6 UMTS Core Network Heikki Kaaranen and Miikka Poikselka The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Core Network (CN) can be seen as the basic platform for all communication services provided to UMTS sub- scribers. The basic communication services include switching of circuit-switched calls and routing of packet data. The 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) RS also introduces a new subsystem called the “IP Multimedia Subsystem” (IMS). The IMS opens up the Internet Protocol (IP)-based service world for mobile use by seamlessly integrating the mobile world and the Internet world and providing sophisticated service mechanisms to be used in the context of mobile communications. ‘The CN maps end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) requirements to the UMTS bearer service. When inter-connecting with other networks, QoS requirements also need to be mapped onto the available external bearer service. The gateway role of the UMTS CN in creating an end-to-end service path is illustrated in Figure 6.1. The external bearer does not fall within the scope of UMTS system specifications and this may create some local problems if the QoS requirements to be satisfied between the UMTS and external network do not match. Between the Mobile Termination (MT) and the CN the QoS is provided by the radio access bearer. The radio access bearer hides QoS handling over the radio path from the CN. Within the CN, QoS requirements are mapped to its own bearer service, which in turn is carried by backbone bearers on top of the underlying physical bearer service. A challenge to CN implementation is that the operator is pretty much free to choose how to implement physical backbone bearers. These bearers rely on the physical transmis- sion technologies used between CN nodes. Typical transmission technologies, like PDH and SDH, with Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) channelling or with Asynchronous ‘Transfer Mode (ATM) cell-switching are used. In 3GPP RS the emphasis is on replac- ing these technologies by the Internet Protocol (IP) wherever and whenever possible, since making this transport network uniform simplifies the functionality of higher protocol layers. ‘The UMTS represents a kind of philosophy for use in production of a universal core that is able to handle a wide set of different radio accesses. Looking back at the network evolution discussed in Chapter 2. we see there are three types of recognised radio accesses as far as 3GPP RS is concerned: WCDMA/HSDPA, GSM/EDGE and,