35 www.tmforum.org INSIGHTS RESEARCH Long-Term Evolution (LTE) adoption is now fully main stream, and with the uptake of voice over LTE (VoLTE) smartphones expected to exceed 50 percent by 2018 1 , VoLTE is taking center stage in 2014 as a key strategy for service providers to vault ahead of popular over-the-top (OTT) voice solutions. Singtel announced the first full- featured global VoLTE service with call connections in under two seconds – up to five times faster than conventional mobile calls. In North America, AT&T and T-Mobile recently launched VoLTE services in select markets using high- definition (HD) voice as the main draw. While some service providers are banking on HD quality to build market demand and differentiation, VoLTE will also need to meet the high standard for reliability and features that subscribers have come to expect from the circuit switched world. “VoLTE is about more than just improving the subscriber experience with HD voice,” says Chris Nicoll, head of network research at Analysys Mason. “The real differentiator will be the ability to combine crystal clear voice with other enhanced IP-based services such as presence, location and Rich Communication Suite (RCS) for things like instant messaging and video sharing. But supporting and monetizing these services requires major upgrades to core network systems and, in particular, policy control, charging and billing.” According to the GSMA, RCS adoption is picking up the pace with deployments from 17 service providers, a figure that is projected to grow to 85 by 2015. By bundling RCS and VoLTE, service providers can differentiate multimedia services with HD quality. Capitalizing on the VoLTE opportunity will push service providers to think differently about how to deliver value beyond voice and leverage the capabilities of advanced policy control to innovate with differentiated communications services. 1 Analysys Mason, 2013 Anatomy of a VoLTE call VoLTE is more than just another PCRF use case. Rather, it introduces a number of processing interactions between the PCRF and IMS call server, and PCRF and packet gateway. The average call session is around three minutes versus a typical data session, which can be several hours in length. A lot needs to be processed within that three-minute session window, including: Complex interactions with IMS: QoS is negotiated for every VoLTE call, based on the media codec in the device. PCRF uses the codec parameters delivered by the call server to instruct the gateway on how to set up the dedicated bearer for the session. It also needs to tear down the dedicated bearer when the call is terminated. In cases of circuit switch fallback, PCRF plays the all-important role of detecting the change in radio quality to initiate a fallback mechanism. Signaling demand: The net impact of interactions is a 10-fold increase in signaling overhead versus a comparable data session, with the entire processing impact being felt in the control and signaling plane. User expectations: Call setup expectations for voice services are virtually instantaneous. When you initiate a call, you expect zero delay. More than 500 milliseconds is too long. Complex processing, 10 times greater signaling overhead, virtually instantaneous call setup. The impact on PCRF performance is significant – and required for every single VoLTE session. Average Call Duration: 3 Minutes Multiple Interactions with IMS QoS, Bearer, RAT Detection 10X Signaling Overhead Versus Data Call Setup < 500 ms MMTel Server S-CSCF P-CSCF PCRF P-GW SIP Call Control Signaling Gx Rx OCS LTE Access Network Internet Sy Ro VoLTE Has Arrived – Is Your PCRF Ready? Sponsored feature
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34 35www.tmforum.org www.tmforum.orgINSIGHTS RESEARCH INSIGHTS RESEARCH
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Long-Term Evolution (LTE) adoption is now fully main stream, and with the uptake of voice over LTE (VoLTE) smartphones expected to exceed 50 percent by 20181, VoLTE is taking center stage in 2014 as a key strategy for service providers to vault ahead of popular over-the-top (OTT) voice solutions.
Singtel announced the first full-featured global VoLTE service with call connections in under two seconds – up to five times faster than conventional mobile calls. In North America, AT&T and T-Mobile recently launched VoLTE services in select markets using high-definition (HD) voice as the main draw.
While some service providers are banking on HD quality to build market demand and differentiation, VoLTE will also need to meet the high standard for reliability and features that subscribers have come to expect from the circuit switched world.
“VoLTE is about more than just improving the subscriber experience with HD voice,” says Chris Nicoll, head of network research at Analysys Mason. “The real differentiator will be the ability to combine crystal clear voice with other enhanced IP-based services such as presence, location and Rich Communication Suite (RCS) for things like instant messaging and video sharing. But
supporting and monetizing these services requires major upgrades to core network systems and, in particular, policy control, charging and billing.”
According to the GSMA, RCS adoption is picking up the pace with deployments from 17 service providers, a figure that is projected to grow to 85 by 2015. By bundling RCS and VoLTE, service providers can differentiate multimedia services with HD quality. Capitalizing on the VoLTE opportunity will push service providers to think differently about how to deliver value beyond voice and leverage the capabilities of advanced policy control to innovate with differentiated communications services.
1 Analysys Mason, 2013
Anatomy of a VoLTE callVoLTE is more than just another PCRF use case. Rather, it introduces a number of processing interactions between the PCRF and IMS call server, and PCRF and packet gateway. The average call session is around three minutes versus a typical data session, which can be several hours in length. A lot needs to be processed within that three-minute
session window, including:
Complex interactions with IMS: QoS is negotiated for every VoLTE call, based on the media codec in the device. PCRF uses the codec parameters delivered by the call server to instruct the gateway on how to set up the dedicated bearer for the session. It also needs to tear down the dedicated
bearer when the call is terminated. In cases of circuit switch fallback, PCRF plays the all-important role of detecting the change in radio quality to initiate a fallback mechanism.
Signaling demand: The net impact of interactions is a 10-fold increase in signaling overhead versus a comparable data session, with the entire processing impact being felt in the control and signaling plane.
User expectations: Call setup expectations for voice services are virtually instantaneous. When you initiate a call, you expect zero delay. More than 500 milliseconds is too long.
Complex processing, 10 times greater signaling overhead, virtually instantaneous call setup. The impact on PCRF performance is significant – and required for every single VoLTE session.
Average Call Duration:3 Minutes
ANATOMY OF A VOLTE CALL
Multiple Interactions with IMSQoS, Bearer, RAT Detection
10X Signaling OverheadVersus Data
Call Setup< 500 ms
MMTel Server
S-CSCF
P-CSCF
PCRF
P-GW
SIP Call ControlSignaling
Gx
Rx
OCS
LTE AccessNetwork
Internet
Sy
Ro
VoLTE Has Arrived – Is Your PCRF Ready?
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36 37www.tmforum.org www.tmforum.orgINSIGHTS RESEARCH INSIGHTS RESEARCH
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VoLTE – A game changer for PCRFWhy is VoLTE such a game changer for policy control? Launching reliable, high-quality VoLTE services requires mobile operators to not only deploy the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), but to also integrate it with the policy and charging rules function (PCRF). A scalable and hardened PCRF that supports the latest standards and advanced VoLTE functionality is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition and successful expansion of carrier-based multi-media services.
A recent Heavy Reading survey of global operators found that 70 percent of service providers believe they will need to upgrade or replace their existing data PCRF to handle the rigors of VoLTE. This acknowledgement of the limitations of existing PCRFs is not surprising when you consider what it takes to manage a VoLTE call. (See “Anatomy of a VoLTE call” on page 39).
VoLTE pushes the limitations of legacy PCRFs – it’s an inflection point that will compel service providers to find policy solutions that can support the rigorous scalability, reliability and performance requirements for VoLTE services.
VoLTE PCRF – Powering innovationIf a different class of PCRF is needed to effectively manage the complexity introduced by VoLTE, what does a VoLTE-ready PCRF look like? Dedicated bearer support, geo redundancy, various fallback options and quality of service (QoS) prioritization for emergency calls are just a few of the VoLTE requirements raising the bar for policy control. (See Figure 1: Does Your PCRF Have What It Takes?)
Dedicated bearer support: Voice is all about quality – HD quality for every
single session. Service providers can create a differentiated voice service, with premium voice support that has guaranteed bandwidth to ensure call clarity and superior audio quality. PCRF plays a strategic role by setting up dedicated bearers for every session to ensure guaranteed QoS where voice calls can be prioritized in the VoLTE “fast lane” and separated from other data traffic.
Geo redundancy for call reliability: If a data call drops, it’s inconvenient. If a VoLTE call drops when your customers are talking to their customers, it’s a bad experience. In an emergency, it can be catastrophic. To ensure high reliability for voice calls, the PCRF has to support two-way geo-redundancy and both Gx/Rx session continuity for local and geo-redundant failovers. In the event of a failure, the call should continue with the session and metering state preserved – all completely seamless to the user.
Alternative voice support: When a
subscriber loses coverage on LTE, there has to be a fallback mechanism to circuit switched voice. Two methods are widely used for fallback – Circuit Switch Fallback (CSFB) and Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) – and both need to be supported by the PCRF.
Emergency call prioritization: VoLTE deployments come with safety and other regulatory requirements, such as emergency calls. The PCRF has to support the 3GPP attributes for subscriber location and implement emergency override of existing data plan entitlements, ensuring the subscriber receives QoS prioritization, irrespective of their existing data plan.
Integrating policy and charging When it comes to VoLTE, policy control and real-time charging need to work hand in hand to differentiate multimedia offers, monetize them in real time and support a number of key use cases.
FIGURE 1 – DOES YOUR PCRF HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
1. Multiple/dedicated bearer support – support HD quality
Support for VoLTE goes beyond QoS and Rxto ensure a differentiated HD voice service
2. Scalability and performance – compressed call model, signaling overhead, call flow interactions
3. Geo-redundancy – subscriber, session for ultimate in call reliability
4. Alternative voice support – fallback
5. Standards support: 3GPP R11 – Rx, subscriber location
6. Emergency services and call prioritization for E911 handling, location
7. Roaming support – S9
8. Device codec detection and negotiation for QoS
9. Dual stack IPv4 and IPv6 support
10. Lawful intercept – where required
Figure 1 – Does Your PCRF Have What It Takes?
VoLTE Has Arrived – Is Your PCRF Ready?
Consider the opportunity to create HD upsell offers for services such as a video share. The on-line charging system (OCS) charges the one-time offer in real time, and triggers the PCRF to set up another dedicated QoS bearer for the HD video option, in addition to an existing VoLTE session. In the case of a time-limited offer, the PCRF will tear down the dedicated bearer once the offer has expired.
Alternative voice support is another interesting example. Until LTE coverage and roaming partnerships are well established, some form of alternative voice support will be required as a fallback mechanism. In the case of CSFB, the PCRF detects the radio degradation and initiates fallback, releasing the voice bearer. With SRVCC, the device initiates fallback and the PCRF releases the voice bearer. The OCS plays the important role of correlating multiple call records generated by the LTE and circuit switched network into a single session record – for charging and tracking purposes.
De-risking VoLTE with dual PCRFsAs service providers plan their VoLTE service rollouts, consideration is being given to a dual-PCRF strategy. For example, a data PCRF can continue to handle mobile data traffic while a VoLTE-specific PCRF manages only VoLTE traffic. The VoLTE PCRF supports all of the required 3GPP interfaces, and is optimized to handle the demands of VoLTE services. (See Figure 2: Dual-PCRF Architecture)
By using a co-existent strategy, service providers can de-risk VoLTE with a dedicated PCRF and still maintain the flexibility to migrate back to a convergent PCRF. New VoLTE services can be introduced rapidly without affecting current services, increasing service velocity while protecting investments.
Making the move to VoLTEBringing VoLTE into a suite of
integrated voice and communications plans enables service providers to reduce costs, create differentiated offers and
drive added revenues from subscribers and new customers. Delivering innovative services with HD voice quality and high reliability will separate service providers from the low-cost, low-quality OTT alternatives.
Now more than ever, the PCRF plays a key role in service innovation and monetization. Complex processing, increased signaling overhead and a pre-existing high standard for voice quality and reliability are forcing the move to VoLTE-ready PCRF solutions that are designed to meet the challenge. Integrating policy and charging enable service providers to effectively manage and monetize advanced VoLTE and communications services as part of a unified service offering.
Finally, by adopting a dual-PCRF approach, service providers can de-risk VoLTE deployments as they roll out and build demand for HD voice and rich multimedia services.
Carrier-grade VoLTE PCRF Amdocs, the leading provider of
customer experience systems and services, is the first to introduce a standards-based VoLTE PCRF solution specifically designed to support the stringent feature requirements. The Amdocs VoLTE Controller encompasses emergency call prioritization, voice roaming with QoS assurance, voice call reliability and differentiated IP voice services. Based on the industry-proven and widely deployed Amdocs Policy Controller, this new solution can operate in a dedicated hardware environment or as a virtualized appliance, with rapid deployment in two months.
To learn more, visit http://www.amdocs-marketing.com/volte-checklist1
FIGURE 2 – DUAL-PCRF ARCHITECTURE
IP MultimediaSubsystem (IMS)
Application Function (AF)
Subscriber ProfileRepository (SPR)
Customer Care and Service Fulfillment
Online ChargingSystem (OCS)
Offline ChargingSystem (OFCS)
Rx
Gy
Gx(IMS, VoLTE
APN)
Gx(Data APN)
Gz
SyRx
Sp
Convergent PCRF
DataPCRF
VoLTEPCRF
InternetPacket Core
PCEF
PacketGateway
Access Network
VoLT
E Ca
ll Fl
owDedicated Bearers for VoLTE Call Traffic
User IP Data Flow
ServerEnd User
Source: Analysys Mason, 2014
Figure 2 – Dual-PCRF Architecture
36 37www.tmforum.org www.tmforum.orgINSIGHTS RESEARCH INSIGHTS RESEARCH
Sponsored feature
VoLTE – A game changer for PCRFWhy is VoLTE such a game changer for policy control? Launching reliable, high-quality VoLTE services requires mobile operators to not only deploy the IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), but to also integrate it with the policy and charging rules function (PCRF). A scalable and hardened PCRF that supports the latest standards and advanced VoLTE functionality is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition and successful expansion of carrier-based multi-media services.
A recent Heavy Reading survey of global operators found that 70 percent of service providers believe they will need to upgrade or replace their existing data PCRF to handle the rigors of VoLTE. This acknowledgement of the limitations of existing PCRFs is not surprising when you consider what it takes to manage a VoLTE call. (See “Anatomy of a VoLTE call” on page 39).
VoLTE pushes the limitations of legacy PCRFs – it’s an inflection point that will compel service providers to find policy solutions that can support the rigorous scalability, reliability and performance requirements for VoLTE services.
VoLTE PCRF – Powering innovationIf a different class of PCRF is needed to effectively manage the complexity introduced by VoLTE, what does a VoLTE-ready PCRF look like? Dedicated bearer support, geo redundancy, various fallback options and quality of service (QoS) prioritization for emergency calls are just a few of the VoLTE requirements raising the bar for policy control. (See Figure 1: Does Your PCRF Have What It Takes?)
Dedicated bearer support: Voice is all about quality – HD quality for every
single session. Service providers can create a differentiated voice service, with premium voice support that has guaranteed bandwidth to ensure call clarity and superior audio quality. PCRF plays a strategic role by setting up dedicated bearers for every session to ensure guaranteed QoS where voice calls can be prioritized in the VoLTE “fast lane” and separated from other data traffic.
Geo redundancy for call reliability: If a data call drops, it’s inconvenient. If a VoLTE call drops when your customers are talking to their customers, it’s a bad experience. In an emergency, it can be catastrophic. To ensure high reliability for voice calls, the PCRF has to support two-way geo-redundancy and both Gx/Rx session continuity for local and geo-redundant failovers. In the event of a failure, the call should continue with the session and metering state preserved – all completely seamless to the user.
Alternative voice support: When a
subscriber loses coverage on LTE, there has to be a fallback mechanism to circuit switched voice. Two methods are widely used for fallback – Circuit Switch Fallback (CSFB) and Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) – and both need to be supported by the PCRF.
Emergency call prioritization: VoLTE deployments come with safety and other regulatory requirements, such as emergency calls. The PCRF has to support the 3GPP attributes for subscriber location and implement emergency override of existing data plan entitlements, ensuring the subscriber receives QoS prioritization, irrespective of their existing data plan.
Integrating policy and charging When it comes to VoLTE, policy control and real-time charging need to work hand in hand to differentiate multimedia offers, monetize them in real time and support a number of key use cases.
FIGURE 1 – DOES YOUR PCRF HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
1. Multiple/dedicated bearer support – support HD quality
Support for VoLTE goes beyond QoS and Rxto ensure a differentiated HD voice service
2. Scalability and performance – compressed call model, signaling overhead, call flow interactions
3. Geo-redundancy – subscriber, session for ultimate in call reliability
4. Alternative voice support – fallback
5. Standards support: 3GPP R11 – Rx, subscriber location
6. Emergency services and call prioritization for E911 handling, location
7. Roaming support – S9
8. Device codec detection and negotiation for QoS
9. Dual stack IPv4 and IPv6 support
10. Lawful intercept – where required
Figure 1 – Does Your PCRF Have What It Takes?
VoLTE Has Arrived – Is Your PCRF Ready?
Consider the opportunity to create HD upsell offers for services such as a video share. The on-line charging system (OCS) charges the one-time offer in real time, and triggers the PCRF to set up another dedicated QoS bearer for the HD video option, in addition to an existing VoLTE session. In the case of a time-limited offer, the PCRF will tear down the dedicated bearer once the offer has expired.
Alternative voice support is another interesting example. Until LTE coverage and roaming partnerships are well established, some form of alternative voice support will be required as a fallback mechanism. In the case of CSFB, the PCRF detects the radio degradation and initiates fallback, releasing the voice bearer. With SRVCC, the device initiates fallback and the PCRF releases the voice bearer. The OCS plays the important role of correlating multiple call records generated by the LTE and circuit switched network into a single session record – for charging and tracking purposes.
De-risking VoLTE with dual PCRFsAs service providers plan their VoLTE service rollouts, consideration is being given to a dual-PCRF strategy. For example, a data PCRF can continue to handle mobile data traffic while a VoLTE-specific PCRF manages only VoLTE traffic. The VoLTE PCRF supports all of the required 3GPP interfaces, and is optimized to handle the demands of VoLTE services. (See Figure 2: Dual-PCRF Architecture)
By using a co-existent strategy, service providers can de-risk VoLTE with a dedicated PCRF and still maintain the flexibility to migrate back to a convergent PCRF. New VoLTE services can be introduced rapidly without affecting current services, increasing service velocity while protecting investments.
Making the move to VoLTEBringing VoLTE into a suite of
integrated voice and communications plans enables service providers to reduce costs, create differentiated offers and
drive added revenues from subscribers and new customers. Delivering innovative services with HD voice quality and high reliability will separate service providers from the low-cost, low-quality OTT alternatives.
Now more than ever, the PCRF plays a key role in service innovation and monetization. Complex processing, increased signaling overhead and a pre-existing high standard for voice quality and reliability are forcing the move to VoLTE-ready PCRF solutions that are designed to meet the challenge. Integrating policy and charging enable service providers to effectively manage and monetize advanced VoLTE and communications services as part of a unified service offering.
Finally, by adopting a dual-PCRF approach, service providers can de-risk VoLTE deployments as they roll out and build demand for HD voice and rich multimedia services.
Carrier-grade VoLTE PCRF Amdocs, the leading provider of
customer experience systems and services, is the first to introduce a standards-based VoLTE PCRF solution specifically designed to support the stringent feature requirements. The Amdocs VoLTE Controller encompasses emergency call prioritization, voice roaming with QoS assurance, voice call reliability and differentiated IP voice services. Based on the industry-proven and widely deployed Amdocs Policy Controller, this new solution can operate in a dedicated hardware environment or as a virtualized appliance, with rapid deployment in two months.
To learn more, visit http://www.amdocs-marketing.com/volte-checklist1
FIGURE 2 – DUAL-PCRF ARCHITECTURE
IP MultimediaSubsystem (IMS)
Application Function (AF)
Subscriber ProfileRepository (SPR)
Customer Care and Service Fulfillment
Online ChargingSystem (OCS)
Offline ChargingSystem (OFCS)
Rx
Gy
Gx(IMS, VoLTE
APN)
Gx(Data APN)
Gz
SyRx
Sp
Convergent PCRF
DataPCRF
VoLTEPCRF
InternetPacket Core
PCEF
PacketGateway
Access Network
VoLT
E Ca
ll Fl
ow
Dedicated Bearers for VoLTE Call Traffic
User IP Data Flow
ServerEnd User
Source: Analysys Mason, 2014
Figure 2 – Dual-PCRF Architecture
DOES YOUR POLICY CONTROL SOLUTION HAVE WHAT IT TAKES FOR VOLTE?Can it support the 10-fold signaling overhead of VoLTE vs. data? Or emergency services? Find out what you need to know about policy control and VoLTE. Discover the 10 key considerations to take into account for VoLTE services.
Get your VoLTE checklist at:www.amdocs-marketing.com/volte-checklist1
Copyright © 2014 Amdocs. All Rights Reserved.
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