Network Based Services in Mobile Networks

Context, Typical Use Cases, Problem Area, Requirements

IETF 87 Berlin, 29 July 2013

BoF Meeting on Network Service
Chaining (NSC)
walter.haeffner@vodafone.com
n.leymann@telekom.de
IETF 87 - 29 July 2013

Context: Mobile Networks and Service

Platforms
MajorLTEBuilding
Blocks of a LTE Service Platform
Control Plane
Home Subscriber System

LTE Data Plane

Mobility Management Entity

eNB
eNB
eNodeB

Cell
Cell
Aggregati
Aggregati
on
on
Network
Network

Backhaul
Backhaul
Network
Network

HSS
HSS

MME
MME

S-GW
S-GW
Serving
Gateway

Policy
& Charging
Rules
Function

PDN: Packet Data Network

PCRF
PCRF

Network
Network
Services
SGi Services
P-GW SGi
P-GW
(SGi-LAN)
(SGi-LAN)
Packet
Gateway

Operator
Operator
Based
Based
Services
Services

Internet
Internet

SG-interface is the 3GPP reference point between P-GW and Packet Data Network.
SGi protocol structure, data content, scope not specified (equal for Gi in 3G networks).
Operator based services like, VoLTE, Mail, Web, RCS-e/Joyn, SMS, MMS not in scope.
Scope here: network services like firewalls, DPI, performance enhancement proxies
for videos, TCP optimization & header enrichment, NAT, load balancers, caching, etc.
This class of services takes care of managing network traffic and network policing.
IETF 87 - 29 July 2013

Context: Principle of Typical Hard-Wired SGi-LAN

Services
Current Common Approach Logical View on Typical Use Cases
Web Service
Service for
for Smartphone
Smartphone User
User
Web
APN
APN

Web
Web
Proxy
Proxy

LB
LB

FW
FW

NAT
NAT

Fixed-Mobile-Converged Enterprise
Enterprise Service
Service
Fixed-Mobile-Converged
APN
APN
Mobile
Mobile
Access
Access

Router
Router
ACL
ACL

P-GW
P-GW

MPLS VPN

Operators IMS
IMS offer
offer
Operators
APN
APN

Operators
IMS (VoLTE)

SBC
SBC

Video Service
Service
Video
APN: Access Point Name
LB: Load Balancer
FW: Firewall
ACL: Access Control List
SBC: Session Boarder Controller
IMS: IP Multimedia Subsystem
OTT: Over The Top

APN
APN

Video
Video
Optimi
Optimi
zer
zer

OTT
Video Service

FW
FW

Service related IP interface, VLAN

IETF 87 - 29 July 2013

Problem: Hard-Wired SGi-LAN Services

Current Common Approach More Physical View on Typical
SGi-LAN
GW
GW
to Internet Router
Router

PE
PE
Router
Router

IP BB

to IMS
TCP
TCP
Optimiz
Optimiz
er
er

PE
Router

SGi
SGi

P-GW
P-GW

Router
Router
Interne
Interne
tt
FW/NAT
FW/NAT

Roamin
Roamin
g
g
FW
FW

DPI
DPI

LB/NAT
LB/NAT

HTTP
HTTP
Optimiz
Optimiz
er
er

Performance Enhancement
Proxy (PEP)
Video
Video
Optimiz
Optimiz
er
er

Caches
Caches

HTTP
HTTP
Proxies
Proxies

With deployment of additional value-added services increasing number of

functions required
in SGi-LAN. Some functions in dedicated devices, sometimes multiple
functions in one box.
Due to fast service introduction cycles service chains emerge, growth &
change evolutionary.
Very often static IP links, policy routing, VRFs etc. used to enforce required
service sequence.
IETF 87 - 29 July 2013
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Results in steadily increasing, handcrafted complexity and decreased

Requirement: Simplicity, Flexibility, Speed,

Expandability
Vision: Service Chain Abstraction and Network Compilation
1

graphs uni- or
bidirectional

6
3

Create Service Function Topology

Define Branch Conditions

Compiler not yet invented creates

Configuration for Service Chains

Mediation Device
1

Abstract service
Abstract link

S
S
(virtual) service engine
1
1

S
S
1
1

S
S
2
2

S
S
3
3

S
S
4
4

S
S
5
5

S
S
6
6

(virtual) forwarding device

Physical Layer

IETF 87 - 29 July 2013

Preference for Telco

Cloud
Forwarding
Topologies for
multiple service
chains
Branching rules in
5
services

Requirement: High Degree of Freedom in Chain

Creation
Network provides us with sufficient Metadata to differentiate
PCRF
PCRF

Gx
Gx

Load
Load
Prob
Prob
e
e

GTP Tunnel

SGi
P-GW SGi
P-GW

Some metadata in P-GW state

UE: terminal type (HTC one)
IMSI (country, carrier, user)
GTP Tunnel:
eNB-ID
time
PCRF:
user
APN (service)
QoS
policy

PEP
PEP

User Equipment (UE)

Probes may deliver cell load,
link loads, session loads etc.
for real time network policing

BGP-TE/LS

We may connect all relevant service functions with all relevant sources for
metadata or
We may piggyback metadata information with the IP packets traversing a
service chain.
IETFseems
87 - 29 July
6
Piggybacking metadata
to2013
be more straightforward
than picking

Summary:
Market dynamics accelerate need and demand for more services at an
even faster rate.
With current approaches network service LANs and their service chains
become more and more complex, error-prone, hard to manage and hard to
extend. Its a dead end street.
Vision is to decouple creation of service topologies and their internal
branching conditions from the creation of the associated underlying packet
forwarding (overlay) network.
Operators think in terms of an ordered sequences of network services
(more precisely graphs) selected out of a service pool and define forking
conditions in the service graphs based on metadata sets including user
data, related service classes, type of user equipment in use, network
conditions etc.
(Conditional) forwarding decisions done in a network service node may
IETF 87 - 29 July 2013
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