EPC Core Overview

MCI
February-2015
y

Nokia 2015

Signaling is growing 50% faster than data traffic

in Evolved Packet Core

LTE network requires 50-80%

more signaling compare to
2G/3G network

Nokia 2015

Signaling requirements are

driven by flat architecture and
network deployment.

Service awareness and

differentiated charging
contributes to overall transaction
requirements

Market Outlook

EPC investment
wave #2 starts now
Operators have
started investing in
EPC capacity to
cope with signaling
and traffic g
growth in
4G network

Voice and video

over LTE
Operators
Operator
s
investment on
experience mgmt,
voice capability and
video optimization
p
are essential

Subscriber and
session growth
continues
Machine to Machine
growth driving huge
EPC capacity needs
for operators
p
in Asia,,
Europe and America

Disruption with cloud

Technologically advanced operators and vendors have started focusing
on the Telco cloud evolution

Nokia 2015

Packet Core Portfolio

Radio Access

Packet Core is the

anchor point for
subscriber mobility
between radio access
and services, and
control point for quality
of service and traffic
monetization

Evolved Packet Core

Gb

BTS

Anchor point for subscriber mobility

between Radio Access
S6a
PCRF

BSC
Iu

NodeB
RNC

SGSN/MME
(Flexi NS)

S11

Gx

IMS/VoLTE

Mobile Broadband
Service

SGi
GGSN/S/P-GW
(Flexi NG)

Control point for quality of service and

traffic monetization

SGSN/MME:
Highly signaling driven function that provides mobility
management, authentication of subscribers for 2G/3G/4G
radio access and end-user services (internet, VoLTE)

Nokia 2015

Operator Voice and SMS

Services

Rx

S1 MME
S1-MME
eNodeB

HSS

CMD

Corporate Connectivity
Service

S/P Gateway:
Vehicle for understanding mobile data, managing and charging
the traffic. Source for user experience data in MBB networks,
with integration to CEM and Managing end-to-end QoS

Nokias strategy is to use the

same HW platform for all core network elements
For 2G/3G networks

SGSN
GGSN
MSS
MGW
PCRF

SGSN

For LTE (and 2G/3G)

MME (with SGSN)

S/P-GW (with GGSN)
MSS
MGW
G
PCRF

*) Commercial off the shelf

Nokia 2015

GGSN

PCRF

MME
C bi d
Combined
SGSN/MME

S/PGW

PCRF

MSS

IMS

MGW

Common COTS *)) ATCA HW platform for core

key products

Different core network

elements
l
t can be
b equipped
i
d
In the same cabinet

Flexi NS Highlights
High
Hi
hC
Capacity
it
10 M Subscribers
30 M Bearers, 10 M PDP Contexts
34 k/26 k transactions/s (MME/SGSN)
20 k eNodeB
eNodeB, 8 k I-HSPA
I HSPA Nodes
3.6/16.8 Gbit/s (2G/3G) throughput
Functionality
Session/Bearer and Mobility Management
Authentication
A th ti ti
Feature parity for the SGSN
Release 8 Architecture and interfaces supported
Compliant to 3GPP R10 (3/2012 MME) and 3GPP R9 (12/2010 SGSN)
Telecom HW Platform
Utilizes ATCA standards designed for telecommunication environment
Commercial of the Shelf HW (COTS)
Common use with S/P-GW, GGSN, HLR, MGW and MSS
> 99.999
99 999 % A
Availability
il bilit and
dU
Unit
it redundancy
d d
Conformance to environmental specifications (ETSI, NEBS etc.)
6

Nokia 2015

MSC/VLR

Interfaces
MME

MSC/VLR

S4 SGSN

Gn SGSN
1xCS IWS
((CDMA))

GTP-C v2
UDP
IP

SGsAP
SCTP
IP
SGs

Sv

GTP-C v2
UDP
IP
S3

Gn

UE
NAS

eNodeB

S1-MME

GTP-C v1
UDP
IP
S102
SBc

NAS
MME

S1-AP
SCTP
IP

S11
S6a
S13

SLg/SLs
OAM

Diameter
SCTP
IP

S10

X1_1/X2

SOAP
HTTP
TCP
IP

GTP-C v2
UDP
IP

LIPv2
TCP
IP

NMS

MME

LIMS/LIC

GMLC/eSMLC

Nokia 2015

S102AP
UDP
IP
SBcAP
SCTP
IP

CBC

S-GW

GTP-C v2
UDP
IP
Diameter
SCTP
IP
Diameter
SCTP
IP

HSS

EIR

Architecture
Functional Units MME
MMDU: Mobility Management & Database Unit
Subscriber database and subscriber state based mobility
management for the MME
CPPU: Control Plane Processing Unit
Transaction based mobility management
IPDU: IP Director Unit
Load balancing, connectivity and IP address virtualization
OMU: O&M Unit
Operation and maintenance functionality
MCHU: Marker & Charging Unit
Statistic functionalities
HUB: Hub Blade
Node
N d iinternal
t
l Eth
Ethernett connectivity
ti it b
between
t
ffunctional
ti
l units.
it
External interfaces

OMU

CPPU

(2n)

(n+)

MCHU

VMU

(2n)

Ethernet
MMDU
(n+)

Ethernet
HUB
(2n)

IPDU

(n+1)

(2n)

SMMU
(n+1)

IPPU

GBU
CABU

Nokia 2015

(n+)

(n+)

(n+1)

PAPU
(n+1)

FRIU

Architecture
Functional Units SGSN
VMU: Virtualization Management Unit
Hosts logical PAPU and SMMU. PAPU processes 2G and 3G control

OMU

CPPU

(2n)

(n+)

planes. The SMMU handles mobility management operations

MMDU: Mobility Management & Database Unit

Subscriber database
MCHU
IPDU: IP Director Unit
(2n)
Load balancing, connectivity and IP address virtualization
IPPU: IP Packet Processing Unit
3G user p
plane throughput
g p handling
g
GBU: Gb Interface Unit
MMDU
2G user plane throughput handling
(n+)
CABU: Carrier Blade Unit
Houses Frame Relay Interface Units (FRIU). External STM-1 IF
OMU O&M Unit
OMU:
U it
IPDU
Operation and maintenance functionality
(n+1)
MCHU: Marker & Charging Unit
Statistic functionalities, charging
HUB: Hub Blade
Node internal Ethernet connectivity between functional units. External IF
9

Nokia 2015

VMU

Ethernet
Ethernet
HUB
(2n)

PAPU
(n+1)

(n+)

IPPU
(n+)

GBU
(n+1)

CABU
(2n)

SMMU
(n+1)

FRIU

Flexi Network Gateway highlights

Market-leading
Market
leading capacity for Mobile Broadband growth
ATCA-based high-performance platform
Up to 720 Gbps throughput & 72 M sessions per cabinet
Leading throughput capacity, session density, signaling performance, and
DPI performance / service intelligence
Individual scalability in multiple dimensions e.g. in control plane and user
plane
Flexibility for centralized and decentralized deployments
Single platform and software for 2G, 3G and LTE
Flexibility to deploy GGSN and LTE S/P-GW resources in a single element
Intelligent control point in IP edge
Versatile integrated Deep Packet Inspection and Policy Enforcement
functions
((1300+ p
protocols))
Fully compatible with 3GPP online charging and Policy and Charging
Control (PCC) architecture, customization capability
10

Nokia 2015

Flexi NG Hardware Components and Roles

The main HW components are:

Nokia ATCA Cabinet, housing 3 shelves.

ATCA Shelf with 16 slots for blades. One shelf is one Flexi NG element

Hub Blades (1+1) providing the internal switching functions

Management Blades (1+1) running O&M and routing, and hosting disk storages

Interface Blades providing aggregated physical connectivity

Service Blades hosting the user sessions, running the gateway application

Service Aware Blades performing Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) functions (optional)

Service / Interface /
Service Aware Blade (AMPP2-A)
(AMPP2 A)

11

ATCA Shelf

Nokia 2015

Hub Blade (AHUB4-A)

M
Management
t Bl
Blade
d (ACPI
CPI5
5-A)

ATCA Cabinet (CAB216)

Optimize the Traffic and Monetize Your Network

Compared to a standalone solution, the integrated IP Edge option, provisioning In-Line Services on a single platform, represents the
most efficient and cost-effective way for mobile operators to optimize and monetize their networks. The integrated approach creates
new revenue streams, simplifies network topology and management, and lowers OPEX and CAPEX.

Standalone Inline Network Topology

O&M

Several O&M

Integrated IP Edge
O&M

Standalone Inline Services

S/P Gateway

S/P Gateway
Load
NAT
Balancer
Standalone option
requires more
Network Elements
and adds
complexity

12

Scalability of each
network elements
is challenging to
match network
needs

Nokia 2015

FW

Policy & DPI

Charging

Increases OPEX:
Management of
multiple network
elements and
interfaces

Increases CAPEX
for additional
equipment and
installation

Integrated
g
NAT, FW,
DPI, Policy
& Charging,

Simplifies network
topology and reduces
support
pp requirements
q
Improves Network
eliability under one
platform
Reduce CAPEX and
OPEX, which makes
services more profitable
One Platform, One
License Management,
Easy scalability

Mobile gateway needs to scale in 4 key dimensions

Throughput
Th
h t
Mobile Broadband drives throughput.
Throughput has to be retained
independently of the signaling load
and subscriber density

Session density
Always-on 3G connectivity, M2M
LTE is always-on

13

Nokia 2015

Signaling capacity
Flat network architecture increases
gateway signaling requirements
Additional signaling for service
awareness
High subscriber density
Always-on smart devices and mobility

Service intelligence
Scarce radio resources and a variety of
t
terminals
i l require
i network-based
t
kb
d iintelligence
t lli
to differentiate applications and service
subscription to:
Ensure best end user experience
Maximize network utilization

Flexi NG meets all gateway dimensions with

linear scaling by the number of the blades
Throughput
20 Gbps per blade with Internet traffic mix (512 B
packets)
240 Gbps per shelf (element)
720 Gbps per cabinet

Signaling capacity
100 k bearer transactions per sec per shelf
300 k per cabinet

Platform needs to provide high performance, scalability and flexibility in all dimensions. Failure
to perform in any of them will lead to suboptimal solution restricting operator business
severely
Session density
2 M PDP contexts / bearers per blade
24 M per shelf (element)
72 M per cabinet
Low-footprint ATCA shelf (3 per cabinet)

14

Nokia 2015

Service intelligence
20 Gbps per service aware blade
HW accelerated Service Awareness and DPI
Detection of 1300+ protocols
Service-based charging and policies

What Analysts tell about us

Statements and endorsements

Nokia now a
leader in the end
endto-end LTE
(including EPC) Magic Quadrant

Leadership with endto-end portfolio

15

Nokia 2015

Nokia has made

the product
transition and
appears very
prepared to defend
and compete ...
It has basis of a
competitive product
d a hunger
h
ffor
sett and
market share
Strong challenger to
grab market share

Flexi NG and Flexi

NS are based on
ATCA hardware
technology and uses
commercial-off-theshelf (COTS)
components for
deployment flexibility,
fast introduction of
technology updates
and long component
lif
ti

lifetime.

COTS Platform as
differentiation

Nokias mobile
packet core solution is
very threatening in the
market because it
market,
was one of the early
EPC solutions and
has maintained
market momentum
t major
ajo mobile
ob e
with
operators based on
functionality and
quality of experience,
and now with class
g performance.
p
leading

Industry leading
product performance

Nokia
N
ki h
has shown
h
leadership in
virtualizing the EPC
with their Liquid Core
architecture. The EPC
nodes are run virtually
on the commercial
ATCA blades, and are
therefore adaptable to
different platforms. As
a practical matter
matter, the
Nokia EPC is SDN
EPC running their
software nodes in a
virtual environment

Core Virtualization
thought leadership

Nokia Packet Core Leadership and Market Success

Packet Core
customers

290+

Countries we
work in

120+

Nokia has strong

presence in all leading
LTE markets.
markets

Outperforming competition
g LTE/EPC market
in leading

16

Nokia 2015

Global
subscriber base

EPC ready
product
delivered

EPC
References

1.3Bn 1200+

67

Innovation leadership

Industry best EPC

products for LTE

Industry leading Telco Cloud

evolution on COTS & IT
ad ae
hardware

Industry leading signaling

capacity in
EPC products

EPC References
EPC
References

67

Live
commercial
use

51

FI

JP

TD

BR
TD

LV

LV

CL

11
17

Nokia 2015

23

33

TD

LT

QA

BG
TD

AU
TD

SG

BR
TD

CH

Asia Pacific

IN

TD

TD

LU
TD

TD

TD

TD

Europe, Middle
East & Africa

US
TD

EE

US
TD

TD

TD

Americas

SE

TD

US
TD

RU
TD

GL

BR
TD

TW

CO
TD

= Live

TD

Nokia Core Network

Nodes in the Cloud

EPC
(FlexiNS, FlexiNG)
18

Nokia 2015

Nokia EPC in cloud

The design principles
Commercially available and operator chosen
CPU cluster (x86 farm) for cloud deployment

Load
d Balancer

Gateway
G
Ap
pplication

V
M

V
M

Host CPU cluster (x86 farm)

Load balancing for user and control plane traffic

within the cloud

Software Defined Network

19

Nokia 2015

Gateway
G
Ap
pplication

Ap
pplication
Management
V
M

Automated deployment and scaling of both user

and control plane EPC applications running on
VMs

V
M

MME
Ap
pplication

MME
Ap
pplication
V
M

S/P Gateway

V
M

Load
d Balancer
V
M

Application management in cloud environment

for simplified integration and reduced complexity

Ap
pplication
Management

Nokia Cloud management for automated

installation, scaling, re-use of VM and resource
management in cloud environment

V
M

SGSN/MME

Nokia Core Network Nodes in the Cloud FlexiNS

FlexiNS MME on Cloud Virtual Machines types
FlexiNS MME vNE
Network Element
statistics
i i

FlexiNS VM

FlexiNS VM

FlexiNS VM

O&M unit

Marker &
Charging Unit

Load Balancer

2N

1+1

2N

OMU

vCPU
vRAM
vHDD

Interface blades with

elastic / scalable Load
Balancing forwarding
Balancing,
and interface
aggregation

Network Element
management

2/2/4
4
40/40/40

MCHU

2/2/4
4
10/10/10

Open database
technology for
high capacity
database
solutions

Integration of vEPC
VNFs with VNFM and
Orchestrator systems
based on REST API as
well with EMS.

FlexiNS VM

FlexiNS VM

FlexiNS VM

Transaction
Processing

Subscriber
Database

Network
Element Cluster
Controller

Stateless service
logic enables
efficient,
ffi i
horizontal scaling

N+

IPDU

2N

MMDU

NECC

2/4/8
6
-

4/8/16
24
-

2/4/8
12
200/400/1000

Hypervisor
Hardware e.g. HP BL 460C diskless Blade
20

Nokia 2015

2N

CPPU

Nokia Core Network Nodes in the Cloud FlexiNG

FlexiNG on Cloud Virtual Machines types
FlexiNG vNE
Network Element
management and
statistics

Instances: 2

Deep Packet
Inspection

Scalable

Scalable

FlexiNS VM

FlexiNS VM

Management
Node

Gateway Node

Service Aware
Node

2N

N+

MN

16
32
10

GWN

16
32
10

Logical interface
aggregation,
Routing and
forwarding.
Scalable

FlexiNS VM

2N

vCPU
vRAM
vHDD

Intelligent IP Ede
(S/P-GW function
including policy,
charging, SPI,
termination of all
3GPP interfaces)

Instances: 2

FlexiNS VM
Interface
Node
N+

IFN

16
32
10

16
32
10

Hardware e.g. HP BL 460C diskless Blade

Nokia 2015

FlexiNS VM
Storage Node
2N

SAN

Hypervisor

21

Database

SN

4
8
2000

Nokia Core Network Nodes in the Cloud - FlexiNG

FlexiNG on Cloud - Why to implement GW user plane in Cloud?
Because its possible

22

... and it creates benefits

Massive
M
i improvements
i
t
in x86 performance: 20x
improvement in Intel
packet processing in just 4
years with e.g. DPDK

Oth
Others
do
d it already
l
d
today: Google and
Facebook process tens
of petabytes of data
daily already with x86

Automated
A
t
t d
deployment and
elasticity: Only possible
with pure software
based approach

Energy efficiency:
E
ffi i
x86
86
has superior power
management over
dedicated hardware

Nokia GW is already
software based: Same
software runs also on
x86
86 hardware
h d

Gateway is not user

plane limited: In most
networks, gateway is
control
t l plane
l
lilimited
it d d
due
to massive signaling

High interaction with CP

and UP: Charging,
analytics, DPI and policy
control require tight
integration to data plane

Automatic hardware
evolution: Intel x86
improves constantly and
slow
l
HW adaptation
d t ti iis
no longer needed.

Nokia 2015

Key Takeaway

Nokia EPC software

architecture is cloud
ready today

Dual cloud stack and

COTS IT hardware
support

Full software continuity

from ATCA to Cloud

Open approach from

Nokia to provide
freedom of choice to
cloud deployment

Leading in EPC evolution to Telco Cloud

23

Nokia 2015

Nokia cloud EPC solution

is SDN agnostic
Pure Software approach.
No dependency on
underlying SDN
technology