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MSCinPool MSCinPool MSCinPool MSCinPool

Date Date Date Date: :: : 15.07.2009

Revision: Revision: Revision: Revision: 004/MIP/009
Author: Author: Author: Author: JakubBluszcz

Leliwa Technical Bulletin

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LeliwaTechnicalBulletinMSCinPool

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Tableofcontents Tableofcontents Tableofcontents Tableofcontents
Topic Topic Topic Topic Page Page Page Page
Introduction.....................................................................................................3
NetworkResourceIdentification .....................................................................5
NodeSelectionFunction.................................................................................6
MobilityManagement....................................................................................10
AcronymsandAbbreviations ........................................................................12
References ...................................................................................................13
Disclaimer.....................................................................................................14

MSCinPoolLeliwaTechnicalBulletin

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Introduction Introduction Introduction Introduction
TheMSCinPool,asapartofIntraDomainConnectionofRANNodesto
MultipleCNNodessolution,overcomesthestricthierarchy,whichrestricts
theconnectionofaBSCnodetojustoneMSC.Thisrestrictionresultsfrom
routingmechanismsintheBSCwhichdifferentiateonlybetweeninformation
tobesenttotheMSC(CSdomain)ortotheSGSN(PSdomain)andwhich
donotdifferentiatebetweenmultipleCNnodesineachdomain.TheMSCin
Poolsolutionintroducesaroutingmechanismandotherrelatedfunctionality,
whichenablestheBSCtorouteinformationtodifferentCNnodeswithinthe
CSorPSdomain,respectively.
MSC2 MSC1
BSC3 BSC2 BSC1 BSC5 BSC4
MSC3
BSC6

Figure1MSCsinPool(logicalview)
TheMSCinPoolsolutionintroducesfurthertheconceptofpool-areaswhich
isenabledbytheroutingmechanismintheBSC.AnMSCpool-areais
comparabletoanMSCserviceareaasacollectionofoneormoreBSC
serviceareas.IndifferencetoanMSCserviceareaapool-areaisservedby
multipleMSCsinparallelwhichsharethetrafficofthisareabetweeneach
other.Furthermore,pool-areasmayoverlapwhichisnotpossibleforthe
MSCserviceareas.FromaBSSperspectiveapool-areacomprisesallLAs
ofoneormoreBSCthatareservedbyacertaingroupofMSCnodesin
parallel.OneormoreoftheMSCsinthisgroupmayinadditionserveLAs
outsidethispool-areaormayalsoserveotherpool-areas.Thisgroupof
MSCsisalsoreferredtoasMSCpool.
TheMSCinPoolenablesafewdifferentapplicationscenarioswithcertain
characteristics.TheserviceprovisionbymultipleMSCswithinapool-area
enlargestheservedareacomparedtotheserviceareaofoneMSC.This
resultsinreducedinterMSCLAupdatesanditreducestheHLRupdate
traffic.Theconfigurationofoverlappingpool-areasallowstoseparatethe
overalltrafficintodifferentMSmovingpattern,e.g.pool-areaswhereeach
coversaseparateresidentialareaandallthesamecitycentre.Other
advantagesofmultipleMSCsinapool-areaarethepossibilityofcapacity
upgradesbyadditionalMSCsinthepool-areaortheincreasedservice
LeliwaTechnicalBulletinMSCinPool

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availabilityasotherMSCsmayprovideservicesincaseoneMSCinthepool-
areafails.
MSC7
MSC6
MSC4 MSC2
MSC1
BSC3
BSC2
BSC1
BSC5 BSC4
BSC7
BSC6
BSC8
MSC3
MSC5
Pool-area 1 Pool-area 2 Pool-area 3

Figure2Poolareaconfigurationexample
AnMSisservedbyonededicatedMSCnodeofapool-areaaslongasitisin
radiocoverageofthepool-area.Fig.11-2showsmostofthepossiblepool-
areaconfigurations.ItcontainsPool-area1(BSCarea1,2and3servedby
MSCs1and2),Pool-area2(BSCarea4and5servedbyMSCs3and4)and
Pool-area3(BSCarea5,6and7servedbyMSCs5,6and7).Inadditionthe
BSCareas8isservedbyMSC7withoutanyusageoftheMSCsinPool
feature.Thepossibilitytoconfigureoverlappingpool-areasisshownbythe
Pool-areas2and3.ThePool-area1isconfigurednon-overlappingwithany
otherPool-area.ThenumberorcapacityofMSCsisconfigured
independentlyforeachpool-area.TheusageofMSCsinPoolmaybe
configuredinpartsofthenetworkonlyandcanco-existswithotherareasnot
usingthisfeature.
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NetworkResourceI NetworkResourceI NetworkResourceI NetworkResourceIdentification dentification dentification dentification
AnMSCpool-areaisanareawithinwhichanMSroamswithoutaneedto
changetheservingMSC.Apool-areaisservedbyoneormoreMSCsnodes
inparallel.ThecompleteserviceareaofaBSCbelongstothesameoneor
morepool-area(s).AnBSCserviceareamaybelongtomultiplepool-areas,
whichisthecasewhenmultipleoverlappingpool-areasincludethisBSC
servicearea.IfLAsspanovermultipleBSCserviceareasthenalltheseBSC
serviceareashavetobelongtothesamepool-area.
MSC1
MSC2
MSC3
BSC3
BSC2
BSC1
An MSC pool-area is an area within which an MS roams
without a need to change the serving MSC.

Figure3Pool-areadefinition
TheNetworkResourceIdentifier(NRI)identifiesuniquelyanindividualMSC
outofallMSCs,whichserveinparallelapool-area.ThelengthoftheNRIis
thesameinallMSCsinonepool-area.Inareaswherepool-areasoverlapthe
NRIidentifiesuniquelyanMSCoutofallMSCs,whichserveallthese
overlappingpool-areas,i.e.anNRIidentifiesuniquelyanMSCwithinaBSC.
Incaseofoverlappingpool-areastheNRIlengthisconfiguredtobethesame
inallthenodesservingthesepool-areas.MorethanoneNRImaybe
assignedtoanMSC.
TheNRIispartoftheTMSI,whichisassignedbytheservingMSCtotheMS.
TheTMSIallocationmechanismintheMSCgeneratesTMSIswhichcontain
aconfiguredNRIintherelevantbitpositions.TheNRIhasaflexiblelength
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between10and0bits(0bitsmeanstheNRIisnotusedandthefeatureis
notapplied).
TheNRIiscodedinbits23to14ofTMSI.RegardlessoftheNRIlengththe
mostsignificantbitoftheNRIisalwaysinbit23ofTMSI.
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
octet 1 octet 2 octet 3 octet 4
NRI
NRI - Network Resource Identification

Figure4StructureofTMSI
TheBSCnodederivestheNRIfromanyinitialsignallingmessage.TheBSC
masksthesignificantbitsoutoftheTMSItodeterminetheNRI,which
identifiestheMSC.ItisconfiguredintheBSCwhichbitsoutofTMSI
providedbytheMSaresignificantfortheNRI.
Thechangeofapool-areaisnotvisibletotheMS.Ingeneralthereisno
needtodetectapool-areachange.Itmaybeadvantageousforload
balancingpurposestodetectpool-areachangesinthenetworktodistribute
MSsenteringapool-areatoMSCswithanappropriateloadstatus.MSs
changingapool-areamaybedetectedbyconfigurationofdifferentNRI
valuesforadjacentpool-areas.
NodeSelectionFunction NodeSelectionFunction NodeSelectionFunction NodeSelectionFunction
ThisfunctionisusedinBSCandpotentiallyinMSCs.IntheBSCthefunction
selectsthespecificMSCtowhichinitialsignallingmessagesarerouted.The
NRIidentifiesthespecificMSC.IftheNodeSelectionFunctionhasanMSC
addressconfiguredfortheNRIderivedfromtheinitialsignallingmessageis
routedtothisaddress.IfnoMSCaddressisconfiguredforthederivedNRIor
ifnoNRIcanbederived(e.g.theMSindicatedanidentitywhichcontainsno
NRI)thentheNodeSelectionFunctionselectsanavailableMSC(e.g.
accordingtoloadbalancing)androutesthemessagetothatMSC.
MSCinPoolLeliwaTechnicalBulletin

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MSC2
MSC1
MSC3
BSC1
BSC2

TMSI (NRI=2)
(NRI=2)
(NRI=1)
(NRI=3)

TMSI (NRI=2)

Node Selection Function (NSF)

TMSI/NRI allocation
NRI routing

Figure5UseofNRI
IncaseanMSC/VLRsendsapagingwithIMSI(i.e.thepagingmessage
doesnotcontainaTMSI),thenodeselectionfunctionintheBSCupon
receptiontemporarilystorestheidentityoftheMSCthatissuedthepaging
message.Ifthenodeselectionfunctionreceivesapagingresponsewithan
IMSIthenitchecksthetemporarilystoredidentitiesoftheMSCsonentries
matchingthisIMSIandforwardthepagingresponsetothenodeidentifiedby
thisidentity.
MSC
MSC
pool BSC
Paging Req.
(IMSI)
Paging
Res. (IMSI)
IMSI MSC ID

Figure6PagingwithIMSI
IftheMSC/VLRinitiatesthepagingprocedureviaGs-interfacetheSGSNhas
toaddtheMSC/VLR-identitytothepagingmessage.
LeliwaTechnicalBulletinMSCinPool

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MSC
MSC
SGSN
pool
Paging Req. (IMSI)
BSC
Paging
(IMSI + MSC/VLR-
identity)
Paging
Req. (IMSI)
Paging Res. (IMSI)

Figure7CSpagingviaGsinterface
Loadbalancing Loadbalancing Loadbalancing Loadbalancing
TheNodeSelectionFunctionintheBSCbalancestheloadbetweenthe
availableMSCs.ThisisperformedbyanappropriateselectionoftheMSCfor
anMS:
whichwasnotyetassignedtoanMSC,i.e.whenthereisnoMSC
configuredfortheNRIindicatedbytheMS,
whennoNRIcanbederived,
inexceptionalcases,e.g.whentheMSCcorrespondingtoanNRI
cannotbereached.
Theload-balancingalgorithmisimplementationspecific.
Incaseofhandoverintoapool-areaaloadbalancingbetweenallthetarget
MSCnodesservingthispool-areaisgainedbyconfiguration.SourceMSCs
whichsupportMSCinPoolmaybeconfiguredwithallpossibletargetMSCs
foreachhandovertarget.SourceMSCwhichdonotsupportMSCinPoolcan
configureonlyonetargetMSCperhandovertarget.Inthiscaseeachof
sourceMSCswhichhandovertothesamepool-areamaybeconfiguredwith
anothertargetMSCoutofalltargetMSCsservingthesamehandovertarget.
Themechanismfordistributionofthetrafficbetweenthehandovertarget
MSCsisimplementationspecific.Thisloadbalancingiscomplementedby
theNodeSelectionFunctionintheBSS,whichdistributesMSsbetweenthe
MSCswhentheseMSsenterthepool-areainidlemode.
LoadRe LoadRe LoadRe LoadRe- -- -Distribution Distribution Distribution Distribution
Therearesituationswhereanetworkoperatorwishestoremoveloadfrom
oneMSCinanorderlymanner(e.g.toperformscheduledmaintenance,or,
MSCinPoolLeliwaTechnicalBulletin

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toperformloadre-distributiontoavoidoverload)withminimalimpacttoend
usersand/oradditionalloadonotherentities.There-distributionprocedure
doesnotrequireanynewfunctionalityintheterminal,thatis,allterminalscan
bemoved.
Re-distributionofMSsisinitiatedviaanO&McommandintheMSC,which
needstobeoff-loaded.
Inafirstphase(acoupleofPeriodicLAUpdateperiodslong),MSsdoingLA
UpdatearemovedtootherMSCsinthepool.WhentheMSCreceivesthe,
LAUpdaterequest,itreturnsanewTMSIwithanull-NRI,andanon-
broadcastLAIintheacceptmessage.Thenon-broadcastLAIcausestheMS
toimmediatelysendanewLocationUpdate,whichtheBSCnodethenroutes
toanewMSCduetothenull-NRI.
MSC
MSC
MSC

(NRI=2)
(NRI=1)
(NRI=3)
BSC
LA Upd. Accept ( )
LA Upd. (periodic)
Null-NRI,
non-broadcast LAI
LA Upd. (periodic)
O&M

Figure8LoadRe-Distribution(phase1)
AsecondphaseincludesscanningthroughremainingMSsandinitiatinga
moveofthemtootherMSCsbyallocatingtotheseMSanewTMSIusingthe
TMSIre-allocationprocedure(withnull-NRIandnon-broadcastLAI)sothata
LocationUpdateistriggeredwhentheongoingCMtransactionends,which
willcausethemtobemoved.
MSC
MSC
(NRI=2)
(NRI=3)
TMSI re-allocation ( )
BSC
LA Upd.
Null-NRI,
non-broadcast LAI

Figure9LoadRe-Distribution(phase2)
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TheMSsbeingmovedfromoneMSCarestoppedfromregisteringtothe
sameMSCagainbyanO&McommandinBSCsconnectedtothepool.The
MSsmovingintoapoolareaarealsostoppedfromregisteringintoanMSC
beingoff-loadedinthesamemanner.
MobilityManagement MobilityManagement MobilityManagement MobilityManagement
AnMSperformsLAUpdates,whichmayresultinachangeoftheserving
MSC.IntheseproceduresthenewMSCrequestsfromtheoldMSCMS
specificparameters.IfmultipleMSCsareconfiguredinthenewMSCforthe
oldLAindicatedbytheMSthenthenewMSCderivestheNRIfromtheold
TMSIindicatedbytheMS.ThenewMSCusestheoldLAtogetherwiththe
NRItoderivethesignallingaddressoftheoldMSCfromitsconfiguration
data.
MSC
MSC
MSC
(NRI=2)
(NRI=1)
old pool

LA Update Request
(TMSI, old LAI)
NRI & old LAI MSC/VLR number
Send Identification /
Send Parameters

Figure10MSCchange(newMSCoutsideoldpool)
IfthenetworkcontainsMSCsthatcannotderivetheoldMSCfromLAIand
NRIadefaultMSCforeachLAisusedtoresolvetheambiguityofthe
multipleMSCsservingthesamearea.
DefaultMSCandbackwardscompatibility DefaultMSCandbackwardscompatibility DefaultMSCandbackwardscompatibility DefaultMSCandbackwardscompatibility
MSCsthatcanonlyderiveoneMSCfromtheLAI(e.g.becausetheydonot
supporttheMSCinPoolfeature,ornodetailedknowledgeoftheNRIsis
configured)arenotaware,thatmultipleMSCsmayserveaLA.Thesenodes
canthereforecontactonlyoneMSC(adefaultMSC)perLA.
AdefaultMSCresolvestheambiguityofthemultipleMSCsperLAby
derivingtheNRIfromtheTMSI.ThedefaultMSCrelaysthesignalling
betweenthenewMSCandtheoldMSC.
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NotethatthedefaultMSCisconfiguredperLA.SodifferentMSCsina
networkmighthaveconfigureddifferentdefaultMSCsforaLA.Withthis
approachmorethanoneoftheMSCsthatserveapool-areacanbeusedas
defaultMSC,soloadconcentrationononeMSCandasinglepointoffailure
canbeavoided.
MSC
MSC
MSC
old pool

LA Update Request
(TMSI, old RAI)
LAI default MSC number
(default)

Send Identification
/ Send Parameters

Figure12DefaultMSC

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AcronymsandAbbreviations AcronymsandAbbreviations AcronymsandAbbreviations AcronymsandAbbreviations

BS BS BS BSC CC C BaseStationController
BSS BSS BSS BSS BaseStationSystem
CM CM CM CM ConnectionManagement
CN CN CN CN CoreNetwork
CS CS CS CS CircuitSwitching
CS CS CS CS ConvergenceSublayer
HLR HLR HLR HLR HomeLocationRegister
IMSI IMSI IMSI IMSI InternationalMobileSubscriberIdentity
LA LA LA LA LocationArea
LAI LAI LAI LAI LocationAreaIdentity
MS MS MS MS MobileStation
MSC MSC MSC MSC MobileSwitchingCenter
NRI NRI NRI NRI NetworkResourceIdentifier
PS PS PS PS PacketSwitch
RAI RAI RAI RAI RoutingAreaIdentity
RAN RAN RAN RAN RadioAccessNetwork
SGSN SGSN SGSN SGSN ServingGPRSSupportNode
TMSI TMSI TMSI TMSI TemporaryMobileSubscriberIdentity
VLR VLR VLR VLR VisitorLocationRegister

MSCinPoolLeliwaTechnicalBulletin

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References References References References
Thissectioncontainsthelocationsofvariousspecifications,document
referencesandusefulinformationwhereyoucanlearnmoreaboutthis
subject.

[1] 23.236Intra-domainconnectionofRadioAccessNetwork(RAN)
nodestomultipleCoreNetwork(CN)nodes

[2] 23.002Networkarchitecture

[3] 23.060GeneralPacketRadioService(GPRS);Servicedescription;
Stage2

[4] 48.008MobileSwitchingCentre-BaseStationsystem(MSC-BSS)
interface;Layer3specification

[5] 23.003Numbering,addressingandidentification

LeliwaTechnicalBulletinMSCinPool

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