LTE-M RAT Type Support on SAEGW, P-GW, and S-GW Services

Feature Summary and Revision History

Summary Data

Applicable Product(s) or Functional Area

  • S-GW

  • P-GW

  • SAEGW

Applicable Platform(s)

  • ASR 5500

  • VPC-DI

  • VPC-SI

Default Setting

Enabled-Always-On

Related Changes in This Release

Not Applicable

Related Documentation

  • Command Line Interface Reference

  • P-GW Administration Guide

  • S-GW Administration Guide

  • SAEGW Administartion Guide

Revision History

Revision Details

Release

First introduced.

21.24

Feature Description

LTE-M (LTE-MTC low-power-wide area (LPWA)) is a new cellular radio access technology specified by 3GPP that addresses low power-wide area connectivity solutions. It specifically refers to a specific category of LTE UEs that are suitable for IoT LTE-M, which supports IoT through lower device complexity and provides extended coverage, while allowing the reuse of the LTE installed base.

The RAT type IE is present in various call flows across many interfaces. When a Create Session Request is received with an unknown RAT Type, as the RAT Type is a Mandatory IE in this message, S-GW or P-GW may reject a create session request. In this StarOS 21.24 release, LTE-M RAT (Radio Access Technology) type for S-GW, P-GW, and SAEGW products are supported.

The RAT type is present either as an IE (for example, in GTPv2-C, GTPP), AVP (on Diameter-based interfaces) or as an attribute (for example in EDRs) across many interfaces.

The LTE-M solution for S-GW, P-GW, and SAEGW supports the following new LTE-M RAT type attribute value in the following Interfaces protocols and dictionaries:

  • GX-interface: Diameter Protocol

  • GY-interface: Diameter Protocol

  • GZ/RF- interface: GTPP/Diameter/Radius

  • S6B- Interface: Diameter Protocol

  • S11/ S5/S8-Interface: GTPv2-C

  • Dictionaries Radius AVPs, and dictionaries.

  • Rf interface for CDR generation

  • Attributes in EDRs

Enhancements to the Existing Features

The following existing features are enhanced to support the new RAT-TYPE LTE-M.

  • Virtual APN Selection Based on RAT Type: Virtual APNs allow differentiated services within a single APN. The Virtual APN feature allows a carrier to use a single APN to configure differentiated services. The APN that is supplied by the MME is evaluated by the P-GW with multiple configurable parameters. Then, the P-GW selects an APN configuration based on the supplied APN and those configurable parameters. APN configuration dictates all aspects of a session at the P-GW, where different policies imply different APNs.

    You can select the virtual APN by configuring directly under the base APN. This APN selection is done based on RAT Types. In this release, support is added through CLI to select the virtual APN for the LTE-M RAT type.

  • Qci and Qos Mapping: P-GW supports QCI and QoS mapping association with APN based on RAT type LTE-M. This QCI and QoS mapping allow you to perform quick actions on the QoS Class Index (QCI) to QoS Mapping Configuration Mode, which is used to map QoS Class Indexes to enforceable QoS parameters. Mapping can occur in Serving Gateway (S-GW), and/or the PDN Gateway (P-GW) in an LTE network.

  • PCRF-based Handling: P-GW informs the RAT type changes to PCRF through Credit Control Request -Initial and Updated messages, and PCRF provides a new PCC rule. Allows you to create a Bearer by enforcing a new Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule from Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF).

How it Works

Architecture

The following table specifies the field and its value for various interfaces with support of LTE-M RAT type. Only Standard dictionaries and customized dictionaries are modified.

Table 1.

Interface

 Field

AVP Attribute

 Messages

P-GW Product

Gx

RAT-Type (1032)

Diameter

LTE-M (1007)

  • Credit Control Request-Initial

  • Credit Control Request - Updated

Gy

3GPP RAT-Type (21)

Diameter

LTE-M (9)

  • Credit Control Request-Initial

  • Credit Control Request - Updated

RADIUS

3GPP RAT-Type (21)

LTE-M (9)

  • Accounting Request -Start

  • Accounting Request- Stop

  • Account request -Interim

Rf

3GPP RAT-Type (21)

Diameter

LTE-M (9)

  • Accounting Request -Start

  • Accounting Request- Stop

  • Account request -Interim

S6b

3GPP RAT-Type (1032)

Diameter

LTE-M (9)

  • Authentication

  • Authorisation

  • Request

EDRs

RAT-Type

LTE-M (9)

-

PGW CDRS

RAT-Type (30)

GTPP

LTE-M (9)

  • Gtpp Data Record

  • Transfer Request

S-GW Product

SGWCDRs

RAT-Type (30)

LTE-M (9)

  • Gtpp Data Record

  • Transfer Request

Limitations

Following are the known limitations for new LTE-M RAT type feature:

  • Rule matching at ECS

  • Ruledef matching at Local-Policy

Supported Standards

Cisco's implementation of the LTE RAT type complies with the following standards:

  • 3GPP 23.401 – eGPTC Interface

  • 3GPP 29.274 Release 15.4.0 – 3GPP GTPv2 Protocol Specification Reference table for LTE-M Rat type support; RAT Type IE details are given in the following table for egtpc IEs encoding and decoding :

    • Table 7.2.1-1: Information Elements in a Create Session Request

    • Table 7.2.7-1: Information Elements in a Modify Bearer Request

    • Table 7.2.7-1: Information Elements in a Modify Bearer Request

  • 3GPP 23.401 Release 15.4.0 – 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access

  • 3GPP 32.299 Release 15.4.0 – 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control (PCC).

  • 3GPP 29.060 – 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; General Packet Radio Service (GPRS); GPRS Tunnelling Protocol (GTP) across the Gn and Gp interface.

  • 3GPP 29.061 – 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Interworking between the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) supporting packet based services and Packet Data Networks (PDN)

  • 3GPP 32.298 – 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Telecommunication management; Charging management; Charging Data Record (CDR) parameter description

  • 3GPP 29.212 Release 15.4.0 – 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control (PCC).

Configuring Virtual-APN

Use the following configuration to display an additional option (LTE-M) “RAT-Type” based Virtual-APN selection .

configure  
   context  context_name  
      apn  apn_name  
          virtual-apn  preference  value apn  apn_name rat-type lte-m 
          end

NOTES:

  • apn apn_name : Allows to specify the APN name as a condition. apn_name must be an alphanumeric string of 1 through 63 characters.

  • virtual-apn preference value apn apn_name : Configures the virtual-apn (virtual.ipv4).

  • rat-type lte-m : Enables LTE-M as an additional RAT-type.

Configuring qci-qos-mapping

Use the following configuration to configure QCI-QOS mapping in the APN Configuration mode and associate additional RAT type (LTE-M). 

configure  
   context  context_name  
      apn  apn_name  
         qci table  
          qci-qos-mapping  
                qci qci_val non-gbr { downlink  user-datagram dscp-marking value } 
               end

NOTES:

  • apn apn_name : Allows to specify the APN name as a condition. apn_name must be an alphanumeric string of 1 through 63 characters.

  • qci-qos-mapping : Configures the qci-qos-mapping for APN.

  • qci qci_val : Specifies the QoS Class Identifier. qci_val must be an integer between 1 to 9, 80, 82, and 83.

    • downlink : Specifies the direction of traffic on which this QoS configuration needs to be applied.

Associate Qci-Qos-Mapping

Use the configuration to select the qci-qos-mapping RAT Type. 

configure  
   context  context_name  
      apn  apn_name  
         associate  qci-qos-mapping table rat-type lte-m   
         end

NOTES:

  • associate qci-qos-mapping table rat-type lte-m : Associates apn qci-qos-mapping based on the RAT type.

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

This section provides information regarding commands available to monitor and troubleshoot the LTE-M RAT Type support on the SAEGW, P-GW and S-GW Services.

Show Commands and Output

This section provides information on show commands and their corresponding outputs for the LTE-M RAT type feature.

show apn name

The following output is displayed if the Virtual-APN is selected based on the RAT-Type, during the Session-Setup.

Output:

show apn name <>
Virtual APN Configuration:
  Preference  Selected-APN           Rule-Definition
  10          verizon.ipv4           CC Profile Index = 3
   RAT Type = lte-m [local]qvpc-si# show configuration

show apn all

The output of show apn all and show apn name apn_name all commands has been enhanced to monitor the APN configuration for qci-qos-mapping on RAT type lte-m :

Example:

show apn name <>
qci-qos-mapping Name for RAT-Type:
GERAN :N/A            UTRAN :N/A
EUTRAN : N/A          LTE-M : table
Stats Profile Name : N/A

show qci-qos-mapping table all

Following example is the sample output before associating the qci-qos-mapping table based on additional RAT Type (LTE-M). 

QCI-QOS Table Name: table

 Qci:  1
  uplink: n/a
  downlink: user-datagram            dscp-marking 0x3e
  maximum packet delay:  n/a         maximum error rate:  n/a
  delay class:  n/a        	   precedence class:     n/a
  reliability class:  n/a            qci type:   non-gbr
  volte:   n/a                       traffic policing interval:  n/a

 Qci:  2
  uplink: n/a
  downlink: internal-qos priority 1
  maximum packet delay:  n/a         maximum error rate:  n/a
  delay class:     n/a               precedence class:  n/a
  reliability class:     n/a         qci type:   gbr
  volte:     n/a                     traffic policing interval:  n/a

show configuration

The virtual-apn preference value apn apn_name rat-type lte-m output is displayed when the Virtual APN is configured with the LTE-M RAT type. Following is the sample output: 

[local]qvpc-si# show configuration
apn intershat
      pdp-type ipv4 ipv6
      bearer-control-mode mixed
      selection-mode subscribed sent-by-ms chosen-by-sgsn
      accounting-mode radius
      ims-auth-service ims-ggsn-auth
      ip access-group acl4-1 in
      ip access-group acl4-1 out
      authentication pap 1 chap 2 allow-noauth
      ip context-name egress
      virtual-apn preference 10 apn verizon.ipv4 rat-type lte-m
      ipv6 access-group acl6-1 in
      ipv6 access-group acl6-1 out
      active-charging rulebase prepaid
    exit
Similarly, the associate qci-qos-mapping table rat-type lte-m output is displayed for the qci-qos association changes based on RAT type. Following is the sample output 
 [local]laas-setup# show configuration
                 apn intershat
                 context ingress
                subscriber default
                 nexthop-forwarding-address
                 exit
                 apn intershat
                 associate qci-qos-mapping table rat-type lte-m
                 exit

show subscribers full

The output of this show command is used for monitoring the subscriber call. The RAT type of the call is displayed as LTE-M. A new field LTE-M is added under Access Technology . Following is the sample output: 

[local]laas-setup# show subscribers all 
Access  (X) - CDMA 1xRTT                (E) - GPRS GERAN    (I) - IP
||    Tech:       (D) - CDMA EV-DO      (U) - WCDMA UTRAN   (W) - Wireless LAN
||                (A) - CDMA EV-DO REVA (G) - GPRS Other    (M) - WiMax
||                (C) - CDMA Other      (J) - GAN           (O) - Femto IPSec
||                (P) - PDIF            (S) - HSPA          (L) - eHRPD
||                (T) - eUTRAN          (B) - PPPoE         (F) - FEMTO UTRAN
||                (N) - NB-IoT          (Q) - WSG           (R)- LTE-M
                  (.) - Other/Unknown

show subcscribers full all

The output of the following show commands are used for monitoring the subscriber call. The Access Technology of the call is displayed as LTE-M. 

Username: 9890098900           Status: Online/Active
  Access Type: sgw-pdn-type-ipv4-ipv6    Network Type: IPV4+IPv6
  Access Tech: LTE-M                     Access Network Peer ID: n/a
  callid: 02fb3ea1                       msid: 404005123456789
  Card/Cpu: 1/0                          Sessmgr Instance: 11
  state: Connected
  connect time: Tue Mar 23 04:33:55 2021 call duration: 00h00m46s
  idle time: 00h00m40s                idle time left:  n/a

show subs pgw-only full / show subs pgw-only full all

The show subs pgw-only full / show subs pgw-only full all commands display the Access Technology of the call as LTE-M. Following is the sample output: 

                   
Access Type: gtp-pdn-type-ipv4-ipv6    Network Type: IPV4+IPv6
  Access Tech: LTE-M                   pgw-service-name: PGW21
  Callid: 02fb3ea2                     IMSI: 404005123456789
  MSISDN: 9890098900                   External ID: n/a
  Interface Type: S5S8GTP              Low Access Priority: N/A
  TWAN Mode: N/A
  eMPS Bearer: No
  Emergency Bearer Type: N/A
  IMS-media Bearer: No
  S6b Auth Status: N/A

show subs sgw-only full / show subs sgw-only full all

The show subs sgw-only full / show subs sgw-only full all scommands display the Access Technology of the call as LTE-M. Following is the sample output: 

 Card/Cpu        : 1/0         Sessmgr Instance : 11
  Idle time       : 00h05m47s
  MS TimeZone     : n/a                  Daylight Saving Time: n/a
 
  Access Type: sgw-pdn-type-ipv4-ipv6    Network Type: IPV4+IPv6
  Access Tech: LTE-M                           sgw-service-name: SGW21
  Callid: 02fb3ea1                       IMSI: 404005123456789
  MSISDN: 9890098900
  eMPS Bearer: No

show subs saegw-only full / show subs saegw-only full all

The show subs saegw-only full / show subs saegw-only full all commands display the Access Technology of the call as LTE-M. Following is the sample output: 

 Callid   : 02fb3ea3                    IMSI                : 404005123456789
  Card/Cpu          : 1/0                         Sessmgr Instance    : 11
  Source context    : EPC2                        Destination context : ISP1
  Bearer Type       : Default                     Bearer-Id           : 5
  Access Type       : gtp-pdn-type-ipv4-ipv6      Network Type        : IPV4+IPv6
  Access Tech       : LTE-M                       saegw-service-name  : SAEGW21
  MSISDN            : 9890098900                  External ID         : n/a
  TWAN Mode         : N/A
  eMPS Bearer       : No
  WPS Bearer        : No

show subs pgw-only all

The show subs pgw-only all command displays the following output:. 

|+------Access    (U) - UTRAN     (G) - GERAN
||      Tech:     (W) - WLAN                (J) - GAN
||                (U) - HSPA Evolution      (E) - eUTRAN
||                (H) - eHRPD               (.) - Unknown
||                (N) - NB-IoT              (R) - LTE-M

show subs sgw-only all

The show subs sgw-only all command displays the following output: 

|+----Access   (U) - UTRAN  (G) - GERAN           (W) - WLAN
||    Tech:    (J) - GAN              (S) - HSPA Evolution  (E) - eUTRAN
||             (.) - Unknown          (N) - NB-IoT          (R) - LTE-M                    
||

show subs saegw-only all

The show subs saegw-only all command displays the following output: 

|+----Access   (U) - UTRAN  (G) - GERAN           (W) - WLAN
||    Tech:    (J) - GAN              (S) - HSPA Evolution  (E) - eUTRAN
||             (H) - eHRPD            (.) - Unknown         (N) - NB-IoT
||             (R) - LTE-M

show subscribers callid

The show subscribers callid callid command displays the Access Technology of the call as LTE-M. Following is the sample output: 

|+----Access  (X) - CDMA 1xRTT(E) - GPRS GERAN      (I) - IP
||    Tech:   (D) - CDMA EV-DO          (U) - WCDMA UTRAN     (W) - Wireless LAN
||            (A) - CDMA EV-DO REVA     (G) - GPRS Other      (M) - WiMax
||            (C) - CDMA Other          (J) - GAN             (O) - Femto IPSec
||            (P) - PDIF                (S) - HSPA            (L) - eHRPD
||            (T) - eUTRAN              (B) - PPPoE           (F) - FEMTO UTRAN
||            (N) - NB-IoT              (Q) - WSG             (R) - LTE-M                    
||            (.) - Other/Unknown

show session subsystem

The following output displays the session related statistics: 

LTE-M Data Statistics
       0 Total Sessions                  0 Total calls arrived
       0 Total calls connected           0 Total calls disconnected
NB-IoT Connection Statistics
       0 Total Sessions                  0 Total calls arrived
       0 Total calls connected           0 Total calls disconnected
LTE-M Connection Statistics
       0 Total Sessions                  0 Total calls arrived
       0 Total calls connected           0 Total calls disconnected

Similarly, the show session subsystem full is enhanced to display the Data packets and subscribers count per RAT type.

show session subsystem verbose

The show session subsystem verbose command displays the following output: 

NB-IoT Data Statistics
             packets to User:             0    octets to User:   0
             packets from User:           0    octets from User: 0
                                                
LTE-M Data Statistics
             packets to User:             0    octets to User:   0
             packets from User:           0    octets from User: 0
                                                                                
 NB-IoT Connection Statistics
       0 Total Sessions                  0 Total calls arrived
       0 Total calls connected           0 Total calls disconnected
 LTE-M Connection Statistics
       0 Total Sessions                  0 Total calls arrived
       0 Total calls connected           0 Total calls disconnected

show session summary

The show session summary command displays the following output: 

4G LTE (EUTRAN): 0
2G (GERAN): 0
3G (UTRAN): 0
WiFi (WIRELSS LAN): 0
eHRPD: 0
3G HA: 0
NB-IoT: 2
LTE-M: 0
Others: 0

show subscribers subscription full

The show subscribers subscription full command displays the following output: 

Username: 9890098900           Status: Online/Active
  Access Type: sgw-pdn-type-ipv4-ipv6    Network Type: IPV4+IPv6
  Access Tech: LTE-M                     Access Network Peer ID: n/a
  callid: 02fb3ea1                       msid: 404005123456789
  Card/Cpu: 1/0                          Sessmgr Instance: 11
  state: Connected
  connect time: Wed Mar 17 09:59:47 2021 call duration: 00h01m19s
  idle time: 00h01m13s                idle time left:  n/a
  session time left:  n/a

show subscribers activity all

The show subscribers activity all command displays the Access Technology of the call as LTE-M. Following is the sample output: 

Username: 9890098900           Status: Online/Active
  Access Type: sgw-pdn-type-ipv4-ipv6    Network Type: IPV4+IPv6
  Access Tech: LTE-M                     Access Network Peer ID: n/a
  callid: 02fb3ea1                       msid: 404005123456789

show apn statistics all-name

The show output command displays the statistics per APN and also displays number of initiated sessions and active sessions with LTE-M RAT Type per APN. Following is the sample output: 

Initiated Sessions per RAT Type:
    EUTRAN:  0    UTRAN:   0
    GERAN:   0    EHRPD:   0
    S2A GTP: 0    S2B GTP: 0
    S2B PMIP:0    NB-IoT:  0
    LTE-M :  0 

  Active Sessions per RAT Type:
   EUTRAN: 0   UTRAN: 0
   GERAN:  0   WLAN:  0
   HSPA:   0   NB-IoT:0
   LTE-M:  0   OTHER: 0

show saegw-service statistics all-name

The show output command displays the statistics per SAEGW service and also displays Current subscribers, the Current PDNs with NB-IoT RAT Type per SAEGW Service. Following is the sample output: 

Current Subscribers By RAT-Type:
  EUTRAN:                              0    UTRAN:                            0
  GERAN:                               0    NB-IoT:                           0
  LTE-M:                               0    OTHER:                            0

Current PDNs By RAT-Type:
    EUTRAN:                            0    UTRAN:                           0
    GERAN:                             0    NB-IoT:                          0
    LTE-M:                             0    OTHER:                           0

show pgw-service statistics all-name

The show output command displays statistics for each P-GW Services, the number of initiated PDNs, and current PDNs with NB-IoT RAT Type for each P-GW Services. Following is the sample output: 

Initiated PDNs By RAT-Type:
  EUTRAN:                              0    UTRAN:                             0
  GERAN:                               0    EHRPD:                             0
  S2A GTP:                             0    S2B GTP:                           0
  S2B PMIP:                            0    NB-IoT:                            0
  LTE-M	                         0

Current PDNs By RAT-Type:
  EUTRAN:                              0    UTRAN:                             0
  GERAN:                               0    WLAN:                              0
  NB-IoT:                              0    LTE-M                              0
  OTHER:                               0

show sgw-service statistics

This show command displays statistics for each S-GW Services. This CLI is enhanced to display Current Subscribers and Current PDNs with NB-IoT RAT type for each S-GW Services. Following is the sample output: 

Current Subscribers By RAT-Type:
  EUTRAN:                              0    UTRAN:                             0
  GERAN:                               0    NB-IoT:                            0
  LTE-M:                               0    OTHER:                             0
Current PDNs By RAT-Type:
    EUTRAN:                            0    UTRAN:                             0
    GERAN:                             0    NB-IoT:                            0
    LTE-M:                             0    OTHER:                             0

Bulk Statistics

The following statistics are added in support of the LTE-M RAT type feature

APN Schema

The following LTE-M RAT type feature-related bulk statistics are available in the APN schema.

Bulk Statistics

Description

active-lte-m-sessions

The total number of active LTE-M sessions per APN with RAT type LTE-M.

initiated-lte-m-sessions

The total number of initiated LTE-M sessions.

P-GW Schema

The following LTE-M RAT type feature related bulk statistics available in the P-GW schema.

Bulk Statistics

Description

sesstat-pdn-rat-lte-m

The total number of active PDN Type Statistics – LTE-M.

sessstat-rat-init-lte-m

The total number of initiated LTE-M PDNs (with RAT Type LTE-M).

S-GW Schema

The following LTE-M RAT type feature related bulk statistics available in the S-GW schema.

Bulk Statistics

Description

sessstat-totcur-ue-lte-m

The total number of active UEs with LTE-M RAT type.

sessstat-totcur-pdn-lte-m

The total number of active PDNs with LTE-M RAT type.

SAEGW Schema

The following LTE-M RAT type feature related bulk statistics available in the SAE-GW schema.

Bulk Statistics

Description

sgw-sessstat-totcur-ue-lte-m

The total number of active UEs with LTE-M RAT type.

sgw-sessstat-totcur-pdn-lte-m

The total number of LTE-M PDNs (PGW anchored/Collapsed PDN) with RAT Type LTE-M.

pgw-sesstat-pdn-rat-lte-m

The total number of LTE-M PDNs (PGW anchored/Collapsed PDN) with RAT Type LTE-M.

pgw-sessstat-pdn-rat-init-lte-m

The total number of initiated LTE-M PDNs.

saegw-sgw-anchor-pdn-rat-lte-m

The total number of LTE-M PDNs (SGW anchored) with RAT Type LTE-M.

saegw-pgw-anchor-pdn-rat-lte-sm

The total number of LTE-M PDNs (PGW anchored) with RAT Type LTE-M.

saegw-collapsed-pdn-rat-lte-m

The total number of LTE-M PDNs (PGW anchored/Collapsed PDN) with RAT Type LTE-M.