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Nokia Volte Optimization White Paper 071114
Nokia Volte Optimization White Paper 071114
Contents
1. Introduction
2.
3.
4.
11
17
6. Summary
19
7.
19
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Further Reading
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1. Introduction
Mobile operator networks carry tens of billions of minutes of voice
traffic every day, the majority of it using Circuit Switched (CS) voice
in 2G and 3G technologies. Most LTE operators serve voice calls via
so-called CS-fallback function, while several operators have already
made the switch to Voice over LTE (VoLTE), providing a carrier grade
Voice over IP (VoIP) solution, built on IP-Multimedia Sub System (IMS)
architecture.
VoLTE provides a number of benefits for operators and end users by
enhancing LTE radio spectral efficiency and offering High Definition
(HD) voice quality. VoLTE can use LTE on low frequency spectrum
for good coverage, providing fast call setup times and enabling
LTE data rates during the voice call. Additionally, IMS architecture
is the foundation for new, innovative carrier-provided end-user
multimedia services. The main reasons for adopting VoLTE are
summarized in Figure 1.
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42.8
40
35.8
35
kbps
30
25
20
17.6
17.3
15
10
10.2
8.3
8.8
5
0
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SIP EFR
OTT AP3
VoLTE
VoLTE
of different VoIP codecs.
23.85 kbps 12.65 kbps
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Header compression
40
Header size (byte)
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
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VoLTE uplink performance in the weak signal can be enhanced with TTI
bundling which allows the handset to repeat the same transmission
in four consecutive 1 ms TTIs. TTI bundling makes the uplink more
robust and enhances coverage by 4 dB. The benefit of TTI bundling in
the weak signal is shown in Figure 5. The uplink Block Error Rate (BLER)
is reduced from 73% to 9% with TTI bundling. The low BLER maintains
good voice quality and avoids unnecessary retransmissions which eat
up substantial radio resources. TTI bundling is switched on only when
the handset hits the edge of the coverage area. TTI bundling runs
between the base station and the handset.
80.0
70.0
BLER (in %)
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
9.0
0.0
Fig. 5. Benefit of TTI bundling in uplink quality.
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A high success rate for VoLTE calls requires reliable control channel
transmission, which can be obtained by optimized channel coding in the
radio interface to protect signaling quality. The high success rate also
requires that interference levels and excessive signaling can be controlled
in highly loaded cells. Figure 6 shows an example VoLTE call setup success
rate in a live network including tens of millions of VoLTE calls during the
measurement period. The success rate exceeds 99.7%, showing that
excellent VoLTE availability can be achieved even in the loaded network.
The network carried tens of billions of packet calls at the same time.
Another important factor for VoLTE is reliable mobility. The handover
success rate can be optimized with RF planning and new features included
in Nokia iSON (Self Organizing Network) such as Mobility Robustness
Optimization. This enables radio level connection re-establishment in the
event of handover failure.
100
98
96
(%)
94
92
90
Three-month period
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When the handset leaves the LTE coverage area, the VoLTE connection
can be handed over to a CS connection in a 3G or 2G network. This
procedure is called Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) or
enhanced SRVCC (eSRVCC). If LTE coverage is extensive, the SRVCC
probability is low. It is beneficial to have a low SRVCC probability to
gain full benefit of VoLTE capabilities and to minimize any potential
loss in voice quality, or even call drops which may be caused by a radio
leg change. The SRVCC probability also depends on the parameter
settings, like minimum Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), which
define the threshold when the LTE network initiates SRVCC. Figure 7
shows the probability of SRVCC in an example network. The SRVCC
probability is reduced by 7% to below 3% by network optimization.
More than a million SRVCC attempts are included in this graph.
SRVCC functionality is available for QCI1 connections but not for OTT
VoIP. If an OTT VoIP connection loses LTE coverage, the call continues
in the 3G or 2G network as a VoIP connection over a best effort data
connection, not as a CS call. VoIP in 3G can provide reasonable voice
quality in low loaded networks, but VoIP does not work in practice
on a 2G network. Also, the connection break during the inter-system
handover is substantially longer for best effort data than with SRVCC
for QCI1 (less that 300ms according 3GPP standard).
10%
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
Three-month period
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AMR - WB
50 - 7000 Hz
3
7 kHz
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MOS
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
3G CS
AMR-NB
SIP EFR
SIP
AMR-WB
OTT AP1
OTT AP2
OTT AP3
VoLTE
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Next, we present voice quality measurements for VoLTE and for one
OTT VoIP as a function of network loading. VoLTE uses QoS Class
Identifier (QCI) 1, while OTT VoIP is carried as non-guaranteed data
traffic. A LTE base station is able to identify VoLTE calls and prioritize
VoLTE in the packet scheduler. Figure 10 shows MOS measurements
as a function of cell loading. Two cases are studied: good radio
conditions with the signal level better than -80 dBm and bad radio
conditions with the signal level at -110 dBm. The voice quality for
VoLTE remains stable regardless of the loading, while the quality of
OTT VoIP decreases as a function of loading. The OTT VoIP call also
frequently drops during high loading. There is some difference in the
voice quality between good and bad radio conditions but the VoLTE
quality remains stable, also under bad radio conditions.
OTT VoIP-Good
OTT VoIP-Bad
VoLTE-Good
VoLTE-Bad
4.5
4.0
MOS
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
21
192
382
762
1902
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VoLTE-Good
300
352
352
491
525
451
500
427
541
600
300
700
400
VoLTE-Bad
661
OTT-Good
200
100
0
21
192
382
762
1902
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The call setup time is an important factor affecting the quality perceived
by the end user. Figure 12 shows how VoLTE can significantly improve
the call establishment time compared to the legacy CS systems. The
total time for call establishment depends on many factors such as
whether the handsets were initially in RRC Idle or RRC Connected
state when the call was originated and the latency experienced by the
signaling network. The laboratory measurements show a VoLTE call
setup time of 0.9 2.2 s, while the delay in the field is slightly higher
depending on the operator network and transport architecture. The
corresponding typical CS call setup time is four seconds and with CS
Fallback (CSFB) at both ends, approximately six seconds.
Call setup time
7.0
6.0
6.0
Seconds
5.0
3.8
4.0
3.0
2.4
2.2
2.0
0.9
1.0
0.0
idle - idle
(eld)
idle - idle
VoLTE
connected connected
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To minimize the call setup time, an operator can apply a special paging
strategy for incoming VoLTE calls. VoLTE paging logic is executed in a
Mobility Management Entity (MME), based on the Evolved Packet Core
(EPC) bearer information from the Serving Gateway in the Downlink
Data Notification (DDN) message. The IMS network may assist this
procedure by marking packets related to the incoming voice calls with
a special Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value.
Figure 13 shows an example of paging response delay distribution. A
more aggressive timer value for paging a re-try timer could be applied
for VoLTE to minimize the paging response delay, for example two
seconds instead of a typical value of several seconds. In addition, MME
could be configured to execute VoLTE paging immediately for the
whole Tracking Area instead of first paging the last known cell.
Number of Samples
1000
100
10
9.5
8.5
More
7.5
6.5
5.5
4.5
3.5
2.5
1.5
0.5
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Radio features
including DRX
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600
Current (mA)
500
400
300
200
100
656.52
656.5
656.48
656.46
656.44
656.42
656.4
656.38
656.36
656.34
656.32
656.3
656.28
656.26
656.24
656.22
656.2
656.18
656.16
656.14
656.12
656.1
656.08
656.06
656.04
656.02
656
655.98
655.96
Time (s)
Fig. 15. Discontinuous reception (DRX) during VoLTE call.
The measured current consumption of different voice applications
is shown in Figure 16. VoLTE power consumption can be reduced by
80% with DRX. 121 mA has been measured on a handset, which is
even slightly below the 125 mA measured on the same codec on 3G
CS using the same handset. The power consumption of the OTT VoIP
application is substantially higher at 248 mA.
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300
Current (mA)
250
248
235
-50%
200
150
154
129
131
125
121
100
50
0
3G CS
AMR-NB
3G CS
AMR-WB
noDRX
OTT VoIP
Fig. 16. Handset power consumption with different voice applications, showing 50% lower power
consumption for VoLTE than for OTT VoIP.
6. Summary
VoLTE is being deployed globally, supported by new VoLTE-capable
handsets. VoLTE can enhance an operators network efficiency and
improve end-user performance in areas such as voice quality and
setup times. This paper illustrates that optimization of radio features
and parameters is needed to provide reliable VoLTE connections with
high success rates and low drop rates. The live network results show
that excellent key performance indicators can be obtained for VoLTE in
optimized networks.
The measurements also show that VoLTE offers a number of benefits
compared to OTT VoIP applications, including robust performance and
higher voice quality during congestion and lower power consumption.
Reliability is obtained by using QoS features in the radio network and
by optimizing power consumption with the DRX feature.
7.
Further Reading
Nokia
VoLTE white paper:
http://nsn.com/sites/default/files/document/nsn_volte_white_
paper.pdf
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Public
Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks or trade names of their
respective owners.
Nokia
Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
P.O. Box 1
FI-02022
Finland
Visiting address:
Karaportti 3,
ESPOO,
Finland
Switchboard +358 71 400 4000
Product code C401-01110-WP-201410-1-EN
Nokia Solutions and Networks 2014
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