Summary Data

Revision History

Cisco 5G Non Standalone (NSA) solution leverages the existing LTE radio access and core network (EPC) as an anchor for mobility management and coverage. This solution enables operators using the Cisco EPC Packet Core to launch 5G services in shorter time and leverage existing infrastructure. Thus, NSA provides a seamless option to deploy 5G services with very less disruption in the network.

Overview

5G is the next generation of 3GPP technology, after 4G/LTE, defined for wireless mobile data communication. The 5G standards are introduced in 3GPP Release 15 to cater to the needs of 5G networks.

The two solutions defined by 3GPP for 5G networks are:

• 5G Non Standalone (NSA): The existing LTE radio access and core network (EPC) is leveraged to anchor the 5G NR using the Dual Connectivity feature. This solution enables operators to provide 5G services with shorter time and lesser cost.

  Note	The 5G NSA solution is supported in this release.

• 5G Standalone (SA): An all new 5G Packet Core will be introduced with several new capabilities built inherently into it. The SA architecture comprises of 5G New Radio (5G NR) and 5G Core Network (5GC).

  Network Slicing, CUPS, Visualization, Multi-Gbps support, Ultra low latency, and other such aspects will be natively built into the 5G SA Packet Core architecture.

Dual Connectivity

The E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) feature supports 5G New Radio (NR) with EPC. A UE connected to an eNodeB acts as a Master Node (MN) and an en-gNB acts as a Secondary Node (SN). The eNodeB is connected to the EPC through the S1 interface and to the en-gNB through the X2 interface. The en-gNB can be connected to the EPC through the S1-U interface and other en-gNBs through the X2-U interface.

The following figure illustrates the E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity architecture.

If the UE supports dual connectivity with NR, then the UE must set the DCNR bit to "dual connectivity with NR supported" in the UE network capability IE of the Attach Request/Tracking Area Update Request message.

If the UE indicates support for dual connectivity with NR in the Attach Request/Tracking Area Update Request message, and the MME decides to restrict the use of dual connectivity with NR for the UE, then the MME sets the RestrictDCNR bit to "Use of dual connectivity with NR is restricted" in the EPS network feature support IE of the Attach Accept/Tracking Area Update Accept message.

If the RestrictDCNR bit is set to "Use of dual connectivity with NR is restricted" in the EPS network feature support IE of the Attach Accept/Tracking Area Update Accept message, the UE provides the indication that dual connectivity with NR is restricted to the upper layers.

If the UE supports DCNR and DCNR is configured on MME, and if HSS sends ULA/IDR with "Access-Restriction" carrying "NR as Secondary RAT Not Allowed", MME sends the "NR Restriction" bit set in "Handover Restriction List" IE during Attach/TAU/Handover procedures. Similarly, MME sets the RestrictDCNR bit to "Use of dual connectivity with NR is restricted" in the EPS network feature support IE of the Attach Accept/Tracking Area Update Accept message. Accordingly, UE provides the indication that dual connectivity with NR is restricted to the upper layers.

The "Handover Restriction List" IE is present in the "Initial Context Setup Request" message for Attach and TAU procedure with data forwarding procedure, in the "Handover Required" message for S1 handover procedure, in the "Downlink NAS Transport" message for TAU without active flag procedure.

Important

5G NSA feature is license controlled from release 21.8 onwards. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements.

The 5G NSA solution for SAEGW supports the following functionalists:

• High Throughput

  5G NR offers downlink data throughput up to 20 Gbps and uplink data throughput up to 10 Gbps. Some interfaces in EPC have the support to handle (encode/decode) 5G throughput. For example, NAS supports up to 65.2 Gbps (APN-AMBR) and S5/S8/S10/S3 (GTP-v2 interfaces) support up to 4.2 Tbps. The diameter interfaces S6a and Gx support only up to 4.2Gbps throughput, S1-AP supports only up to 10 Gbps and NAS supports up to 10 Gbps (MBR, GBR). New AVP/IE have been introduced in S6a, Gx , S1-AP, and NAS interfaces to support 5G throughput. See the How It Works section for more information.

• DCNR Support on P-GW:

  Supports configuration of DCNR feature at the P-GW-service, by configuring “Extended-BW-NR” feature in IMSA service. Advertises the DCNR feature support by sending “Extended-BW-NR” feature bit in “Feature-List-ID-2” towards PCRF. Forwards AVP "Extended-APN-AMBR-UL" and "Extended-APN-AMBR-DL" in CCR messages when it receives APN-AMBR values greater than 4.2Gbps from MME/S-GW. Decodes the extended AVP "Extended-APN-AMBR-UL" and "Extended-APN-AMBR-DL" when it is received from PCRF.

• Sends AVP "Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL", "Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL", "Extended-GBR-UL" and "Extended-GBR-DL" when it receives MBR and GBR values greater than 4.2Gbps from MME/S-GW. Decodes the AVP "Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL", "Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL", "Extended-GBR-UL" and "Extended-GBR-DL" when received from PCRF. Supports dedicated bearer establishment with extended QoS. Sends AVP Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL and "Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL" in Gy records.

• Ultra Low Latency Support:

  Supports 5G requirements of Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC). 3GPP introduced URLCC QCI 80 (Non-GBR resource type), QCI 82 and 83 (GBR resource type). P-GW establishes default bearers with URLLC QCI 80, which is typically used by low latency eMBB applications. P-GW establishes dedicated bearers with URLLC QCI 82 and 83 (also with QCI 80 if dedicated bearers of Non-GBR type to be established), which is typically used by discrete automation services (industrial automation).

• ICSR Support

  With release 21.10 onwards ICSR for 5G NSA on SAEGW is supported.

• Dynamic S-GW and P-GW selection by MME for DCNR capable UE

  When DCNR capable UE attempts to register in MME and when all DCNR validations are successful (for example DCNR feature configuration on MME, HSS not sending access-restriction for NR, and son on), the MME sets “UP Function Selection Indication Flags” IE with DCNR flag set to 1 in “Create Session Request” message. This feature is relevant for CUPS architecture to help SGW-C and PGW-C to select SGW-U and PGW-U which supports dual connectivity with NR. When S-GW receives this IE over S11, it sends this IE over S5 to P-GW. S-GW ignores IE if it receives it in Non-CUPS deployment.

• P-GW Secondary RAT Usage Data Report Handling:

  P-GW supports custom24 and custom44 for Gz and aaa-custom3, aaa-custom4 and aaa-custom6 dictionaries for Rf to support Secondary RAT Data Usage Report in CDRs.

Support for Secondary RAT Usage During GnGp Handover

This feature supports the Secondary RAT usage reported in change notification request during 4G to 3G handover. The support is for handling the change notification with Secondary RAT Usage during the GnGp handover. Step 13 is added in the following diagram in support of this feature. The usage must be reported in next CDR generation.

IMSI Not Known

If there’s no context found for IMSI specified in Secondary RAT Usage IE of change notification request Message, it returns the change notification response with cause value "IMSI/IMEI not known".

Limitations

Following are the known limitations for this feature:

• This feature only supports the handling of the secondary RAT usage IE.

• During the 4G to 3G handover, dedicated bearers are retained and Secondary RAT usage is reported for both Default and Dedicated bearers.

Enabling Secondary RAT Data Usage Report

Use the following configuration to enable Secondary RAT Data Usage Report:

configure 
   context context_name 
      pgw-service service_name 
         dcnr 
         end 

Note	The GGSN service associated with the P-GW service must have the DCNR enabled using the preceding CLI.

• Statictics support for DCNR PDNs:

  S-GW and P-GW statistics support for DCNR PDNs

• S-GW Secondary RAT Usage Data Report Handling:

  S-GW supports custom24 and custom6 dictionaries to support Secondary RAT Data Usage Report in CDRs over Gz.

• P-GW Custom Dictionaries Support over Gz:

  P-GW supports Custom44 and Custom24 dictionaries to support sending the following AVPs when it receives MBR, GBR and APN-AMBR values greater than 4.2Gbps:

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL

  • Extended-GBR-UL

  • Extended-GBR-DL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-DL

• Multiple Presence Reporting Area Support:

  S-GW supports Multiple-PRA action and Multiple-PRA Information over S11/S4 and S5/S8 interfaces. P-GW supports Multiple-PRA Action and Multiple-PRA Information over S5/S8 and Gx interfaces.

• S-GW Custom Dictionaries Support over Gz :

  S-GW supports custom24 and custom6 dictionaries to support sending the following AVPs when it receives MBR, GBR and APN-AMBR values greater than 4.2Gbps:

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL

  • Extended-GBR-UL

  • Extended-GBR-DL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-DL

• P-GW Custom Dictionaries Support over Gx:

  P-GW supports dpca-custom15, dpca-custom11, dpca-custom23, dpca-custom19 and dpca-custom17, dictionaries to support sending the following AVPs when it receives GBR and APN-AMBR values greater than 4.2Gbps:

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL

  • Extended-GBR-DL

  • Extended-GBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-DL

• P-GW Custom Dictionaries Support over Gy:

  P-GW supports dcca-custom1, dcca-custom7, dcca-custom8, dcca-custom13 and dcca-custom26 dictionaries to support sending the following AVPs when it receives GBR and APN-AMBR values greater than 4.2Gbps:

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL

  • Extended-GBR-DL

  • Extended-GBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-DL

• P-GW Custom Dictionaries Support over Rf:

  P-GW supports aaa-custom3, aaa-custom4 and aaa-custom6 dictionaries to support sending the following AVPs when it receives GBR and APN-AMBR values greater than 4.2Gbps:

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-UL

  • Extended-Max-Requested-BW-DL

  • Extended-GBR-UL

  • Extended-GBR-DL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-UL

  • Extended-APN-AMBR-DL

Multiple Presence Reporting Area

P-GW supports negotiation of Multiple-Presence Reporting Area feature in Feature-List-ID 2 over Gx interface with PCRF. The CNO-ULI feature will be used only when the P-GW and/or the PCRF does not support Multiple-PRA and both P-GW and PCRF support CNO-ULI.

Note	This feature is introduced in release 21.9.1. For more information, refer to the Presence Reporting Area chapter in the P-GW Administration Guide.