03 RN33003EN50GLA1 McRNC Architecture and Configurations StudentHandoutA4

mcRNC Architecture and Configurations

mcRNC Architecture and Configurations Module Objectives • • • • • • •

Describe mcRNC architecture and configurations. List mcRNC functional units. Describe mcRNC hardware items and interfaces. Explain signaling and data flow in mcRNC. Describe redundancy system in mcRNC. Describe the different capacity steps in the mcRNC. Describe the mcRNC site solutions.

mcRNC architecture and configurations mcRNC overview The Multicontroller Radio Network Controller (mcRNC) is based on new, faulttolerant, future proof Multicontroller Platform. The main function of the mcRNC is to control and manage the Radio Access Network (RAN) and radio channels. The mcRNC is designed for efficient use of radio resources as well as easy installation, operation and maintenance. It is optimized for all-IP network environment.

Figure 1: mcRNC unit Use of Multi-controller platform is common with Multicontroller BSC (mcBSC) and Multicontroller Transcoder (mcTC) for smooth upgrade from Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). It is based on easily installable, standard-sized, compact modules. Minimum configuration is of two modules. It is expandable through capacity licenses and addition of modules. Two, four, six, and eight modules are possible. Following are the benefits of mcRNC:

© Nokia Solutions and Networks. All rights reserved.

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Figure 2: mcRNC benefits mcRNC differences with IPA-RNC The following illustration brings out the difference between the mcRNC and the IPARNC:

Figure 3: mcRNC differences with IPA-RNC mcRNC in comparison to IPA-RNC

Figure 4: mcRNC in comparison to IPA-RNC Following is a description of the mcRNC in comparison to the IPA-RNC: •

Small size

•

Low Hardware (HW) price

•

Easy installation (75% shorter commissioning time)



•

Improved product architecture enabling easy fault diagnostics and bug fixing as well as shorter release lead times

•

Low power consumption

•

Flexible network building and topology

•

IP interfaces only

mcRNC HW architecture The major architectural change with the mcRNC is the move from multi-subrack blade system to a few identical rack mount modules. Depending on the capacity needs, one mcRNC can consist of two up to several modules. A multicontroller module is tightly integrated and has only a few field-replaceable parts. The key enablers of this approach are Internet Protocol (IP)/Ethernet technology and advanced CPU technology. They simplify Network Element (NE) architecture especially when IP proliferates in mobile networks. The new hardware and software platform allows new, optimized placement of the RNC functionalities in the system. The mcRNC consists of maximum eight 4U rack mount boxes, interconnected by 10Gbps 10-gigabit Attachment Unit Interface (XAUI) cables. Each Box Controller Node (BCN) contains a motherboard with a management processor and eight separate add-on cards containing Octeon processors that are connected to the motherboard through PCI Express (PCI-E) connectors. The two releases of the mcRNC hardware are as follows: •

BCN-A (HW release 1) containing Octeon+ add-on cards

•

BCN-B (HW release 2) containing Octeon II add-on cards

There are three physical switches in every box for the following purposes: •

External network communication

•

Internal network communication

•

Local management

The following figure shows thei motherboard and processor add-in cards:


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Figure 5: Motherboard and processor add-in cards The following figure shows the provided interfaces and supported standards in the BCN-A Ethernet interfaces:

Figure 6: Provided interfaces and supported standards BCN-A Ethernet interfaces The following are the provided interfaces and supported standards in the BCN-A Ethernet interfaces: •

Provided network interfaces for UTRAN traffic (Iu, Iur, Iub interfaces) are:



•

•

•

6x 10 GE: 10GBASE-SR/LR, SFP+ (LC-type connector), four of these ports are reserved for internal connections

•

16x 1 GE: 1000BASE-SX/LX/TX, Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) (LCtype or RJ-45)

Provided network interfaces for NetAct/Element Manager connectivity are: •

1x 1 GE: 1000BASE-SX/LX/TX, SFP (LC-type or RJ-45)

•

2nd SFP reserved for future use

Provided network interfaces for local HW maintenance and service terminal are: •

1x 1 GE: 1000BASE-TX, RJ-45

The following figure shows the provided interfaces and supported standards in the BCN-B Ethernet interfaces:

Figure 7: Provided interfaces and supported standards in BCN-B Ethernet interfaces

HW configuration Following are the configurations available in BCN-A1 and BCN-B2:

Figure 8: Configurations in BCN-A1 and BCN-B2


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•

BCN-A1 modules (available since Multicontroller RNC 2.0) •

Octeon+ processor 1 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) network connectivity

•

S1-A1 is no longer supported in mcRNC4.1 and is upgraded to S5-A1

BCN-B2 modules (introduced with Multicontroller RNC 3.0) •

Octeon II processor

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1 and 10 GE network connectivity

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S7-B2 is new in mcRNC 4.1 (RU50EP1)

The following table brings out the Octeon processor comparison: Table 2: Octeon processor comparison Cavium Octeon+ CN5650

Cavium Octeon II CN6680

64 bit

64 bit

12 cores

32 cores

800 MHz

1.2 GHz

4 x 2MB DDR DIMS

4 x 8MB DDR DIMS

The same Octeon hardware can be used for processing of User, Control, Transport and Management plane functions. The following figure shows the BCN-A module (HW release 1):

Figure 9: BCN-A module (HW release 1) •

Dimensions (H x W x D): 178 mm (4U) x 444 mm x 450 mm

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Weight: Fully equipped, approximately 25-30 kg depending on the configuration

The following figure shows the BCN-B module (HW release 2):



Figure 10: BCN-B module (HW release 2) •

Dimensions (H x W x D): 178 mm (4U) x 444 mm x 450 mm

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Weight: Fully equipped, approximately 25-30 kg depending on the configuration

The following figure illustrates the BCN-A block diagram:

Figure 11: BCN-A block diagram The following figure illustrates the BCN-B block diagram:

Figure 12: BCN-B block diagram Capacity targets The following table lists the mcRNC capacity targets with BCN-A1 HW in RU50EP1 (mcRNC 4.1):


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S5-A1

NE level performance Number of subscribers per RNC coverage area

1380000

AMR Busy Hour Call Attempts

1380000

PS BHCA (HSPA)

1940000

NAS Busy hour call attempts on top of maximum call capacity

5250000

AMR Erlangs

34500

AMR Erlangs (including soft handover)

48300

NE level capacity Iub max total UP throughput (CS+PS, FP, UL+DL)/ Mbps

5190

Iub max total HSDPA UP throughput (CS+PS, FP, DL)

3660

Iub max total HSDPA UP throughput (CS+PS, FP, UL)

1530

Connectivity Max number of cells

3110

Max number of BTS sites

1037

Max number of RRC connected UE's

780000

The following table lists the mcRNC capacity targets with BCN-B2 HW in RU50EP1 (mcRNC 4.1):



Table 4: mcRNC HW Release2 capacity Configuration ID

S1-B2

S3-B2

S7-B2

NE level performance Number of subscribers per RNC coverage area

760000

2140000

4520000

AMR Busy Hour Call Attempts

760000

2140000

4520000

PS BHCA (HSPA)

1400000

3500000

7920000

NAS Busy hour call attempts on top of maximum call capacity

3050000

7680000

17300000

AMR Erlangs

19000

53500

113000

AMR Erlangs (including soft handover) 26600

74900

158200

NE level capacity Iub max total UP throughput (CS+PS, FP, UL+DL)/ Mbps

2640

10000

24000

Iub max total HSDPA UP throughput (CS+PS, FP, DL)

1850

7050

16910

Iub max total HSDPA UP throughput (CS+PS, FP, UL)

790

2950

7090

Connectivity Max number of cells

2600

6600

10000

Max number of BTS sites

520

1320

2000

Max number of RRC connected UE's

352000

1000000

1000000

BCN-B Ethernet Switch Domain The main processing power of the controller module comes from the cutting-edge processor technology used. From the HW point of view, processor environments are identical, so Software (SW) can allocate any kind of processing type to any of these processors. The processor uses hardware acceleration for various tasks. With these features, the same hardware can be used for processing of User, Control, Transport and Management plane functions. •

PCI-E interconnecting: Communication between the add-in cards, LMP, hard disk controller and AdvancedMC (AMC) modules takes place through a PCI-E switch.

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Local Management Processor (LMP): A central component on the motherboard. It is mainly responsible for the following functions: •

HW management of the controller module in conjunction with the Virtual Carrier Management Controller (VCMC)

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Ethernet switch and interface management

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Offers services for USB mass storage devices

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Performs the function of a console server and provides direct access to the serial consoles of processors

The following figures illustrates the BCN-B Ethernet switch domain.


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Figure 13: BCN-B Ethernet switch domain

mcRNC SW architecture All Control plane and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) software runs on Linux in the mcRNC compared to DMX in the IPA-RNC. In the mcRNC, the User plane software runs without an actual operating system, on top of a hardware abstraction layer called Simple Executive (SE). A set of services provided by the User plane middleware create a pseudo-OS interface to the User plane applications to ensure that the programming of User plane applications is kept simple. Linux distribution is provided by WindRiver and it is provided as part of the FlexiPlatform in mcRNC. In the mcRNC, all SW runs on MIPS64-based Cavium Octeon. It replaces the dedicated processing architectures used in the past such as x86, TI DSP, PowerQuicc and APP network processors. The Octeon processor is big-endian. It is different compared to x86 hardware and that has some minor impact on the current Control plane SW.

Figure 14: mcRNC software architecture overview



Control plane The mcRNC has a completely new and different platform compared to IPA-RNC. To minimize the impact on the currently available Control plane SW an IPA Light layer is implemented between the Flexi Platform and the Control plane SW. The benefit is that no changes are needed to the current Control plane SW as the IPA Light layer provides the API needed by the Control plane SW. The IPA light then uses the Flexi Platform API. By doing so, it hides the changes from the Control plane SW. The SW architecture difference in the User plane application is that it is running in the same processor as the Control plane counterpart. User plane The SE does not share memory or cores with the Control plane that is running on Linux. Therefore, even if the RNC application and the User plane application is running on the same processor they interact like they are located in different processors, for example, by using messages. Some Libgen functionality is implemented in SE to make it possible for SW running in SE to communicate with the Control plane. The User plane of mcRNC consists of four significant layers: •

Octeon hardware

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Cavium SE for Octeon

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Middleware for the User plane applications

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User plane applications

Figure 15: mcRNC software architecture Control plane and User plane view

mcRNC functional architecture mcRNC functionality is comprised of four planes: •

Control Plane

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User Plane

•

Transport Plane

•

Management Plane

The mcRNC architecture consists of the following high level functions:


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Figure 16: High level functions of mcRNC architecture The functions are distributed in the entities of mcRNC hardware and software. The logical functions are freely allocated inside mcRNC physical units. To simplify mcRNC architecture, the number of different types of physical units as well as the number of functional units is highly minimized. Four main functional units are utilized in mcRNC functional architecture design. The distributed processing architecture of the mcRNC is implemented by a multiprocessor system, where the data processing capacity is divided among several processors. Based on the application need, several general purpose processing units with appropriate redundancy principle can be assigned to different tasks. Processing capacity can be increased by: •

Distributing the functionality of the network element to multiple modules

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Upgrading processors with more powerful variants

As the mcRNC has only one type of processing hardware, it allows a large degree of freedom in the design of functional software architecture.



mcRNC functional units Functional units In a cluster environment, the Functional Unit (FU) is a software entity capable of accomplishing a specific purpose. A FU usually has a visible operating state. It belongs to one of Control, User, Transport or Management planes. Most of the FU are under the control of the Fault Management. A functional unit can be either a recovery unit or a SE node such as the EITP. The four main units utilized in mcRNC functional architecture design are as follows:

Figure 17: mcRNC functional units CFPU

CSPU

USPU

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Consists of Operation and Management Unit (OMU) and Centralized Functions for Control Plane (CFCP).

•

OMU performs the basic system maintenance functions such as hardware configuration, alarm system, configuration of signaling transport and centralized recovery functions.

•

Contains cellular network related functions such as radio network configuration management, radio network recovery and radio network database.

•

Implements all cell-specific Control and User plane processing.

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All Control and User plane resources for a single BTS are allocated from the same CSPU unit.

•

CSPU units are completely independent of each other and different units might not have mutual communication at all.

•

Allocation of BTSs under control of specific CSPUs is controlled by the OMU.

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Implements all services for UE-specific Control and User plane processing.

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All dedicated Control and User plane resources for a single UE are allocated from the same USPU unit.

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USPU units are completely independent of each others and different USPUs might not have mutual communication at all.

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Implementation of SN+ redundancy features such as moving UE-specific processing from processor to another is simpler.


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EIPU

Hosts the networking and transport stacks needed for processing both signaling and User plane data.

The mcRNC provides Ethernet switching functionality for the following: •

Internal communication between the various processing units such as USPUs, CSPUs and CFPUs.

•

Flexible connection between the external network interfaces and the processing units.

The internal communication and external network switching parts are kept totally separated. Transport Plane

•

SITP: Signaling Transport Plane

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EITP: External Interface functions in Transport Plane

Management Plane

OMU for Management Plane.

Control Plane • and User Plane

USUP: UE Specific functions and services in User Plane. This includes the dedicated and shared channel services relevant for a UE.

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CSCP: Cell Specific functions and services in Control Plane

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USCP: UE Specific functions and services in Control Plane

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CFCP: Centralized Functions and services in Control Plane

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CSUP: Cell Specific functions and services in User Plane

The following figure shows the physical location of the processing units in the mcRNC module:

Figure 18: Physical location of processing units



mcRNC hardware items and interfaces Hardware items The following are the various hardware items: •

Add-in cards

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AMC

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Power supply distribution and supply units

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Fan units and air filter

Add-in cards The following figure shows the processor add-in card (BOC-A) – Octeon+:

Figure 19: Processor add-in card (BOC-A) – Octeon+ The following figure shows the processor add-in card (BMPP2-B) – Octeon II variant B:


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Figure 20: Processor add-in card (BMPP2-B) – Octeon II variant B The following figure shows the add-in filler card (BFC-A):

Figure 21: Add-in filler card (BFC-A) The add-in filler card (BFC-A) is: •

Dummy module with no electrical components

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Placed on empty card slots to ensure proper cooling of BCN module

AMC The following figure shows the hard disk drive carrier AMC (HDSAM-A):



Figure 22: Hard disk drive carrier AMC (HDSAM-A) Following are the features of AMC (HDSAM-A): •

Mid-size (single-width, 4 HP) module

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Provides serial attached SCSI (SAS) storage in the system

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Equipped with a 2.5-inch small form factor serial attached SCSI (SAS) hard disk drive

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Hard disk drive needs to be acquired separately

BCN AMC filler (BAMF-A) The following figure shows the BCN AMC filler (BAMF-A):


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Figure 23: BCN AMC filler (BAMF-A) The following are the features of the BCN AMC filler: •

Dummy module with no electrical components

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Empty AMC bays must always be equipped with AMC fillers to ensure proper cooling of the BCN module

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AMC filler acts also as an EMC shield

Power distribution and supply units The following are the different power distribution and supply units: •

AC power distribution unit (BAPDU-A)

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DC power distribution unit (BDPDU-A)

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AC power supply unit, variant B (BAFE-B)

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DC power supply unit, variant B (BDFE-B)

Power distribution unit The following figure shows the AC power distribution unit (BAPDU-A):



Figure 24: AC power distribution unit (BAPDU-A) Following are the features of AC power distribution: •

Used in 19-inch cabinet installation

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Take the input power from the site power supply (180-264V)

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Eight circuit breakers installed in the front panel

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One PDU provides eight outputs •

Can provide power up to eight BCN if the two PSU in each module take power from two PDUs

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Can provide power up to four BCN if the two PSUs in each module take power from the same PDUs

The following is the description of the DC power distribution unit (BAPDU-A): •

Used in 19-inch cabinet installation

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Takes the input power from the site power supply

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Eight circuit breakers installed in the front panel

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PDU provides power for the following: •

Up to eight BCN, if the two PSU in each module take power from two PDUs

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Up to four BCN, if the two PSUs in each module take power from the same PDUs

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A 30A circuit breaker on the negative wire is present at the input to protect the PDU from overcurrent

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HW Dimensions: 90 mm (2U) x 485 mm x 230 mm

Power supply unit The following figure shows the AC power supply unit, variant B (BAFE-B):


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Figure 25: AC power supply unit, variant B (BAFE-B) The following are the features of AC power supply unit, variant B (BAFE-B): •

1200-watt redundant AC power supply units

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Located on the rear of the BCN module

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Hot swappable and has an IEC 320 C20 type input which operates on 230 VAC

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Following are the outputs to the BCN module: •

Main output with 12 V for all BCN electronics including HW management

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Standby output with 3.3 V for BCN HW management

The following figure shows the DC power supply unit, variant B (BDFE-B):

Figure 26: DC power supply unit, variant B (BDFE-B)



The following are the features of DC power supply unit, variant B (BDFE-B): •

1200-watt redundant DC power supply units

•


•

Hot swappable and takes -48/-60 VDC input.

•

Following are the outputs to the BCN module: •

Main output with 12 V for all BCN electronics including HW management

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Standby output with 3.3 V for BCN HW management

The following table provides a list of power supply color indicators and their description: Table 5: Power supply unit indicators and description Color Green

Amber

State

Description

Steady

Supply outputs are on and power supply operates normally

Blinking

AC power is present, but the supply is in standby mode and main output is off

Steady

One of the following events has occured (PSU is turned off)

Blinking

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fan failure

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over-temperature protection

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standby output overcurrent protection

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standby output under voltage protection

One of the following events has occured (PSU is turned off) •

main output overcurrent protection

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main output over voltage protection

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main output under voltage protection

Fan units and air filter The BCN module contains two dual-fans (BMFU-A/ BMFU-B) for cooling the BCN. BMFU-A is used in BCN-A and BMFU-B in BCN-B. The fan speed is controlled by the HW management system to regulate the temperature within the BCN. The following figure shows the main fan (BMFU-A/BMFU-B):


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Figure 27: Main fan (BMFU-A/BMFU-B) Following is the description of the main fan (BMFU-A/BMFU-B): •

Located on the rear of the BCN module.

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BMFU-A is used in BCN-A with max rotation speed 3700 rpm.

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BMFU-B is used in BCN-B with max rotation speed 4000 rpm.

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Dimensions (H x W x D) - 142 mm x 140 mm x 75 mm.

Fan for AMCs (BAFU-A) The purpose of the fan is for cooling the AMCs that are installed in BCN. Fan speed is controlled by the HW management system to regulate the temperature within the BCN. The following figure shows the fan for the AMCs (BAFU-A):



Figure 28: Fan for AMCs (BAFU-A) Following is the description of the fan for the AMCs (BAFU-A): •


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Dimensions (H x W x D) - 95 mm x 75 mm x 105 mm

Air filter (BAFI-A) The air filter is located at the front of the BCN module in the cooling air inlet. It prevents dust from accumulating inside the equipment. It meets the NEBS GR 63 CORE and GR 78 CORE requirements.

Figure 29: Air filter (BAFI-A)


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Cabling in BCN Cabling in BCN is divided into: •

Internal cables

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External cables

Figure 30: Overview of cabling in BCN The following is a list of internal cables and their uses: Table 6: Internal BCN cabling Cable Name

Use

CSFPP

Directly attached SFP+ cable between BCN modules

CMSAS

Mini SAS disk cross-sharing cable between BCN modules

CSYNC

Synchronization cable between BSAC-A AMCs, BCN modules, or BCN module and BSAC-A

CACPB

Power cable between AC PDU and BCN module

CVKPBA

Power cable between DC PDU and BCN module, used with 19” cabinets

CVKPB

Power cable between DC PDU and BCN module, used with CAB216SET-B cabinet

CGNDE

Grounding cable between PDU (AC or DC) and cabinet

CGNDC

Grounding cable between BCN module and cabinet

External BCN cabling Following are the types of external cables: •

LAN/Ethernet cables for connection to external networks

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External synchronization cables

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External alarm cable



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Power cables between site AC/DC power supply and BCN module in standalone installations (without PDU and cabinet).

•

EU plug model AC power cord between site AC power supply and BCN module is a part of equipment delivery of mcRNC

•

Power cables between site AC/DC power supply and PDU when cabinet and PDU are in use

Poll Activity: Power distribution and supply units

Figure 31: Poll Ask the participants if the following statement is True or False: One of the features of AC power supply unit, variant B (BAFE-B) is, it is hot swappable and has an IEC 320 C20 type input which operates on 230 VAC.

External interfaces The mcRNC module provides the following groups of external interfaces:

Figure 32: Types of external interfaces External network interfaces

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Used for RNC User plane, Control plane and Management plane connections.

•

BCN-B hardware supports ten 1 GE interfaces SFP slots and two 10 GE interfaces (SFP+ slots) for external networking purposes.

•

The following 10 GE modules are supported:


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•

•

10GBase-SR and 10GBase-LR

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1000Base-T, 1000Base-SX and 1000Base-LX SFP modules are supported for 1 GE

External synchronization interfaces and external alarm input interfaces are not used by the mcRNC.

Network management interfaces

mcRNC supports two 1 GE interfaces SFP slots for network management connectivity per RNC. For redundancy purposes these are allocated to different mcRNC modules.

Local hardware management and debugging interfaces

A 10/100/1000Base-T interface per mcRNC module is provided for local hardware management and debugging purposes. An alternative debugging interface, RS-232 interface with an RJ45 connector directly to LMP is available for each mcRNC module. These local hardware management interfaces are intended for service personnel and factory debugging and should not be connected by the operator.

mcRNC Modules BCN-A and BCN-B The mcRNC 4.1 supports the second generation mcRNC hardware BCN-B. The main advantages of a BCN-B module are: •

Hardware support for mcRNC network elements of up to 8 modules

•

Offers two 10 GE ports for external network connectivity

Table 7: mcRNC modules BCN-A and BCN-B Number of modules/external network interfaces

BCN-B

BCN-A

Max. number of modules per mcRNC network element

8

6

Number of 10 Gigabit external network interfaces (per module)

2

-

Number of 1 Gigabit external network interfaces (per module)

10

16

Regardless of the hardware version and capacity step, each mcRNC supports two dedicated 1 GE connections for network management.

Logical interfaces The mcRNC provides logical interfaces for the Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC), the Multimedia Gateway (MGW), other RNCs, NetAct, Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and the Cell Broadcast Center (CBC).



Figure 33: Logical interfaces of mcRNC The following is the description of the logical interfaces: Iu-CS

Interface between the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and Circuit Switched (CS) core network.

Iu-PS

Interface between the RNC and the packet core network

Iur

Interface for the interconnection of two neighboring RNCs

Iub

Interface between the RNC and the WBTS

Iu-BC

Interface between the RNC and the Cell Broadcast Center (CBC)

Iu-PC

Interface between the RNC and the Stand-alone SMLC (SAS)

O&M

Proprietary management interface between Network Management System (NMS) and RNC

Management interfaces The mcRNC has management interface to Nokia’s management system NetAct through a standalone Operation & Management Server (OMS). A proprietary BTS O&M protocol is utilized between the mcRNC and OMS, and Network Interface for Third Generation Networks (NWI3) is used between OMS and NetAct. The Data Communications Network (DCN) architecture provides connections for the implementation of O&M functions from mcRNC to the operation support system (NetAct). A common transport protocol is provided for the DCN network and IP is used as a flexible solution for network management. The following figure shows the management interfaces of mcRNC:


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Figure 34: Management interfaces of mcRNC Following network internal management interfaces are used: •

NetAct interconnection: Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)/Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) based NWI3 for OMS

•

BTS interconnection: BTS O&M interface for OMS – RNC, RNC – WBTS, and OMS

The O&M traffic is secured by: •

Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) between OMS/RNC and NetAct

•

HTTP between RNC and BTS



Signaling and data flow in mcRNC Signaling and data flow overview For selecting a CSPU for a BTS, a BTS object is added to the RNW DB. The BTS handler chooses the next available CSCP by round robin method. The eligible list is maintained based on the existing load. A unit in overload mode can be made ineligible. The CSCP uses its own CSUP in same processor for User plane resources. All resources needed for a BTS are provided from the same processing unit. In case of CSCP switchover, CSUP may stay in the original CSPU to avoid service interruption (requires RAN2251 Automatic mcRNC Resource Optimization). The Transport Resource Manager (TRM) performs the following tasks: •

Selects an EIPU

•

Configures it with the address and port information for the newly added BTS and the address of the selected CSCP

The distribution table in EIPU is updated. Selecting a USPU for a call For selecting a USPU for a call, A new Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection Request comes to the CSPU. The USCP that handles the call is chosen by round robin with USPU load information to ensure sufficient resource for both CP and UP. The co-located USUP handles User plane resources. If the co-located USUP resource is unavailable due to congestion, USUP from other USPU may be used.

Iu-CS User plane data flow The following figure shows the path of AMR and CS data traffic through the system:

Figure 35: Iu-CS User plane data flow Downlink data processing Downlink data processing is performed as follows: •

When a packet arrives, the EITP in the EIPU terminates the network and transport layer protocols – IP, IPsec (if configured) and UDP.


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•

Application layer Transport Network Layer (TNL) protocols Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) and Real-Time Transport Control Protocol (RTC) when used are terminated in USUP. These protocols are used to take care of real time transport issues and the control of call QoS.

•

Iu-UP is used to decouple the service-related user data characteristics from the underlying transport protocols and is used in the support mode. It is terminated in the USUP in case it: •

Belongs to the Radio Network Layer (RNL)

•

Serves to adapt the transport layers

•

Needs to interact closely with the User Plane.

•

After the processing and adaptation needed for the air interface, the data frames are sent to the EITP of the EIPU that serves the BTS, where the transport and network layer functions are located.

•

The centralized scheduling of data is enforced to ensure that the transport functions can evolve independently and are localized to the Transport plane unit only. If the UE is in a Soft Handover (SHO) mode, the data is copied to multiple links by the FP layer.

Uplink data processing Uplink data processing is performed as follows: •

When a packet arrives, the EITP in the EIPU terminates the network and transport layer protocols – IP, IPsec (if configured) and UDP.

•

The frames are forwarded to the respective USPU unit using the internal transport and MDC is performed in the USUP.

•

The data is forwarded to the Iu interface after required RNL processing through the EITP.

Iu-PS NRT DCH and HS-DSCh data flow The following figure shows the path of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) traffic through the RNC:

Figure 36: Iu-PS NRT DCH and HS-DSCh data flow



The figure illustrates the Iu-PS Non-real time (NRT) Dedicated Channel (DCH) and High-Speed downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCh) data flow. Downlink

The data processing is similar to PS over DCH and the protocols used are identical. The only difference is that the SHO mode of the UE is not applicable for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) traffic and the data is sent through one carrier only.

Uplink

The Uplink processing is similar to the PS over DCH scenario for both E-DCH and DCH uplink channels. The Macro Diversity Combining (MDC) is performed in the USUP.

Iu-PS NRT traffic over CCH data flow The following figure shows the path for PS data sent over Common Channels (CCH).

Figure 37: Iu-PS NRT traffic over CCH data flow Downlink

The data path for the transfer over Forward Access Channel (FACH) follows the same principles as discussed for PS data. The only difference is in the Media Access Control (MAC) scheduling. The MAC-c scheduler and the associated FP are involved after the MAC-d processing is completed.

Uplink

The data path for the transfer over Random Access Channel (RACH) involves the MAC-c in CSUP and then the MAC-d in USUP. The other parts are similar to that of the PS data transfer over DCH.

Data flow comparison The following figure illustrates the CS user data flow comparison with the IPA-RNC involving Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) based Iub and IP-based Iu-CS. DCH is used and ATM Adaptation Layer Type 2 (AAL2) switching of traffic is done in NPS1(P).


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Figure 38: CS Data flow comparison with IPA-RNC The following figure illustrates the Control Plane comparison between the DCH and the CCH:

Figure 39: Control Plane comparison The following figure illustrates the Data Plane comparison between the AMR and the DCH:

Figure 40: Data plane comparison-AMR and NRT (DCH)



The following figure illustrates the Data Plane comparison in CCH:

Figure 41: Data Plane comparison- NRT (CCH)


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Redundancy system in mcRNC mcRNC redundancy system Redundancy is a method of providing the system with redundant equipment to improve its tolerance against faults. This is achieved by providing backup resources for functional units. For redundancy reasons the connectivity towards the site switches is arranged as shown in the following figure:

Figure 42: Connectivity towards site switches There are a number of protection schemes in various levels to support redundancy. The redundancy schemes are as follows: Table 8: mcRNC redundancy scheme Unit Type

Redundancy Model

USP

SN+

CSPU

N+M(M>=1)

CFPU

2N

EIPU

1+1

OMS

2N

Ethernet Switching

No redundancy

SN+ (Load sharing)

Employs resource pool concept. A group of units form a resource pool. The number of used units in the pool is defined, so that there is a certain amount of extra capacity left in the pool.



Faulty units will be disabled in the resource pool. The whole group of units can still perform its designated functions if a few units in the pool are disabled because of faults. A higher level module performs the load distribution. It also maintains the health status of the hardware units. If one of the load sharing module fails, the higher level module starts distributing the load among the rest of the units. There is graceful degradation of performance with hardware failure. N+M Takes M spare units and tries to allocate the M spare units to N (Replacement) active units. The spare units are kept in cold standby states. The synchronization of a spare unit is performed during the switchover procedure between a spare unit and an active unit. A higher level Fault Management System monitors the health of the N active units, and selects one of spare units from the M units to replace an active unit if it fails. 2N (Duplication)

Uses a dedicated spare unit designated for one active unit only. The spare unit is hot standby state, and all of the data in a spare unit is always synchronized with the active unit. The spare unit is taken into use immediately if the active unit fails.


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Capacity steps in mcRNC mcRNC capacity steps The mcRNC capacity configurations are dynamically optimized for high speech or data capacity. The configurations are designed especially for simultaneous dynamic allocation and handling of speech, circuit-switched data, and packet-switched data using advanced radio resource management algorithms. Nominal capacity in throughput (Mbit/s) is usually the limiting factor of mcRNC capacity, but the carrier numbers cannot be exceeded. mcRNC capacity steps are defined by different number of mcRNC modules in one mcRNC. To fulfill different RNC capacity requirements, mcRNC4.1 supports the capacity steps for the following: mcRNC HW Rel.1 (BCNA1)

S5-A1 (step 5) – mcRNC with six BCN-A1 modules

mcRNC HW Rel.2 (BCNB2)

S1-B2 (step 1) – mcRNC with two BCN-B2 modules S3-B2 (step 3) – mcRNC with four BCN-B2 modules

In addition to capacity steps inherited from previous releases, mcRNC4.1 introduces the support of the new capacity step for the following: mcRNC HW Rel.2 (BCNB2)

S7-B2 (step 7)- mcRNC with eight BCN-B2 modules

The following figure shows the available capacity steps in mcRNC:



Figure 43: Capacity steps in mcRNC

mcRNC capacity step 1 The mcRNC capacity step 1 (S1-B2) is the basic configuration and it consists of two BCN-B2d BCN modules. The following figure shows the mcRNC capacity step 1 configuration:


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Figure 44: mcRNC capacity step 1 The mcRNC capacity step 1 configuration consists of the following items: •

•

Two module mcRNC NE with DC power includes following items: •

2 * mcRNC basic module

•

4 * DC power module

•

2 *AMC HDD module

•

2 * SFP+ Direct Attach cable

•

2 * AMCSF-A

•

1 * RJ45 Ethernet batch cable (CNI)

Two module mcRNC NE with AC power includes following items: •


•

4 * AC power module

•

2 *AMC HDD module

•


•

2 * AMCSF-A

•


mcRNC capacity step 3 The mcRNC capacity step 3 (S3-B2) consists of the basic NE configuration plus 2 additional type BCN-B2e BCN modules. The following figure shows the mcRNC capacity step 3 configuration:



Figure 45: mcRNC capacity step 3 The mcRNC capacity step 3 configuration consists of the following items: •

•

Four module mcRNC NE with DC power includes following items: •


•

8 * DC power module

•

2 *AMC HDD module

•


•

6 * AMCSF-A

•


Four module mcRNC NE with AC power includes following items: •


•

8 * AC power module

•

2 *AMC HDD module

•


•

6 * AMCSF-A

•


mcRNC capacity step 5 The following figure shows the mcRNC capacity step 5 configuration:


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Figure 46: mcRNC capacity step 5

mcRNC capacity step 7 The mcRNC4.1 capacity step 7 (S7-B2) consists of the capacity step 3 NE configuration (S3-B2) plus four BCN-B2e BCN modules. The following figure shows the mcRNC capacity step 7 configuration:



Figure 47: mcRNC capacity step 7 The mcRNC Capacity Step 7 configuration consists of the following items: •

•

Eight module mcRNC NE with DC power includes following items: •


•

16 * DC power module

•

2 *AMC HDD module

•


•

14 * AMCSF-A

•


Eight module mcRNC NE with AC power includes following items: •


•

16 * AC power module

•

2 *AMC HDD module

•


•

14 * AMCSF-A


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•




mcRNC site solutions mcRNC site solutions A number of IP/Ethernet transport connectivity options and site solutions have been defined for mcRNC enabling smooth introduction of mcRNC into the existing IP/Ethernet networks. The solutions are based on a pair of site routers/switches providing redundant 1 GE and/or 10 GE connectivity for mcRNC. The mcRNC supports the IP transport option. Network connectivity and transport layer processing capacity is aligned with the control plane and user plane processing capacity. Following are the mcRNC transport features:

Figure 48: mcRNC site solutions All site solutions have been verified against Juniper (MX and EX series) and Cisco products (7600 series), thus reducing the need for interoperability testing to a minimum when selecting one of the described configurations. Router/switch vendors are supported but interoperability tests have not been performed. The site solutions for the mcRNC provide support options with main characteristics: •

L3 static routes

•

Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol/Hot Standby Router Protocol (VRRP/HSRP)

•

Dynamic routing based configurations

The mcRNC supports 1 GE and 10 GE physical connectivity where both can be also used at the same time. Following are the types of mcRNC site solutions: •

Evolved site solution

•

Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) site solution

•

VRRP/HSRP site solution

mcRNC evolved site solution The following are the features of the mcRNC evolved site solution:


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•

Based on the Ethernet switchport configuration in the site routers.

•

One Virtual LAN (VLAN) spans over the External Interface Processing Unit (EIPUs) and a single site router/switch (user plane).

•

Redundancy is based on the static routes configuration (L3 type of a site solution).

•

Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) Single-Hop with static routes applied for next-hop supervision.

•

Available since mcRNC2.0 release.

•

Supports 1 GE interfaces.

•

Cisco 7600 series and Juniper EX4200 series site router/switch are supported.

The following figure shows an example of the mcRNC evolved site solution:

Figure 49: mcRNC evolved site solution example

mcRNC OSPF site solution The following are the features of the OSPF site solution: •

Based on dynamic routing for the user plane traffic.

•

OSPF with BFD (Single Hop) is applied for fast reaction to any link failures.

•

Routing domains and VLAN traffic separation are provided by deploying Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) instances.

•

Supports 1 GE and 10 GE interfaces.

•

For example, with the mixed 1GE and 10GE use case, connectivity to the following can be handled in these ways: •

Base stations (Iub): With 1GE interfaces

•

CN and neighbor RNC elements (Iu, Iur): With 10 GE interfaces



•

Ethernet Link Aggregation can be applied to bundle the 1 GE interfaces providing one logical interface with higher capacity.

•

Juniper MX420 and Juniper EX4500 site router/switch are supported.

•

The OSPF and VRRP/HSRP site solutions apply similar cabling and Iu/Iur control plane configuration principles.

The following figure shows an example of the mcRNC OSPF site solution:

Figure 50: mcRNC OSPF site solution

mcRNC VRRP/HSRP site solution The following are the features of the mcRNC VRRP/HSRP site solution: •

Site solution based on Ethernet switchport configuration in the site routers.

•

Site router redundancy is managed with VRRP or HSRP protocols (L2 type of a site solution).

•

One VLAN spans over the EIPUs and site routers/switches (not further to network). There is no L2 Iub support.

•

Provides planning principles compatibility with the current IPA-RNC VRRP/HSRP site solution.

•

Supports 1 GE and 10 GE interfaces.

•

Juniper MX420 and Juniper EX4500 site router/switch are supported.

The following figure illustrates an example of the mcRNC VRRP/HSRP site solution:


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Figure 51: mcRNC VRRP/HSRP site solution example



Summary: mcRNC Architecture and Configurations Module Summary This module covered the following learning objectives: •

Describe mcRNC architecture and configurations.

•

List mcRNC functional units.

•

Describe mcRNC hardware items and interfaces.

•

Explain signaling and data flow in mcRNC.

•

Describe redundancy system in mcRNC.

•

Describe the different capacity steps in the mcRNC.

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Describe the mcRNC site solutions.


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03 RN33003EN50GLA1 McRNC Architecture and Configurations StudentHandoutA4

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