Mobile Data Offload

for 3G Networks
A Whitepaper

Oct 2009

By Arun Handa

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 Mobile Data Offload for 3G Networks
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Mobile Data Offload for 3G Networks

The growth and the overload
Data made its foray in cellular networks around 2002 with 2.5G networks. The initial
uptake of these GPRS and CDMA-1xRTT networks was slow. There was little that could be
done with clunky voice-centric handsets and lack of data services. It took a Blackberry to
change that. Ubiquitous email had begun to whet the consumer’s appetite for a service
beyond voice. Four years later data growth was on its way to hit an inflection point. But
the data deluge was just beginning. The iPhone exposed consumers to mobile internet and
rich data services such as mobile video. Within a quick span of a couple of years, the
operators scrambled to roll out 3G networks to support this infrastructure.

Engineering cellular networks is no trivial task. It requires years of planning for spectrum
The rate of data use, radio and infrastructure. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) design their networks
consumption will judiciously. These networks are engineered to deliver not only for current needs but with
continue to outpace anticipated growth projections as well. For several years voice and SMS were the cutting
technology upgrades edge services and scaling the network to subscriber growth was a well-understood task.
Mobile data has been a recent phenomenon. The growth projections anticipated limited
data services over conventional mobile devices. Smart-phones radically changed that. The
nature of data transformed from text in emails, chat and photo exchange. Subscribers now
had an easy access to streaming media for video and audio. Subscriber growth coupled
with ownership of smart-phones compounds this further. The networks which could easily
withstand a garden-hose flow of data are now being subjected to a pressure from a
fireman’s hose.

The following figure compares the growth of data relative to voice services in the North
American networks.
Packet data has put nine
times more load than
voice services.
Interestingly the two
inflection points for data
can be traced to the
release of the iPhone (July
07) and iPhone 3G (July
08).

Source: Rysavy Research

Does 4G/LTE not solve the problem?

It does help to a large extent. But a catch-up game has started. The consumption of
bandwidth from rich data services is not expected to slowdown. Unwired Insight
anticipates a 20-fold growth in 3G traffic to 2014. Consumers today are using just about
10MB of bandwidth per month for audio, video, photos, software and email downloads.
This will grow to an upwards of 2GB with five years. LTE delivers higher bandwidths over
more spectral efficiency. The problem is however delivering to a traffic rate that is

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growing as well. The consumer traffic demand shall continue to outstrip the network
capacity in a similar
pattern as the
pressure on 3G
networks.

Source: Unwired
Insight

Where’s the problem really and how to solve it

The 3G infrastructure required to deliver data services to smartphones is creaking at two
main points –
radio and
backhaul as
shown in the
2 figure. Radio
refers to the
technology
Radio and 1 4
Operator
3 used to
Backhaul are the Backhaul
Services /
Internet deliver
main choke points
5 Femtocell
wirelessly to a
in the overload WiFi 5
terminal
phenomenon device. This is
1. Additional Cell Tower Buildout ($$$)
2. Radio Technology Upgrades ($$) implemented
3. Increase Backhaul Capacity ($$$)
4. Optimize Backhaul, Cache content ($$) at the cell-
5. Increase the footprint of overlay networks – WiFi / Femtocells ($-$$)
towers. The
backhaul refers to the pipes that are connected from the core network to the cell-sites.
Both radio and the backhaul go hand in hand. Wireless spectrum is a limited resource.
Radio technology continues to evolve the efficiency of transmission and reception, but
there are limits to how many bits can be packed into a radio stream. So how do we
ameliorate the problem of an overload?
Radio issues can be addressed by three methods: New build out, technology upgrades or
innovation. Increasing capacity in underserved areas can be done by building new cell-
sites. Addressing traffic demands can be offset by technology upgrade such as HSPA+.
Innovation such as Software Defined Radio can further provide a newer method for rate
adaptation. These options however bear high-costs.
Augmenting backhaul capacity and improvements is the next method to mitigate this
offload. In several situations, more T1/OC3 lines need to be drawn to the cell-sites for
carrying higher capacity. Improving the flow of traffic on the backhaul is gaining ground
for innovation as well. The key is to control the flow of traffic on the pipe. This level of
gating requires packet inspection. Selective packets can be throttled based on service
level policy. Caching the overall content can also help to smooth the flow of traffic.

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Overlay networks offer an orthogonal solution. These exploit an alternate path to deliver
data wirelessly to the user at cost-effective price points. Overlay networks exploit the
service provider’s licensed spectrum with a femtocell solution or a ubiquitously available
unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi networks. Both strategies extend the operator’s network
footprint.

The Case for Offload

We now have three methods to solve the overload: Scale, optimize or offload. The
question now is which holds promise. While each method has its own merits. We need to
understand an important fact of this overload. Network congestion is caused
disproportionately by users.

According to the CTIA-IT Sep 2009 Keynote, AT&T acknowledged a 5000% growth in data in
the last three years. It also shared an interesting fact. This growth has a disproportionate
use by a few. Top 3% of
smartphone users are
consuming 40% of all
smartphone data. They are
Offload offers a consuming 13 times the data
greater value to of an average smartphone
solve the overload user.

problem over
Source: ATT Keynote CTIA-IT
solutions of scale
or optimization

Scaling the network capacity is only masking the problem. With a high cost/MB, this
approach provides a broader delivery pipe. The main user segment gets a fractional
benefit as the major consumers will continue to hog the increased bandwidth.
Optimization is a promising solution as it helps in flow-control. The challenge is that
optimization techniques pose three challenges. The techniques to isolate heavy data users
require intensive packet inspection and correlation. This has performance and cost
overhead. Plus there are privacy issues and users don’t like to be policed.
Offload on the other hand provides an alternate path of wireless delivery with a best
performance capability. In either situation offload works effectively. If traffic for a
bandwidth-hogging user is offloaded to an alternate overlay network it will relinquish
bandwidth for other consumers on the macro network. Alternately, a user competing for
bandwidth from a loaded macro site can be offloaded to an alternate network.
Offload can therefore be done to an alternate network. These networks can function with
the macro-cellular network as an adjunct network either operating independently or as an
overlay network. Both femtocells and Wi-Fi networks have their merits as candidates for
offloading networks.
Femtocells leverage the licensed spectrum, offer better indoor coverage at lower power
and work with common single-radio handsets. The challenge is that they have yet not
reached widespread availability. This will take a few more years to reach pervasiveness.
Having been around longer, Wi-Fi offers an advantage of using the unlicensed spectrum,
which means there are less of spectrum planning and refactoring issues. Access-points and

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hotspots are ubiquitous, with MNOs such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Orange and Vodafone owning
a large footprint. Formerly seen as a challenge of dual-mode handsets, smartphones have
made Wi-Fi availability and ease-of-use an attractive feature to consumers.

Offloading Data on the Wi-Fi path

A growing number of smartphone users are already using their Wi-Fi channel to access
Internet services. Is that not a data offload? On the contrary, it is a network bypass from
the mobile network. Service providers need to use this to their advantage or risk losing all.
The important point to understand is that Wi-Fi simply provides an access transport. The
alternate path the service provider uses to deliver data must conform closely to service
standards which have been set to the cellular networks.
The short answer is no. The difference lies in providing Wi-Fi as an integrated and
managed service. This is possible only if the service provider can exercise control over this
service. Providing this as an integrated and managed service enable the operator control
the alternate path of data services through the unlicensed spectrum and help monetize
this effectively on operator owned hotspots. This delivers the following value.

Enable seamless authentication by network methods and apply service provider level
security

Deliver operator hosted/delivered content

Leverage operator charging methods and provide better integration with BSS.

Summarize Consumer Behavior for improving QoS and reducing churn
The minimal model of providing Wi-Fi as a managed service is to provide an access
Operators can network. This is what most operators offer as a public WLAN or hotspot service. This
either leverage service is typically inherited from a WISP and is therefore managed but not well
Wi-Fi to their integrated. Integration refers to interworking with the cellular network. A wireless service
advantage or make provider offers service through a cellular network. The interworking therefore must apply
it a liability for to the following facets
network bypass
Common authentication methods – this implies a common identity which can be
authenticated from the subscriber provisioning done in the core network

Charging – support for postpaid and prepaid charging that conform to the charging
entities in the cellular network

Mobility – seamless movement between a Wi-Fi and cellular network

Service Integration -
The objective is to provide the consumer with the following value proposition

Enable seamless and transparent access without the need to know of the underlying
radio network.

Easy or zero touch authentication while moving between cellular and Wi-Fi

Interworking WLAN for Data Offload

3GPP standards introduced the specifications for interworking WLAN with cellular
networks. These standards continue the progression to enabling WLAN connectivity to the
evolved packet core for LTE-4G networks. The standards-based infrastructure makes a
compelling case to support the infrastructure for the data offload path. Unlike UMA,
IWLAN was carefully designed to support rich data services such as streaming audio and
video over the unlicensed spectrum.
The fundamental bridge that IWLAN provides is to build a trusted relation between a non-
cellular entity with the core network. This is critical since the Wi-Fi path is not secure.

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IWLAN utilizes the SIM based identity of the user device to provide a common
authentication scheme as deployed in a GSM/UMTS network. Having authenticated the
user, the next step is to setup a secure transport on which signaling and traffic can be
encrypted.

IWLAN is
S
therefore able to G
G
G
S S 'Operator
provide two N N Hosted
Services'
modes of
interworking.
TTG
Using a Tunnel
PDG
Terminating
Network Gateway Internet
Gateway (TTG),
it can expose Cellular Path
Offload Path
operator hosted
services typically behind a GGSN and accessible through an APN. The TTG terminates the
Wi-Fi transport tunnel and extends it to GGSN connectivity. In the second mode, utilizing a
Packet Data Gateway (PDG), it can provide an access to the packet data network or the
internet services itself. The advantage is that this mode can offload GGSN traffic as well.
Both modes are capable of applying service based local policy for enforcing QoS.
Finally utilizing underlying IP-mobility based methods; it can provide seamless handoff
between the cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

Putting it all together

So how does this work. As we noted most smartphones support both a 3G and a Wi-Fi
channel. Devices such as the iPhone are smart enough to switch between 3G and Wi-Fi
using the network preferences. An interworking WLAN client application on the handset
offers the ability for two functions. First it detects the optimal radio path and has the
capability to direct a switchover. This is seamless to the application and presents a
transparent view to the user. Second, it establishes connectivity to an IWLAN network
gateway which provides operator level control and management of the traffic flow be it to
the internet or an operator hosted service. So in this situation, a user streaming video can
be offloaded to a Wi-Fi channel from the 3G network.

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IntelliNet Solutions for Data Offload

IntelliNet Technologies offers a portfolio of interworking WLAN products.
These include the IWLAN server which can support the 3GPP modes of a
TTG and PDG. IntelliNet provides the interworking elements for
supporting authentication with its AAA server. The IWLAN set also
includes a Voice Call Continuity Server for supporting voice applications.
IntelliNet also enables offload through femtocells with its Femtocell
Gateway. Both solutions are available on an Advanced TCA platform and
can also be hosted on an OEM platform.

About IntelliNet Technologies

Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida with offices in Bangalore, India,
IntelliNet Technologies is a leading provider of next-generation network
convergence and application development solutions for PSTN, cellular,
wireless and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks. Major equipment
vendors, application developers and global operators currently use
IntelliNet’s products for prepaid, location services, messaging and fixed
mobile convergence. Additional solutions include: mobility, fraud
management, and network bridging applications including SS7/IN,
SIGTRAN, DIAMETER, SUPL, SIP and other emerging signaling protocols.
For more information please visit: http://www.intellinet-tech.com

rd
3G/UMTS 3 Generation Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
APN Access Point Name
GGSN Gateway GPRS Service Node
GPRS GSM Packet Radio Service
nd
GSM 2 Generation Groupe System for Mobile Communications
IWLAN Interworking Wireless Local Area Network
LTE Long Term Evolution
PDG Packet Data Gateway
TTG Tunnel Terminating Gateway
UMA Unlicensed Mobile Access

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