Performance of International roaming Location Update in 3G and 4G networks Contact Information: Sanaz Moshirian Author(s): Sanaz Moshirian E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] External advisor(s): Anders Högsell Hi3G Access AB Address: Lindhagensgatan 98, 112 51 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46735333333 University advisor(s): Dr.Patrik Arlos Department of Communication systems Internet : www.bth.se School of Computing Faculty of Computing Phone : +46 455 38 50 00 Blekinge Institute of Technology Blekinge Institute of Technology Fax : +46 455 38 50 57 371 79 Karlskrona Sweden Faculty ABSTRACT Since Mobile network operator (MNO) relies on many Business Support Systems (BSS) and Operation Support Systems (OSS) it should be assured that operator’s systems supports the requirements of the future. This thesis shall focus on the “start-to-end” aspects that must be considered to ensure that International Roaming continues to operate flawless. The thesis experience Long Term Evolution (LTE) in case of international roaming by measuring the end to end location update delay. In order to evaluate the LTE performance of international roaming, the delay time has been measured by the means of tracing tools for several different international roamers and the results has been compared with the results achieved for local user. The outcome has been compared with the respecting results in 3G network the statistical results has been provided and the graphs has been plotted to study the performance. Based on the results obtain on this thesis, it has been concluded that local user acts more stable to get attach to the network, i.e. there are less fluctuation in delay times for local user. Also the delay time in 3G networks is more than the LTE networks, however 3G networks acts more stable and there are less fluctuation to get connects to 3G networks. Keywords: International Roaming, LTE, Delay, Tracing, Performance. CONTENTS Contents ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................................I CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................................... II LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ IV LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. VI ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................................................... VII 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 RELATED WORKS .................................................................................................................. 1 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................... 1 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................... 2 1.5 EXPECTED OUTCOMES............................................................................................................ 2 1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 2 1.7 RISKS ..................................................................................................................................... 3 1.8 MOTIVATION ......................................................................................................................... 3 2 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 PROTOCOLS............................................................................................................................ 4 2.1.1 SS7 protocol ...................................................................................................................... 4 2.1.2 Diameter ........................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 LTE NETWORK ARCHITECTURE .............................................................................................. 6 2.2.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 LTE nodes and interfaces ................................................................................................. 7 2.3 DIAMETER NODES ................................................................................................................ 10 2.3.1 Diameter Client and Server ............................................................................................ 10 2.3.2 Diameter Relay Agent ..................................................................................................... 11 2.3.3 Diameter Proxy Agent .................................................................................................... 12 2.3.4 Diameter Redirect Agent ................................................................................................ 12 2.3.5 Diameter Translate Agent ............................................................................................... 13 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 INTERNATIONAL ROAMING .................................................................................................. 14 3.2 IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................................ 14 4 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS..................................................................................................... 19 4.1 TEST SET UP AND ANALYSES .............................................................................................. 19 4.1.1 Setup and Analyses for international roamer on LTE network ....................................... 19 4.1.2 Set Up and Analyses for international roamer on 3G network ....................................... 23 4.1.3 Set up and Analyses for Local user attaching LTE & 3G network ................................. 26 4.2 COMPARISON OF ATTACH LATENCY FOR LOCAL USERS AND INTERNATIONAL ROAMERS IN LTE NETWORK .................................................................................................................................. 29 4.2.1 Delay difference for international users and local user ................................................. 29 4.2.2 How is the LU latency differs between international operators ..................................... 30 4.3 COMPARISON OF ATTACH LATENCY IN LTE AND 3G NETWORKS ......................................... 32 4.3.1 Comparison of LU latency for each of the operators in 4G and 3G ............................... 32 4.3.2 Total comparison of attach latency in 3G and 4G networks ........................................... 35 5 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK ................................................................................. 39 ii 5.1 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 39 5.2 FUTURE WORK ..................................................................................................................... 40 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX.1 ...................................................................................................................................... 43 APPENDIX.2 ...................................................................................................................................... 64 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2-1, Signaling Architecture [10] .................................................................................... 4 Figure 2-2, EPS network Architecture [15]. ............................................................................. 7 Figure 2-3, UMTS and EPS core network [16] ........................................................................ 7 Figure 2-4, EPS nodes and interfaces [16] ............................................................................... 8 Figure 2-5, Tracking area updates [16] ..................................................................................... 9 Figure 2-6, LTE interworking with other 3GPP networks [16] ................................................ 9 Figure 2-7, PCRF role in LTE network [18] .......................................................................... 10 Figure 2-8, Authentication, Re-authentication and Session Termination [13] ....................... 11 Figure 2-9, The role of Diameter Relay Agent (DRA) in optimizing the network [16] ......... 12 Figure 2-10, Diameter Proxy Agent [19] ................................................................................ 12 Figure 2-11, Diameter Redirect Agent Function [19] ............................................................. 13 Figure 2-12, Diameter Translate Agent (TLS) Function [12] ...............................................