MM-3GPP 1

Mobile Communications

Mobility Management in 3GPP Networks

Manuel P. Ricardo

Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto

 MM-3GPP 2

♦ How is the terminal mobility managed in GSM?

♦ How is the terminal mobility managed in GPRS?
♦ How is the terminal mobility managed in UMTS?
 MM-3GPP 3

GSM
 MM-3GPP 4

4 types of handover
1
2 3 4
MS MS MS MS

BTS BTS BTS BTS

BSC BSC BSC

MSC MSC

1 - between different sectors of the same cell

2 - between different cells within the same BSC domain
3 - between different BSC domains within the same MSC domain
4 - between different MSC domains
 MM-3GPP 5

Handover decision

receive level receive level

BTSold BTSnew

handover
margin

HO_MARGIN

MS MS

BTSold BTSnew
 MM-3GPP 6

Mobile-Assisted Handover (MAHO)

MS scans, measures and reports power received from several RF carrier based on BCCH information

OLD NEW
MS BTS BSC MSC BSC BTS

measurement measurement
report result

HO decision
HO required HO request
resource allocation
ch. activation

HO request ack ch. activation ack

HO command HO command
HO command
HO access
link establishment

HO complete HO complete
clear command clear command

clear complete clear complete

 MM-3GPP 7

Location update
♦ MS is aware of location
» BTS broadcasts Location Area Identification (LAI) on BCCH
» SIM stores current LAI and TMSI

♦ Events which determine a current location update

» MS is switched on and current LAI equals the stored LAI
» a timer set by the network expires and MS reports position
TMSI may be updated and stored in SIM

♦ Events which determine a new location update

» MS is switched on and current LAI differs from stored LAI
» MS enters a new location area
TMSI and LAI are updated and stored in SIM
 MM-3GPP 8

Location update – new location

NEW OLD
MS MSC VLR HLR VLRold MSCold

location update
request location update
request
(old LAI/TMSI sent) request IMSI

send IMSI
send IMSI

update location update location

request
update
update confirmed cancel location
update confirmed request
confirmed cancel location

cancellation
cancellation confirmed
confirmed
 MM-3GPP 9

Location update
Channel activity at radio interface
BTS MS
BCCH System parameters and other overhead idle updated

Channel request RACH

successful access
AGCH Assign stand alone dedicated control channel

Location updating request SDCCH old LAI/TMSI sent

send RAND SDCCH Authentication request calculate SRES / Kc

calculate SRES / Kc
Authentication response SDCCH send SRES

SRES confirmed
SDCCH Request to transmit in cipher mode switch to cipher mode

Acknowledge cipher mode request SDCCH

new TMSI sent SDCCH Location update confirmed store LAI/TMSI in SIM
(optional)
Acknowledge new location SDCCH

SDCCH Release stand alone dedicated control channel idle updated

 MM-3GPP 10

GPRS, 2G
(3GPP TS 23.060)
 MM-3GPP 11

Terminal Mobility Management

♦ Packet forwarding in downlink

demands knowledge of terminal location
» If terminal informs frequently the network about its location
network is aware of the terminal’s cell

fast packet forwarding, but high consumption of batery and radio resources
» If terminal does not inform frequently the network about its location
network needs to “page” the terminal before each packet transmission

slow forwarding

♦ Solution - divided the space in more areas than in GSM

» Routeing Areas (RA), in GPRS
– 1 Location Area (LA) of GSM  n Routeing Areas (RA)
– 1 RA  n cells
 MM-3GPP 12

Terminal Mobility Management - updating states

• Frequency of actualization in terminal
3 states
• IDLE
Terminal does not inform SGSN
about its position
• READY
Terminal informs SGSN
when it enters a new cell élula
• Precise location
• No paging required
• STANDBY
Terminal inform SGSN
when it enters in a new RA
• Cell changes are not communicated
• Packet transmission in downlink
paging of the cells of the RA
 MM-3GPP 13

Mobility Management

♦ Micro Mobility
– Terminal moves between cells under control of the same SGSN
1 SGSN
n RAs; 1 RA
n cells
– Mobility is managed by the SGSN
– New terminal position is not communicated to other network elements (GGSN, HLR)

♦ Macro Mobility
– Terminal moves between cells under control of different SGSNs
– New SGSN requests PDP Contexts (session descriptors) to old SGSN
– New SGSN requests GGSN to update the forwarding tables (L2 tunnels)
– SGSN updates HLR
 MM-3GPP 14

Micromobility -
Routing Area Actualization (Intra SGSN)
MS BSS SGSN

1. Routeing Area Update Request

2. Security Functions

3. Routeing Area Update Accept

C1
4. Routeing Area Update Complete

1. Routeing Area Update Request (P-TMSI, old RAI, P-TMSI Signature, Update Type)
Update Type indicates RA update or periodic RA update.
2. Security functions may be executed
3. The SGSN validates the MS's presence in the new RA.
If all checks are successful, the SGSN can reallocate a new P-TMSI.
A Routeing Area Update Accept (P-TMSI, P-TMSI Signature) is returned to the MS
4. If P-TMSI was reallocated, the MS acknowledges the new P-TMSI by returning a
Routeing Area Update Complete message to the SGSN.
 MM-3GPP 15

RA Actualization (Inter SGSN)

MS BSS new SGSN old SGSN GGSN HLR

1. Routeing Area Update Request

2. SGSN Context Request

2. SGSN Context Response

3. Security Functions S
4. SGSN Context Acknowledge G
S M
C1
5. Forward Packets S M
6. Update PDP Context Request G
S
6. Update PDP Context Response

7. Update Location S – SGSN, G – GGSN, M - MS

8. Cancel Location

8. Cancel Location Ack

9. Insert Subscriber Data S M

9. Insert Subscriber Data Ack G
S
10. Update Location Ack

C2
S M
11. Routeing Area Update Accept G
S
C3
12. Routeing Area Update Complete
 MM-3GPP 16

UMTS, 3G, Packet Domain

(3GPP TS 23.060)
 MM-3GPP 17

Macrodiversity and Handover

» Softer handover
between 2 sectors of same cell
» Soft handover
between 2 cells of same RNC
» Hard handover
between different systems

Soft Handover
 MM-3GPP 18

Softer Handover – between 2 sectors of same cell

• Internal to Node B

• No extra
transmissions in
networks

• Rake receiver

• Additional
diversity gain
 MM-3GPP 19

Soft Handover – between 2 cells of same RNC

 MM-3GPP 20

UMTS, Handover, Interface Iur

♦ Handover – uses Interface Iur; between RNC

GSM UMTS
MSC MSC UMSC UMSC UMSC

Iur Iur Iur

BSC BSC BSC BSC RNC RNC RNC RNC RNC RNC
 MM-3GPP 21

Mobility Management – 3G, Iu mode (UMTS)

PMM- PMM-
D E TA C H E D D E TA C H E D

D etac h, D etac h,
P S D et ac h P S A ttac h R ejec t, P S D et ac h P S A ttac h R ejec t,
P S A tt ac h R A U R ej ec t P S A tt ac h R A U R ej ec t

P S S ign alling P S S ign alling

C on n ec tion R eleas e PM M - C on n ec tion R eleas e PM M -
P M M -ID L E C ONNE CTE D P M M -ID L E
C ONNE CTE D
S M -A C T IV E or S M -A C T IV E or S M -A C T IV E or S M -A C T IV E or
IN A C T IV E P S S ign alling IN A C T IV E IN A C T IV E P S S ign alling IN A C T IV E
C on n ec tio n E s tab lis h C on n ec tion E s tab lis h

S erv in g R N C
reloc ation

M S M M S ta te s 3 G -S G S N M M S ta te s
 MM-3GPP 22

Mobility Management States

♦ PMM-DETACHED state
» no communication between the MS and 3G-SGSN
» MS location un-known
» If MS performs the GPRS Attach procedure

MM contexts in the MS and the SGSN

♦ PMM-IDLE state
» The MS location known; accuracy of a Routeing Area
» Paging needed
» MS performs Routeing Area update if RA changes

♦ PMM-CONNECTED state
» MS location known with an accuracy of a serving RNC
» MS location tracked by serving RNC
 MM-3GPP 23

Location Management Function, in 3G

♦ In 2G, MS tracked in 2 levels: cell, RA
♦ In 3G, MS tracked in 3 levels: cell, RAN-area, RA
RAN – Radio Access Network
RA – Routeing Area

♦ Mechanisms required for

– network to know about the Routeing Area of MS
– RAN to know about the RAN-area or cell of MS
 new old
MS
new
SRNS
old
SRNS
new
3G-SGSN
old
3G-SGSN GGSN MSC/VLR HLR MSC/VLR MM-3GPP 24
1. Routeing Area Update Request
2. SGSN Context Request

2a. SRNS Context Request

2a. SRNS Context Response

RA Update 4. Security Functions

3. SGSN Context Response

5. SGSN Context Ack

C1
3
6. SRNS Data Forward Command
7. Forward Packets
8. Forward Packets

9. Update PDP Context Request

9. Update PDP Context Response

10. Update Location

11. Cancel Location

11a. Iu Release Command

11a. Iu Release Complete

11. Cancel Location Ack

12. Insert Subscriber Data

12. Insert Subscriber Data Ack

13. Update Location Ack

14. Location Update Request

15a. Update Location
15b. Cancel Location

15c. Cancel Location Ack

15d. Insert Subscriber Data

15e. Insert Subscriber Data Ack

15f. Update Location Ack

16. Location Update Accept

C2

17. Routeing Area Update Accept

C3

18. Routeing Area Update Complete

19. TMSI Reallocation Complete
 MM-3GPP 25

Serving RNS Relocation Procedures

♦ Supports movement from serving-RNS to target-RNC
♦ Lossless Relocation
♦ MS and RNS have to support lossless PDCP
» s-RNS forwards GTP-PDUs to t-RNS (received-but-not-yet-transferred)
 MM-3GPP 26

Serving RNS Relocation Procedure

HLR/AuC HLR/AuC

GGSN GGSN

old MSC/VLR old SGSN new SGSN new MSC/VLR old MSC/VLR old SGSN new SGSN new MSC/VLR

source SRNC target RNC source RNC target SRNC

LA1, RA1 LA2, RA2 LA1, RA1 LA2, RA2

MS MS

After SRNS Relocation and

Before SRNS Relocation and Routeing Area Update
Routeing Area Update
 MS Source Target Old New GGSN
MM-3GPP 27
RNC RNC SGSN SGSN

1. Decision to perform
SRNS relocation

SRNS Relocation Procedure 2. Relocation Required

3. Forward Relocation Request

4. Relocation Request

Establishment of Radio Access Bearers

4. Relocation Request Acknowledge

5. Forward Relocation Response

C1
6. Relocation Command

7. Forwarding of data

8. Relocation Commit

9. Relocation Detect
10. RAN Mobility Information

10. RAN Mobility Information Confirm

11. Relocation Complete

12. Forward Relocation Complete

12. Forward Relocation Complete Acknowledge

13. Update PDP Context Request

14. Iu Release Command
14. Iu Release Complete 13. Update PDP Context Response

15. Routing Area Update C2

C3
 MM-3GPP 28

Combined Hard Handover and SRNS Relocation Procedure

HLR/AuC HLR/AuC

GGSN GGSN

old MSC/VLR old SGSN new SGSN new MSC/VLR old MSC/VLR old SGSN new SGSN new MSC/VLR

source SRNC target RNC source RNC target SRNC

LA1, RA1 LA2, RA2 LA1, RA1 LA2, RA2

MS MS

Before Combined Hard Handover and After Combined Hard Handover and
SRNS Relocation and Routeing Area Update SRNS Relocation and Routeing Area Update
 MS Source Target Old New MM-3GPP
GGSN
29
RNC RNC SGSN SGSN

Combined Hard Handover 1. Decision to perform

SRNS Relocation
MS Involved

2. Relocation Required
and SRNS Relocation Procedure 3. Forward Relocation Request

4. Relocation Request

Establishment of Radio Access Bearers

4. Relocation Request Acknowledge

5. Forward Relocation Response

C1
6. Relocation Command
7. Forwarding of data

8. RRC message
9. Forward SRNS Context
9. Forward SRNS Context

9. Forward SRNS Context Acknowledge

9. Forward SRNS Context

MS detected by target RNC

10. Relocation Detect

8. RRC message

11. Relocation Complete

12. Forward Relocation Complete

12. Forward Relocation Complete Acknowledge

14. Iu Release Command 13. Update PDP Context Request

14. Iu Release Complete 13. Update PDP Context Response

15. Routing Area Update C2

C3