexing in ATM network (IMA) is that the capacity of
many low-bit-rate transmission lines can be combined into a group that is seen as a
single virtual link by the ATM layer of a network element. The existing PDH
transmission medium can be utilised as an IMA group:
• between WCDMA BTS and a Radio Network Controller (RNC)
• between two RNCs.
• between MGW and RNC
There can also be a SDH transmission medium between a WCDMA BTS and a RNC ,
between two RNCs or between MGW and RNC.
How does the inverse multiplexing work?

When user traffic is transmitted across the IMA link, the ATM cell stream is passed
from the ATM layer to the IMA sublayer. In the IMA sublayer, the ATM cell stream
is split on a cell-by-cell basis, and the traffic is distributed evenly onto the physical
links, in which IMA frames carry the traffic to the receiving end of the IMA link. At
the receiving end of the IMA link, the original ATM cell stream is recreated and
passed back to the ATM layer. The transmitting end (the near-end) must align the
transmission of IMA frames to all physical links, which allows the receiving end (the
far-end) to adjust for differential link delays by measuring the arrival times of the IMA
frames on each physical link.

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IMA Group IMA Group

Link # 0
PHY PHY
Link # 1
PHY PHY
Single ATM cell stream Original ATM cell stream
from ATM layer to ATM layer
Link # 2
PHY PHY
IMA virtual link
Figure 8. Principle of Inverse Multiplexing for ATM
Figure 9. Inverse Multiplexing for ATM
How are the IMA groups created?

The IMA groups are created at both ends of the transmission lines, which are seen as
one virtual IMA link. The PDH exchange terminals at both ends of the IMA virtual
link have to be tied up to the same kind of functional units.
The maximum number of transmission lines at Iub interface, between Nokia WCDMA
BTS and a RNC, that can be grouped into one IMA group is 8 x E1 (2 Mbit/s) lines or
8 x T1/J1 (1,5 Mbit/s) lines. At Iur interface, between two RNCs, the maximum
number is 16 x E1 or T1/J1 lines. At Iu-Cs interface, between MGW and RNC, the
maximum number is 8 x E1 (2 Mbit/s) lines or 8 x T1/J1 (1,5 Mbit/s) lines.
When creating IMA groups, the transmission lines are identified with the PDH
Exchange Terminals (PETs) that they are connected to. All the PETs of one IMA
group have to belong to the same NIP1 functional unit. There can be several IMA
groups per one functional unit, but all the transmission lines of one IMA group must
go to the same direction.

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A PET can only belong to one IMA group. However, a PET can be transferred from
one IMA group to another, provided that the groups share the same functional unit.
When transferring a PET from one group to another, the operator may also have to
make changes in the switching.
Note
When configuring IMA groups, the grouped transmission lines should all have
the same physical route in order to keep the delays between the physical links as
small as possible. That is, the IMA frames from one link should not have to wait
for a long time for the IMA frames from other links before they are recombined
into an ATM cell stream at the receiving end of the IMA virtual link.
Note
One of the transmission lines in the IMA group is defined initially as a Timing
Reference Link (TRL). The transmission line defined as the TRL cannot be
removed from the IMA group and added to another IMA group.
ATM over fractional interfaces ( E1, JT1, T1 )

The use of fractional E1, JT1 or T1 enables the adding of full or partial E1/JT1/T1
channels filled with 3G traffic into existing 2G traffic, without disturbance. The
timeslots within a standard PCM frame can be freely shared between ATM and TDM
traffic with a granularity of 64 kbit/s. In a fractional interface, a number of PDH
timeslots are reserved for ATM traffic. In the fractional E1/JT1/T1 links, the timeslots
that are unused by ATM traffic can be filled with TDM traffic by external 64 kbit/s
cross-connects.

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Figure 10. ATM over fractional E1 example
Circuit Emulation Service (CES) links

Circuit Emulation Service (CES) is a technique that allows mapping TDM traffic into
ATM cells. CES for unstructured E1/JT1/T1 emulates a point-to-point E1/JT1/T1
circuit, which means that the complete E1/JT1/T1 frame is transported within ATM
cells.
Figure 11. ATM Circuit Emulation Service (CES) example

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4 ATM Adaptation Layer

Several AALs are currently specified to support different types of traffic. The
following figure shows the characteristics of user traffic supported by each AAL.
Bit rate Constant Variable

Timing required Synchronised Not synchronised
between source & dest.
Connection oriented
Connection mode Connection oriented
or connectionless
Video, Data,
Example of Voice,
voice with Data, Frame
traffic types circuit
silence SMDS Relay,
emulation
removed IP
AAL AAL1 AAL2 AAL3/4 AAL5
ATM layer
Physical layer
Figure 12. ATM adaptation layers and supported traffic
AAL1
AAL1 is for constant bit rate (CBR) information, which requires timing
synchronisation between the source and destination. It is appropriate for transporting
telephone traffic, uncompressed video traffic and circuit emulation service.
AAL2
AAL2 is for variable bit rate (VBR) information, which requires a strict relationship
between the transmission and reception clocks. It provides the bandwidth efficient
transmission of short, variable length packets in delay-sensitive applications. AAL2
multiplexes short packets from multiple users into one ATM connection. It has been
mainly designed for transporting compressed voice in mobile networks, but will also
be used for compressed voice in wireline applications. This AAL is aimed at
compressed video, which will vary its bit rate significantly.

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AAL3/4
AAL3/4 is for data transmission in a connection oriented or connectionless mode. This
is aimed at variable bit rate information, which has no strict timing relationship
between the transmitter and receiver. It is used to transmit Switched Multimegabit
Data Service (SMDS) packets over an ATM network.
AAL5
AAL5 supports connection oriented or connectionless variable bit rate data. No timing
relationship is required between the transmitter and receiver. It is used to transfer most
non-SMDS data, such as IP over ATM and Local Area Network (LAN) emulation,
signalling channels, and Frame Relay/ATM interworking.
AAL5 is also known as Simple and Efficient Adaptation Layer (SEAL). It provides a
similar data transport service to AAL3/4, but it provides the service in a much simpler
way and with significantly fewer overheads, and it does not include a multiplexing
capacity.
4.1.1 ATM adaptation layer 2 (AAL2)
The human speech contains significant periods of silence and requires low network
bandwidth for transmission. Compressed voice is inherently variable bit rate (VBR)
but delay sensitive. The AAL2 enables these low bit rate and delay sensitive
applications to share a single ATM VCC thus improving the network bandwidth
utilisation and reducing the call establishment time as shown in Figure 13.
In order to meet the QoS requirements for real time applications ATM and AAL2 has
been selected as transport technology for the Iub Iur and Iu-cs in UMTS Release 99
and Release 4. The AAL2 layer is multiplexing the transport channels into ATM
VCCs as individual AAL2 connections. AAL2 is able to multiplex up to 248
connections into one ATM VCC.
Voice/user data is accumulated into a short packet having a 3-byte header. These short
packets are accumulated into a standard ATM cell. The packet header consists of a
channel identification number, packet length, user-to-user indication, and a header
error control code. Each cell's payload has a one-byte start field to indicate the next
packet's starting point, which maximises the packet packing density in cell assembly
for low bit rate voice. In addition, the silence compression function on a codec works
effectively using AAL2, because in a silent period in a conversation, the short packets
do not have to be accumulated into a cell.

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Low bit rate voice
ch#4
ch#3
Silence
ch#2 ....
ch#1 ....
CID in the header
Short packet hh ch#1

ch#1 hh ch#2
ch#2 hh ch#3
ch#3 hh ch#4
ch#4 hh ch#2
ch#2 ....
Standard H
H H
H
ATM cell
Start field
Figure 13. AAL2 cell packing
AAL2 is especially suitable for carrying voice packets that are produced by speech
codecs. Also longer packet lengths up to 64 Kbytes are supported by AAL2.
AAL2 is divided into two sublayers:
Service specific convergence layer (SSCS) performs the segmentation and
reassembly function for application packets longer than CPS packet size
(that is, 45 bytes by default), but also packet size of 64 bytes can be used.
Common part sublayer (CPS) enables variable-size packets (0 - 64 bytes) from
different users to be assembled in an ATM cell payload and transmitted on the same
ATM virtual connection. A packet (minicell) received from a user is converted to a
CPS packet with a 3-byte header that includes a single byte Channel ID (CID) to
distinguish AAL2 connections within a single ATM VCC. Multiplexing and
demultiplexing in the AAL2 occurs in the CPS. The Common Part Sublayer
(CPS) encapsulates the segments created by the SSCS layer by adding a 3-byte header.
The encapsulated segments are called CPS Packets and their size is at maximum 48
bytes (note that segmentation to 64 bytes is also allowed). The AAL2 multiplexer
assembles the CPS Packets into CPS PDUs (with 1 byte header). The PDU:s are in
fact the payload of the ATM cells and their maximum size is 48 bytes.
In order to increase the multiplexing gain a timer is initialized whenever the CPS PDU
is smaller than 48 bytes i.e. the CPS Packets waiting in the assembly buffer are not
filling an ATM cell. The ATM cell is filled up with padding bits and sent when the
timer value expires and there is no new CPS Packet arriving to the multiplexer. A
longer timer value results in larger delay and higher multiplexing gain, i.e., the load of
ATM links is reduced. In order to reduce the delay on the AAL2 layer the value of the

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timer is often set to zero. This way an ATM cell is generated upon arrival of a CPS
Packet into empty assembly buffer regardless of its size.
Higher layers User data

AAL2 SSCS
Segmentation and
reassembly function
for application packets
AAL2 AAL2 CPS
CPS AAL2 channel

multiplexing and
demultiplexing
ATM layer
CPS Common Part Sublayer

SSCS Service Specific Convergence Sublayer
Figure 14. ATM adaptation layer 2 sublayers
4.1.2 ATM adaptation layer 5 (AAL5)
AAL5 includes two main sublayers: Segmentation and Assembly Sublayer (SAR) and
Convergence Sublayer (CS). The CS is divided into the Common Part Convergence
Sublayer (CPCS) and the Service Specific Convergence Sublayer (SSCS) as shown in
Figure 15. The CPCS and the SAR sublayer are called the Common Part of the AAL
type 5. SAR and CPCS layers are common for all AAL5 service users. Those AAL5
common part sublayers can be implemented as the combination of a SAR chip and a
device driver or as a pure software implementation.
Different Service Specific Convergence Sublayer protocols (SSCSs) to support
specific AAL user services or groups of services are defined. The SSCS may also be
null, in the sense that it only provides for the mapping of application protocol to the
Common Part Convergence Sublayer (CPCS) and vice versa.
The Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) is, when active,
responsible for providing mechanisms for the establishment, release and monitoring of

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signalling information exchanged between peer signalling entities. In practice SSCOP

provides for example: flow control and thus a switch or end system can control the
rate at which it receives signalling messages. Each SSCOP PDU contains a sequence
number, this allows SSCOP to determine if one PDU has been lost and request
retransmission. SSCOP can also ensure sequential integrity by using these sequence
numbers.
Connection establishment and resynchronization involves negotiation of buffer sizes
and other transfer characteristics and renegotiation of these parameters should a
connection fail. The health of a connection is monitored via exchange of status
messages and connections are maintained through use of keep alive messages.
Higher layers
AAL5 SSCS
SSCF
SSCS
Maps Layer 3 to SSCOP
SSCOP
Reliable data transfer
CS
AAL5
AAL5 CPS
CPCS
Common part
CPCS
Transparent transport of
SDUs
SAR SAR
SDU segmentation and
reassembly
ATM layer
Figure 15. ATM adaptation layer 5 sublayers
AAL5 can be used for IP over ATM traffic, signalling traffic bearer, and FR/ATM
interworking. Internal control connections of RNC/MGW (ATM module) are based on
ATM AAL5 connections between units. AAL5 capability is available in all units
having ATM connectivity (in some units only for system internal use, e.g. message
passing).

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5 Switching in ATM network

In ATM network, the user traffic can be switched in ATM layer or ATM adaptation
layer (AAL). The switching in ATM adaptation layer used in mobile network is AAL
type 2 switching.
5.1 Switching in ATM layer

The basic operation of an ATM switch is straightforward: The cell is received across a
link on a known VCI or VPI value. The switch looks up the connection value in a
local translation table to determine the outgoing port (or ports) of the connection and
the new VPI/VCI value of the connection on that link. Then, the switch retransmits the
cell on that outgoing link with the appropriate connection identifiers. Because all VCIs
and VPIs have only local significance across a particular link, these values are
remapped, as necessary, at each switch.
There are two levels of switching capability within an ATM switch (which perform
switching at ATM layer): Virtual Path (VP) switching and Virtual Channel (VC)
switching.
Virtual path (VP) switching

VP switching occurs when only the VPI field within the cell header is used to describe
the destination of the cells. This has the advantage that many VCIs destined for the
same network endpoint can be "bulk switched".
VP switches terminate VP links. A VP switch translates incoming VPIs to the
corresponding outgoing VPIs according to the destination of the VPC whereas VCI
values remain unchanged.
VP switching is shown in Figure 16.
Virtual channel (VC) switching

VC switching takes place when all cells on a physical interface are identified and
switched to their destination through the switch fabric based on a combination of the
VPI/VCI values. A table is maintained on each interface identifying input and output
ports associated with certain VPI/VCI.
The VCI values are changed in a VC switch and the VPI values are changed as they
pass through a VP switch. However, VCI values are not changed when passing
through a VP switch.
VC switching is shown in Figure 16.

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VC switch
Port
Port
VCI 9 VPI 36 VCI 15

VCI 10 VPI 3
VPI 8 VCI 26
VP switch
VCI 9 VCI 9
VCI 10 VPI 23 VPI 9 VCI 10
Port
Figure 16. Virtual channel and virtual path switching
5.2 AAL type 2 switching

AAL2 supports multiplexing of different sources on a single ATM virtual connection.
The Channel Identifier (CID) is used to distinguish AAL connections within a single
ATM VCC. An AAL2 switching system performs AAL2 level switching, while an
ATM node performs only ATM level switching. The traditional VPI/VCI table used
for ATM cell switching is extended one more level by introducing CID entries to
identify AAL type 2 connections. An ATM cell received at an AAL type 2 switch is
first demultiplexed into AAL type 2 connections (CIDs), then switched and assembled
into outgoing ATM cells according to the entries found in the VPI/VCI/CID table.
If an AAL2 connection is routed through ATM switches that do not support AAL2
switching, it is considered to be AAL2 trunking and those switches support only ATM
level switching.
In Figure 17, the traffic from the users is multiplexed by AAL2 in one ATM cell.
These kinds of connections are referred to as virtual AAL2 connections inside the
virtual ATM connection.

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User 1
User 2
User 3 BS RNC MGW
Upper layer Upper layer Upper layer
AAL2 Process AAL2 Process AAL2 Process
ATM H #1 #2 #3 ATM H #1 #2 #3 H #5 #6 #7 ATM H #5 #6 #7

ATM cell ATM cell ATM cell ATM cell
PHY PHY PHY
AAL2 connections VCC VCC
ATM connection ATM connection
Figure 17. ATM virtual connections and AAL2 connections

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6 Signalling in 3G network
6.1 Signalling protocol layers

Signalling protocol can be looked at as an application running on top of the lower,
physical, ATM and AAL layers as shown in Figure 18 and Figure 19.
C-Plane U-Plane
Signalling
protocol User data
Signalling
AAL
AAL
ATM layer
Physical layer
Figure 18. ATM protocol for signalling and user data

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NNI
UNI RNSAP/RANAP
S
B-ISUP
S
SCCP
#
Signalling protocol e.g. NBAP 7
MTP3b
SSCF (Q.2130) SSCF (Q.2140)

SSCS S SSCS S
SSCOP (Q.2110) A SAAL UNI SSCOP (Q.2110) A SAAL NNI
CPCS A CPCS A
AAL5 AAL5 L AAL5 L
SAR SAR
ATM Layer ATM Layer
Physical Layer Physical Layer
SAAL Signalling ATM Adaptation Layer AAL5 ATM Adaptation Layer 5

SCCP Signalling Connection Control Part B-ISUP Broadband ISDN User Part
SSCF Service Specific Coordination Function MTP3 Message Transfer Part lever 3
SSCOP Service Specific Connection Oriented NBAP Node B Application Protocol
Figure 19. Signalling protocol layers
Signalling occurs over a Signalling ATM Adaptation Layer (SAAL) residing between
the ATM layer and the signalling protocol. The SAAL provides reliable transport of
signalling messages between two ATM systems to include the recovery of multiple
gaps within the data stream. The SAAL is composed of two sublayers: Common Part
and Service Specific Part.
The Common Part is based on AAL5, which consists of Segmentation and
Reassembly Sublayer (SAR) and Common Part Convergence Sublayer (CPCS)
functions. The common part ensures information transfer and detection of corrupt
service data units.
The Service Specific Part is divided into:
• Service Specific Co-ordination Function (SSCF)
• Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP)
The SSCF maps signalling messages from the upper level in to SSCOP while SSCOP
provides mechanisms for establishing, releasing, and monitoring signalling
information exchange between signalling entities.
There are two types of SAAL:
• SAAL-NNI
• SAAL-UNI

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SAAL-NNI complies with ITU-T Q.2140 B-ISDN AAL - Service Specific

Co-ordination Function for Signalling at the Network-Node Interface (SSCF at NNI),
Q.2144 B-ISDN Signalling ATM Adaptation Layer (SAAL) – Layer Management for
the SAAL at the Network-Node Interface (NNI), Q.2110 B-ISDN SAAL - Service
Specific Connection Oriented Protocol (SSCOP).
SAAL-UNI complies with ITU-T Q.2110 B-ISDN AAL Service Specific Connection
Oriented Protocol (SSCOP) and Q.2130 B-ISDN AAL Service Specific Co-ordination
Function (SSCF) for signalling at the User-Network Interface (UNI).
Note
AAL type 2 signalling protocol and Node B Application Protocol (NBAP)
application protocol use UNI SAAL in point-to-point signalling connections in
3G RAN Iub interface where there is no SS7 signalling network available.
6.2 AAL type 2 signalling

AAL2 signalling protocol is a separate new protocol − not an extension of any existing
ATM signalling protocols. This approach increases the speed of AAL2 connection
establishment because intermediate "ATM-only" switches do not delay the process by
storing and forwarding AAL2 signalling protocol messages. A further benefit is that
switched AAL2 connections can be established on top of any ATM network regardless
of the protocol used for establishing ATM level connections. The ATM level
connections can be established using any existing ATM signalling protocol, for
example, ITU-T Broadband ISDN User Part (B-ISUP), ATM Forum Private Network-
Network Interface (PNNI), ITU-T Q.2931, or ATM Forum User-Network Interface
(UNI).
RNSAP/RANAP AAL2 SIG

NBAP
SCCP STC
MTP3b
SSCF-UNI
SSCF-NNI
SSCOP
AAL5
ATM
Physical
Figure 20. AAL 2 signalling protocol

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The AAL type 2 signalling protocol provides functions to dynamically establish and
release AAL type 2 point-to-point connections as requested by AAL2 served users in a
network comprised of AAL2 endpoints and AAL2 switches. The AAL2 served user in
3G networks is the radio resource management and handover control entity, which
establishes/releases AAL2 connections when new soft handover legs are
established/released.
AAL
AAL Type
Type 22 AAL
AAL Type
Type 22
Served
Served user
user Served
Served user
user
AAL AAL Type 2 AAL

AAL Type
Type 22
Signalling AAL Type
Type 22
Signalling
Signalling Signalling
Signalling
Protocol Signalling
Messages
Signalling MTP SAAL-UNI ……. MTP

MTP SAAL-UNI
SAAL-UNI …….
…….
MTP SAAL-UNI …….
Transport Converter
Converter Converter
Converter Converter
Converter Converter
Converter Converter
Converter Converter
Converter
Converter
Signalling MTP Layer 3

SAAL-UNI
…….
……. MTP Layer 3
SAAL-UNI
…….
…….
SAAL-UNI Converter SAAL-UNI Converter
Transport SAAL-NNI Converter SAAL-NNI Converter
Figure 21. AAL2 signalling protocol architecture
The AAL2 signalling protocol feature provides a clear and efficient interface to the
users of the AAL2 signalling protocol. The AAL2 signalling protocol is used by
higher layer functionalities for AAL2 connection establishment and release of a
connection.
The feature contains procedures to establish an AAL2 connection, release an AAL2
connection and maintenance functions to align the status of the AAL2 resources
within the two peer AAL2 nodes. It offers a reset mechanism, which is used to return
one or several AAL2 channels to idle condition. It is invoked after an unrecognised
status of connection, for example, if the signalling peer entity does not respond to
message. The feature also contains a mechanism for blocking and unblocking
resources during test procedures, before service-in or modification of it bandwidth.
The Signalling Transport Converter (STC) provides the generic signalling bearer
service for exchanging AAL2 signalling messages between protocol entities. It
provides assured data transport and service availability indication services
independent of the underlying signalling bearer. Examples of signalling bearers are
MTP-3 and SAAL UNI.

Issue 3.0 en
Note
The signalling bearer converters use AAL5 connections. These signalling
connections are configured as permanent ATM connections between AAL
type 2 switches.
AAL2 signalling complies with ITU-T Q.2630.1 AAL type 2 signalling protocol
(Capability Set 1).

Issue 3.0 en
7 ATM as a transport network in 3G

In 2G networks transmission protocols are often based on pulse code modulation
(PCM). The switching is based on the switching of 64 or 56 kbit/s PCM connections.
ATM is selected to be the transport technology for 3G network especially in UTRAN
and also at the Iu interface in Release 99.
ATM is employed
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
BS RNC MGW MSC PSTN
UE NNI
UNI
Iur
NNI Iu-PS
UNI NNI
BS RNC
UNI
Gn Gi
BS
SGSN GGSN IP network
Figure 22. ATM in 3G
ATM provides efficient support for transmission of bursty wideband services and
offers an integrated solution to voice (circuit mode as well as packet voice), data and
video. It provides QoS guarantee and reliability. It utilises statistical multiplexing to
take advantage of the inherently bursty nature of applications. Less bandwidth can be
reserved than if bandwidth reservation would be based on the peak rate of the
connections. Achieved transmissions cost savings are considerable.
In addition, ATM is able to support the soft handover functionality, which requires the
capability of fast connection setup and teardown in Wideband CDMA (WCDMA),
which is the radio interface technology for 3G.
In the 3G network, the radio network controller (RNC) is assigned the task of radio
resource management and handover control. When the mobile terminal communicates
with one BS, a connection is established from the Serving RNC (S-RNC) node to the
BS, where the connection is terminated. When in SHO, the mobile terminal
communicates with several BSs, and correspondingly several SHO legs are
established from the S-RNC node to the BSs currently in the active set. In order for
SHO to work seamlessly for the user, the transmission path should be established

Issue 3.0 en
quickly (e.g. in the range of 100 ms or less). Specifically, because of the necessary
radio level synchronisation between the SHO legs, these connections are required to
meet strict delay and jitter requirements. This is a challenging task in the ATM
network, since the transmission capacity over the Iub and Iur interfaces is expensive,
and consequently it is required to achieve high Iub utilisation.
These requirements call for a connection oriented access network with strict QoS
control. The most promising technology today to meet these requirements is ATM
together with AAL2. AAL2 meet the specific requirements of mobile telephony such
as low delay and loss, and less signalling complexity. AAL2 allows low bit rate and
delay sensitive applications to share a single ATM connection in order to maximise
the network utilisation and at the same time guarantee the delay requirements. Even
though AAL2 is more efficient for compressed speech, it is also suitable for low-bit-
rate data applications such as short message service (SMS).
ATM extended with switched AAL2 is the most reasonable transport technology for
3rd-generation mobile access networks. However, a new signalling protocol (AAL2
signalling or Q.2630.1) capable of establishing, releasing and maintaining on-demand
end-to-end AAL2 connections is needed to support AAL2 switching.
7.1 ATM interface

In an ATM network, User-Network Interface (UNI) refers to the interface between
terminal equipment and a network termination where access protocols apply. The
interface between a RNC and a WCDMA BTS is seen as an UNI interface.
Network-Node Interface (NNI) is the interface between two network nodes like a
RNC and an MGW.
Figure 22 shows the ATM interfaces between network elements in 3G network.

Issue 3.0 en
7.2 General protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial

interfaces
The protocol structures in UTRAN terrestrial interfaces (Iu, Iur, Iub) are designed
according to the same general protocol model as shown in Figure 23.
Radio
Network Control Plane User Plane
Layer Application Data
Protocol Stream(s)
Transport
Network Transport Transport Transport
Layer Network Network Network
User Plane Control Plane User Plane
ALCAP(s)
Signalling Signalling Data

Bearer(s) Bearer(s) Bearer(s)
Physical Transmission layer
Figure 23. General protocol model for UTRAN terrestrial interfaces
Horizontal layers
The protocol structure consists of two main layers:
• Radio network layer
• Transport network layer
All UTRAN-related issues are visible only in the radio network layer. The transport
network layer represents standard transport technology that is selected.
Vertical planes
There are four main planes in the protocol structure:
• Control plane
The control plane is used for all 3G specific control signalling. It includes the
application protocol (i.e. RANAP in Iu, RNSAP in Iur, NBAP in Iub) and the
signalling bearer for transporting the application protocol messages.
The application protocol is used, among other things, for setting up bearers to
the UE (i.e. the radio access bearer in Iu and subsequently the radio link in Iur

Issue 3.0 en
and Iub). The signalling bearer for the application protocol is always set up by
O&M actions.
• User plane
All information sent and received by the user, such as coded voice in a voice
call or the packets in an Internet connection, are transported via the user plane.
The user plane includes the data stream(s) and the data bearer(s).
• Transport network control plane
The transport network control plane is used for all control signalling within the
transport network layer. It includes the ALCAP protocol that is needed to set up
the transport bearers (data bearers) for the user plane. It also includes the
signalling bearers needed for the ALCAP.
ALCAP (Access Link Control Application Part) protocol is the generic name
for the transport signalling protocols used to set up and tear down transport
bearers.
When using the transport network control plane, the transport bearers for the
data bearer in the user plane are set up in the following fashion: First there is a
signalling transaction by the application protocol in the control plane. This
transaction triggers the setup of the data bearer by the ALCAP protocol that is
specific for the user plane technology.
It should be noted that ALCAP may not be used for all types of data bearers. If
there is no ALCAP signalling transaction, the transport network control plane is
not needed at all. This is the case when preconfigured data bearers are used.
The signalling bearer for the ALCAP may not be of the same type as that for the
application protocol. The signalling bearer for ALCAP is always set up by
O&M actions.
• Transport network user plane
The data bearer(s) in the user plane and the signalling bearer(s) for the
application protocol also belong to the transport network user plane. The data
bearers in the transport network user plane are directly controlled by the
transport network control plane, but the control actions required for setting up
the signalling bearer(s) for the application protocol are considered O&M
actions.
The following figures present the protocol used for Iub, Iur, Iu-CS and Iu-PS
according to the general protocol model.

Issue 3.0 en
Radio
Control Plane User Plane
Network
RACH FP
DSCH FP
CPCH FP
FACH FP
DCH FP
PCH FP
Layer
NBAP
Transport Transport Network Transport Network Transport Network

Network User Plane Control Plane User Plane
Layer AAL2 SIG (Q.2630.1)
STC(Q.2150.2)
SSCF-UNI SSCF-UNI
SSCOP SSCOP
AAL5 AAL5 AAL2
ATM
Figure 24. Protocol structure for Iub
Radio
Network
Layer
RNSAP DCH FP CCH FP

Layer AAL2 SIG (Q.2630.1)
SCCP STC (Q.2150.1)

MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
SSCOP SSCOP
AAL5 AAL5 AAL2
ATM
Figure 25. Protocol structure for Iur

Issue 3.0 en
Radio
Network
Layer Iu User Plane
RANAP Protocol

Layer
AAL2 SIG (Q.2630.1)
SCCP STC Q.2150.1)

MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
SSCOP SSCOP
AAL5 AAL5 AAL2
ATM
Figure 26. Protocol structure for Iu-CS
Radio
Network
Layer Iu User Plane
RANAP
Protocol

Layer
SCCP
MTP3b GTP-U
SSCF-NNI UDP
SSCOP IP
AAL5 AAL5
ATM
Figure 27. Protocol structure for Iu-PS

Issue 3.0 en
In the user plane the user traffic (both voice data and packet data) is carried by AAL2
at Iub, Iur and Iu-CS, while the packet data towards GPRS network is carried by
AAL5 at Iu-PS as shown in Figure 28.
In the control plane the signalling is carried on top of AAL5. The signalling data is
carried by the SS7 signalling network on SAAL NNI (Network-Node Interface)
protocol stack. At the Iub interface, between RNC and WCDMA BTSs, the signalling
links are permanent ATM virtual channel connections on the SAAL UNI (User-
Network Interface) protocol stack without the SS7 signalling network layer.
Figure 29 shows the different logical interfaces and network elements in the ATM
signalling network. The SAAL NNI / SS7 signalling network ends at the RNC
network element. The WCDMA base stations are connected to the RNCs at the Iub
interface through permanent SAAL UNI signalling links.
The following figures depict the protocol stack for the user plane and control plane in
a circuit switched network, a packet switched network and between RNC-RNC.
Figure 30 and Figure 34 show AAL type 2 signalling the protocol stack, used to
establish and release AAL2 connection, in the network.
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
BS RNC MGW MSC PSTN
UE AAL2
AAL2
Iur
AAL2 Iu-PS
AAL2 AAL5
BS RNC
AAL2
Gn Gi
BS
Figure 28. ATM adaptation layer for user plane

Issue 3.0 en
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
BS RNC MGW MSC PSTN
UE RANAP
NBAP
SCCP
UNI SAAL (AAL5)
MTP3
RNSAP NNI SAAL (AAL5)
SCCP Iur
MTP3 Iu-PS
RANAP
NNI SAAL (AAL5) SCCP
BS MTP3
RNC NNI SAAL (AAL5)
NBAP
UNI SAAL (AAL5) Gn Gi
BS
Figure 29. ATM adaptation layer for control plane
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
BS RNC MGW MSC PSTN
UE AAL2 SIG
AAL2 SIG
STC STC
UNI SAAL (AAL5) MTP3b
NNI SAAL (AAL5)
AAL2 SIG
Iur
STC
MTP3 Iu-PS
NNI SAAL (AAL5)
BS RNC
AAL2 SIG
STC
UNI SAAL (AAL5) Gn Gi
BS
Figure 30. ATM adaptation layer for transport network control plane
(AAL type 2 signalling)

Issue 3.0 en
Uu Iub Iu-CS A B
PSTN
UE BS RNC MGW MSC
UNI NNI
USER PLANE
E.g. Vocoder E.g. Vocoder

A/µ-law, A/µ-law,
RLC-U RLC-U PCM, PCM,
MAC Iu -CS UP Iu -CS UP UDI, UDI, PSTN
MAC
etc. etc. N-ISDN
FP FP
WCDMA WCDMA AAL2 AAL2 AAL2 AAL2
Link Layer Link Layer
L1 L1 ATM ATM ATM ATM
PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY
CONTROL PLANE
RANAP RANAP BSSAP BSSAP
NBAP NBAP
SCCP SCCP SCCP SCCP
MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-UNI SSCF-UNI
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
MTP MTP
SSCOP SSCOP SSCOP SSCOP
AAL5 AAL5 AAL5 AAL5
ATM ATM ATM ATM TDM TDM
PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY
Figure 31. Protocol stack for circuit switched data

Issue 3.0 en
Uu Iub Iu-PS Gn Gi
BS RNC SGSN GGSN

UE
UNI NNI IP
network
USER PLANE
E.g.
IPv4, IPv6
E.g. IPv4, IPv6
PDCP PDCP GTP-U GTP-U GTP-U GTP-U
RLC-U RLC-U UDP UDP UDP UDP
MAC MAC IP IP IP IP
FP FP LLC/SNAP LLC/SNAP
AAL2 AAL2 AAL5 AAL5 Link Link
WCDMA WCDMA
Layer Layer
L1 L1 ATM ATM ATM ATM
PHY PHYRNC PHY PHY SWU
PHY PHY MSC
PHY
CONTROL
RANAP RANAP
NBAP NBAP
SCCP SCCP
GTP-C
MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-UNI SSCF-UNI UDP
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
SAAL UNI IP
SSCOP SSCOP SSCOP SSCOP SAAL NNI
AAL5 AAL5 AAL5 AAL5
ATM ATM ATM ATM Layer
PHY PHY PHY PHY PHY
Figure 32. Protocol stack for packet switched data

Issue 3.0 en
Iur
RNC RNC
NNI
USER PLANE
RNC RNC
FP FP
AAL2 AAL2
ATM ATM
PHY PHY
CONTROL PLANE
RNSAP RNSAP
SCCP SCCP
MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
SSCOP SSCOP SAAL NNI
AAL5 AAL5
ATM ATM
PHY PHY
Figure 33. Protocol stack for Iur interface

Issue 3.0 en
Uu Iub Iu-CS A
PSTN
UE BS RNC MGW MSC
UNI NNI
AAL2 SIG AAL2 SIG AAL2 SIG AAL2 SIG

STC (Q.2150.2) STC (Q.2150.2) STC (Q.2150.1) STC (Q.2150.1)
MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-UNI SSCF-UNI
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
SSCOP SSCOP SSCOP SSCOP
AAL5 AAL5 AAL5 AAL5
ATM ATM ATM ATM
PHY PHY PHY PHY
Iur
RNC RNC
NNI
AAL2 SIG AAL2 SIG

STC (Q.2150.1) STC (Q.2150.1)
MTP3b MTP3b
SSCF-NNI SSCF-NNI
SSCOP SSCOP
AAL5 AAL5
ATM ATM
PHY PHY
Figure 34. Protocol stack for AAL type 2 signalling

Issue 3.0 en
8 Review questions
Please take some time and use the material in this module as a reference to answer the
following questions.
1. Fill in the ATM protocol reference model. Solution see figure 2
2. Fill the AAL type used at different interfaces for user traffic.
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
PSTN
UE
AAL2 AAL2
Iur
AAL2
Iu-PS
AAL2 AAL5
AAL2
Gn Gi
IP network

Issue 3.0 en
3. Fill in the AAL type and application protocol used at different interfaces for the
control plane.
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
PSTN
UE
NBAP
NBAP RANAP
UNI SAAL
AAL5
AAL5 AAL5
Iur
RNSAP
Iu-PS
AAL5
RANAP
AAL5
NBAP
Gn Gi
AAL5
IP network
4. Which of the following statements is not true about AAL type 2 signalling?
a. The AAL type 2 signalling
d.
5. Fill in the AAL type and AAL 2 signalling at all interfaces where it is used.

Issue 3.0 en
Iub Iu-CS A B
Uu
--- PSTN
UE AAL2SIG
NBAP AAL2SIG
UNI SAAL
AAL5
AAL5 AAL5
Iur
AAL2SIG
AAL2SIG
Iu-PS
AAL5
AAL5
Gn Gi
IP network
6. Fill in the UTMS ATM signalling protocol reference model. Solution see
figure 19

Issue 3.0 en
Abbreviations
AAL ATM Adaptation Layer
ABR Available Bit Rate
ALCAP Access Link Control Application Part
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
AXC ATM cross-connect
B-ISUP Broadband ISDN User Part
BS Base Station
CAC Call Admission Control
CBR Constant Bit Rate
CDV Cell Delay Variation
CDVT Cell Delay Variation Tolerance
CID Channel Identification
CLP Cell Loss Priority
CLR Cell Loss Ratio
CPS Common Part Sublayer
CS Convergence Sublayer
CTD Cell Transfer Delay
EPD Early Packet Discard
GFC Generic Flow Control
HEC Header Error Control
IMA Inverse Multiplexing for ATM
LAN Local Area Network
MBS Maximum Burst Size
MCR Minimum Cell Rate
MGW Media Gateway
MSC Mobile Switching Centre
MT Mobile Terminal
MTP3b Broadband Message Transfer Part lever 3
nrt-VBR non-real time Variable Bit Rate
NBAP Node B Application Protocol
NNI Network-Node Interface
NPC Network Parameter Control

Issue 3.0 en
PCR Peak Cell Rate

PDH Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
PDU Protocol Data Unit
PMD Physical Medium Dependent sublayer
PPD Partial Packet Discard
PT Payload Type
PVC Permanent Virtual Circuit
QoS Quality of Service
RANAP Radio Access Network Application Part
RNC Radio Network Controller
RSNAP Radio Network System Application Part
rt-VBR Real time Variable Bit Rate
SAAL Signalling ATM Adaptation Layer
SAR Segmentation and Assembly Sublayer (SAR)
SCR Sustained Cell Rate
SCCP Signalling Connection Control Part
SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
SHO Soft Handover
SMDS Switched Multimegabit Data Service
SONET Synchronised Optical NETwork
S-RNC Serving RNC
SS7 Signalling System Number 7
SSCF Service Specific Co-ordination Function
SSCOP Service Specific Connection Oriented Protocol
SSCS Service Specific Convergence Sublayer
STC Signalling Transport Converter
SVC Switched Virtual Circuit
TC Transmission Convergence Sublayer
TDM Time Division Multiplexing
UNI User-Network Interface
UPC Usage Parameter Control
UBR Unspecified Bit Rate
VBR Variable Bit Rate

Issue 3.0 en
VCC Virtual Channel Connection

VCCTP Virtual Channel Connection Terminating Point
VCI Virtual Channel Identifier
VCL Virtual Channel Link
VPC Virtual Path Connection
VPI Virtual Path Identifier
VPI Virtual Path Link
VCCTP Virtual Path Connection Terminating Point

Issue 3.0 en

03_atm Protocols and Signalling

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3G Platform

3G ATM - ATM Protocols and

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 1 (45)

2 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

2 ATM protocol ..........................................................................................5

3 Physical Layer ......................................................................................10

4 ATM Adaptation Layer .........................................................................15

5 Switching in ATM network...................................................................20

6 Signalling in 3G network .....................................................................23

7 ATM as a transport network in 3G ......................................................28

8 Review questions .................................................................................40

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 3 (45)

4 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

Higher Layers Higher Layers

ATM Adaptation Layer

Figure 1. ATM protocol reference model

The ATM protocol reference model includes three functional layers:

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 5 (45)

Convergence Sublayer (CS)

ATM Layer ATM Layer

Transmission Convergence (TC)

Figure 2. ATM protocol layers

Physical Medium Dependent (PMD) sublayer

Transmission Convergence (TC) sublayer

6 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

Figure 3. ATM cell structure

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 7 (45)

Convergence Sublayer (CS)

Segmentation and Reassembly

Header Payload Header Payload

Figure 4. ATM adaptation layer functions

8 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

ATM Adaptation Layer ATM Adaptation Layer

ATM Layer ATM Layer ATM Layer ATM Layer

Physical Layer Physical Layer Physical Layer Physical Layer

Physical medium Physical medium Physical medium

Figure 5. ATM adaptation layer at ATM end systems

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 9 (45)

Physical and logical interfaces

Figure 6. ATM over SDH

10 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

Figure 7. ATM over PDH

A logical interface is an interface that has a logical implementation on top of one or

Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) groups

How does the inverse multiplexing work?

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 11 (45)

IMA Group IMA Group

IMA virtual link

Figure 8. Principle of Inverse Multiplexing for ATM

Figure 9. Inverse Multiplexing for ATM

How are the IMA groups created?

12 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

ATM over fractional interfaces ( E1, JT1, T1 )

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 13 (45)

Figure 10. ATM over fractional E1 example

Circuit Emulation Service (CES) links

Figure 11. ATM Circuit Emulation Service (CES) example

14 (45) © Nokia Networks Oy 6-66215

4 ATM Adaptation Layer

Bit rate Constant Variable

AAL AAL1 AAL2 AAL3/4 AAL5

Figure 12. ATM adaptation layers and supported traffic

6-66215 © Nokia Networks Oy 15 (45)

4.1.1 ATM adaptation layer 2 (AAL2)