UMTS Bearer Services

Non-Access Stratum Radio Access Bearers Signalling connection RR Iu RRC connection connectio C n

Access Stratum

Radio bearer service

Iu bearer service

: SAP

UE

RAN Uu

Iu CN

Protocol Stacks
Communication between the UE, RNC and circuit switched core network (CN) makes use of
Uu interface protocol stack Iub interface protocol stack Iu-CS interface protocol stack A interface protocol stack BTS
Uu Iub Iu.c s A Multimedia Gateway

RNC

3G MSC

Protocol stacks include both user and control planes The control plane of one protocol stack may make use of the user plane of another protocol stack e.g. RRC messages which form the control plane of the radio interface protocol are communicated to and from the BTS using the user plane of the Iub protocol stack

CS Radio Interface Protocol (RIP) User Plane

Radio Interface Protocol is responsible for setting up, reconfiguring and releasing radio bearers The 3G MSC provides connectivity to the circuit switched core and PSTN The multimedia gateway provides transcoding for Speech calls: between AMR and A Law PCM Video calls: no transcoding is required i.e. vocoder appears only in the UE Transparent mode RLC is used between the UE and RNC UE AAL2 based ATM is used to transfer user plane Multimedia GW MSC data across the Iub 3G and Iu,cs e.g. interfaces e.g. RNC
vocoder vocoder Iu,cs UP RLC-U RLC-U

MAC

Node B
FP AAL2

MAC
FP AAL2 ATM Phy

Iu,cs UP

A Law PCM, etc

A Law PCM, etc PSTN

AAL2 ATM Phy

AAL2 ATM Phy

WCDMA L1

ATM WCDMA L1 Phy

Link Layer Phy

Link Layer Phy Phy

Uu

Iub

Iu,cs

Iu-CS Protocol Stack

The Iu-CS protocol stack has three planes The radio network control plane uses the RANAP protocol and completes tasks such as configuring a RAB or assigning Iu-CS resources The transport network control plane is responsible for setting up/tearing Radio Network Transport User Plane down Iu transport bearers Control Plane Network Control Plane The user plane is responsible for Iu User Plane RANAP Protocol encapsulating all data to and from the UE
Q.2630.1 SCCP MTP3b SSCF-NNI SSCOP AAL5

Q.2150.1
MTP3b SSCF-NNI SSCOP AAL5 ATM Physical Layer AAL2

ATM Adaptation Layer 5 (AAL5) is used for the control planes whereas AAL2 is used for the user plane

MOS CS Message Flow

UE
T300=2s ; N300=3

NodeB
RRC: RRC Connection Request (RACH) NBAP: Radio Link Setup Request NBAP: Radio Link Setup Response ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm) FP: Downlink Synch FP: Uplink Synch RRC: RRC Connection Setup (FACH) L1 Synchronization NBAP: Synchronization Indication RRC: RRC Connection Setup Complete (DCH) [RRCconnRepTimer1/2(100ms,1s)]

RNC

MGW/CN
RNC checks if resources are available: BTS, AC, Transmission. If not it sends RRC Connection Reject L1 Synchronization

RRC Connection Establishment CELL DCH State

RRC: Initial Direct Transfer (MM: CM Service Request) T312=6s ; N312=4 SCCP: CR (Connection Request) RANAP: Initial UE Message (MM: CM Service Request) SCCP: CC (Connection Confirm)

RANAP: Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Request)

RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Request) RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Response) RANAP: Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Response) RANAP: Common ID RANAP: Security Mode Command RRC: Security Mode Command

UE

NodeB
RRC: Security Mode Complete

RNC

MGW/CN

RANAP: Security Mode Complete RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Setup) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Setup) RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Call Proceeding) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Call Proceeding) RANAP: RAB Assignment Request

RAB Establishment

NBAP: Radio Link Reconfiguration Prepare NBAP: Radio Link Reconfiguration Ready ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm) FP: Downlink Synch FP: Uplink Synch

RL modification procedure: SRB+DCH, HW resources checked Possible failure in AAL2 setup (Iub, Iur and Iu)

ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm) NBAP: Radio Link Reconfiguration Commit) RRC: Radio Bearer Setup

Soft handover is not allowed during the RAB establishment procedure (The mobile can not add or remove cells in AS) this makes the UE and Node B particularly sensitive to mobility and dominance Timer wf_rb_setup_cpl (6s) is started when the RRC: Radio Bearer Setup message is sent to the UE In case the timer expires Iu Release Request is sent to the CN with release cause (radio_conn_lost)
RRC: Radio Bearer Setup Complete RANAP: RAB Assignment Response

UE

NodeB
RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Alerting) RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Connect) RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Connect Acknowledge)

RNC

MGW/CN
RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Connect)

RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Alerting)

RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Connect Acknowledge)

Call Established
RANAP: Location Report
RRC: Measurement Control

Call Disconnect
RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Disconnect) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Disconnect) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Release) RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Release) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Release Complete) RANAP: Iu Release Command RANAP: Iu Release Complete RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: RRC Connection Release) RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Release Complete) RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Release Complete) RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Release Complete) NBAP: Radio Link Deletion Request NBAP: Radio Link Deletion Response ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm)

MTC CS Message Flow

UE
NodeB RNC
RANAP: Paging RRC: Paging Type 1

MGW/CN

RRC: RRC Connection Request (RACH)

NBAP: Radio Link Setup Request NBAP: Radio Link Setup Response ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm) FP: Downlink Synch FP: Uplink Synch RRC: RRC Connection Setup (FACH) L1 Synchronization NBAP: Synchronization Indication RRC: RRC Connection Setup Complete (DCH)

L1 Synchronization

RRC Connection Establishment CELL DCH State

RRC: Initial Direct Transfer (MM: Paging Response) SCCP: CR (Connection Request) RANAP: Initial UE Message (MM: Paging Response) SCCP: CC (Connection Confirm) RANAP: Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Request)

RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Request)

RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Response) RANAP: Direct Transfer (MM: Authentication Response) RANAP: Common ID RRC: Security Mode Command RANAP: Security Mode Command

UE

NodeB
RRC: Security Mode Complete

RNC

MGW/CN

RANAP: Security Mode Complete RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Setup) RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Call Confirmed) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Setup)

RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Call Confirmed) RANAP: RAB Assignment Request

RAB Establishment

NBAP: Radio Link Reconfiguration Prepare NBAP: Radio Link Reconfiguration Ready ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm) FP: Downlink Synch FP: Uplink Synch

RL modification procedure: SRB+DCH, HW resources checked Possible failure in AAL2 setup (Iub, Iur and Iu)

ALCAP: ERQ (Establish Request) ALCAP: ECF (Establish Confirm) NBAP: Radio Link Reconfiguration Commit) RRC: Radio Bearer Setup

Soft handover is not allowed during the RAB establishment procedure (The mobile can not add or remove cells in AS) this makes the UE and Node B particularly sensitive to mobility and dominance Timer wf_rb_setup_cpl (6s) is started when the RRC: Radio Bearer Setup message is sent to the UE In case the timer expires Iu Release Request is sent to the CN with release cause (radio_conn_lost)
RRC: Radio Bearer Setup Complete RANAP: RAB Assignment Response

UE

NodeB
RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Alerting)

RNC

MGW/CN
RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Alerting) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Connect)

RRC: Downlink Direct Transfer (CC: Connect) RRC: Uplink Direct Transfer (CC: Connect Acknowledge) RANAP: Direct Transfer (CC: Connect Acknowledge)

Call Established
RANAP: Location Report

RRC: Measurement Control

MOC/MTC Call Flow timing

MOC

M T C

RRC messages information

Voice and Video are both Conversational Call

RRC messages information

DL SRB

RRC messages information

UE in DUAL MODE

RRC messages information

Voice AMR

RRC messages information

CS call, 64Kbps, Transparent

Video Call

RRC messages information

Video CS 64: DL SF 32 UL SF 16 Voice AMR: DL SF 128 UL SF 64