Introduction to Diameter

The Evolution of Signaling

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Evolution of Signaling
As telecommunications networks have advanced,
so have the signaling procedures.

Signaling has been an integral part of telecommunications from the beginning.

It is necessary for the establishment and control of a
telecommunications circuit and the management of the network.
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Evolution of Signaling
Signaling over IP
4G

DIAMETER
SIP

Policy
Charging

Signaling over IP
NGN
Common Channel
Signaling

SIGTRAN
SIP
ENUM

SS6
SS7

M2UA
M3UA
SUA
M2PA

ISUP
SCCP
TCAP
MAP

Number Portability
Mobility
Supplementary
Services
Circuit Related
Non-Circuit Related

Intelligent
Network
WATS

Channel Associated
Signaling

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MF
R1
R2

Call Setup

Signaling in 4G

Within the 3GPP defined

architecture, the handling of the
control signaling is separated
from the user data traffic.

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Allow independent scaling of

control and user plane
functions
Control data signaling tends to
scale with the number of users
Data volumes may scale more
dependent on new services
and applications

Diameter in EPC / IMS

3GPP makes use of two signaling protocols:
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) used within the IMS for
setting up sessions.
Diameter used in both EPC and IMS for transactional
events (requesting information).

Diameter is an IETF defined protocol originally designed

for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA)
as an improvement over RADIUS supporting:

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Improved failure handling

More reliable message delivery
Bigger information elements
Improved security
Extensibility
More flexible discovery of other nodes
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IETF Defined Agents

Diameter agents assist in routing of a diameter command
towards its final destination the diameter server.
Relay Agent
Used to forward a message to the destination, depending on
information within the message.
Needs to understand base protocol, does not need to understand
the diameter application used.

Proxy Agent
Similar to relay agent, but can perform additional processing of
the diameter message.
Needs to understand the service being offered and diameter
application being used.

Redirect Agent
Performs routing function. Does not forward message towards
the destination.
Replies with another message to the node that sent the request
with information allowing the node to send message directly to
the server.

Translation Agent
Performs translation between diameter and other protocols.

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Diameter Basics
Connections
Client
Message Structure

Relay
Agent

Peer connection

Server
Peer connection

Diameter session

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Routing
A diameter agent can act as a centralized routing entity by aggregating requests from
different sources destined to the same destination realm.
Routing typically is performed based on the destination realm as well as the application
identification.
The diameter nodes maintain a list of supported realms and known diameter peers and
their capabilities.
The peer location as well as routing configuration is used when making routing decisions.

MME

S6A

HSS
HSS

GRX/IPX

S6d

vPCRF

S9

hPCRF

VPMN
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HPMN
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Extensions to Diameter

RFC 3588 specifies a few general Diameter messages called

commands along with their AVPs.
Extensions called Applications are created on top of Diameter
base protocol.

NAS
Application
(IETF)

Credit Control
Application
(IETF)

S6a/S6d
Application

Gx
Application

(3GPP Vendor
Specific)

(3GPP Vendor
Specific)

etc.

Diameter Base Protocol

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Increase in Diameter Traffic

Network congestion becomes one of the biggest issues,
highlighted by the popularity of smartphones and M2M.

(Source: Strategy Analytics& ABI Research)

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Increase in Diameter Traffic

Signaling traffic is outpacing actual

mobile data traffic by 30 to 50 percent
due to:

Quantity of Re-attach Messaging

Always on Applications

Push Services

Battery saving Methodologies

It is critical for operators to

have the ability to manage
this signaling traffic.

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Causes of Signaling Increase

There are an increased number of

applications that send only a small
amount of data, but the transmission
frequency of the packets is relatively high.

Users make constant queries as they move among cell sites to push email,
access social networking tools and conduct other repetitive actions.
These always-on applications also rely on keep-alive messages.
A web-based IM user may send a message but then wait a couple of
seconds between messages. To preserve battery life, the smartphone moves
into idle mode. When the user pushes another message seconds later, the
device has to set up a signaling path.
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Common Smartphone Behaviors

Fast Dormancy
In order to keep UE power consumption low, UE sends Signaling Connection Release
Indication (SCRI) to the RNC simulating a failure in the signaling connection.

Heartbeat for Always-on Application

Heartbeat packets (keep-alive) between client and server end up being sent during the
mobile devices idle state, which in turn, triggers the device to continually switch between
active and idle mode over short period time.

Constant Push Service

Push messages may be sent while the device is on idle mode, which will trigger
unnecessary signaling traffic, such as paging messages, network connection and release
messages.

Network (Re-)Attachment

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Many mobile devices are designed to aggressively keep connecting to the broadband
network as early as possible to ensure a good user experience.

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Need for Diameter Agents

Need to concentrate and simplify
the network connectivity to
improve:
Maintainability/Provisioning
Congestion Management
Routing /Traffic Management
Need for operators to protect their
networks:
Security Firewalls
Topology Hiding

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Need for Diameter Agents

IMS

AS
Sh
Ro

OCS

S-CSCF
P-CSCF

Cx

Gy

OFCS

MME

HSS
HSS

I-CSCF

Cx
Ro
Gz

S6a

P-GW

Rf
Rx

HHPCRF
PCRF

SWx
S6b

Gx

Session Routing
and Control
Gxc

Interoperability

SWd

ePDG

S6a

VPMN

Value-Added Services

S9

S6d

MME

Roaming Management

V-PCRF

Gxb
SWa

SGSN

Non-3GPP
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Scalability
Load Balancing

AAA

HPMN
S-GW

Need for Cost-Effective

and Flexible Network
Deployment

STa
Gxa

Trusted
non-3GPP

3GPP
AAA Proxy

Roam Steering

NonTrusted
non-3GPP

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Diameter Agent Solutions

Router

Load Balancer
OCS
OCS

DRA
H-PCRF
H-PCRF

MME
AS

I-CSCF

S6a

Gy

Sh
Ro

P-GW

S-CSCF

P-CSCF

Cx

OFCS

SLF
Gx

HSS
HSS

Gz

Cx
Ro

Translation

Rf
Rx

HLR
S6b

AAA

SWx

DEA
Value Added
Features
Roaming Management
Steering of Roaming
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