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Service Function Chaining Use Cases in Fog RAN
draft-bernardos-sfc-fog-ran-01

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Authors Carlos J. Bernardos , Akbar Rahman , Alain Mourad
Last updated 2017-05-04
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draft-bernardos-sfc-fog-ran-01
SFC WG                                                     CJ. Bernardos
Internet-Draft                                                      UC3M
Intended status: Informational                                 A. Rahman
Expires: November 5, 2017                                      A. Mourad
                                                            InterDigital
                                                             May 4, 2017

             Service Function Chaining Use Cases in Fog RAN
                     draft-bernardos-sfc-fog-ran-01

Abstract

   Fog Radio Access Networks (RAN) refers to the part of the RAN that is
   virtualized at the very edge of the network, even at the end-user
   device.  Fog RAN support is considered critical for the 5G mobile
   network architectures currently being developed in various research,
   standardization and industry forums.  Since fog RAN builds on top of
   virtualization and can involve several virtual functions running on
   different virtualized resources, Service function chaining (SFC)
   support for the fog RAN will be critical.  This document describes
   the overall fog RAN approach and also gives some use cases.  Finally
   it proposes some requirements to be considered in the development of
   the SFC architecture and related protocols.

Status of This Memo

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 5, 2017.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2017 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
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   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Fog RAN Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Applicability of SFC to Fog RAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   5.  Fog RAN requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   8.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   9.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     9.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     9.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   Appendix A.  4G (LTE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   Appendix B.  5G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15

1.  Introduction

   The telecommunications sector is experiencing a major revolution that
   will shape the way networks and services are designed and deployed
   for the next decade.  We are witnessing an explosion in the number of
   applications and services demanded by users, which are now really
   capable of accessing them on the move.  In order to cope with such a
   demand, some network operators are looking at the cloud computing
   paradigm, which enables a potential reduction of the overall costs by
   outsourcing communication services from specific hardware in the
   operator's core to server farms scattered in data centers.  These
   services have different characteristics if compared with conventional
   IT services that have to be taken into account in this cloudification
   process.  Also the transport network is affected in that it is
   evolving to a more sophisticated form of IP architecture with trends
   like separation of control and data plane traffic, and more fine-
   grained forwarding of packets (beyond looking at the destination IP
   address) in the network to fulfill new business and service goals.

   Virtualization of functions also provides operators with tools to
   deploy new services much faster, as compared to the traditional use

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   of monolithic and tightly integrated dedicated machinery.  As a
   natural next step, mobile network operators need to re-think how to
   evolve their existing network infrastructures and how to deploy new
   ones to address the challenges posed by the increasing customers'
   demands, as well as by the huge competition among operators.  All
   these changes are triggering the need for a modification in the way
   operators and infrastructure providers operate their networks, as
   they need to significantly reduce the costs incurred in deploying a
   new service and operating it.  Some of the mechanisms that are being
   considered and already adopted by operators include: sharing of
   network infrastructure to reduce costs, virtualization of core
   servers running in data centers as a way of supporting their load-
   aware elastic dimensioning, and dynamic energy policies to reduce the
   monthly electricity bill.  However, this has proved to be tough to
   put in practice, and not enough.  Indeed, it is not easy to deploy
   new mechanisms in a running operational network due to the high
   dependency on proprietary (and sometime obscure) protocols and
   interfaces, which are complex to manage and often require configuring
   multiple devices in a decentralized way.

   Network function virtualization (NFV) [etsi_nvf_whitepaper] and
   software defined networking (SDN) [onf_sdn_architecture] are changing
   the way the telecommunications sector will deploy, extend and operate
   their networks.  In this document we focus on one particular
   application of network softwarization: the radio access network
   (RAN), and in particular, how to run RAN functions on dynamic virtual
   resources very close to the users, the so-called Fog. We analyze the
   applicability of the SFC architecture to the Fog RAN use case.

2.  Terminology

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

   While [RFC2119] describes interpretations of these key words in terms
   of protocol specifications and implementations, they are used in this
   document to describe requirements for the SFC mechanisms to
   efficiently enable fog RAN.

   The following terms used in this document are defined by the ETSI NVF
   ISG, the ONF and the IETF:

      NFV Infrastructure (NFVI): totality of all hardware and software
      components which build up the environment in which VNFs are
      deployed

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      NFV Management and Orchestration (NFV-MANO): functions
      collectively provided by NFVO, VNFM, and VIM.

      NFV Orchestrator (NFVO): functional block that manages the Network
      Service (NS) lifecycle and coordinates the management of NS
      lifecycle, VNF lifecycle (supported by the VNFM) and NFVI
      resources (supported by the VIM) to ensure an optimized allocation
      of the necessary resources and connectivity.

      OpenFlow protocol (OFP): allowing vendor independent programming
      of control functions in network nodes.

      Service Function (SF): a function that is responsible for specific
      treatment of received packets (e.g., firewall, load balancer).

      Service Function Chain (SFC): for a given service, the abstracted
      view of the required service functions and the order in which they
      are to be applied.  This is somehow equivalent to the Network
      Function Forwarding Graph (NF-FG) at ETSI.

      Service Function Path (SFP): the selection of specific service
      function instances on specific network nodes to form a service
      graph through which an SFC is instantiated.

      Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM): functional block that is
      responsible for controlling and managing the NFVI compute, storage
      and network resources, usually within one operator's
      Infrastructure Domain.

      Virtualized Network Function (VNF): implementation of a Network
      Function that can be deployed on a Network Function Virtualisation
      Infrastructure (NFVI).

      Virtualized Network Function Manager (VNFM): functional block that
      is responsible for the lifecycle management of VNF.

3.  Fog RAN Overview

   Virtualization is invading all domains of the E2E 5G network,
   including the access, as a mean to achieve the necessary flexibility
   in support of the E2E slicing concept.  The ETSI NFV framework is the
   cornerstone for making virtualization such a promising technology
   that can be matured in time for 5G.  Typically, virtualization has
   been mostly envisaged in the core network, where sophisticated data
   centers and clouds provided the right substrate.  And mostly, the
   framework focused on virtualizing network functions, so called VNFs
   (virtualized network functions), which were somewhat limited to
   functions that are delay tolerant, typically from the core and

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   aggregation transport.  Yet in the access, virtualization of RAN
   functions could still be envisaged as one step forward for the Cloud-
   RAN concept, assuming an extremely low latency fronthaul transport
   (typically over fiber) and again limiting to those RAN functions
   which delay requirements match for execution in a virtualized
   environment.

   As the community has recently been developing the 5G applications and
   their technical requirements, it has become clear that certain
   applications would require very low latency which is extremely
   challenging and stressing for the network to deliver through a pure
   centralized architecture.  The need to provide networking, computing,
   and storage capabilities closer to the users has therefore emerged,
   leading to what is known today as the concept of intelligent edge.
   ETSI has been the first to address this need recently by developing
   the framework of mobile edge computing (MEC).

   Such an intelligent edge could not be envisaged without
   virtualization.  Beyond applications, it raises a clear opportunity
   for networking functions to execute at the edge benefiting from
   inherent low latencies.  Being in close proximity to the access, the
   edge becomes thus an attractive place for hosting C-RAN functions in
   particular, which could also be envisaged virtualized thanks to the
   virtualization capabilities now available at the edge.  Transport and
   core networking functions could also take advantage of such a hosting
   environment, thus saving bandwidth in their respective domains and
   offering local breakout options where required.  Furthermore, a rich
   set of context information from the RAN but also from other network
   domains could be offered as services through the edge for
   applications to consume and hence optimize their behavior or key
   performance indicators (KPIs).

   Whilst it is appreciated the particular challenge for the intelligent
   edge concept in dealing with mobile users, the edge virtualization
   substrate has been largely assumed to be fixed or stationary.
   Although little developed, the intelligent edge concept is being
   extended further to scenarios where for example the edge computing
   substrate is on the move, e.g., on-board a car or a train, or that it
   is distributed further down the edge, even integrating resources from
   different stakeholders, into what is known as the fog.  The
   challenges and opportunities for such extensions of the intelligent
   edge remain an exciting area of future research.

   The computing and virtualization capabilities available down into the
   fog are of particular advantage to the virtualized-RAN/cloud-RAN,
   leading to what we refer to as "Fog RAN".  Virtual networking
   functions (VNFs) related to the RAN may execute in the fog.  The
   close proximity of the fog to the end user devices opens new

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   possibilities for extending the scope of virtual RAN (VRAN) functions
   from just access nodes so far to end user devices, so that functions
   traditionally running on the end user devices may be moved to the
   fog.  In addition, an additional tier of intelligent VRAN functions
   could be envisaged to run across other functions of various nodes or
   devices and from different radio access technologies (RATs),
   supporting tight coordination between these nodes and devices, and
   enabling convergence between the RATs.  VNFs from the transport and
   core could also be hosted in the fog so as to save bandwidth in their
   respective domains.

   Figure 1 shows a diagram representing the fog RAN concept.  The fog
   is composed by virtual resources on top of heterogeneous resources
   available at the edge and even further in the RAN and end-user
   devices.  These resources are therefore owned by different
   stakeholders who collaboratively form a single hosting environment
   for the VNFs to run.  As an example, virtual resources provided to
   the fog might be running on eNBs, APs, at micro data centers deployed
   in shopping malls, cars, trains, etc.  The fog is connected to data
   centers deeper into the network architecture (at the edge ir the
   core).  On the top part of the figure, an example of user and control
   plane VNFs is shown.  User plane VNFs are represented as "fx", and
   control ones as "ctrlx".  Depending on the functionality implemented
   by these VNFs and the service requirements, these VNFs would be
   mapped (i.e., instantiated) differently to the physical resouces (as
   described in [I-D.aranda-sfc-dp-mobile]).

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            --------                        ---------   ---------
   control  | ctr1 |........................| ctrl2 |...| ctrl3 |
   plane    --------                        ---------   ---------
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                                ------         ------     ------
                               .| f3 |.........| f5 |.....| f6 |
          ------       ------ . ------         ------     ------
    user  | f1 |.......| f2 |.                    .
   plane  ------       ------ . ------            .
                               .| f4 |.............
                                ------
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
         +--------------------------------+  +-------------------+
         | -------   --------   --------  |  |      ----------   |
         | |     |   |      |   |      |  |  |    ---------- |   |
         | | @UE |   | @car |   | @eNB |  |  |  ---------- | |   |
         | -------   --------   --------  |  |  |  Data  | | |   |
         |                                |  |  | Center | | -   |
         | -------- Heterogeneous ------- |  |  |  (DC)  |-      |
    phy  | |      |   computing   |     | |  |  ----------       |
   infra | |@train|    devices    | @AP | |==|      ----------   |
         | --------    forming    ------- |  |    ---------- |   |
         |             the fog            |  |  ---------- | |   |
         | ---------        ------------  |  |  |  Data  | | |   |
         | |       |        |          |  |  |  | Center | | -   |
         | | @mall |        | @localDC |  |  |  |  (DC)  |-      |
         | ---------        ------------  |  |  ----------       |
         |              FOG               |  |       CLOUD       |
         +--------------------------------+  +-------------------+
         <--------- fog and edge ----------------->
                                     <--- edge & central cloud --->

                             Figure 1: Fog RAN

   The fog is also well suited to offer a rich set of context
   information noticeably (but not only) from the RAN that could be
   collected from the various RATs co-existing in the same service area.
   This information can be obtained either from networking resources
   (e.g., nodes and devices) or functions, some of which might be hosted
   in the fog.  Such information may be exposed through services running
   in the fog or in the edge, for applications on top to consume and
   hence optimize their performance or behavior.  The fog or edge will
   therefore be in charge of collecting and publishing context
   information towards network applications as well as end user/3rd
   party applications.  This is accomplished by the so-called "services"
   which follow the concept of ETSI MEC ISG services and may run in the
   fog.  Applications may also run directly in the fog and subscribe to
   one or more services provided in the fog.  These fog applications

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   could also offer services to other applications residing inside the
   fog or outside, e.g., in the edge or central cloud.  This enables
   different kinds of Over-The-Top (OTT) applications to utilize the RAN
   context information available at the fog.

4.  Applicability of SFC to Fog RAN

   For a given service, the abstracted view of the required service
   functions and the order in which they are to be applied is called a
   service function chain (SFC), which is called network function
   forwarding graph (NF-FG) in ETSI.  An SFC is instantiated through
   selection of specific service function instances on specific network
   nodes to form a service graph: this is called a service function path
   (SFP).  The service functions may be applied at any layer within the
   network protocol stack (network layer, transport layer, application
   layer, etc.).

   [RFC7665] describes the architecture for the specification, creation,
   and ongoing maintenance of service function chains (SFCs) in a
   network.  The SFC architecture is composed of the following logical
   components: classifiers, service function forwarders (SFFs), service
   functions (SFs), and SFC proxies.  These components are
   interconnected using the SFC encapsulation, as shown in Figure 2.

      o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
      .  +--------------+                  +------------------~~~
      .  |   Service    |       SFC        |  Service  +---+   +---+
      .  |Classification|  Encapsulation   | Function  |sf1|...|sfn|
   +---->|   Function   |+---------------->|   Path    +---+   +---+
      .  +--------------+                  +------------------~~~
      . SFC-enabled Domain
      o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

                        Figure 2: SFC architecture

   An overview of how the SFC logical components interact after the
   initial classification is also shown in Figure 3 (reproduced from
   [RFC7665] for completeness).

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          +----------------+                        +----------------+
          |   SFC-aware    |                        |  SFC-unaware   |
          |Service Function|                        |Service Function|
          +-------+--------+                        +-------+--------+
                  |                                         |
            SFC Encapsulation                       No SFC Encapsulation
                  |                  SFC                    |
     +---------+  +----------------+ Encapsulation     +---------+
     |SFC-Aware|-----------------+  \     +------------|SFC Proxy|
     |    SF   | ... ----------+  \  \   /             +---------+
     +---------+                \  \  \ /
                               +-------+--------+
                               |   SF Forwarder |
                               |      (SFF)     |
                               +-------+--------+
                                       |
                               SFC Encapsulation
                                       |
                           ... SFC-enabled Domain ...
                                       |
                           Network Overlay Transport
                                       |
                                   _,....._
                                ,-'        `-.
                               /              `.
                              |     Network    |
                              `.              /
                                `.__     __,-'
                                    `''''

                   Figure 3: SFC architecture components

   There are different use cases for service function chaining in mobile
   networks.  [I-D.ietf-sfc-use-case-mobility] describes in general how
   to use SFC for mobile networks focusing on the core functions, while
   [I-D.aranda-sfc-dp-mobile] looks more at RAN aspects.

   This document focuses on the specific use case of applying SFC
   concepts to the fog RAN environment, which is characterized mainly
   by:

   o  The VNFs being chained implement mostly RAN functionality.  The
      Cloud RAN (C-RAN) approach centralizes baseband processing and
      network resource allocation (which are today functions executed in
      a distributed way at the access nodes, such as eNBs).  The strict
      latency and bandwidth requirements imposed by C-RAN triggered the
      evolution of the virtualization of the access infrastructure to
      the concept of RAN as a Service, where the centralization (i.e.

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      function virtualization in a data center) of processing and
      management in mobile networks is flexible and adapted to the
      actual service requirements and the network conditions.  This is
      also referred to as flexible functional split of the radio
      protocol stack.  Up to now, RAN virtualization approaches have
      only considered offloading of computation tasks in central clouds
      or regional data centers close to the network aggregation points.
      With fog RAN, virtualization resources are placed closer to users,
      from edge computing to fog computing at user devices, leveraging
      micro data centers at user premises, thus reducing end-to-end
      latency.

   o  Virtualizing RAN functions at the fog could also enable new
      optimizations when information of (or available at) the access is
      used.  Examples of this information include: RAN measured
      parameters, location information, etc.  This information can be
      used for example to jointly optimize multiple RATs.

   o  The fog computing environment can also be used to virtualize
      functions from the end-user devices, not only from the RAN.  This
      can help facilitating a better convergence of multiple access
      technologies.

   Fog RAN implementations will benefit from applying SFC concepts as
   virtual RAN functions will be executed on virtual resources from
   different stakeholders, meaning different data centers managed by
   different entities.  In this environment, SFC encapsulation can be
   used to ensure proper data processing.  Figure 4 shows an example of
   scenario of application of SFC in the fog RAN.  On the top part we
   show a UE connected to the network.  The eNB functionality is
   actually split, so part of it (e.g., RLC, PDCP and RRC) runs
   virtualized in the fog, while the rest (e.g., MAC and PHY) stay at
   the remote radio head (RRH).  Other mobile network RAN functionality
   can also be running virtualized in the fog, such as a local virtual
   MME, multi-RAT authentication and RAT selection mechanisms,
   offloading solutions (such as local vEPCs), etc.  The rest of the
   mobile network functions (see Appendix A for a short overview) runs
   in the core.  On the bottom part of the figure we show a potential
   mapping of the virtual functions to the physical resources that
   compose the fog.  SFC mechanisms would be used to interconnect the
   different functions in the right order and meeting the requirements
   (latency, compute, etc) needed.

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                +---------------------------------------------+
   ------       | FOG                       --------------    |
   | UE |       |  -------------  --------  | RAT selec. |    |
   --+---       |  | multi-RAT |  | vMME |  --------------    |
     v          |  |   auth.   |  --------          "         |
      v         |  -------------      "-------      "         |
      |         |         "           .| RRC |      "         |
     -+-----    | ------- " -------- ."-------    ----------- |
     | RRH |====| | RLC |.".| PDCP |. "     "    .| offload | |
     -------    | ------- " ---"---- ."     "   . ----------- | +-----+
                |    "    "    "      .     "  .    "    "    | |     |
                |    "    "    "      "..(data)...............==| EPC |
                |    "    "    "      "     "       "    "    | |     |
                +----"----"----"------"-----"-------"----"----+ +-----+
                     "    "    "      "     "       "    "
   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    mapping of       "    "    "      "     "       "    "
   VNFs to phy  +----"----"----"------"-----"-------"----"----+
    resources   |    "    "    "      "     "       "    "    |
                | ---"----"----"---- "------"--- ---"----"--- |
                | |  "  auth   "   | | vMME "  | | RAT   "  | |
                | | RLC       PDCP | |     RRC | | sel offl | |
                | |      @eNB      | |  @mall  | |    @AP   | |
                | ------------------ ----------- ------------ |
                |                                             |
                +---------------------------------------------+
   <--- phy ---><-------------- fog and edge -----------------><-core->

                  Figure 4: Fog RAN SFC example scenario

   Since the virtual resources where virtual functions are potentially
   hosted on infrastructure managed by different entities, SFC
   encapsulation is a key tool to enable the fog RAN scenario.  In the
   next section we enumerate some initial requirements to be considered,
   that will be extended and further developed in subsequent versions of
   this document.

5.  Fog RAN requirements

   The following requirements should be considered during SFC
   architecture and related protocol design to ensure that SFC can fully
   support fog RAN functionality:

      REQ-R1: SFC MUST support user traffic flows with very low delay
      budgets (e.g., less than 1ms) at the edge of the network.

      REQ-R2: SFC MUST support mobility of Service Functions (e.g., edge
      network node containing SF that is located on a high speed train).

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      REQ-R3: SFC MUST support Service Functions (e.g., MEC) that are
      located at the edge of the network and that perform L7-Application
      processing very early in the forwarding path.

      REQ-R4: SFC MUST support metadata used to exchange information
      about the network and virtual resources status, so it can be used
      to decide about updates of the service function path.

      REQ-RX: More TBD...

6.  IANA Considerations

   N/A.

7.  Security Considerations

   TBD.

8.  Acknowledgments

   The work in this draft will be further developed and explored under
   the framework of the H2020 5G-CORAL project (Grant 761586).

9.  References

9.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

9.2.  Informative References

   [etsi_nvf_whitepaper]
              "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV). White Paper 2",
              October 2014.

   [I-D.aranda-sfc-dp-mobile]
              Gutierrez, P., Gramaglia, M., Lopez, D., and W. Haeffner,
              "Service Function Chaining Dataplane Elements in Mobile
              Networks", draft-aranda-sfc-dp-mobile-03 (work in
              progress), January 2017.

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   [I-D.ietf-sfc-use-case-mobility]
              Haeffner, W., Napper, J., Stiemerling, M., Lopez, D., and
              J. Uttaro, "Service Function Chaining Use Cases in Mobile
              Networks", draft-ietf-sfc-use-case-mobility-07 (work in
              progress), October 2016.

   [onf_sdn_architecture]
              "SDN Architecture (Issue 1.1), ONF TR-521", February 2016.

   [RFC7665]  Halpern, J., Ed. and C. Pignataro, Ed., "Service Function
              Chaining (SFC) Architecture", RFC 7665,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7665, October 2015,
              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7665>.

Appendix A.  4G (LTE)

   This annex includes a high level summary of the 3GPP EPS
   architecture, commonly referred to as 4G (LTE), detailing both the
   EPC (core) and the RAN (access) parts.

   The EPS architecture and some of its standardized interfaces are
   depicted in Figure 5.  The EPS provides IP connectivity to user
   equipment (UE) (i.e., mobile nodes) and access to operator services,
   such as global Internet access and voice communications.  The EPS
   comprises the core network -- called Evolved Packet Core (EPC) -- and
   different radio access networks: the 3GPP Access Network (AN), the
   Untrusted non-3GPP AN and the Trusted non-3GPP AN.  There are
   different types of 3GPP ANs, with the evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio
   Access Network (E-UTRAN) as the most advanced one.  QoS is supported
   through an EPS bearer concept, providing bindings to resource
   reservation within the network.

   The evolved NodeB (eNB), the Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station,
   is part of the access network that provides radio resource
   management, header compression, security and connectivity to the core
   network through the S1 interface.  In an LTE network, the control
   plane signaling traffic and the data traffic ar handled separately.
   The eNBs transmit the control traffic and data traffic separately via
   two logically separate interfaces.

   The Home Subscriber Server, HSS, is a database that contains user
   subscriptions and QoS profiles.  The Mobility Management Entity, MME,
   is responsible for mobility management, user authentication, bearer
   establishment and modification and maintenance of the UE context.

   The Serving gateway, S-GW, is the mobility anchor and manages the
   user plane data tunnels during the inter-eNB handovers.  It tunnels

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   all user data packets and buffers downlink IP packets destined for
   UEs that happen to be in idle mode.

   The Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway, P-GW, is responsible for IP
   address allocation to the UE and is a tunnel endpoint for user and
   control plane protocols.  It is also responsible for charging, packet
   filtering, and policy-based control of flows.  It interconnects the
   mobile network to external IP networks, e.g. the Internet.

   In this architecture, data packets are not sent directly on an IP
   network between the eNB and the gateways.  Instead, every packet is
   tunneled over a tunneling protocol - the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP
   over UDP/IP.  A GTP path is identified in each node with the IP
   address and a UDP port number on the eNB/gateways.  The GTP protocol
   carries both the data traffic (GTP-U tunnels) and the control traffic
   (GTP-C tunnels).  Alternatively Proxy Mobile IP (PMIPv6) is used on
   the S5 interface between S-GW and P-GW.

   In addition to the above basic functions and entities, there are also
   additional features being discussed by the 3GPP that are relevant
   from a network virtualization viewpoint.  One example is the Traffic
   Detection Function (TDF), which can be used by the P-GW, and in
   general by the whole transport network, to decide how to forward the
   traffic.  In a virtualized infrastructure, this kinf of information
   can be used to elastic and dynamically adapt the network capabilities
   to the traffic nature and volume.

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            +---------------------------------------------------------+
            |                           PCRF                          |
            +-----------+--------------------------+----------------+-+
                        |                          |                |
   +----+   +-----------+------------+    +--------+-----------+  +-+-+
   |    |   |          +-+           |    |  Core Network      |  |   |
   |    |   | +------+ |S|__         |    | +--------+  +---+  |  |   |
   |    |   | |GERAN/|_|G|  \        |    | |  HSS   |  |   |  |  |   |
   |    +-----+ UTRAN| |S|   \       |    | +---+----+  |   |  |  | E |
   |    |   | +------+ |N|  +-+-+    |    |     |       |   |  |  | x |
   |    |   |          +-+ /|MME|    |    | +---+----+  |   |  |  | t |
   |    |   | +---------+ / +---+    |    | |  3GPP  |  |   |  |  | e |
   |    +-----+ E-UTRAN |/           |    | |  AAA   |  |   |  |  | r |
   |    |   | +---------+\           |    | | SERVER |  |   |  |  | n |
   |    |   |             \ +---+    |    | +--------+  |   |  |  | a |
   |    |   |   3GPP AN    \|SGW+----- S5---------------+ P |  |  | l |
   |    |   |               +---+    |    |             | G |  |  |   |
   |    |   +------------------------+    |             | W |  |  | I |
   | UE |                                 |             |   |  |  | P |
   |    |   +------------------------+    |             |   +-----+   |
   |    |   |+-------------+ +------+|    |             |   |  |  | n |
   |    |   || Untrusted   +-+ ePDG +-S2b---------------+   |  |  | e |
   |    +---+| non-3GPP AN | +------+|    |             |   |  |  | t |
   |    |   |+-------------+         |    |             |   |  |  | w |
   |    |   +------------------------+    |             |   |  |  | o |
   |    |                                 |             |   |  |  | r |
   |    |   +------------------------+    |             |   |  |  | k |
   |    +---+  Trusted non-3GPP AN   +-S2a--------------+   |  |  | s |
   |    |   +------------------------+    |             |   |  |  |   |
   |    |                                 |             +-+-+  |  |   |
   |    +--------------------------S2c--------------------|    |  |   |
   |    |                                 |                    |  |   |
   +----+                                 +--------------------+  +---+

             Figure 5: EPS (non-roaming) architecture overview

Appendix B.  5G

   TBD.  This section will include a description of main 5G building
   blocks.

Authors' Addresses

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   Carlos J. Bernardos
   Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
   Av. Universidad, 30
   Leganes, Madrid  28911
   Spain

   Phone: +34 91624 6236
   Email: cjbc@it.uc3m.es
   URI:   http://www.it.uc3m.es/cjbc/

   Akbar Rahman
   InterDigital Communications, LLC
   1000 Sherbrooke Street West, 10th floor
   Montreal, Quebec  H3A 3G4
   Canada

   Email: Akbar.Rahman@InterDigital.com
   URI:   http://www.InterDigital.com/

   Alain Mourad
   InterDigital Europe

   Email: Alain.Mourad@InterDigital.com
   URI:   http://www.InterDigital.com/

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