LTE (LONG TERM

EVOLUTION)

LTE (Long Term Evolution)

What is LTE

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 4G wireless broadband

technology developed by the Third Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP), an industry trade group.

4G LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of highspeed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is
based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network
technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using a
different radio interface together with core network
improvements.

Architecture

Protocol Stack
User Plane Protocol:

Control Plane Protocol:

UE (User Equipment)

UE is any device used directly by an end-user to communicate. It can be a

hand-held telephone, a laptop computer equipped with a
mobile broadband adapter, or any other device
IMEI: International Mobile Station Equipment Identity - It's an
alphanumeric serial number used to identify a mobile phone.
IMSI: International Mobile Subscriber Identity - It is used to uniquely
identify a registered user. It's stored in SIM.
IMSI comprises of the following parts:
Mobile Country Code (MCC) : 3 decimal places, internationally
standardized.
Mobile Network Code (MNC) : 2 decimal places, for unique
identification of mobile network within the country.
Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (MSIN) : Maximum 10
decimal places, identification number of the subscriber in the home
mobile network.

E-UTRAN Node B

Also known as Evolved Node B, (abbreviated as eNodeB or

eNB) is the element in E-UTRA of LTE that is the evolution of
the element Node B in UTRA of UMTS.
It is the hardware that is connected to the mobile phone
network that communicates directly with mobile handsets (
UEs), like a base transceiver station (BTS) in GSM networks.
The eBN sends and receives radio transmissions to all the
mobiles using the analogue and digital signal processing
functions of the LTE air interface.
The eNB controls the low-level operation of all its mobiles, by
sending them signalling messages such as handover
commands.

MME (Mobility Management

Entity)

MME is the key control node for LTE access network.

NAS signaling;
NAS signaling security;
Tracking Area list management;
PDN GW and Serving GW selection;
MME selection for handovers with MME change;
SGSN selection for handovers to 2G or 3G 3GPP access
networks;
Roaming (S6a towards home HSS);
Authentication;
Authorization;
Lawful Interception of signaling traffic;

SGW (Serving Gateway)

Serving GW is the gateway which terminates the interface

towards E-UTARN. For each UE associated with the EPS, at
given point of time, there is a single Serving GW.
The local Mobility Anchor point for inter-eNodeB handover;
Sending of one or more "end marker" to the source eNodeB,
source SGSN or source RNC immediately after switching the
path during inter-eNodeB and inter-RAT handover, especially
to assist the reordering function in eNodeB.
Mobility anchoring for inter-3GPP mobility (terminating S4
and relaying the traffic between 2G/3G system and PDN
GW);
Lawful Interception;
Packet routing and forwarding;
Accounting for inter-operator charging. For GTP-based S5/S8,
the Serving GW generates accounting data per UE and
bearer;

PGW (PDN Gateway)

The PGW is the gateway which terminates the SGi interface

towards PDNPer-user based packet filtering (by e.g. deep
packet inspection);
Lawful Interception;
UE IP address allocation;
Accounting for inter-operator charging;
UL and DL rate enforcement based on APN-AMBR (e.g. by
rate policing/shaping per aggregate of traffic of all SDFs of
the same APN that are associated with Non-GBR QCIs);
DL rate enforcement based on the accumulated MBRs of the
aggregate of SDFs with the same GBR QCI (e.g. by rate
policing/shaping);
DHCPv4 (server and client) and DHCPv6 (client and server)
functions;

HSS (Home Subscriber Server)

The Home Subscriber Server (HSS) is a network element

residing in the Control Plane that acts as a central repository
of all subscriber-specific authorizations and service profiles
and preferences for an IMS network. The HSS integrates
several functions, some of which exist already in the
functions of the Home Location Register of mobile networks:
Subscriber Profile Database
Subscriber Service Permissions
Subscriber Preference Settings
Mobile Authentication Server
Home Location Register (HLR) for mobile roaming
Subscriber Presence Function
Subscriber Location Function

PCRF (Policy Charging and Rating

Function)

Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) is the part of the

Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that supports service data flow
detection, policy enforcement and flow-based charging.
- Volume based charging;
- Time based charging;
- Volume and time based charging;
- Event based charging;
- No charging.

LTE Call Flow

Following call flows have been
discussed
Initial Call Setup
S1 Based Inter eNB Handover
X2 Based Inter eNB Handover

Initial Call Setup

Initial Call Setup Continues..

Brief Description:

System Acquisition: UE performs frequency

synchronization and reads MIB/SIBs from PBCH to acquire
system information. It then camps on the most suitable
cell.
RRC Connection Setup: The UE and eNodeB exchange
signaling to set up an RRC connection. The UE then sends
RRC Connection Setup Complete message to the eNodeB.
Attach Request: The UE includes in the ATTACH
REQUEST message a valid GUTI together with the last
visited registered TAI, if available. If there is no valid GUTI
available, the UE shall include the IMSI in the ATTACH
REQUEST message.

Initial Call Setup Continues..

eNodeB forwards the Attach Request message (including:

Message Type, eNB UE ID, TAI, CGI etc.) to the MME.
Identity Procedure: In the case of the first Attach, MME
sends an Identity Request to the UE. Identity procedure is
required only if attach request contains GUTI/last-TAI and
the TAI is not local to MME
The UE responds with Identity Response including Mobile
Identity that is set to IMSI.
Authentication/Security: In case of initial attach when
there is no UE context on the network, authentication is
performed. The MME sends an Authentication Information
Request to the HSS and receives an Authentication
Information Answer which is used to send Authentication
Request to the UE. Authentication procedure is optional.
UE then sends an Authentication Response to the MME
Update Location Request: The MME sends the Update
Location Request including the IMSI. The HSS replies with

Initial Call Setup Continues..

Create Session Request: The MME sends a Create Session

Request to SGW which is followed by confirmation.
Initial Context Setup Request/Attach Accept: Attach
Accept is sent as NAS PDU in the Initial Context Setup
(Message Type, E-RAB ID, QoS parameters, Transport Layer
Address, NAS-PDU, UE Security Capabilities, Security key)
from MME to eNodeB.
Attach Accept message contains new GUTI if the attach
request contained IMSI or foreign/non-local GUTI. This
completes Attach Request.
Security procedure and UE Capability exchange is then
performed.
RRC Connection Re-configuration: The eNodeB sends the
RRC Connection Reconfiguration message including the EPS
Radio Bearer Identity to the UE, and the Attach Accept

Initial Call Setup Continues..

Initial Context Setup Response: The eNodeB sends Initial Context

Setup Response to the MME

Uplink Information Transfer: The UE sends an Uplink Information

Transfer message. This message includes the Attach

Complete message for MME
Attach Complete: eNodeB encapsulates the Attach Complete

message and transfers it to MME.

Modify Bearer Message: One receiving both Context Setup

Response and Attach Complete, the MME sends a Modify

Bearer Request to SGW. SGW sends the response and starts
sending the DL packets.

S1 Based Inter eNodeB Handover.

S1 Based Inter eNodeB Handover continues...

S1 Based Inter eNodeB Handover continues...

Based on UE reports, source eNB decides to initiate S1-based

handover to target eNB if there is no X2 connectivity to target
eNB.
eNB sends Handover Required (handover type, target Id,
cause etc.) message to MME.
MME verifies that source SGW can continue to serve UE and
sends Handover Request message to target eNB.
Admission Control is performed by target eNB and target eNB
configured the required resources according to the received
E-RAB QoS information.
Target eNB sends Handover Request Acknowledge message
to MME.
If indirect forwarding applies MME sets up Create Indirect
Data Forwarding Tunnel Request to SGW. SGW responds with
confirmation.
MME sends HO command (Handover Type, ERABs forwarding

S1 Based Inter eNodeB Handover continues...

Source eNB sends Status Transfer message via MME to target

eNB regarding downlink and uplink transmitter status.
Once UE successfully synchronizes to the target cell, it sends an
RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message to target
eNB. DL packets forwarded from source eNB can be sent to the
UE. Also uplink packets can be sent from UE, which are
forwarded to SGW.
Target eNB sends Handover Notify message to target MME. MME
starts a timer to supervise when resources in Source eNB and
data forwarding resources in SGW shall be released.
MME sends Modify Bearer Request (Bearers contexts to be
removed, bearers need to be deactivated etc) message to SGW.

SGW sends end marker packet to source eNB and then

releases resources towards it. Once end marker reaches target
eNB, SGW can start sending DL payload data coming from PGW.
It also sends Modify Bearer Response message to MME.

X2 Based Inter eNodeB Handover

X2 Based Inter eNodeB Handover continues..

Source eNB uses X2 interface to initiate handover with

target eNB. Process is somewhat similar to S1 based
handover with difference that Handover request, data
forwarding, End marker messages etc. are exchanged over
X2 interface directly between Source and Target eNBs.