VoLTE Optimization

Training
By:
Mohamed Abdel Monem
Founder of Moniem-Tech.com
5G Researcher and Trainer

June 2019, Online

 GSM (2G) WCDMA (3G) HSDPA,HSUPA,HSPA+

LTE (4G) 5G DRIVE TEST & POST ANALYSIS

2G OPTIMIZATION 3G OPTIMIZATION 4G OPTIMIZATION

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The Online Platform
Username

Audio Control

Raise Hand for Q?

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 VoLTE Trainees Nationalities

Italy India

Egypt Namibia

Saudi United
Arabia States

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Agenda
01 Introduction to VoLTE

02 VoLTE Principles

03 Voice Solutions for LTE

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Introduction to VoLTE

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 Circuit Switching vs Packet Switching
• LTE is an all IP technology. it carries only packet
switched or PS data, So LTE doesn’t carry voice calls.
• Voice calls are traditionally circuit
switched or CS types , e.g. a dedicated path is setup
between calling and called party for a voice call , but
this is very expensive in terms of network
infrastructure as that path cannot be used for any
other services till the call is on.
• So VoLTE will help LTE system to make a Voice (CS
service) without FALLBACK to legacy network.
• VoLTE  LTE + IMS.
You have to
be familiar
with LTE

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 Voice Over LTE
• VoLTE provides a first line telephony service with high voice quality and short call
setup.

• Voice and video are using QoS bearers with guaranteed bit rate to secure the service
characteristic.
• The LTE standardization work has established that voice will be supported by an all‐IP
network centralized on the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS).

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 VoIP Client Options
• VoIP over LTE can be achieved using several
different solutions.
1. Native VoLTE client integrated in the handset
chip set.
• Examples: VoLTE Handsets.

2. Non-native VoLTE clients Third party

applications which can register to IMS (IP
Multimedia Subsystem) and establish VoLTE
call using QoS (QCI1).
• Examples: CSipSimple.

3. Over-the-Top (OTT) VoIP applications

• Examples: Skype, Facetime and Viber.

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 How is VoLTE different from VoIP ?
• You may argue that I am already using apps like Skype,
Viber, Whatsapp for calling, are not these similar?

• These apps are using data connection for making calls

but are not using VoLTE .

• These are known as OTT ( over the top ) carriers as they

use operator's data services to make calls.

• These OTT apps works on "Voice over Internet Protocol"

or VoIP . But It doesn't provide guaranteed quality of
service (QoS) and call setup times are large and call
drop rates are also high .

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Comparison of VoLTE vs. OTT-VoIP

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VoLTE Principles

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 VoLTE Benefits: Customers
• High quality voice calls : The clearest benefit for consumers will be higher-quality voice calls,
also known as HD Voice. Calls made between VoLTE devices will have clearer audio with less
background noise. They'll also have less dropped packets , which is when a call cuts out for a
moment .

• P3 did a study of VoLTE network in

Washington and come out with these
Mean Opinion Score values for the
VoLTE network in comparison to other
cities of the world where traditional CS
calling is used .

• Mean Opinion Score ( or MoS , a

globally known KPI's for measuring
Voice quality ) was highest in VoLTE
calls .

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 VoLTE Speech quality
• Speech quality depends deeply on the voice codec sampling rate and the resulting audio
bandwidth.

• Adaptive Multi-Rate Narrow Band (AMR-NB) provides audio bandwidth spectrum from 80 Hz
to 3700 Hz while Adaptive Multi-Rate Wide Band (AMR-WB) extends the audio bandwidth
spectrum from 50 Hz to 7000 Hz.

• Higher voice bandwidth of AMR-WB codec results in better quality and more natural sound
and therefore the VoLTE users using this type of codec will experience better QoE compared
to voice in CS networks.

• Additionally, another type of codec which offers better quality than AMR-WB is the evolved HD
voice, which is also called Enhanced Voice Service (EVS). In order to benefit from this codec,
the user equipment has to support supper wideband (up to 14 kHz) or full band (up to 20 kHz)
audio frequency range.

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VoLTE Speech quality

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 VoLTE Speech quality
• Narrowband (NB = 200 - 4000 Hz).

• Wideband (WB = 50 – 8000 Hz).

• Super wideband (SWB = 50 – 16000

Hz).

• Full band (FB = 50 – 20000 Hz).

EVC: Enhanced Voice Services

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 Speech Quality Test Results for Different Technologies
• In VoLTE to VoLTE call scenario the average of speech quality is 4.11 MOS;
while in VoLTE to UMTS/GSM is 3.35 MOS and 2.77 MOS respectively.

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 VoLTE End-to-End Delay
• VoLTE end-to-end delay (mouth-to-ear delay) is one
of the most important metric when we measure
VoLTE performance.

• Mouth-to-ear delay is latency between the speaker

say a word and the listener actually hears it
containing both one-way latency in the network and
the time spent on encoding and decoding audio
packets.

• The maximum mouth-to-ear delay in good quality

communication should be lower than 250 ms.

• According to ITU-R and 3GPP standard, the 153

ms mean mouth-to-ear delay of VoLTE suggests
excellent user satisfactory.

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 What about Radio Conditions?
• Radio frequency conditions will also impact the mouth-to-ear delay.

• When the RSSI is greater than –78 dBm the mouth-to-ear delay is constantly less
than 200 ms, while for RSSI lower than –78 dBm the mouth-to-ear delay might
reach up to 480 ms.

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 VoLTE Benefits: Customers
Faster call setup time :
• Traditionally, with circuit
switched calls , call setup time
has been long , some times
even running into tens of
seconds .
• With VoLTE , call setup time will
be reduced by at least half of
average call setup time in 2G or
3G .

Improved battery life :

VoLTE will save battery life in
comparison to OTT VoIP calling apps
or CS calls.

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 VoLTE Call Setup Time
• VoLTE call setup time shows an
impressive improvement comparing
with call setup time in legacy.

• The mean VoLTE call setup time is

2.39 s, which is much better than
legacy calls.

• Employing CSFB while making a call

lead a higher call setup time and
indicates a potential for optimization.

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 Conclusion

For good radio channel conditions the best possible speech quality
is delivered using Adaptive Multi-Rate Wide Band (AMR-WB) with
coding rate of 23.85 kbps, while for bad radio conditions
(Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) < –85 dBm) the best
speech quality is achieved using AMR-WB with coding rate 12.65
kbps.

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 VoLTE Benefits: Operators
• Enhanced user experiences and competitive offerings, including ARPU
enhancement opportunities.

• VoLTE utilizes a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) bearer, which is differentially routed
on the LTE network to ensure high-quality voice. By comparison, OTT VoIP
calls (such as Whatsapp and Skype) rely on a non-guaranteed bit rate (non-
GBR) bearer.

• Improve RF spectral efficiency, which facilitates spectrum re-farming (i.e.

reallocating 2G and/or 3G spectrum for use by LTE).

• VoLTE also simplifies network operations by enabling an all-IP network.

• Better customer experience, reduced Churn and reduced OpEx.

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Voice Solutions for LTE

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The 3 phases of LTE Voice Evolution

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Voice Evolution and Network Evolution

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Evolution of Voice Services with LTE Networks

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 SVLTE – Simultaneous Voice and LTE
• Uses two radios to simultaneous communicate with:
• 2G or 3G network for services such as CS Voice, SMS, Emergency Services.
• LTE network for high-rate PS data services.

• Pros
• Rapid deployment – Reuses well established methods for CS voice.
• Simultaneous CS voice and LTE data is available.

• Cons
• Complexity from the device
point of view [Size, Cost].
• Lack of dual‐radio eco‐system “3GPP2”.
• Maximum allowable output power considerations. Dual‐radio
Handsets
• Battery life considerations.

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 CSFB – Circuit Switched Fallback
• CSFB (Circuit Switched Fallback) is an solution in 3GPP Release 8.

• In this approach, the LTE provides data services, and when a voice call is to
be initiated or received, it will fall back to the CS domain.

• When using this solution, operators need to upgrade the MSC instead of
deploying the IMS, and therefore, can provide services quickly. However, the
disadvantage is longer call setup delay.

• In CSFB option the user connected to LTE will be redirected by the network to
cell-reselection, from 4G to 2G or 3G access network to connect to the CS
domain, when there is a call request.

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 CSFB – Circuit Switched Fallback
• When CS services (voice, SMS) are needed, provides a mechanism to move from
LTE to UMTS/GSM.

• Pros
• Allows for single radio (or dual receiver) design.
• Complete CS services and features.
• Primarily operating in LTE mode.

• Cons
• PS services are degraded on the
slower legacy PS network.
• Depending on type of CSFB used,
PS bearers will be interrupted.
• Longer call setup times.

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 Network Requirements for CSFB
Network Requirements for CSFB
• 2G/3G available in the same coverage
area.

• SGs interface between MME and MSC-

S is defined.

• The UE is dual radio capable.

• UE is registered in CS domain.

• The MSC-S is updated and allow the

CSFB to preform paging via LTE.

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 CSFB Call Procedure
1. Subscriber is registered in MSC but roam in LTE.
2. Incoming call to subscriber in LTE.
3. MSC Paging over SGs, S1 and eUu-Interface.
4. UE notifies MME with a special service request
message to the network an Extended Service
Request.

5. MME orders eNodeb to release and inform UE that CSFB is ok.

6. UE and RAN triggers an enhanced release with redirect.
7. UE sends a location update and call setup over 2G/3G radio.

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 Multiple Options for CSFB
• For MT services, UE is notified of need for CS services with CS SERVICE NOTIFICATION
message.
• UE responds with EXTENDED SERVICE REQUEST message.
• E-UTRAN directs UE to 2G/3G network:

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 SRVCC- Single Radio Voice Call Continuity
• When VoLTE users move out of LTE coverage, they need to be able to
continue to make and receive voice calls. SRVCC seamlessly maintains voice
calls when a mobile user moves from LTE to a non-LTE coverage area.

• Given that LTE networks and VoLTE services may be deployed gradually,
SRVCC is crucial for delivering voice services.

• The seamless handover is a crucial part of SRVCC.

• A VoLTE call must be able to be transferred from the LTE packet-switched

network to the legacy circuit-switched voice network while the call is in
progress.

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 SRVCC- Single Radio Voice Call Continuity
• Problem:
In many cases, operators build and expand their LTE networks gradually,
adding cells and capacity in line with their business plans and subscriber
demand. As a result, LTE networks and the VoLTE services built on top of
them must be able to coexist with legacy CS networks and to ensure
handover to the legacy CS network when LTE coverage is insufficient.

• Since LTE and VoLTE services are a fundamental part of next-generation

mobile networks, voice handover to legacy CS systems is a key capability
while LTE coverage continues to be spotty.
• Solution
SRVCC is the solution to this requirement for voice call continuity, and uses a
single radio in the user’s device along with upgrades to the supporting
network infrastructure.
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 SRVCC- Single Radio Voice Call Continuity
• Allows a PS/IMS-based (VoLTE) Voice
Call on LTE to transition to a legacy CS
network.

• Pros
• Utilizes a single radio.
• Provides voice coverage without 100%
LTE coverage.

• Cons
• Due to complicated signaling, possible
brief break in audio
• Additional client support for SRVCC.

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SRVCC- Single Radio Voice Call Continuity

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 SRVCC- Single Radio Voice Call Continuity
• When a user is moving out of the LTE coverage area with a VoLTE call in progress, the user
device notifies the LTE network (MME).

• The MME determines that the voice call needs to be moved to the legacy-circuit domain.

• It notifies the MSC server of the need to switch the voice call from the packet to the circuit
domain and initiates a handover of the LTE voice bearer to the circuit network.

• The MSC server establishes a bearer path for the UE in the legacy network and notifies the
IMS core that the mobile’s call leg is moving from the packet to the circuit domain.

• The IMS core then performs necessary interworking functions.

• When a mobile device arrives on-channel in the legacy network, it switches its internal voice
processing from VoLTE to legacy-circuit voice, and the call continues.

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 Thank You
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[email protected]

Mohamed Abdel Monem

Moniem.Education

MoniemEducation
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