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DECOR, eDECOR & NETWORK

SLICING
Mohamad Chaabo Follow
Mobile Core Design Supervisor |… 55 11 0

3 Buzzwords that we recently been hearing more often in the telecom industry, in this article I will
explain in high level the technicality behind each.
We will start by chronological order and describe Dedicated Core Networks Selection (DECOR)
Mechanism.
DECOR provides the ability to have a dedicated core network (may be in the PS domain or CS
domain or both) within one PLMN-ID for a different type of Subscribers/End Devices. Since day 1
we’ve been able to separate services per PGW/GGSN perspective via Access Point Name and not the
MME/SGW since their selection relies on the Geographical distribution of the network. DECOR will
provide the capability to have a dedicated MME/SGW per UE type.
To identify which UE type, belong to which DCN, 3GPP has introduced in R13 a new subscription
parameter called “UE Usage Type” which is stored in the HSS within the Subscription information of
UE; Each UE can have no more than one type.
3GPP Standard has identified the below methods on how eNodeB select an MME.
 Network Node Selection Function (NNSF) in eNodeB
Local configuration on the eNodeB
Query DNS and load balance with weighing depending on UE location
During attach or TAU/RAU process there is a chance that a specific UE Type does not attach on the
intended MME/SGSN element; To rectify this a reroute call flow has been introduced.
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To make the explanation clearer will consider an example where the NAS message being an “IMSI
Attach Request”
After UE Switch on and connect to the radio (RRC), UE sends an Attach request and eNodeB trigger
MME selection function and choose MME-DCN1.
DECISION TO REROUTE:
MME will request HSS to send the UE Usage Type Subscription information by setting on the
respective flag in the Authentication Information Request message.
MME will compare the response; If UE Usage type is support by the MME-DCN1; Attach procedure
call flow will be performed as specified in 3GPP TS 23.401; If UE Usage type is not supported by the
MME-DCN1, Reroute process will be triggered.
2. MME-DCN1 will send a Reroute NAS message request via S1-AP to eNodeB with MMEGI value
(the main value used to identify a DCN) to support eNodeB to select the needed MME Pool.
3. The eNodeB shall reselect an MME and forward the Attach Request Message to the selected
MME-DCN2 and the E-UTRAN Attach procedure proceeds as specified in TS 23.401
eDECOR is another interesting feature introduced in 3GPP Release14 which targeted to Enhance the
DECOR function by adding the assistance information in the UE and reduce the signalling needed
for a UE to select a DCN; It’s considered as a complement function of R13 DECOR. Signalling
reduction can happen by avoiding the UE to select a not allowed DCN Hence avoid the Reroute
function between DCN.
How can UE assist the network to avoid connection to a not allowed DCN?
The UE uses 2 Parameters to assist DCN selection:
The DCN Selection Assistance parameter; it's a parameter that will be assigned from the Network to
UE based on UE intended type of usage, for example, CIoT DCN or MBB DCN, etc
The NAS Type Parameter; it's a parameter assigned by the UE and is used during DCN selection and
serving node selection to ensure the selected node can respond to NAS messages. one NAS type
may indicate the use of NB-IOT and another NAS Type may indicate MBB.
Below is an example of the initial selection call flow considering 1 PLMN and DCN Serving Node will
be able to Serve the UE, in order to simplify it as much as possible.
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RRC connection established.

The UE provides NAS message that includes both a DCN Selection Assistance parameter in the NAS
message and in the RRC message. The UE includes a NAS Type parameter in the RRC message. The
NAS Type indicates which NAS protocol variant is used in the included NAS.
The RAN select a DCN Serving Node based on the DCN Selection Assistance parameter and the NAS
Type parameter and based on the configuration in the RAN node. RAN node has already received
DCN information from the serving node during the S1 Setup. The NAS Type ensures that the NAS
message is forwarded to a DCN and serving node which is compatible with the NAS type indicated
by the UE.
NAS message is sent to the selected node of the selected DCN. The DCN selection assistance
parameter and the NAS Type parameter are provided by the RAN to the DCN serving node together
with the NAS message.
The NAS procedure executes normally.
Network Slicing From 3GPP standard perspective it's still Work In Progress within Rel-15. Each
Network Slice is built to provide a certain service/purpose Such (Volte, 3G, 4G, NB-IOT or MVNO).
Before describing further with the concept let us understand some of the new Terms.
Network Slice Instance: As Per 3GPP definition, NSI is complete in the sense that it includes all
functionalities and resources necessary to support a certain set of communication services thus
serving a certain business purpose.
Network Slice Subnet Instance: a set of network functions and the resources for these network
functions which are arranged and configured to form a logical network.
Network Slicing, is a concept that allows MNO's to slice their existing End To End network (RF,
Transport, CS Core and PS Core) to several Network slice instance (NSI) where each NSI may be fully
or partly, logically and/or physically, isolated from another NSI. A Network Slice Instance (NSI) may
be composed by none, one or more Network Slice Subnet Instance (NSSI), which may be shared by
another NSI. Similarly, the NSSI is formed of a set of Network Functions, which can be either VNFs or
PNFs. below graph extracted from ETSI GR NFV-EVE 012, help visualise the concept.
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Thanks and waiting for your comments...

Reference:
TS 3GPP 23.707 R13 Architecture Enhancements for Dedicated Core Networks
TS 3GPP 23.711 R14 - Enhancements of Dedicated Core Networks selection mechanism
3GPP TR 28.801- R15 Study on management and orchestration of network slicing for next-
generation network
ETSI GR NFV-EVE 012 Evolution and Ecosystem; Report on Network Slicing Support with ETSI NFV
Architecture Framework.

Published By
Mohamad Chaabo Follow
Mobile Core Design Supervisor |5G|…

#DECOR #EDECOR #5G #NETWORK SLICING #NFV #3GPP #ETSI #4G

11 comments

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José Manuel Díaz 6mo

Solution Architecture | Project Implementation | Strategic Planning

Hi Mohamad, thank you for sharing this type of information. This is the first technical
aspect that I´ve seen so far out there related to network slicing. Even when Networks
Slicing is one of the main drives of 5G in this article we can see that slicing concepts are
ready to implement before 5G. This kind of information is important to start picture
ourselves how slicing can be implement in the future for 5G networks.
Like Reply 1 Like

Minh Ta Quang 8mo

Senior Telecommunication Engineer at Viettel Group

Nice explanation!
Like Reply 1 Like
 LinkedIn User 10mo
Sign in Join now

Nice explanation...
Like Reply 1 Like

Ankur Jindal 10mo

Very well explained

Like Reply 1 Like

Abdullah Alanzy 2y
Data Core Design section manager / HiPo Leadership program

Really well done. I believe you compressed the major concepts of network slicing in one
small article.
Like Reply 1 Like

Mohammad Anwarul Islam 2y

MohammadGeneral Manager, Core Network Planning, Robi Axiata Limited
Anwarul
Islam what is the use case scenarios for DECOR/eDECOR?
Like Reply 1 Reply

Mohamad Chaabo 2y
MohamadMobile Core Design Supervisor |5G|NFV|SDN|Telco Cloud
Chaabo
These techniques are required in order to assure that each end device type will be
connected to it's designed Dedicated Core. Say For example an MNO has built a
dedicated Mobile core network for smart meter devices, hence DECOR and
eDECOR will guarantee that smart meter devices only will connect to the intended
(DCN) in the way described in above article.
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