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LTE Interfaces and Protocols
LTE Interfaces and Protocols
Lets start with big picture of situation in which user is not roaming.
Figure above is showing only 4G interfaces, additional interfaces for 2G and 3G are described in TS 23.060.
As I probably wrote earlier Serving Gateway (SGW) and PDN Gateway (PGW) could be put in one chassis.
As it comes to scenario with roaming architecture standards are describing two ways of dealing with it.
Two roaming scenarios:
where there is local breakout with home operator's application functions only, and separate from that
with visited operator's application functions only.
Information flow could be divided into two groups, one is Control Plane, and the other is User Plane.
The Control Plane consists of protocols for control and support of the user plane functions:
controlling the E-UTRA network access connections, such as attaching to and detaching from E-
UTRAN;
controlling the attributes of an established network access connection, such as activation of an IP
address;
controlling the routing path of an established network connection in order to support user mobility; and
controlling the assignment of network resources to meet changing user demands.
Difference between those two interfaces is S5 is used in one network entity(no roaming scenario),
and S8 is being used to connect Visiting PLMN where user is with his Home PLMN.
Where:
GTP-U (GPRS Tunnelling Protocol for the user plane): This protocol tunnels user data between
eNodeB and SGW.
UDP: This protocol transfers user data. UDP is defined in RFC 768.
Fig. 18. Protocol stack of S12 interface used to connect UE from 3G network to PDN
Where:
GTP U: This protocol tunnels user data between UTRAN and the S GW as well as between the S GW
and the P GW in the backbone network. GTP shall encapsulate all end user IP packets
UDP/IP: These are the backbone network protocols used for routing user data and control
signalling.
Protocols on the Uu interface are described in TS 23.060.
SGSN controls the user plane tunnel establishment and establish a Direct Tunnel between UTRAN
and S GW as shown in Fig. 18.