WHITE PAPER

February 2008

Use of MPLS technology

in mobile backhaul networks
CONTENTS:
Introduction
Introduction .............. 1
Backhaul plays a vital role in mobile networks by acting as the link between Radio Access
Network (RAN) equipment (Eg: radio basestation) and the mobile backbone network. This
means that backhaul is able to transport mobile data from the end user to the internet (or
similar network), mobile networks and traditional telephone networks.

Market Trends
and Challenges ......... 2
Overview of
IP/MPLS Forums
MPLS Mobile
Backhaul Initiative .... 3

The rapidly evolving telecoms marketplace has meant that mobile operators are facing a
significant spike in bandwidth demands in the backhaul due to the proliferation of 3G-based
data services and the emergence of high-speed air interface enhancements such as High
Speed Packet Access (HSPA).
At the same time, backhaul network operators are being required to significantly reduce operational costs in order to compensate for declining Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and to compete with a host of new competitors and technologies. Operators are also required to protect
(or sufficiently emulate) core legacy services such as voice, which still account for a substantial
share of revenue.
In this new situation backhaul networks with many cell sites have become the bottleneck
offering insufficient capacity to support higher bandwidths and often expensive to upgrade.

Architectural
Overview ................... 4
RAN Equipment
Synchronization ........ 5

To address the problem operators are migrating from existing separate, legacy ATM and TDM
backhauling networks to a more cost-effective, converged, MPLS-enabled, and multi-purpose
infrastructure. In addition to reducing operational costs, MPLS-based networks will also lay the
foundations for the delivery of next generation mobile services, such as location-based services,
mobile gaming and mobile TV, and for the use of future technologies such as Long Term
Evolution (LTE) and mobile WiMAX.

OAM and
Resiliency................... 6
Conclusion ................. 7

Ultimately, this fully consolidated network will be able to handle many different types of traffic
on a single cell site, enabling the operator to offer many different services to many different
types of customer.
The IP/MPLS Forum is tackling these backhaul challenges via its MPLS Mobile Backhaul Initiative
(MMBI). The initiative aims to leverage the benefits of MPLS technology in the backhaul by
providing a framework for a single MPLS aggregation/backhaul network that is flexible, scalable
and economical.
This White Paper outlines the market dynamics that are driving the need to deploy MPLS
technology in Radio Access Network (RAN) backhaul and provides a brief overview of the MMBI.

IP/MPLS Forum White Paper

Business Benefits
of IP/MPLS Forums
Mobile Backhaul
Initiative .................... 3

Market Trends and Challenges

The access and aggregation networks are used for more than
just mobile backhaul and it increasingly being used to carry
traffic for more than one mobile operator. This requires methods of separating and securing multiple operator traffic while
maintaining service level agreements. We estimate that as
many as three-quarters of 2G and 3G cell sites are co-located.

Third-generation mobile networks have become a reality. By

November 2007 there were 190 3G networks in commercial
service across 83 countries worldwide with over 800 different
types of 3G devices launched into the market available
from around 90 suppliers (source: Global Mobile Suppliers
Association. Dec 2007). There was forecast to be 252 million
3G subscribers worldwide by December 2007 (source: Informa
Telecoms & Media: Sept 2007).

The access and aggregation networks can be used to host

multiple services as well as multiple operators. For example,
an ISP that has an IP/MPLS based network could provide
services such as IPTV, broadband access and enterprise VPN
as well as mobile backhaul services, generating further value
from the network.

This trend allows mobile operators to generate revenues

from a range of new next generation data services that
are designed to generate revenues in addition to those from
legacy voice services.
However, these new 3G-based services will also require a
substantial increase in bandwidth, which will in turn lead to
greater mobile backhaul costs. It is estimated that backhaul
can account for as much as 30% of a mobile operators
operating costs (Opex) (source: Yankee Group, 2005).

The new backhaul infrastructure must therefore meet three

main criteria: it must be flexible (to support both legacy and IP
services), scalable (to support emerging future technologies)
and cost-effective (to compensate for rising levels of backhaul
traffic). It also needs to be a converged network, which means
the operator does not need to run two separate networks
(leased lines and IP).

If mobile operators were to expand the backhaul network

to meet these new bandwidth requirements in the traditional
manner the move to 3G could represent a significant increase
in required bandwidth and associated opex.

These market trends have made backhaul a strategic asset

for mobile operators and one that is currently a major area
of investment; these trends will grow as further air interface
enhancements (HSPA, EV-DO, Rev C, mobile WiMAX etc.)
are rolled-out. However, global ARPU trends remain only flat
or negative, despite an uplift in the proportion of revenues
relating to higher-bandwidth data services. This creates a
major business challenge with backhaul as a significant
bottleneck (see figure 1).

The cost of backhaul is not the only consideration in the

migration to 3G. As well as extra traffic, backhaul will need
to be able to handle a range of new functionality, including
Quality of Service (QoS) and resiliency management. These
new elements will become increasingly important as mobile
operators migrate towards packet-based backhaul networks.
Mobile operators will also be required to protect existing
legacy technology investments for some years. At the same
time operators will need a backhaul strategy that is futureproof and will be able to support a new generation of
networks and access technologies such as LTE. This requires
the mobile backhaul network to support many different
generations of technologies simultaneously.

A study by Infonetics Research suggested that the global

market for backhaul equipment grew to $3.5 billion in
2007 and is forecast to grow to $5.6 billion by 2010,
including legacy emulation services. (source: Mobile
Backhaul Equipment, Installed Base, and Services,
Infonetics Research, 2007)

Traffic

Quantity

Voice Dominant

Cellular operator
revenue & traffic
decoupled

Revenues
Data Dominant

Time
Figure 1: ARPU declines; bandwidth increases

Use of MPLS technology in mobile backhaul networks

Overview of IP/MPLS Forums MPLS Mobile Backhaul Initiative

The IP/MPLS Forums MPLS Mobile Backhaul Initiative (MMBI)
proposes a framework for the use of MPLS technology to bring
solutions to transport RAN backhaul traffic over access, aggregation and core networks. The framework describes possible
deployment scenarios and provides recommendations on how
to deploy MPLS in each of these scenarios. This will create a
reference guide that will allow vendors and operators to select
the appropriate feature sets for their specific scenario.
The focus is on a shared network infrastructure that is able to
support (emulate) existing legacy services (2G, 2.5G) as well as
new services based on 3G and beyond (Eg: HSPA, LTE). This
will enable a migration path between existing legacy ATM and

TDM backhaul networks to a more cost-effective, converged,

MPLS-enabled, and multi-purpose network.
The work is independent from the air interface technology
wherever possible but allows for the possibility that some
specific backhaul requirements related to the air interface
may need to be considered.
Areas within the scope of the initiative include: QoS
considerations (Eg; to support specific service types), resiliency
capabilities, clocking and synchronisation, Operations and
Maintenance (OAM), and support for various Transport
Network Layers (TNLs), LTE and mobile WiMAX.
Transport network &
Mobile Core Network

Backhaul Transport
2G,
3G,
LTE,
WiMAX
Access
Network

Tra
ffic G
room

ing at Cell

Site

Aggregation
Network

RNC
BSC
SAE

IP/MPLS Forum
Focus Area
for Backhaul

Core Network for

2G,
3G,
LTE,
WiMAX

Access
Network

Tra
ffic G
room

ing at Cell

Site

RAN

Figure 2. Scope of MMBI

Business Benefits of IP/MPLS Forums Mobile Backhaul Initiative

This combination of rising traffic requirements coupled with
declining revenues is a key motivation for operators migrating
RANs to a converged, packed-based architecture (see figure
1). MPLS has been globally deployed in these types of networks and has been an important element by creating an
environment for the delivery of new data services. As these
packet-based networks grow in popularity, MPLS must now
also be extended into to the backhaul.
This architecture will directly impact mobile operators bottom
line by simplifying operations, reducing Opex and leveraging
the cost benefits of backhaul technologies such as Ethernet.
It will also enable operators to support next generation
services such as location-based services (LBS), mobile IPTV

IP/MPLS Forum White Paper

and mobile gaming, and will be sufficiently flexible to protect

investments in new and emerging technologies.
This flexibility works in two ways: it will protect radio
equipment investment legacy 2G/3G and it will be able
to be re-used again as mobile operators migrate to future
technologies such as LTE and mobile WiMAX.
MPLS is an established technology with proven support for
providing QoS, traffic engineering (TE), legacy layer 1 and
layer 2 emulation (via pseudowires) and resiliency features.
These advantages can be leveraged for use in a wide variety
of network architectures and applications such as Enterprise
VPN, IPTV, mobile backhaul among others.

The same flexibility that lets MPLS be applied to these various

applications allows it to be applied to legacy mobile backhaul
networks as well as future technologies such as LTE. For
example, the same MPLS network infrastructure can be used
to carry the legacy traffic pseudowires may also be used to
carry and provide QoS guarantees to next generation LTE
traffic. Additionally, MPLS can be deployed on any layer 2
technology capable of supporting MPLS labelled switching.
IP/MPLS - with its packet-switching advantages and
pseudowire technology - is ideally suited to overcome the
scalability limitations of traditional circuit based technologies
such as ATM and TDM. MPLS permits support of these technologies using pseudowires to protect existing investments in
legacy equipment. For future IP and Ethernet based interfaces,

it is possible to aggregate traffic over single TE tunnels and

provide differentiated services for this aggregate so that QoS
requirements are met while at the same time providing further
improvements in scalability.
Because a single service provider can leverage the MPLS
network to meet the requirements of not only the diverse
set of mobile backhaul technologies but also to those of
other applications, the MPLS network also provides economies
of scale. This has a significant impact in reducing both a
service providers capital and operational costs. Furthermore,
investments in MPLS technologies benefit the service provider
by making it future proof and still applicable in the fast
evolving mobile technology scenarios (eg: LTE and beyond).

Architectural Overview
Network architectures for RAN backhaul in the IP/MPLS Forums MPLS Mobile Backhaul Initiative are defined for various
Transport Network Layers (TNL) and mobile network generations. These scenarios are grouped as follows and comprise two
basic categories: legacy (TDM, ATM, HDLC) and future (IP/Ethernet).
Network

Specification

GSM/GPRS (2G/2.5G)
EDGE (2.5G)
UMTS /HSDPA/HSUPA
(3G)

R3, R99/R4
R99/R5, R6

CDMA 1x-RTT (2.5G)

CDMA 1x EV-DO (3G)

IS-2000
IS-856

Mobile WiMAX

WiMAX Forum
Network Access
Architecture R1.1
R7/R8

Long Term Evolution (4G)

TNL

Speed (approximate)

TDM
TDM
ATM
ATM
IP
HDLC or TDM
IP

56 - 114 Kbps
236.8 Kbps 473.6 Kbps
~384 Kbps (uplink)
~ 2 to 3.1 Mbps (downlink)

IP

IP

144 Kbps
~ 1.8 Mbps (uplink),
~ 3.1 Mbps
(downlink)
50 Mbps

> 50 Mbps (uplink)

> 100 Mbps (downlink)

Legacy
In the legacy environment, RAN equipment communicates via
either TDM or ATM TNLs and are connected with a T1/E1
interface, or with an Ethernet interface (Fast Ethernet) if TDM
or ATM is encapsulated over Ethernet via IP or MPLS. The
functionality necessary to transport legacy traffic over MPLS

can be performed either at the edge node, the access node,

the access gateway or directly in the RAN equipment. The
HDLC layer features in CDMA 1x-RTT and covers RAN equipment communicating by means of HDLC-encoded bit streams.

Use of MPLS technology in mobile backhaul networks

Future
In R5 3G, LTE and mobile WiMAX environments, the RAN
equipment interfaces use the IP TNL either at the Iub interface (for 3G) or on R7/R8 for LTE or mobile WIMAX. Mobile
traffic over IP TNL can be transported either via Ethernet
pseudowires or regular IP/MPLS TE tunnels over MMBIs
mobile backhaul network. IP termination can take place either
at the edge node, the access node, the access gateway or
directly at the RAN equipment.

Various deployment scenarios arise depending on the location

(and the extent) of MPLS technology in the mobile backhaul
network and whether it comprises both the access and aggregation sections of the network or just the aggregation section.
For further details on the MMBI reference architecture
please visit: http://www.ipmplsforum.org/ or e-mail
info@ipmplsforum.org

RAN Equipment Synchronization

RAN equipment needs to be fully synchronised to a common
reference timing signal to ensure sufficient frequency stability,
radio framing accuracy and handoff control for RF channels.
Thus the mobile backhaul network needs to support distribution of frequency from the Radio Network Controller (RNC) to
the RAN equipment.

For example, in the case where the air-interface is based on Time

Division Duplexing (TDD), the base station clocks must be synchronized to ensure no overlap of their transmissions within the
TDD frames. Ensuring synchronisation allows for tighter accuracies and reduced guard bands thereby ensuring higher capacity.
In the case of legacy TNLs such as TDM, synchronisation also
focuses on backhaul transport reliability (see figure 3).

BSC

BSC

ET
1: Radio Framing
Accuracy

Mobile
Core
Network(s)

ET
Node

2: Hand Off Control

Node

RN
3: Backhaul
Transport Reliability

Figure 3: Clocking and synchronisation in RAN

IP/MPLS Forum White Paper

The MMBI outlines the following methods for clock distribution

over an IP/MPLS based backhaul network. In the case of RAN
equipment with IP TNL (including LTE), packet based methods
where the frequency reference is carried over packets (e.g.,
based on Network Time Protocol (NTP)) may be used to deliver
frequency to address the frequency stability requirements of the
radio equipment. For legacy TNLs, such as TDM, and ATM, a
dedicated timing stream implemented using a pseudowire may
be used to carry the reference timing signal from the RNCs to

the RAN equipment both for backhaul transport reliability as

well as frequency stability requirements of the radio equipment.
Other methods for distributing the reference timing signal
to the RAN equipment include, delivery via methods such as
synchronous Ethernet or IEEE 1588 v2 or by deriving timing
from the PDH/SDH transmission mechanisms used in the
mobile access networks. In particular in order to support the
strict synchronization requirements of TDD systems, the use
of GPS is a widely used option.

OAM and Resiliency

One of the main advantages of MPLS is that it provides a wide
selection of flexible troubleshooting and OAM tools that enable
the deployment of a truly carrier-grade backhaul network.
These include fault detection methods to drive protection
switching mechanisms such as MPLS Fast Reroute. Other
protocols enable fault diagnosis, fault isolation (eg: LSP Ping
and LSP traceroute) and performance monitoring. MPLS
protocols also provide tools for loopback and connectivity
check. Examples include VCCV for pseudowire-based MPLS

backhaul solutions and BFD for IP based MPLS backhaul

solutions. These OAM tools will remain applicable for future
LTE mobile backhaul networks implemented as either IP
based or Ethernet pseudowire based solutions.
For legacy TNLs and Ethernet pseudowire based solutions,
the MMBI initiative leverages previous specifications by the
IP/MPLS forum that support interworking between native
Layer1/Layer2 OAM and MPLS OAM.

Use of MPLS technology in mobile backhaul networks

Conclusion
The migration towards 3G networks and devices is expected to quicken over the next few years. Air interface enhancements such as HSPA,
a relatively inexpensive network upgrade, will also continue to grow in
popularity. Mobile operators have also begun to develop strategies and
technology roadmaps that will enable them to launch 4G services
using technologies such as LTE and mobile WiMAX. The first commercial launches of these 4G networks are expected in 2008.
As network speeds continue to improve the environment
for innovative new data services will also prosper. If delivered
successfully, these new services will provide a lucrative new
revenue stream for operators. These new data services will
encompass many elements: location-based services, mobile
TV, social networking, mobile gaming and many more.
But the increase in bandwidth requirements for these new
services will mean that traditional backhaul networks based
on legacy technologies such as ATM will no longer remain a
cost-effective method for handling backhaul. Nor will they be
sophisticated enough to cope with functions such as quality
of service and resiliency management, which will be integral
parts of this new service delivery environment. For these
reasons, mobile backhaul is at risk of becoming the bottleneck
in todays mobile networks.
MPLS technology in the backhaul is the solution to this problem
for a series of reasons. The flexibility of the technology means it

IP/MPLS Forum White Paper

will offer benefits and cost efficiencies in both legacy mobile

backhaul and for future environments based on new technologies such as LTE. This means existing technology investments
are protected and at the same time ensures that the technology
will remain sufficiently future proof and scalable.
The ability to support QoS, traffic engineering and resiliency
features will ensure that new services can be successfully
rolled-out, while mobile operators will be able to leverage
further cost benefits by using an MPLS-based backhaul
network to deliver many non-backhaul services.
The goal of the IP/MPLS Forum is to provide guidelines on
the architecture, scenarios and technology choices for IP/MPLS
RAN backhaul within the various network environments
(legacy, IP, converged).
The MMBI framework is based on the mobile network definitions outlined by the industry standards organizations (3GPP,
3GPP2, WiMAX Forum etc.) The solution is based on MPLS
specifications and protocols developed at the IETF. The MMBI
initiative is also being coordinated with other mobile backhaul
activities underway at industry organizations such as the
Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) and the DSL Forum.
For more information please visit:
http://www.ipmplsforum.org/ or e-mail info@ipmplsforum.org

48377 Fremont Blvd., Suite 117

Fremont, CA 94538
Phone: +1-510-492-4056
Fax: +1-510-492-4001
E-mail: info@ipmplsforum.org