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MIGRATION .TO ALL-IP BASED UMTS NETWORKS
Jin Yang, Ioannis Kriaras
GSMRJMTS R&D
Lucent Technologies, UK
Cjinyang@lucent.com; ikriaras@lucent.com)
INTRODUCTION
Recently there has been a significantly increased
interest in building future UMTS systems based on IP
(Internet Protocol) technologies. The major motivation
is to have a common service platform and transport for
3G networks based on IP. This is also reflected in the
establishment of the 3G.IP industry group and current
3GPP standardisation activities. This paper presents an
overview on this trend and summarises the major
technical issues and challenges, with emphasis on
migration towards an IP based UMTS system. This
paper consists of three parts. It starts with a description
of ‘all-IP based UMTS networks’, including the scope
of applying IP technologies and considerations of
candidate architectures. An architecture is presented for
all-IP based UMTS networks in which a packet
multimedia service domain is overlaid on top of UMTS
packet switch transport. The second part highlights an
overview of the major technical challenges. This covers
issues in voice/multimedia services, Quality of service,
mobility management, legacy system support and
transport efficiency including radio efficiency. Finally
the paper finishes with a discussion on the realisation
and migration from UMTS Release ‘99 (R’99) network
to such an all-IP based UMTS architecture.
All-IP BASED UMTS NETWORKS
The major purpose of the all IP architecture, as pointed
out in [3GPP (l)], is to allow operators to deploy IP
technology to deliver 3rd Generation services. The
architecture should be compatible with IMT-2000 radio
access networks, including UTRAN, CDMA2000 and
EDGE. Efforts towards all-IP based 3G networks has
been intensified since the initiation of 3G.IP and the
progress is being accelerated after 3GPP and 3GPP2
started to take this topic as a work item.
There are currently several understandings and
proposals about the scope of applying IP into 3G
networks and their architecture options. Although “All-
IP 3G networks” is still not a well-defined or agreed
term, the intention is very clear: to deploy IP technology
as the common service platform for all services,
3G Mobile CommunicationTechnologies, Conference Publication No. 471, 0 IEE 2000
including real-time services, e.g. speech, and other data
applications but also as the unified transport platform.
Benefits of an A M P based architecture. Evolving
into an IP based UMTS network will provide enormous
benefits for 3G operators, service providers and end
users. These are:
Rich services. The benefits of VoIP would allow
wide range of new services and shorten the service
creation cycle. For example, voice/multimedia call
can be integrated with other services, providing a
powerfid and flexible platform for service creation.
Furthermore, as all services are based on a common
(IP based) platform, the cost on service creation,
provisioning and maintenance can be reduced.
It is easier for operators to offer the “same“ services
to subscribers accessing through different access
networks.
0 Cost saving on ownership and management:
operators need to own and manage one single core
network infrastructure, instead of two.
Cost saving on transport: the cost to provide IP
transport is lower and will be continuously reduced.
Future proof: it is a general trend that the future of
backbone network (for voice & data) would be IP
based. An IP-based UMTS core network allows
smooth intenvorking with an IP backbone and
efficient usage of network resources.
Capacity increase: the capacity enhancement of IP
based transport network is easier and cheaper. The
same is also true to service capacity, thanks to the
distributed nature of the service architecture.
Architecture for All-IP Based UMTS Networks
Scope of IP deployment. The initial scope of an all IP
UMTS focuses on core network and the deployment of
VoIP technology as the basis for (multimedia) service
provision. Mobile terminals are assumed to be IP
capable and all services are IP based. An extension to
this scope is the use of IP as a transport mechanism for
the UTRAN but this will not be addressed further in this
paper.
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Architecture. Figure 1 is a high level sketch illustrating
a possible architecture for an “all-IP based UMTS
network” and its relationship with UMTS Release ‘99
architecture. The major features of this architecture can
be summarized as follows:
TDM
bnk
Figure 1. Architecture for an All-IP based UMTS
network.
VoIP service domain. The major extension to the
R’99 architecture is the addition of VoIP service
domain connected to the UMTS core network via
an IP interface. The functions in this domain
include call control, media gateway and its control,
signalling gateway and user service profile
management.
Overlay model. The VoIP service domain (mainly
for real-time services) is overlaid on top of UMTS
IP connectivity. UMTS R’99 packet-switched core
network (i.e. using SGSN, GGSN) is reused to
provide such IP connectivity. The connection
between the VoIP/multimedia service domain and
R’99 Packet Switched Core Network is via a
standard IP interface.
Minimized impact on R’99 standards and networks.
There will be some unavoidable enhancements or
upgrades for R’99 network elements and possibly
terminals. The inclusion of VoIP service
components can be add-ons. This feature would
help to smooth the migration process towards an
all-IP based UMTS network.
Layered approach: transport layer (IP connectivity)
and service layer (e.g. speech) are clearly separated.
For example, terminal mobility (handover) is
handled by UMTS R’99 Session
Managemenmobility Management; userhervice
mobility (roaming etc.) are supported via relevant
application servers.
Voice and associated supplementary services are
supported using VoIP technologies, as IP based
applications using the mobile terminal IP
capability. For R’99 circuit-switched terminal, the
support can be done, for example, by using an IP
based MSC server (not shown, for signaling plane)
and a media gateway device (for traffic plane).
TECHNICAL CHALLENGES
Many technical issues have arisen and need to be
addressed before an All-IP UMTS network can be
designed and realized. In this section some of the major
technical challenges are presented. These challenges are
inter-related and are essentially caused by the
interactionkombination of the features of radio
transmission, user mobility and the heterogeneous
network environment. Some of them do not exist in
fixed networks or are not as obvious or critical as in the
wireless environment. Due to the limitation of space, we
would only highlight the various issues without detailed
discussion on possible solutions.
VoIP Technology and Standards
Most of the work in VoIP so far is done with a wireline
network as the target architecture and much less
attention has been paid to the application of VoIP in a
wireless/mobile environment, although this situation is
changing. Applying VoIP technology with UMTS
involves more technical issues and concerns than many
people expected. Here are some examples:
Who provides call control and service control?
Home network, visiting network or both jointly? Or
via a third party service provider?
Transparency. There are ways to do user service
level registration and call control server discovery
in a transparent way using messages over IP.
However for performance and other reasons it may
be better off to integrate these tasks with lower
layer messages. How desirable is it to maintain the
transparency?
Location management. To support user roaming,
the user location needs to be managed in a
consistent way. Existing VoIP call control protocol
provides some of the functionality but it needs to be
revisited to identify the necessary extensions.
Standards maturity and interoperability. So far
H323 and SIP are the two major flavors for VoIP
call control. Will both be supported or one is to be
chosen? If it is the later case how to handle the
interoperability?
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Mobility Management
Mobility is not only an issue for wireless users. There
are different levels of requirements for mobility
support:
Terminal mobility allows moving a terminal, i.e. a
telephone, laptop, PDA etc., from one location to
another while maintain active communication.
Personal mobility is the ability of end users to originate
and receive calls on any terminal in any location, and
the ability of the network to identify the users as they
move. Personal mobility is based on the use of a unique
personal identity.
Service mobility is the ability of end users to access
subscribed telecommunication services across networks,
which have the same look and feel independent of the
current network and terminal in use.
The above requirements are general and need to be
fulfilled by the all-IP UMTS architecture. Some of
them, e.g. terminal (IP) mobility within the same
system, are already an integrated part of UMTS
network. For personal and service mobility support,
many concepts and mechanisms developed in 2G
systems can be very helpful and re-used. However due
to the fundamental difference in service support
between the traditional circuit-switched based
telecommunication systems and IP/packet based
network systems, the organization of various levels of
mobility support need to be studied further [Yang and
Kriaras (2)].
The possibility of having SIM card based dual-mode
(e.g. GSM and UMTS IP) terminals presents another
challenge for mobility and location management. For
example the following scenarios are possible:
Roaming between 2G and All-IP based UMTS
networks
0 Handover between a packet based voice session (in
UMTS) and circuit-switched call (in GSM).
Quality of Service
IP QoS is always a serious concern. This is particularly
true for an all-IP based UMTS network, which is
realized by a large scale and commercial deployment of
IP as the vehicle for real-time services. Considering that
speech service is still llkely to be the major service for
3G in early stage, the importance of QoS is obvious.
UMTS Release ‘99 already defines QoS mechanisms
that can be used for the transport of real-time services;
Also data equipment exist with QoS support and there
are ‘managed’ VoIP networks which are being rolled
out for fixed services. However, there are still many
issues to be addressed, for example: the impact of
mobility on QoS management; Position of the vocoder;
the mapping of QoS requirements down to lower layer
QoS support in wireless network; call control
interaction with resource management; and integration
with QoS mechanisms in IP backbone network to
achieve end-to-end QoS.
Heterogeneous Environment
The trend of a heterogeneous communication
environment continues. The following factors need to
be considered for an IP based UMTS network:
0 For a network, it can be all-IP based or a hybrid of
circuit-switched and packet-switched system. For
the latter case, it also needs to be considered
whether or not VoIP service facility is supported.
3G terminals may support only circuit or packet
capability or both. For the last case, again the
capability to have a proper VoIP stack is a factor.
It can be seen that it is not an easy task for a IP based
UMTS network to be able to interwork with various 3G
networks and support different types of terminals, not to
mention the interworking with 2G systems and service
adaptation according to the dynamic change of
underlying transport conditions.
Transport Efficiency
Bandwidth is typically more expensive in cellular radio
networks than in the fixed ones. When voicelmedia
packets are transported over RTP/UDP/IP layers, the
combined headers of these IP layers dramatically reduce
the radio efficiency. For example, when GSM FR codec
is used, the combine headers, at least 40 bytes, would be
nearly the double of the payload (23 bytes). Header
compression in wireless network presents extra
complexity [Degermark et a1 (3)]. High error bit rate
over radio interface is another challenge when
performing header compression.
In core network, the bandwidth efficiency is another
concern. For RTP framed media packets, they are again
tunneled using GTP across Iu and Gn interfaces, which
has negative impact on the transport efficiency.
It is agreed that 2G (e.g. GSM) systems have achieved a
high resource usage, particularly the radio resource
when voice service is concerned. For an all-IP based
UMTS network to be attractive, a similar or better level
of resource efficiency should be targeted.
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MIGRATION TO ALL-IP BASED UMTS
ARCHITECTURE
Migration from R’99 UMTS network towards an all-IP
network architecture would be a key issue for early 3G
entrants. In this section we shall analyze the major
aspects when such a migration is considered. This
analysis assumes the architecture and relevant
description proposed in the 3GPP all-IP Ad-hoc
working document [3GPP (l)].
Service Considerations
There will be a major impact on the services aspects in
terms of the underlying transport, service creation
environment and type of services that can be supported.
Traditional speech service will be supported using
VoIP technology. In this case the terminal is IP and
VoIP capable. Both H.323 and SIP for call control
are being considered.
Similar services (speech centric) existed in 2G
systems including supplementary services will be
supported over IP.
Multimedia over IP will be supported, using, e.g.,
H.323 protocols.
All-IP network and its integrated VoIP support will
provide an open service platform, which allows
easier and quicker service creation and provision.
Various roaming scenarios, including roaming
between all-IP networks, and between all-IP and
2G networks, will be supported.
Security and billinglcharging systems need to be
modifiedenhanced to work with the new service
platform.
Transport Considerations
It is very likely that all traffic (across Iu-ps and Gn
interfaces, both control and user planes) will be
transported over IP. The underlying infrastructure can
be ATM based. VoIP traffic (both signalling and
media), is treated as user application level data and is
handled in a transparent way by the bearer transport
network elements (e.g. SGSN and GGSN in UMTS). If
R’99 circuit-switched terminals are to be supported, the
related signaling and media traffic can be transported
over IP and handled in core network.
Impact on Network elements
A large part of R’99 network elements would be able to
be reused, with or without enhancements.
RAN. For UTRAN most network elements would
remain unchanged. RNC may need upgrade if R’99
circuit switched terminal support were required.
UTRAN elements may also need to be enhanced if new
functionality/protocol for header compressiodstripping
is added.
Terminal. The following types of terminals are under
consideration for all-IP networks:
0 IP based 3G terminal (a terminal with IP
capability), with VoIP (and multimedia over IP)
capability.
0 Dual mode (SIM card based) terminal with 2G and
(3G) IP only capability.
0 R’99 Circuit Switched only terminal.
Core network. The Core network will face most of the
changes:
0 Circuit-switched domain (MSC) part can be
replaced by a single IP based Core Network plus
VoIP components.
0 Packet Switched domain (SGSN and GGSN),
according to the current assumptions in 3GPP, will
be mostly the same as R’99 specification. Some
functional extensions may be proposed in future.
0 New elements for VoIP, which include VoIP call
control server (e.g. H323 gatekeeper), media
gateway, media resource server, media gateway
controller, and signalling gateway. Among these
components, media gateway, media gateway
controller, media resource server are expected to be
the same or similar as used for fixed VoIP industry.
VoIP call control server needs to be enhanced to
work together with the mobility management
mechanisms. For signaling gateway, there are two
types of functionality: transport translation for
ISUP, and protocol intenvorking between 2G MAP
and the equivalent protocol(s) in 3G which is to be
defined. The first type can be fulfilled by SGW
product for fixed VoIP industry.
HLR. The R’99 HLR is likely to be
enhanceamodified for an all-IP, particularly by
deploying IP based database, authentication and
authorization schemes, e.g. LDAP and AAA. Its
function can be split into two portions:
transporthearer related and service related. Also its
functionality is expected to be extended to support
a wide range of services.
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Figure 2. Two parallel paths for voice services.
Handling Installed Circuit-switch Core Network
In many cases, it is not desirable or even feasible to
switch to an all-IP based network architecture
straightaway and abandon the installed circuit-switch
core network in R’99 networks. Instead, a migration
path allowing smooth transition and re-use the capacity
of circuit-switched core network would be more
realistic. One option is to allow two parallel domains to
evolve “independently”, as shown in Figure 2. R’99
circuit-switched core network, including transport and
components (MSC), remain unchanged. At the same
time, R’99 Packet Switched Core Network is enhanced
to support packet voice/multimedia services.
The benefits of this approach are:
No disruption to existing circuit-switched based
services.
R99 circuit-switched terminals can be supported.
0 New services, packet based, can be tested and
offered in parallel.
New capacity gained through packet-switched
domain
0 Load sharing between two parallel paths (via
circuit-switched and packet-switched domains).
Another option is to replace/evolve the 3G-MSC witwto
an MSC server and a media gateway for circuit services
support. This option is currently being considered in
3GPP. The potential benefits include:
0 Lowerlcost performance ratio and integration with
the packet backbone.
Transport infrastructure from R’99 is re-used
R’99 circuit switch services and Terminals can
continually be supported.
There are some issues to be addressed to follow these
migration paths, for example:
Single or two phone-number for each user. The two
parallel service domains may require two E.164
numbers for each mobile user, for circuit and
packet based voice paths respectively. The single
MSISDN concept and proposals have been
presented in 3GPP.
0 Integration of circuit and packet based voice
services. For example: interaction may be required
between the two call control systems to share and
maintain the same copy of service profile of a
subscriber. Also it may be desirable for the
operator/service provider and user to be able to
choose a path for an incoming call, between circuit-
switched and packet-switched domains.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
In this paper, we have introduced the concept of all IP
networks, which reflects the recent discussions and
progress in 3G.IP and 3GPP. We have presented the
value proposition for all IP networks and have given an
overview of the architecture and technical issues and
challenges that need to be addressed. The paper also
discusses the considerations, alternative solutions and
merits for the migration to an all IP network from R’99
networks.
REFERENCES
1. 3GPP working document, 1999, “Architecture for
an All IP network (feasibility study report)”, 3G TR
23.922 version 0.1.4, Sept. 1999.
2. J. Yang, I. Kriaras, December 1999, “Opportunities
and challenges for wireless VoIP”, Proceedings of
1” International conference on mobile data access,
Hong Kong.
3. Mikael Degermark et al. 1999, “CRTP over cellular radio
links”, Intemet-draft, IETF, June 1999.