Network Architecture and Protocols

Abstract

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution (LTE/SAE) seeks to take mobile technology to the next level through the realization of higher bandwidths, better spectrum efficiency, wider coverage, and full interworking with other access/backend systems. LTE/SAE proposes to do all this using an all-IP architecture with well-defined interworking with circuit-switched systems. Additionally, the evolved 3GPP system introduced a hybrid mobile network architecture supporting radio access technologies and several mobility mechanisms. We begin this chapter by introducing the LTE network reference model and define its various functional entities and its interconnection possibilities. Next, we discuss the end-to-end protocol layering in a LTE network, network selection and discovery, and IP address allocation. Finally, we describe in more detail the functional architecture and processes associated with security, QoS, and mobility management.