Data in GPRS Networks

Antti Kantee <pooka@cubical.fi>

Overview of our Slight Plight
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

GSM Data
what is needed to provide data on top of GSM
what’s wrong with the picture
GPRS:
overall architecture
components & interconnections
protocols
roaming
problems with GPRS
PoC: GPRS use in "real life"
GSM Data: packets in the circuit
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

GSM data is circuit switched

establish connection, use connection, disband connection
setup time
charging is time-based
Internet-connection via (separate) ISP
GSM -> modem -> PSTN -> modem -> Internet
GSM -> ISDN -> Internet
High-Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

one GSM TCH/F provides 9.6kbps user data

total number of TCH’s available: 8
very simple idea: use several TCH/F’s
up to 57.6kbps total speed
8x9.6 = 76.8kbps, but A I/F is limited to 64kbps
de/multiplexing handled at MS and BSC+MSC
transparent to RF
transparent to outside network
transparent to whoever uses the stream
symmetric and asymmetric connections
SMS: User and Control Plane Mixup
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

(ab)use signalling plane for transmitting user data

people have been doing this forever, e.g. non-answered
phonecalls which "transmit" data using CID
main advantage: don’t need user-plane components for
installations only wishing to do SMS
two types: broadcast and point-to-point
teenagers found mobile equipment, and the rest is
history

SMS business view

Quick Review of GPRS Itself
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

packet switched link

dynamic allocation of radio resources
speeds up to 171.2kbps
that’s theory for you
"integration" with packet switched networks, such as
the internet
billing on transfer volume, not connection duration
image source: http://www.cs.hut.fi/~hhk/GPRS/gprs_own.html

GPRS Architecture: Overview

Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

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GPRS: diffs to GSM
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

GPRS was designed as a plugin to GSM

business POV: easy to sell add-on to existing architecture
GGSN - GPRS Gateway Support Node
tunnel packets between SGSN and PSPDN using GTP
SGSN - Serving GPRS Support Node
mobility management and packet routing
PCU - Packet Control Unit
handle radio link layer for data frames
CGF - Charging Gateway Function
make sure nasty users are charged for all the trouble they cause
image source: http://www.cs.hut.fi/~hhk/GPRS/gprs_own.html

GPRS Protocols: Signalling Plane

(MS<->SGSN)
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

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image source: http://www.cs.hut.fi/~hhk/GPRS/gprs_own.html

GPRS Protocols: User Plane

Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

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GPRS Protocols: SNDCP
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

Subnetwork Dependency Convergence Protocol

used between MS and SGSN on user plane
maps external PDN to GPRS network

features:
multiplex PDPs onto LLC connections
compression
de/fragmentation
GPRS Protocols: LLC
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

Logical Link Control

provides a logical link between the MS and SGSN
multiplexing between one SGSN and several MS’s
abstracts radio characteristics

features:
un/acknowledged data transfer
flow control
data confidentiality
variable-length frame support
I heard it through the GPRSvine
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

as known, GPRS uses TDMA radio

52-multiframe structure
4 consecutive blocks in same slot = radio block
RLC layer:
provide un/acknowledged transfer between MS and
BSC
MAC layer:
provide medium access control (surprise!)
collision avoidance, detection
arbitration
Filling the slots
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

MS and BSS need to agree on which timeslots to fill

- non-trivial problem
slots reserved for voice, but not used if silent
slots reserved for data
slots available to GPRS users
predictive best-fit timeslot assignment, "tetris"

fixed allocation
dynamic allocation
extended dynamic allocation
exclusive allocation
GPRS Mobility Management
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

GPRS defines three different states for MM

tries to optimize battery consumption & uplink usage

idle:
network does not track MS location
standby:
network knows MS location per RA
busy:
network knows MS location per cell
GPRS Session Management
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

before being able to actually transmit/receive PDU’s,

the MS must establish a PDP context
e.g. dial "*99#" on your phone
MS sends activation request to SGSN, which selects
GGSN for session
PDP context includes
PDP address for MS
QoS parameters
PDP context will time out if not used
keepalives
IP on GPRS (basically the previous slide again)
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

MS tells the SGSN that it wants to use IP

along with other parameters, such as desired IP address and
QoS parameters
SGSN checks if MS has credentials for that and does
authentication
also establish an encryption
SGSN selects GGSN for MS
establish a GTP tunnel
IP context created in MS, SGSN and GGSN
MS can now transfer packets into IP network and
back
user plane protocol stack
Roaming in GPRS
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

possibilities
1: exit PLMN as early as possible, use visitor location GGSN
2: exit PLMN from home location GGSN
the advantage of option number 1 is that it is smart
from the POV of network topology
packets can directly be routed to the correct destination
however, option 1 makes billing difficult
therefore, option 2 is a winner
option 2 also makes mobility simple
you can always have the same PDP address
Latency in GPRS
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

several factors contribute to latency in GPRS

mobile station
process datagram and request radio resource
radio resource reservation
MS must request TBF
if none is active, negotiation can take a while
usually source of significant portion of delay
transmit over air interface
MS -> BSS -> SGSN
transmit through core network
SGSN -> GGSN
roaming?
(source: SourceO2.com)

Some figures for latency

Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

measured: 500 byte IP packet transmission

MS delay: 50-200ms
TBF establishment
1 uplink TBF: 320-750ms
2 download TBF: 290-1700ms
once established, 0ms delay (surprise!)
air delay: 260-460ms
depends on number of TBF in use
core network delay: 20ms
non-roaming situation
PoC: Push-to-talk over Cellular
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

use data channels to transmit voice

VoIP
structured so, that you can have calls "always open"
use tangent to signal when you’re actually transmitting
GPRS: pay only for traffic
especially group calls benefit from this feature
GPRS & latency
"push-to-wait"?
Wrapup
Antti Kantee, T-110.456 Next Generation Cellular Networks. 2004

data on the Internet is packet-based

GSM data causes annoyances in Internet use
GPRS is packet-switched and easy to integrate with
PDN’s
GPRS has been easy to plug into the existing GSM
architecture
well, it was designed for that
GPRS falls short on a couple of aspects
data rates & latency issues
GPRS works "well ’nuf"
too well for 3G to be tempting?