Circuit Switched vs Packet Switched Networks

Circuit switched networks physically connect two endpoints together using a communication
channel through the network. This utilises a fixed bandwidth for the session whilst the two
endpoints remain connected. Packet switched networks offer the ability to split the
communication channel into small packets to be sent across the network using multiple routes
offering redundancy and increased performance. This utilises dynamic bandwidth management
which can be optimised for each connected party and allows for many more services and
connections to be active at the same time using the same bandwidth.

In the cellular network GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) use circuit switching for voice, circuit switched
dialup (CSD) and short messaging service (SMS) traffic and use packet switching for GPRS
data traffic. In LTE (4G) the entire network uses packet switching and has no capability for
circuit switched network support. As a result, the voice and SMS services must be moved over
to a packet switched network when using the LTE (4G) network. In addition to this, CSD is no
longer supported and GPRS data must be used instead.

Please see ‘Circuit Switched Dialup (CSD) Migration to LTE Application Note’ here.

Voice Overview
Many applications in use today utilize voice as part of the service offering. This may be to
connect two parties together to communicate such as in an elevator emergency failure system.
It may be used to implement an automated payment service using a dial keypad, or it may be
used to report a fault with a system using normal spoken language. Whatever the reason for
using the voice service in the system, there are some differences with the LTE network which
are described in more detail below.

On legacy devices supporting GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) services, the voice and SMS
components of the system use circuit switching as the transmission channel. For GSM the
whole system was built on an analogue infrastructure and digital data was added to the system
at a later date with the advance of GPRS packet data. The UMTS system is based on the GSM
standard and therefore also supports both digital and analogue components. The UMTS
framework allows much higher data rates over GSM but it is still based on a similar
infrastructure.

LTE on the other hand is entirely digital and has no analogue components at all. As such new
methods must be used to take advantage of the new features offered by the LTE network as
analogue voice calling is no longer possible and the packet switched network must be adopted.

VoLTE Overview
The LTE network supports voice and many other additional services in the same way as GSM
and UMTS, however, as there is no analogue component the voice must be encoded and sent
digitally across the network using packets. The 3GPP body have specified the voice service on
LTE which is highly optimised and takes advantage of the additional bandwidth and low latency
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of the LTE network. This service is called Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and uses the digital packet
switched network in a much more efficient way than traditional services. This means that VoLTE
can support up to 3 times more voice capacity than previous UMTS networks and up to 6 times
more capacity than older GSM networks.

The VoLTE service is provided on LTE over the IP Multimedia System (IMS) network service
which is a standardized framework for delivering multimedia services over TCP/IP. It has been
developed to allow all content rich media from wireless and wireline applications and allows for
advanced services to be provided over the existing infrastructure without the need for individual
control functions for each service.

The network provider must support IMS to be able to offer VoLTE as a service to its customers.
The IMS framework must be integrated within the network’s core architecture and is
fundamental to the operation of the network.

Network Usage with Circuit Switch Fall Back (CSFB)

With existing GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) networks, the core functions are built into the
application and can be supported with any hardware platform that supports voice and any SIM
card that supports voice. This allows for a very simple implementation and calls can be
established without any special configuration to the end equipment.

With newer modems that support LTE (4G) in addition to GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) the
firmware in the modem performs a subtle trick to continue having seamless voice support.
When connected to the network for transmitting digital packet data, the unit connects to and
uses the LTE network. When attempting to dial a voice number the unit automatically switches
to UMTS (3G) or GSM (2G) to establish the call. Once the call is finished it reverts back to the
LTE network. This technology is called circuit switch fall back and is a short term solution to
allow all network providers to offer voice services on the LTE network whilst they implement
their own full IMS solution.

This process is fine whilst there are UMTS (3G) and GSM (2G) networks available to use but
the analogue networks are being gradually sunset to be replaced entirely with the LTE network.

With the LTE (4G) network it is necessary to configure the device to allow calls to be made
using the LTE only network over the IMS service.

SMS Overview
The short messaging service (SMS) can be used to send and receive small text messages
which can be used in a variety of ways for applications that use the cellular network. The
messaging service can be used to configure settings in remote equipment as well as reporting
on the current configuration. In addition the messaging service can inform users directly of a
triggered alarm state or indicate when a certain criteria has been met. As with voice, the existing
GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) core functions are built into the system and can be supported with
any hardware platform that supports the SMS messaging service and any SIM card that has
SMS functionality enabled. This allows for a very simple implementation and messages can be
sent and received without any special configuration to the end equipment.

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With newer modems that support LTE (4G) in addition to GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) the
firmware in the modem supports both circuit switched SMS (using the analogue network) and
packet switched SMS (using the digital network) offering seamless SMS support. The unit can
be configured to send packet switched SMS when connected to the LTE network for
transmitting digital packet data by selecting appropriate configuration option. Alternatively, the
unit can be configured to send SMS via the circuit switched network. When attempting to send
an SMS via the circuit switched network, the unit automatically switches to UMTS (3G) or GSM
(2G) from LTE (4G) to send the SMS. These options are described in more detail later.

This process works perfectly whilst there are UMTS (3G) and GSM (2G) networks available to
use but the analogue networks are being gradually sunset to be replaced entirely with the LTE
(4G) network.

With an LTE (4G) only network it is necessary to configure the device to send SMS using the
packet switched network as the circuit switched networks will no longer be available to use.

SIM Configuration
To support VoLTE and packet switched SMS it is necessary to use a SIM card on a network
provider that supports the IMS service. Your SIM card provider offers IMS services in a similar
way to the existing SMS, circuit switched voice, circuit switched SMS and packet switched
GPRS data services. Most SIM’s come pre-configured allowing analogue voice SMS and
GPRS but you can switch these services on and off as required. IMS is usually enabled as a
service with large global suppliers and is usually switched on by default with providers who offer
the service.

You will need to change to a SIM from a network provider that offers this service if you are
currently unable to use the IMS service from your existing supplier.

The following table shows the typical services available for a SIM card from most large global
suppliers and what services are generally turned on by default.

Name Description Default Notes

Analogue Voice Make and receive calls X Available on 2G/3G
only
SMS Short messaging X Available on 2G/3G
service only
MMS Multimedia message Available on 2G/3G
service only
CSD Circuit switched dialling Available on 2G/3G
only
GPRS Send and receive X Available on all
digital data technologies
Fixed Private IP Allocated IP fixed on Require VPN to access
private network nodes
Fixed Public IP Allocated IP fixed on Available to all
public network
IMS VoIP Voice over LTE X Available on LTE only

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 (VoLTE)
IMS SMS SMS over LTE X Available on LTE only

Circuit Switched Voice and SMS Sunset

As GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) become less used around the world they will become more and
more obsolete and as such there will be more systems which will not be able to rely entirely on
the GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G) networks. There have already been a number of SIM providers
who have announced sunset on the UMTS (3G) networks around the world which only leaves
GSM (2G) to support circuit switched voice and SMS services in the short term where 3G is no
longer available. Over time GSM (2G) will also be turned off and there will be no legacy
networks available to support circuit switched network operation.

A number of the larger global network providers have committed to supporting GSM (2G) until
late 2025 but none have committed past this date at the current moment in time. GSM (2G) and
UMTS (3G) have been superseded by LTE (4G) and most internet capable devices have
already been moved over to the LTE (4G) network. However, in many existing installations there
is a pressing requirement for LTE (4G) due to the increased voice and SMS capacity offered by
the LTE (4G) network. As a result of this developers and customers will be required to make
changes to their applications to facilitate the move over to an entirely LTE (4G) only network
infrastructure.

Industrial ZETA Modem IMS Support

The Siretta ZETA family of LTE enabled industrial modems is shown below:

ZETA Model LTE Category VoLTE Support IMS SMS Support

ZETA-N-LTE (EU) 4 No No
ZETA-NLP-LTEM (GL) M / NBIoT No No
ZETA-NLP-LTE1 (EU) 1 Yes Yes
ZETA-NSP-LTE1 (EU) 1 Yes Yes
ZETA-NEP-LTEM (GL) M / NBIoT No No
ZETA-NEP-LTE4 (EU) 4 Yes Yes
ZETA-GEP-LTE4 (EU) 4 Yes Yes

Circuit Switched Voice Migration to VoLTE

When using analogue voice and SMS services to communicate with remote parties, equipment
and devices, the process to connect local devices to remote systems is shown below.

Voice Procedure:

1. Local unit dials remote party

2. Remote unit answers incoming call
3. Conversation takes place
4. Either local or remote unit can terminate the call

SMS Procedure:

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 1. Local unit sends message to remote party
2. Remote unit receives incoming message
3. Either party can initiate sending a message to the other

When using VoLTE or packet switched SMS the initiation procedure is identical but there are a
few configuration requirements for either process which must be met first.

1. The SIM and network provider must support IMS

2. The device hardware must support IMS
3. The device must be configured to allow IMS services

Once these parameters have been met, the standard voice dial command or SMS send
commands can be used to establish a voice call or send an SMS message over the IMS
network using the VoLTE and packet based SMS services.

Command Syntax
IMS should be set correctly in the APN which can be checked with the following:

AT+CGDCONT?

+CGDCONT: 1,"IPV4V6","internet","",0,0,0,0

+CGDCONT: 2,"IPV4V6","ims","",0,0,0,0

+CGDCONT: 3,"IPV4V6","sos","",0,0,0,1

IMS PDP profile should be set correctly which can be checked with the following:

AT#IMSPDPSET?

#IMSPDPSET: ims

IMS profile should be enabled which can be checked with the following:

AT$QCPDPIMSCFGE?

$QCPDPIMSCFGE: 1,0,0,0

$QCPDPIMSCFGE: 2,1,0,0

$QCPDPIMSCFGE: 3,1,0,0

For the ZETA-xxP family of modems IMS is shown as active in profile 2 (which is shown in row

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2).

IMS registration state should be enabled which can be checked with the following:

AT+CIREG?

+CIREG: 0,1

Voice Procedure:

For voice calling, similar to a non-VoLTE call, the standard dial command can be used to
establish a VoLTE call with the receiving party once the IMS settings have been established.

ATD

SMS Procedure:

To configure the device to send circuit or packet switched SMS the following settings can be
used:

To send circuit switched SMS

AT+CGSMS=1

To send packet switched SMS

AT+CGSMS=0

For packet switched SMS sending, similar to circuit switched SMS, the standard command can
be used to send an SMS to the receiving party once the IMS settings have been established.

AT+CMGS=

Overall System Advantages

Once your system is setup to use IP traffic to initiate VoLTE calls and packet switched SMS
messages instead of circuit switched voice and SMS there will be an immediate benefit in the
overall operation of the system. This is based on the fact that using IMS as the method of
communication offers a number of advantages over circuit switched networks. Some of these
key points are described below:

Subject Description
Cost The cost for voice calls is lower for IP data than
for traditional analogue calls and it is charged
for by the amount of data rather than the time.
Analogue calls are charged per minute and IP

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 traffic is charged per Mb. In addition the cost of
data has reduced massively over the last
decade which has been driven by consumer
data usage increasing with mobile devices.
SMS messages are charged for per message
rather than data used.
Capacity VoLTE traffic uses much less network
bandwidth than traditional analogue voice and
as such is much more efficient. This means that
less traditional analogue voice calls can take
place at the same time as VoLTE calls using
the same bandwidth. Therefore, using VoLTE
can improve the performance of the network by
up to 6 times over traditional GSM voice calls.
SMS messages can be transmitted as data
rather than dedicated message payload.
Flexibility IP based traffic is supported by all systems
connected to the internet and is native for PC’s
and embedded devices. IP systems can
connect to multiple locations at the same time
and data can be re-routed automatically for
redundancy.
Scalability IP based systems are more efficient and can
accommodate more connected devices over a
larger service area. This allows for larger
networks and improved network coverage using
IP connectivity which offers more connections
per square meter with a better link budget for all
connected devices over circuit switched
network connections.
Evolution Circuit switched services are restricted for use
only on the GSM (2G) and UMTS (3G)
networks which are now nearing EOL. All future
LTE networks are IP based which means that
moving forwards it will only be possible to
communicate using an IP based connection
scheme for equipment and devices in the field.
Power Consumption Circuit switched voice calls use a large amount
of power and have no capability to reduce or
conserve power. Modern devices are becoming
much more power efficient and new legislation
is being brought in for devices to be energy
efficient which is perfectly suited to IP based
traffic. VoLTE improves power consumption as
it uses IP data and can make use of advanced
power saving schemes.

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