LTE2 – S1 – Flex

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LTE2 – S1 Flex
Table of Contents

Introduction Deployment Aspects

1 Motivation and Feature Overview 4 Feature Activation and Configuration Examples

Interdependencies
Technical Details Benefits and Gains
2 Interdependencies with Other Features
Functionality and Implementation, and Functions
Message Flows
5 Simulation, Lab and Field Findings

Configuration Management
3 Parameters

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 Introduction Table of Contents Main Menu
LTE2 – S1 Flex

In LTE RL10 one eNB is allowed to connect to one MME only:

– Fixed relation regardless of the load MME1 MME2

and HW failures, S10

– Uneven traffic distribution,
– Inefficient resource management, S1-MME S1-MME
– High sensitivity to failures,
– No MME redundancy,
– Limited network scalability.
eNodeB eNodeB

eNodeB

eNodeB

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LTE2 – S1 Flex

The RL20 S1-Flex enables each eNB to connect up

to 16 MMEs from available MME pools (within one
PLMN): MME Pool MME Pool

– Removes the strict hierarchy,

– Load balancing (resource management),
– Introduces pool areas and MME pools, S1-MME

– Up to 16 S1-MME links per eNB,

– MME redundancy within MME pool (no hot standby
solutions supported),
– One eNB can belong to several pool areas
eNodeB eNodeB eNodeB
(overlapping),
– One MME pool may handle several pool areas,
– Users from cell controlled by single eNB can be served
by different MMEs, eNodeB eNodeB eNodeB

– Optional SW feature (no HW upgrade needed, license Pool Area 1 Pool Area 2
only).
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LTE2 – S1 Flex
Table of Contents

Introduction Deployment Aspects

1 Motivation and Feature Overview 4 Feature Activation and Configuration Examples

Interdependencies
Technical Details Benefits and Gains
2 Interdependencies with Other Features
Functionality and Implementation, and Functions
Message Flows
5 Simulation, Lab and Field Findings

Configuration Management
3 Parameters

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LTE2 – S1 Flex

MME pool area:

– area within which a UE may be served without need to change
the serving MME,
– is served by one or more MMEs (MME pool) in parallel, eNodeB eNodeB eNodeB
– is a collection of complete Tracking Areas,
– may overlap each other.

eNodeB eNodeB eNodeB

Pool Area 2
Pool Area 1
MME pool
– set of MMEs that serve one or more MME pool area,
– takes advantage of load sharing concept (MME selection MME MME PoolPool
algorithm) and prevents:
 overload: newly incoming requests will be distributed between
MMEs based on MME capacity weights,
 failure: in case of failure, dropped calls can be reestablished
with the remaining MMEs.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / Multiple MME connections

• If S1 Flex is activated the eNB considers all MME(s) as allowed, for which an
associated IP address for MME is available.
– The eNB can establish towards each of the supported 16 MMEs one SCTP association,
– The eNBs SCTP endpoints are identified by the peer MME primary IP address and the SCTP port
number,
– The SCTP port number is bounded to one IP transport address,
– External IP Addresses of MME nodes are configurable at the eNB,
– It is possible to configure one separate IPSec Tunnel Address towards each MME node.

• If S1 Flex is deactivated the eNB shall consider only the “Main MME” as allowed
MME.
– Main MME is the MME assigned to the specified eNB.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection

Background informations:

• S-TMSI - S-Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (MME Code+M-TMSI) (optional parameter

provided by the RRC message RRC CONNECTION REQUEST),

• registeredMME – MME address (PLMN Id, MME Group, MME Code) (optional parameter
provided by the RRC message RRC CONNECTION SETUP COMPLETE),

• SelectedPLMN-Identity – is a parameter which identifies the PLMN with highest priority,

• plmn-Identity – ID of optional PLMNs (second choice),

• Served PLMNs – defines the list of PLMNs served by MME.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection

For each UE, the eNB must select the MME to be used for S1 signaling
based on information provided by the UE and MME:
• MME selection is done based on either S-TMSI or registeredMME or SelectedPLMN-Identity
parameters.
• In most cases (state transitions, Tracking Area Updates), UE is already registered to one MME. In
these cases, UE provides information about MME address in the S-TMSI or registeredMME.
• If eNB cannot reach this MME (or UE is not registered to an MME), eNB will select the MME by the
SelectedPLMN-Identity provided by UE.

There are four possible cases for the parameter settings by the UE:
• Case A: UE provides the selectedPLMN-Identity and S-TMSI,
• Case B: UE provides the selectedPLMN-Identity and the registeredMME without the optional plmn-
Identity,
• Case C: UE provides the selectedPLMN-Identity and the registeredMME with the optional plmn-
Identity,
• Case D: UE provides the selectedPLMN-Identity, but no registeredMME,
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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection algorithm

General overview of the MME selection algorithm:

1. First eNB shall try to select a MME by the S-TMSI (if provided). If this fails, the MME
selection is aborted by an RRC connection release,

2. If no S-TMSI is provided, eNB selects an MME by the registeredMME (if provided),

3. If both above selections fails (or no S-TMSI and registeredMME are provided), eNB
shall select the MME by the selectedPLMN-Identity parameter.

Details about algorithm above can be found in next slides:

– explanation of particular steps,
– scheme of the algorithm.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on S-TMSI

If the S-TMSI has been provided by UE (case A):

(In this case UE is registered in the TA of the current cell).
• eNB shall check whether any active MME supports the MME address MME Code
provided by S-TMSI:
– If a corresponding MME address has been found for one active MME, the check is successful and can
be finished,
– RL20: If no active MME with matching address has been found, eNB shall release the UE context and
resources. The releaseCause shall be ‘loadBalancingTAUrequired’ if there is any active MME
supporting the ‘selectedPLMN-Identity’ of the UE, otherwise shall be ‘other’.
– RL30 and later*: If no active MME with matching address has been found, eNB will attempt MME
selection based on UE selected PLMN. If that fails then RRC connection is released with cause
“other”.
Notes:
 when UE provides the S-TMSI, it will not provide the registeredMME,
 the releaseCause ‘loadBalancingTAUrequired’ will trigger that UE reconnects without S-TMSI and does not hang.
 (*) reason for change (CN5038): UE does not honor the ‘load balancing TAU required’ sent in RRC Connection
Release message by eNB in states other than EMM REGISTERTED as it is not mandated by 3GPP, thus UE
keeps retrying to connect indefinitely.
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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on registeredMME

If the registeredMME has been provided by UE (case B and C):

(In this case UE is not registered in the TA of the current cell).
• eNB shall check whether any active MME supports the provided MME address (PLMN Id,
MME Group id, MME Code).
– If a corresponding MME address has been found, the check is successful and can be finished,
 If UE has not provided the additional plmn-Identity (Case B), the corresponding MME shall be used,
 If UE has provided two PLMN ids (Case C), eNB shall additionally check:
• If the SelectedPLMN-Identity is in ServedPLMNs list, the MME with matching address is kept
• If the SelectedPLMN-Identity is not in ServedPLMNs list, eNB shall select the MME by the
SelectedPLMN-Identity (details in next slides)
– If the registeredMME was not provided or no active MME with matching address has been found, eNB
shall select the MME by the SelectedPLMN-Identity.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on selectedPLMN-Identity

If only the selectedPLMN-Identity has been provided by UE (case D):

In this case UE is not registered (in MME).
• eNB shall compare the selectedPLMN-Identity to the Served PLMNs provided by active
MMEs:
– If selectedPLMN-Identity is not in the Served PLMNs list, the RRC connection shall be released,
– If selectedPLMN-Identity is in the Served PLMNs list of one active MME, this MME shall be used,
– If selectedPLMN-Identity is in the Served PLMNs list of several active MMEs, eNB shall perform load
balancing among those MMEs.

Note:
Load balancing algorithm and related details are given in next slides.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on load balancing algorithm

eNB selects one MME from the set for which the SelectedPLMN-Identity is in the list of
Served PLMNs:
• The load balancing is done per PLMN Id,
• For normal operation it is assumed that all MMEs of an MME pool have the same set of
PLMN Ids,
• The algorithm does not take into account the current number of S1 connections,
• The load balancing is only used for UEs with non-matching or missing registeredMME and
S-TMSI,
• The selection bases on weighting information provided by each MME during the S1 Setup,

Note:
(*) The relative MME capacity shall be ignored for the MME selection is case that there is only one MME available, i.e. more than one MME
has been configured but only one MME is reachable. This is a non 3GPP compliant behaviour. The change shall be not documented in the
regular customer documentation. (CRL0737 USSC S1 Flex behavior)
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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on load balancing algorithm

Inputs:
• SelectedPLMN-Identity of UE,
• Served PLMNs list of PLMNs served by MME,
• WMMEi – weight factor of MMEi.
Interim values:
• n – number of active MMEs for which the Selected PLMN-Identity is in Served PLMNs list,
• Wsum – sum of all weights:
n
Wsum   WMME ,i
i 1

• range [0...Wsum-1] split into n intervals Im:

 
 0 ,WMME ,1 1,m 1 
I m    m1 
m  
  
i 1
WMME ,i ,  WMME ,i  1 , m  2 ,..., n
 i 1   
• random - Random value from the interval [0...Wsum-1]
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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on load balancing algorithm

Output:
Next step is to iterate through the interval Im until:
m 1 m

W
i 1
MME ,i  random  WMME ,i
i 0

The found interval Im indicates the selected MMEm.

Example:

WMME1 = 105 (MME1 weight factor) n=2 (number of MMEs)

WMME2 = 147 (MME2 weight factor) I1 = [0,104] (range of interval 1)
Wsum = 105 + 147 = 252 I2 = [105,251] (range of interval 2)

104 251

random = 155 (random number in the range [0…251]) 155

0 105
As 155 > 104 and 155 <= 251:
the random number is contained in the interval I2 therefore the selected MME is MME2.

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / MME selection based on load balancing algorithm - scheme

RRC Connection Setup Complete

Derive Selected PLMN Id,

S-TMSI and registeredMME
S-TMSI present Search for MME Code of S-TMSI
in set of MMECs

S-TMSI not present

registeredMME not in message

registeredMME in RRC message

Search for registeredMME in set of Search for Selected PLMN Id in set MME MME
Served GUMMEIs of all active of Served PLMN-Ids of all active not found found
MMEs MME MMEs in set
not found

MME found in set Selected PLMN Several MME found MME not found
not served by MME
Perform MME found
Loadbalancing Release RRC
Selected PLMN served by MME in set
Connection

MME selected MME selected MME selected

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LTE2 – S1 Flex / continuous service

In case of MME maintenance or upgrade work required, the S1-Flex

can be used for assuring continuous service:

• First, the MME is excluded from load balancing by setting very low MME weight
factor,
– all new incoming UE calls/requests will be directed to different MMEs within the same pool.

• All already existing calls will end in some period of time,

• Maintenance and upgrade work can be performed without disturbing the traffic,
• The MME can be also removed from the pool without any impact on traffic (no ‘hard’
call terminations).

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LTE2 – S1 Flex
Table of Contents

Introduction Deployment Aspects

1 Motivation and Feature Overview 4 Feature Activation and Configuration Examples

Interdependencies
Technical Details Benefits and Gains
2 Interdependencies with Other Features
Functionality and Implementation, and Functions
Message Flows
5 Simulation, Lab and Field Findings

Configuration Management
3 Parameters

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 Configuration Management Table of Contents Main Menu
LTE2 – S1 Flex

Parameter Name DB object name Value range Default Description

0 (disabled), This parameter activates the support of S1 Flex. This includes the algorithms to distribute S1
Activate Support of S1 Flex actS1Flex 1 connections to several MMEs for example based on routing information provided by UE or by load
1 (enabled)
balancing for those UEs entering an MME pool.

Primary IP address of main This parameter holds the transport network IP address of the Mobility Management Entity (MME)
mainMmeIpAddrPrim 7...15 characters N/A
MME primary interface. Must be configured

This parameter holds the transport network IP address of the Mobility Management Entity (MME)
Secondary IP address of main
mainMmeIpAddrSec 7...15 characters N/A secondary interface. This is read only parameter, passed by MME to eNB during SCTP association
MME
establishment procedure.

List of transport network IP Addresses (IPv4) of up to 15 further MMEs in addition to the Main
MME IP address list mmeIpAddressList 7...15 characters N/A
MME.

Main Code Of MME mmeMainCode 0…255, step 1 N/A MME Code contained in main GUMMEI of the MME

Main group id of main MME mainMmeMainGroupId 0...65535, step 1 N/A Group Id contained in main GUMMEI of the Main MME

Main MCC of main MME mainMmeMainMcc 0…999, step 1 N/A Mobile Country Code contained in main GUMMEI of the Main MME

Length of main MNC of main

mainMmeMainMncLength 2…3, step 1 N/A Length of Main Mobile Network Code of the Main MME
MME

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 Main Menu
LTE2 – S1 Flex
Table of Contents

Introduction Deployment Aspects

1 Motivation and Feature Overview 4 Feature Activation and Configuration Examples

Interdependencies
Technical Details Benefits and Gains
2 Interdependencies with Other Features
Functionality and Implementation, and Functions
Message Flows
5 Simulation, Lab and Field Findings

Configuration Management
3 Parameters

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LTE2 – S1 Flex – redundancy within MME pool

• S1 flex feature is about load balancing in the Core Network, in particular about balancing UE contexts
across a pool of MMEs.
• It assures multi-connection towards several MMEs and if one MME fails, all connections handled by it
are released. UEs must reconnect to network in order to be assigned to another MME from pool.
• It is not a redundancy feature and not at all for any kind of hot/standby solutions. Following example of
scenario is not possible with this feature:

Scenario:
• Two MMEs in different geographical locations
• eNB should connect to closer MME
(i.e. if eNB from group A is closer to the MME#1,
it should connect to this one)
• In case of MME failure, second one acts as
redundant node

Configuration NOT possible with S1-Flex only!

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LTE2 – S1 Flex
Table of Contents

Introduction Deployment Aspects

1 Motivation and Feature Overview 4 Feature Activation and Configuration Examples

Interdependencies
Technical Details Benefits and Gains
2 Interdependencies with Other Features
Functionality and Implementation, and Functions
Message Flows
5 Simulation, Lab and Field Findings

Configuration Management
3 Parameters

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 Benefits and Gains Table of Contents Main Menu
LTE2 – S1 Flex

• Resilience:
Using multiple MMEs within a single pool area increases the service availability (another MME can be
selected if the primary MME is not available).
• Load distribution:
MME selection from the MME pool is done on the basis of the traffic load.
• Continuous service:
Network upgrade and maintenance work are possible without disturbing the traffic. Also the overload
probability is reduced.
• Scalability:
Capacity extension by adding new MME to the pool can be done without network reconfiguration.
• Reduced load at core network:
Signaling load is reduced in case of MME change done within one MME pool

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