VoLGA A Whitepaper - Martin Sauter, http://www.wirelessmoves.

com August 2009

Voice over LTE via Generic Access (VoLGA)

A Whitepaper - August 2009
V 1.0

Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary..................................................................................................................2

2 VoLGA Overview........................................................................................................................3

3 Handover..................................................................................................................................7

4 Quality of Service.....................................................................................................................8

5 International Roaming...............................................................................................................9

6 Emergency Calls.....................................................................................................................10

7 Present and Future Alternatives..............................................................................................11

8 Summary, Conclusion and Acknowledgments.......................................................................12

9 List of Abbreviations For Easy Reference...............................................................................14

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 VoLGA A Whitepaper - Martin Sauter, http://www.wirelessmoves.com August 2009

1 Executive Summary
The Move to Packet Switched Wireless Networks
With the quickly rising use of mobile telecommunication networks for broadband Internet
access, network operators and telecommunication vendors decided that it was time to define
and implement next generation network technologies to keep up with the demand. The most
widely adopted next generation standard is referred to as LTE, or Long Term Evolution. LTE is
a project of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP1) and offers an upgrade path for all
major third generation wireless network technologies. Based on the Internet Protocol (IP), it fully
leverages the flexibility of packet switching and follows the path taken in fixed line networks
with DSL, cable and fiber to the home deployments.

No Native Voice and SMS in LTE

While packet switched wireless networks have many advantages, there is also a major
disadvantage: Voice calls and SMS messaging, the main revenue generators of mobile network
operators, are no longer available in LTE, as they are based on a circuit switched radio and core
network infrastructure. To counter this issue, 3GPP has so far adopted two different approaches:

F allback to 2G or 3G for Voice

The first solution, designed to be available early on, is referred to as Circuit Switched
Fallback (CSFB). As the name implies it allows mobile devices to fall back to 2G or 3G
networks for circuit switched services such as voice calls. The main problems with this
approach are longer call setup times which result in a significant degradation of the user
experience and the necessity for software upgrades on circuit switched network nodes
such as the Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs).

IMS As a Potential Solution For the Mid and Long Term

 solution envisaged for the mid and long term is to introduce network operator based
A
voice services in LTE with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). Development of this fully IP
based platform for rich media communication including voice calls begun many years ago
for UMTS. Recently, enhancements have been specified for handing-over ongoing IMS based
voice calls to circuit switched networks such as GSM when the user leaves the UMTS or LTE
coverage area during a call. Due to the significant complexity of the system, however, it is
likely that it will still take several years before large scale commercial IMS deployments will
be undertaken.

Voice over LTE via GAN

A third solution, which this paper will focus on, is Voice over LTE via Generic Access Network,
or VoLGA for short, which is defined by the VoLGA forum2. Here, the concept is to connect
the already existing Mobile Switching Centers to the LTE network via a gateway. As no fallback
to a legacy network is required, call setup times are not increased and the users quality of
experience is consistent with that of the 2G or 3G voice environment.

VoLGA is based on the existing 3GPP Generic Access Network (GAN) standard, which is deployed
for example by T-Mobile in the US and Orange in France. The purpose of GAN is to extend mobile
services over a generic IP access network. One of the popular applications of GAN is with Wi-Fi-
enabled phones. With GAN-based dual-mode mobile phones, all services are either available over
their GSM networks as usual, or over Wi-Fi at home or in public places. Moving between the two
network technologies is fully transparent to the user.

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On the network side, VoLGA only requires software enhancements to the circuit to packet
gateways which already exist for GAN. No modifications are required on the Mobile Switching
Centers or the LTE core and access network nodes. This enables a rapid development and market
introduction, especially in multi-vendor MSC network environments. Furthermore, VoLGA
enables the use of all other circuit switched services over LTE without any modifications in
the network. One of these applications is the short message service (SMS), which is not only a
significant revenue generator but also an important tool for mobile device provisioning over
the air and a requirement of the European Union for informing subscribers about voice and data
charges while they are roaming in another country.

On the mobile device side, the protocol stack initially developed for GAN can also be re-used in
large parts. The two main software additions required are to include the LTE access technology
as a radio bearer together with a modified handover procedure, as the VoLGA approach allows
for a smooth handover of ongoing voice calls to GSM or UMTS when the subscriber leaves the
LTE coverage area.

VoLGA also enables a smooth introduction of global LTE roaming. If supported by the visited
network, all services can be delivered via the VoLGA circuit to packet gateway and the Mobile
Switching Centers in the visited network. In case VoLGA is not supported, the VoLGA gateway
and the Mobile Switching Centers in the home network may be used instead, although this is
currently not described in the specification. While the benefits for the user are obvious, this
flexibility is also very useful from the network operators point of view as it allows delivery of
crucial services such as mandatory information on roaming charges via SMS while roaming.

The following chapters will now go into more details and show how VoLGA will work in practice
from a technical point of view.

2 VoLGA Overview
Origins
The roots of Voice over LTE via GAN (VoLGA) are the 3GPP Generic Access Network (GAN)
specifications which add Wi-Fi as an access technology to 3GPP based networks such as GSM and
UMTS. GAN requires dual mode mobile devices which have both a GSM/UMTS radio interface and
a Wi-Fi radio interface. Such mobile devices are available today from a number of manufacturers
including Samsung, Nokia, Sagem, LG, HTC3, Motorola4, Sony-Ericsson and RIM (Blackberry)5.
When these dual-mode devices detect the availability of a suitable Wi-Fi network, e.g. at home
or a public hotspot, they connect to the Wi-Fi access point and register with the GSM/UMTS core
network over the Wi-Fi link and the Internet. A GAN gateway securely connects a subscriber
to the infrastructure of a network operator and voice calls and other circuit switched services
such as SMS are then securely transported between the mobile device and the Gateway over the
intermediate Wi-Fi link and Internet access network.

VoLGA re-uses this principle by replacing the Wi-Fi access with LTE. From a mobile device point
of view there is not much difference between the two access methods because both networks
are based on IP. This re-use of GAN was initially explored in the 3GPP Technical Report 23.8796
and at the beginning of 2009, the VoLGA Forum was founded to foster the creation of detailed
specification documents and subsequent development of the solution.

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VoLGA in the Network

Figure 2.1 gives an overview of the basic network setup for VoLGA in the home network as
described in the Voice over LTE via Generic Access Stage 2 specification7. For an easy start,
the optional interfaces that enable explicit quality of service in the LTE network and those
required for handing over ongoing voice calls to a circuit switched network are not shown. These
are discussed separately further down in the document.

The only new network element introduced is the VoLGA Access Network Controller (VANC),
shown in green in the figure below. All other network elements and the interfaces between them
already exist and are reused without any modifications.

VoLGA from the LTE Network Point of View

On the LTE side, the VANC connects to the Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) via the standard
SGi interface. Both signaling and user data traffic (i.e. the voice packets) are transported
over this interface. From an LTE core network point of view the VANC looks like any other IP
based external node and IP packets exchanged between a wireless device and the VANC are
transparently forwarded through the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network.

GSM UMTS
Access GSM UMTS Access
MSC MSC

A IU

HLR /
HSS VANC

S6a SGi

LTE
Access S-GW
MME
P-GW

Figure 2.1: Basic VoLGA network setup

VoLGA from the Circuit Switched Network Point of View

On the circuit switched network side the A-interface is used to connect the VANC to a GSM
Mobile Switching Center (MSC). The Iu-interface is used to connect the VANC to the UMTS MSC.
The VANC thus looks like a GSM Base Station Controller (BSC) to a GSM MSC and like a UMTS
Radio Network Controller (RNC) to a UMTS Mobile Switching Center. Which interface is used
in practice depends on the requirements of the network operator. As the A and Iu interfaces

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are used without any enhancements, the MSCs are not aware that the mobiles are not directly
connected via their respective radio networks but instead are connected over LTE. Consequently,
no changes are required on these network nodes to support voice, SMS and other services over
the LTE network.

Registering to the Network

When a mobile device is switched on and detects an LTE network it first registers with the
Mobility Management Entity (MME) over the LTE access network. The MME uses the S6a interface
to the Home Location Register / Home Subscriber Server (HLR/HSS) to retrieve the subscriber
data required for authenticating and managing the user.

After registering with the LTE network, the mobile then establishes a connection to the VANC.
How this is done depends on the VoLGA specific configuration information stored in the mobile
device. First, a suitable IP connection needs to be in place. In the home network the default
bearer might be used. It is also possible to use a separate bearer and IP address for the purpose.
The host name or IP address of the VANC can be pre-provisioned in the mobile device or can be
acquired by querying a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in the network over
the bearer that was established for VoLGA in the previous step. Once the IP address of the VANC
is known, the mobile establishes a secure IPSec tunnel to it over the LTE radio network through
the LTE core network and over the SGi interface. During the process the VANC authenticates the
user with the help of authentication information stored in the HLR/HSS, which it contacts over
the D interface.

Next, the mobile device registers to the MSC through the secure tunnel and the VANC. The Direct
Transfer Application Part (DTAP) protocol is used for this purpose, which is already known from
GSM and UMTS. Messages are tunneled transparently between the mobile device and the MSC by
all network components involved. Merely the VANC adds information such as a cell-id (2G) or the
service area identifier (3G) to the initial registration message as defined in the GSM and UMTS
standards respectively.

Outgoing Voice Calls over LTE

Figure 2.2 shows the signaling exchange to establish a mobile originated voice call over LTE.
All signaling and control plane messages between the UE and the VANC are transported over
the established IPSec tunnel. In a first step, the mobile device sends a message to the VANC
to change the connection from idle to dedicated state. Afterwards, a standard GSM/UMTS CM
Service Request message is sent to establish a connection to the MSC. When the VANC receives
the message it creates a dedicated signaling connection to the MSC over the A- or Iu interface
for this user and forwards the message. The MSC then usually authenticates the user and
activates ciphering (step 4 and 5 in the figure). Then, the mobile device sends a Setup message
in step 6, which contains among other things, the phone number of the person that is to be
called. The MSC acknowledges the request with a Call Proceeding message in step 7. As the MSC
thinks of the VANC as a GSM Base Station Controller or UMTS Radio Network Controller, it then
sends an Assignment Request message to the VANC to request the establishment of a circuit
switched bearer channel. The VANC translates this message into an Activate Channel message
to the mobile device in step 9 to prepare it for the exchange of IP packets containing voice data.
Optionally, quality of service for the voice packets can be ensured by activating a second bearer
in the LTE network (step 11). This is further discussed below. Once the mobile device is prepared
for the voice data stream, an Assignment Response message is sent back to the MSC in step 13
to signal to it the successful pseudo establishment of a circuit switched channel in the radio
network. Once the call has been established with the other party, the MSC sends Alerting and
Connect Messages (step 14 and 15) which the mobile device acknowledges. The voice path is
then established and the voice conversation can begin.
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The voice signal is either transmitted in a 64 kbit/s TDM timeslot on the A-interface in the case of
a GSM MSC or via an ATM or IP based data flow in the case of a UMTS MSC. The VANC translates this
data stream into IP packets for transmission over the LTE network and vice versa. The standardized
Real-time Transfer Protocol (RTP) is used for this purpose and this is the same RTP protocol that is
also used by many other voice over IP solutions such as those utilizing SIP and IMS.

UE VANC MSC

1. GA-CSR Connection Establishment

GA-CSR-
DEDICATED

2. GA-CSR UPLINK DIRECT TRANSFER (CM Service Request)

3. Complete L3 Info (CM Service Request)

4. Authentication

5. Ciphering configuration

6. GA-CSR UL DIRECT TRANSFER (Setup)

7. GA-CSR DL DIRECT TRANSFER (Call Proceding)

8. Assignment Request

9. GA-CSR ACTIVATE CHANNEL

10. GA-CSR ACTIVATE CHANNEL ACK

11. Activate second EPS bearer for user data

12. GA-CSR ACTIVATE CHANNEL COMPLETE

13. Assignment Response

14. GA-CSR DL DIRECT TRANSFER (Alerting)

15. GA-CSR DL DIRECT TRANSFER (Connect)

16.GA-CSR UL DIRECT TRANSFER (Connect Ack)

17. Voice traffic (via second EPS bearer)

Figure 2.2: Call flow for a mobile originated voice call (VoLGA stage 2 specification, Figure 9.8-1)

Incoming Voice Calls over LTE

Incoming voice calls work in a similar way. As from the MSC point of view no connection is
currently established to the mobile device, a standard paging message is sent to the VANC as if
it were the BSC or RNC. As the VANC has an established IPSec tunnel to the mobile device it can
forward the paging message directly to the mobile. All of this is transparent to the LTE network,
i.e. the paging message sent through the IPSec tunnel is not seen and also not needed by the LTE
network to find the mobile device.

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From the LTE network point of view, the paging message is not visible as it is transported inside
an IPSec data packet. If the mobile devices state in the LTE network is active, the IP packet is
delivered immediately without delay. It could also be that the mobile device has been inactive
for some time. As a consequence the physical connection between the network and the mobile
device has been released. The devices IP address has been preserved, however, and thus it is
still logically present for the network in or around the area of the base station that was last
used to communicate with it. This area is referred to as the tracking area. The MME can then re-
establish contact to the mobile device by sending an LTE paging message via all base stations of
the devices last known tracking area. When the LTE paging message is received by the mobile
device it re-establishes radio contact. Afterwards, the IPSec encapsulated packet containing the
paging message is delivered to the mobile and the call establishment signaling can commence.
The time required for the LTE paging is similar to the time required to page the mobile device in
a circuit switched wireless network. Therefore, the call establishment time for a voice call over
LTE is similar to that of a GSM or UMTS network.

3 Handover
A very important functionality of VoLGA is its ability to hand over ongoing calls from the LTE
network to a GSM or UMTS network when the user leaves the LTE coverage area. In fact, this
is one of the most valuable differentiators that network operator supplied voice services have
compared to over-the-top VoIP services. Services such as Skype cannot fall back to a circuit
switched channel as they are purely based on IP and thus have no means to interact with the
radio network.

GSM UMTS
Access GSM UMTS Access
MSC MSC

A IU

HLR /
HSS VANC

S6a Sv SGi

LTE
Access S-GW
MME
P-GW

Figure 2.3: The Sv interface used by VoLGA for circuit switched handovers

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For VoLGA, handover mechanisms are used which have been initially specified for IMS Single
Radio Voice Call Continuity (SR-VCC) in 3GPP TS 23.2168. The basic handover steps are as
follows:

When the mobile registers with the LTE network it signals its SR-VCC capability to the
MME. The network is thus aware that this procedure needs to be executed when the mobile
device is about to leave the LTE coverage area while a bearer is active.

When the base station (the eNodeB) detects that the mobile device could be better served
by a 2G or 3G cell it can instruct the mobile device to measure the signal strength of such
neighboring cells. Based on these measurement results or based on pre-configured values,
the eNodeB then informs the MME that a handover to a 2G or 3G cell is required.

The MME in turn informs the VANC about the handover which is about to be made. The
message includes information such as the target cell-id and the id of the subscriber for
which the handover is to be made. For this purpose, the MME uses the SR-VCC interface
Sv as shown in Figure 2.3. In case the message is sent to the VANC for a subscriber that
uses IMS instead of VoLGA, its possible to forward this message unaltered to the MSC. For
clarity, this interface is not shown in Figure 2.3.

In the next step the VANC uses the information it has received from the MME to create
a standard GSM or UMTS handover message to the indicated target cell. If the target cell
is connected to the same MSC as the VANC, the target cell is prepared for the handover
locally and the handover is executed as soon as the cell is ready. From an MSC point of
view the handover looks no different from a standard GSM or UTMS handover. In case the
target cell is connected to a different MSC, a standard Inter-MSC handover procedure is
initiated.

For VoLGA, the MSC does not have to support the new Sv interface as it is terminated in the
VANC. Therefore, no modifications are required on the MSC for VoLGA handovers.

4 Quality of Service
Another important VoLGA feature that sets it apart from over the top VoIP applications is
the ability to activate network based quality of service measures to ensure that the required
bandwidth for the call is reserved throughout the wireless network and especially between the
base station and the mobile device. Again, mechanisms and network nodes that have originally
been specified for IMS are reused. In a 3GPP wireless network, the Policy Charging Rule Function
(PCRF) entity is responsible for approving and distributing quality of service requests from
applications hosted in the network to the underlying transport network nodes such as the P-GW,
S-GW and the eNodeB (the base station). Figure 2.4 shows how the VANC can request QoS by
connecting to the PCRF via the standardized Rx interface.

To activate QoS for a call the VANC contacts the PCRF during step 11 in the call establishment
process as shown in Figure 2.2 and requests that packets to and from certain IP addresses and
UDP ports be given a higher priority in the network. Based on the subscription profile of the user
in the HLR/HSS, the request is granted or denied. If granted, the PCRF establishes a secondary
bearer throughout the LTE network and also informs the mobile device. Packets matching the
criteria set above are then given a preferential treatment by all network components and also the
mobile device as uplink capacity might also be limited.

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GSM UMTS
Access GSM UMTS Access
MSC MSC

A IU

HLR /
Rx
HSS VANC

PCRF
S6a SGi

Gx
LTE
Access S-GW
MME
P-GW

Figure 2.4: Ensuring Quality of Service for the Voice Call with the PCRF

5 International Roaming
When a subscriber roams to a foreign LTE network the VoLGA specification allows for two options:

Local Breakout
The first and preferred scenario is that VoLGA is natively supported in the roaming network.
In this case, the mobile uses a VANC and MSC in the visited network. To get the subscribers
subscription information from the HLR / HSS in the home network, interfaces that already exist
today for standard international GSM and UMTS roaming are used. For billing, the standard
international billing procedure is used.

In a default setup today, a roaming subscriber always contacts a 2G or 3G Gateway GPRS support
node (GGSN) in the home network. This is convenient for the user as he doesnt have to change
the configuration of his device while roaming. However, this scheme requires that all IP traffic
is routed to the subscribers home network. This is not only very uneconomical but it is also
impossible to contact network nodes in the visited network such as a local VANC. For LTE, it
is likely that the same scheme is used for many purposes. In this case the gateway node is the
home P-GW.

To reach the VANC in the visited network a feature referred to as local breakout is used. It was
standardized already in the early UMTS specifications but to this day is used only very little if at
all. Local breakout allows the use of a GGSN (in case of GSM and UMTS) or a PGW (in case of LTE)
in the visited network and is controlled by using a visited network specific Access Point Name

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(APN) which has to be configured in the mobile device. The VoLGA specification mandates a list
of networks and associated APNs in the mobile device for that purpose. In addition, a default
APN is specified which is used if the foreign network is not in the list.

Once the mobile device has established an IP connection to the P-GW in the visited network, the
standard procedures described earlier (e.g. a DHCP lookup) are used to determine the IP address
of the VANC in the visited network. For the software of the mobile device this procedure is the
same as if the P-GW was in the home network. By using local breakout it is thus very simple to
enable international VoLGA roaming.

SMS messages for roaming subscribers are forwarded to the MSC in the visited network to which
the subscriber is attached and from there via the VANC to the mobile device. Again, this is a
sstandard roaming procedure. Subscriber originated SMS messages follow the same route in the
opposite direction.

Local Breakout
In case the visited network does not support VoLGA natively it is possible to use an APN that
establishes a connection to the P-GW in the home network of the subscriber. This is currently
not described specifically but the standard would allow for this. As described above, this is
what happens today for a standard IP connection for most roamers anyway. There are several
disadvantages however:

The voice packets need to be routed back to the home network. For calls into the home
country of the subscriber this is not much of an inconvenience but for calls to the visiting
country a loop from the visited country to the home country and back is introduced in the
speech path.

The VANC in the home network and the MME in the visited network might not be able
to communicate with each other. As a consequence, handovers between the visited LTE
network and a GSM or UMTS network in the foreign country are not possible.

Emergency calls are not possible in this setup, as a home network MSC is used that cant
connect the call to an emergency center in the visited country. It is therefore essential
that an automatic fallback is performed to a GSM or UMTS network in the visited network
before an emergency call is attempted. This is discussed in more detail in the next section.

Despite these disadvantages it might still be favorable to provide VoLGA services from the home
network in visited networks that do not support it natively. This way, it is possible for example
to ensure delivery of SMS messages, for example for roaming tariff information or EU mandated
bill-shock warning9.

6 Emergency Calls
Emergency calls to police, fire departments and medical services is an important feature of
wireless networks. In practice the user dials a standardized short code such as 112, 911, etc. A
special call setup procedure is then used to ensure that room is made for this call in case the
network is overloaded. In some countries, the identity of the cell from which the emergency
call was established is forwarded to the emergency center to help locate the person requiring
emergency assistance.

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VoLGA supports emergency calls as follows:

As the messaging between the mobile device and the MSC is exchanged transparently, emergency
calls work the same way over VoLGA as in a 2G or 3G network, i.e. the same messages for call
setup are being used. As LTE cell-ids cant be processed by a 2G or 3G MSC, the VANC has to
ensure that a proper virtual cell-id representing the LTE macro cell is appended to the initial
call setup message.

If a PCRF is used for quality of service in the network, the VANC signals a different priority
to it during the emergency call establishment to ensure all IP packets for this call get the
highest priority in the network and especially on the radio link. The VANC itself is aware of the
emergency situation because the mobile device indicates this through the IPSec tunnel before
the actual call establishment messaging. In addition, the VANC can monitor the call setup
messaging and despite not altering it, thus becomes aware of the emergency situation.

The VoLGA system can also be configured to instruct the mobile device during initial registration
that a fallback to a 2G or 3G network should be made for emergency calls. Some operators might
prefer this method, as no extra datafill is required in the network for the localization of the call.

7 Present and Future Alternatives

VoLGA is not the only system designed to deliver voice and SMS services over LTE networks.
This chapter quickly summarizes a number of other options, their advantages and their
disadvantages compared to VoLGA.

CS Fallback (CSFB)
The approach favored by many 3GPP members as an initial solution for delivering voice and
SMS services over LTE is circuit switched fallback, which is specified in TS 23.27210. The idea
behind this solution is to use a 2G or 3G network for incoming and outgoing calls, i.e. the mobile
has to leave the LTE network for making or accepting voice calls. A more detailed introduction
can be found at WirelessMoves11.

From the authors point of view, there are a number of disadvantages to CSFB:

Changing to another network takes time, which has an adverse effect on call setup times.
Already today, users perceive mobile call setup times as too long. It is estimated that even
in the best case scenario, both mobile originating and mobile terminating call establishment
times would increase by at least 1.5 seconds. In many scenarios, it might even be more. From
a network point of view a new MSC and SGSN interface is required to signal incoming calls and
SMS messages to the MME. This interface, referred to as SGs in the standards, is based on IP and
therefore requires new software on network nodes that are delivering the main services today.
Some network operators see this as a critical point as they are hesitant to introduce a new and
unproven feature on critical infrastructure without an intense testing effort. Also, many network
operators have bought MSCs and SGSNs from different vendors, further increasing cost and
interoperability testing.

On the positive side, no fallback to a 2G or 3G network is required for delivering SMS messages.
However, there currently seem to be a number of open issues, especially around roaming
availability and standardization gaps concerning concatenated SMS delivery as indicated in 3GPP
discussion paper SP-09042912.

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IMS
A solution, long in the making, is the IP Multimedia Subsystem, or IMS for short. Its core is
based on the popular Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) which is widely used in fixed line IP
based networks for Voice over IP. For wireless networks, many additions were specified like
for example features to handle wireless specific issues such as unreliable radio connections,
application servers for external application development, international roaming, scalability,
security, etc.

While standardization on IMS has started many years ago, few if any commercial deployments
have been undertaken so far due to, among other things, its significant complexity. Given the
current state, it is unlikely that an IMS solution is available in the first years of LTE to serve as a
voice platform. Therefore, IMS will not be an immediate alternative to VoLGA. An introduction to
IMS is given in Chapter 6 of 13 and for a very detailed introduction to IMS, 14is recommended.

The initial concept of IMS was to be an IP platform only, i.e. no ties were specified for services to
roam between an IP network and a circuit switched legacy network. Over time, it was recognized
that this approach is not suitable for a practical deployment and extensions have been
standardized to enable ongoing voice sessions to be handed over between an IP based wireless
access network and a circuit switched access network. The latest of these features is Single
Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC). As the somewhat long name of the feature implies that only
a single radio in the mobile device has to be active on at any one time, even during a handover.
This simplifies mobile device development.

3GPP had the foresight to specify SRVCC in an IMS independent manner. Therefore, the VoLGA
forum decided to use it as the means to handover VoLGA calls from LTE to GSM or UMTS. As a
result, no VoLGA specific features are required in the MSC or SGSN for VoLGA, which is a great
plus for deployment in a running network.

Over-the-Top VoIP
Some network operators might also decide to go an entirely different way and offer voice
services over LTE with external partners. UK network operator 3, for example, has partnered
with Skype15 to deliver voice services in addition to their own circuit switched services. While
their Skype client also uses circuit switched resources for the time being this could change
quickly in the future.

There are two technical disadvantages of partnering with external voice service providers,
however. The first one is that external voice service providers have no control over quality of
service in the wireless network and thus they cant ensure a good quality of experience under all
load situations. A potential solution to this issue could be to install logic in the network to ensure
quality of service for data streams that are recognized to belong to an external voice service the
user has subscribed to. PCRF functionality could be used for this as described earlier but there is
no standardized way to offer this yet.

The second problem with Over-the-Top VoIP is that calls cant be handed over to a circuit
switched 2G or 3G network when a user leaves the LTE coverage area. Like before, this is because
external applications cant be tied into the wireless network infrastructure easily. This is a
serious disadvantage, as LTE networks will have an inferior network coverage compared to GSM
for many years to come.

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8 Summary, Conclusion and Acknowledgments

Advantages
This paper has shown that VoLGA has a number of significant advantages over other Voice over
IP solutions for LTE. On the network side, VoLGA does not require updating any of the existing
network components, thus ensuring a very quick and smooth market introduction. Instead, all
development is concentrated in the VoLGA Access Network Controller (VANC).

In addition, VoLGA enables other circuit switched services from day one without any additional
development. One of those is SMS for person to person messaging, a significant revenue
generator for mobile network operators. In addition, SMS is also used for updating the
configuration of mobile devices and for transmitting mandatory roaming information messages
in Europe, both essential services when networks are launched.

On the mobile devices side it is also likely that VoLGA can be developed very quickly, as the
already exisisting GAN protocol stack can be mostly re-used. The only major change in the
software is handover handling, as the network based Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC)
feature will be used.

And finally, VoLGA can also ensure a smooth introduction of global roaming. In case it is
supported in the visited network, local breakout allows using the VANC and MSCs in the
visited network. For network operators launching LTE as a data only network or only with
voice options not supported by a mobile device, it is also possible to use the VANC and the
MSCs of the home network.

Disadvantages
The main disadvantages of VoLGA at this point are as follows:

First, it is not fully standardized yet as the stage 3 specification has not yet been finalized. This
is expected shortly, however. As it is likely that the stage 3 specification will be based on the
equivalent GAN stage 3 specification, vendors can already develop products without waiting for
a final stage 3 specification being published by the VoLGA forum.

Second, VoLGA is currently not a work item in 3GPP. There are probably several reasons for
this, one being that the number of features for Release 9 was already high and most members
wanted to ensure the tight completion deadline was met which would have been more difficult
with an extended project scope. Some opposition for the work item has also been met from 3GPP
participants which favor other Voice over LTE solutions. The situation is thus similar to the
situation during the early times of GAN, which was also first developed outside 3GPP before it
was included as a specification later-on.

Conclusion
From a complexity point of view, VoLGA makes it very simple to leverage existing 2G and 3G
circuit switched equipment in live networks for LTE. This is especially because no software
enhancements are required on existing network nodes.

Due to this and other advantages of VoLGA described above, the author of this paper believes
that VoLGA has the chance to become a widespread Voice over LTE solution and will ensure that
two of the main revenue generators for network operators, voice calls and SMS, will be available
in LTE networks very early on.

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 VoLGA A Whitepaper - Martin Sauter, http://www.wirelessmoves.com August 2009

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank 3GPP for their very open policy, i.e. releasing all discussion
documents, reports and specifications on their website in a very timely manner. This greatly
simplifies research on mobile topics and fosters faster development. In addition, the author
would like to thank Kineto Wireless16 for their support and for sponsoring this whitepaper.

9 List of Abbreviations For Easy Reference

2G 2nd generation wireless networks; refers to GSM networks in this paper.
3G 3rd generation wireless networks; refers to UMTS networks in this paper.
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project; refers to the organization in charge of GSM,
UMTS and LTE standards.
APN  ccess Point Name; An identifier given to the network when a packet session
A
is started so the network can contact the desired gateway node to establish an
Internet connection.
BSC Base Station Controller; A radio network element in 2G networks that controls a
number of base stations.
CSFB Circuit Switched Fallback; A method to fall back from LTE to a 2G or 3G network for
voice calls.
DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol; Used in IP networks to assign an IP address,
default gateway IP address and other network based parameters to a device when it
connects to the network.
eNodeB Enhanced NodeB; A LTE radio base station.
GAN Generic Access Network; A method to use a GSM or UMTS core network over Wi-Fi
(WLAN) access.
GANC  AN Controller: The network element between the Wi-Fi access and backhaul
G
network on one side and the mobile core network on the other.
GSM Global System for Mobile communication.
HLR / HSS  ome Location Register / Home Subscriber Server; The database in the mobile core
H
network where subscriber information is stored IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem;
Supporting structure for next generation multimedia applications in fixed an
wireless networks.
IP Internet Protocol.
LTE  ong Term Evolution; Commonly used acronym used for network beyond 3G.
L
Technically the use of this term, however, is not quite correct as it was only a
placeholder for a new radio network acronym. The correct terms are E-UTRAN
(Enhanced UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) and SAE (System Architecture
Evolution).
MME  obility Management Entity; The node in the network responsible for managing
M
the mobility of registered subscribers in the network.
MSC Mobile Switching Center; A circuit switched core network node for voice
messaging. Also forwards SMS messages between the mobile subscriber and the
SMS Service Center.

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 VoLGA A Whitepaper - Martin Sauter, http://www.wirelessmoves.com August 2009

PCRF Policy Charing Rule Function; The node in the network which enforces quality of
service per request of higher layer applications such as VoLGA, IMS and others.
QoS  uality of Service; Mechanisms to ensure that IP packets for applications are
Q
delivered in a timely manner for applications such as VoIP which are very
intolerant to packet delay and jitter.
RNC Radio Network Controller. UMTS radio network element controlling a number of base
stations.
SMS Short Message Service.
SRVCC Single Radio Voice Call Continuity; Used for example in LTE to hand over a VoIP
call to a circuit switched network that does not support VoIP.
TDM  ime Division Multiplexing; Legacy method still widely used today in wireless
T
networks to transport voice calls.
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System.
VANC VoLGA Access Network Controller; The network element required by VoLGA which
connects the circuit switched MSC to the packet switched LTE Network.
VoIP Voice over IP; Methods to transport voice calls over IP networks.
VoLGA Voice over LTE via Generic Access.
Wi-Fi Wireless Fidelity; Sometimes also referred to as Wireless LAN or WLAN.

[1] The Third Generation Partnership Project http://www.3gpp.org

[2] The VoLGA Forum http://www.VOLGA-forum.com/
[3] HTC Shadow II - http://www.i4u.com/article18412.html
[4] The Motorola Morrison - http://umatoday.blogspot.com/2009/08/uncovering-
motorolamorrison.html
[5] GAN device manufacturers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_access_network#Devices (version from 30 July 2009)
[6] 3
 GPP TR 23.879 - Study on Circuit Switched (CS) domain services over evolved Packet
Switched (PS) access; Stage 2, 3GPP Release 8
[7] Voice over LTE via Generic Access; Stage 2 Specification; Phase 1 Available at the VoLGA Forum
website
[8] 3GPP TS 23.216 - Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC); Stage 2

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 VoLGA A Whitepaper - Martin Sauter, http://www.wirelessmoves.com August 2009

[9] Bill Shock Warning by March 2010 - http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/

roaming/regulation/index_en.htm#new_rules
[10] 3GPP TS 23.272 - Circuit Switched (CS) fallback in Evolved Packet System (EPS); Stage 2
[11] Introduction to CS Fallback - http://mobilesociety.typepad.com/mobile_life/2008/09/
lteand- the-voice-gap-cs-fallback.html
[12] 3GPP discussion paper SP-090429 - http://ftp.3gpp.org/ftp/tsg_sa/TSG_SA/TSGS_44/Docs/
SP-090429.zip
[13] M
 artin Sauter, Beyond 3G - Bringing Networks, Terminals and the Web Together: LTE,
WiMAX, IMS, 4G Devices and the Mobile Web 2.0, 2009, ISBN: 978-0470751886
[14] C
 amarillo et al, The 3G IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS): Merging the Internet and the Cellular
Worlds, 2008, ISBN: 978-0470516621
[15] 3UK and Skype partnership - http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=445057
[16] Kineto Wireless - http://www.kineto.com/

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