lpwan Working Group E. Ramos Internet-Draft Ericsson Intended status: Informational A. Minaburo Expires:January 26,April 25, 2022 AcklioJuly 25,October 22, 2021 SCHC over NB-IoTdraft-ietf-lpwan-schc-over-nbiot-05draft-ietf-lpwan-schc-over-nbiot-06 Abstract The Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) specification describesaheader compression and fragmentation functionalities for LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Networks) technologies. The Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) architecture may adapt SCHCwas designedtobe adapted over any of the LPWAN technologies.improve its capacities. This document describes the use of SCHC over the NB-IoT wirelessaccess,access and provides elements foranefficient parameterization. Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Internet-Draft will expire onJanuary 26,April 25, 2022. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2021 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4. Data Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 5. IP based Data Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 5.1. SCHC overUser Plane transmissionsthe Radio link . . . . . . . . . . .7 5.1.1. SCHC Entities Placing. . . . . 6 5.1.1. SCHC Entities Placing . . . . . . . . . . .8 5.2. Data Over Control Plane. . . . . 6 5.2. SCHC over No-Access Stratum (NAS) . . . . . . . . . . . .87 5.2.1. SCHC Entities Placing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 5.3. Parameters for Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) .109 5.3.1. SCHC Context initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 5.3.2. SCHC Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 5.3.3. Rule ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 5.3.4. SCHC MAX_PACKET_SIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1110 5.3.5. Fragmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1110 6.Non-IP based Data TransmissionEnd-to-End Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12. . . . 10 6.1. SCHC Entities Placing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1211 6.2. Parameters for Static Context Header Compression . . . .1311 6.2.1. SCHC Context initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . .1311 6.2.2. SCHC Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1312 6.2.3. Rule ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1412 6.2.4. SCHC MAX_PACKET_SIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1412 6.3. Fragmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1412 6.3.1. Fragmentation modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1412 6.3.2. Fragmentation Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1513 7. Padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1513 8. Security considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1513 9. 3GPP References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1514 10. Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1614 10.1. NB-IoT User Plane protocol architecture . . . . . . . .1614 10.1.1. Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) . . . . . .1614 10.1.2. Radio Link Protocol (RLC) . . . . . . . . . . . . .1715 10.1.3. Medium Access Control (MAC) . . . . . . . . . . . .1816 10.2. NB-IoT Data over NAS (DoNAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1917 11. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2120 Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2221 1. Introduction The Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) [RFC8724] defines a header compressionschemescheme, and fragmentationfunctionality, both specially tailoredfunctionality suitable for the Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) networks defined in [RFC8376].HeaderIn an NB-IoT network, header compressionis needed toefficientlybringbrings Internet connectivity to thenode within an NB-IoT network.node. This document describes the SCHCuses a static contextparameters used to performs the static context header compressionwith specific parameters that need to be adaptedinto the NB-IoT wireless access. This document assumes functionality for NB-IoT of 3GPP release 15.OtherwiseOtherwise, the text explicitly mentions other versions'functionality is explicitly mentioned in the text. This document describes the use of SCHC and its parameterizing over the NB-IoT wireless access.functionality. 2. Terminology This document will follow the terms defined in [RFC8724], in [RFC8376], and the TGPP23720. o CIoT. Cellular IoT oC-SGN.NGW-C-SGN. Network Gateway - CIoT Serving Gateway Node oUE.Dev-UE. Device - User Equipment oeNB.RGW-eNB. Radio Gateway - Node B. Base Station that controls the UE o EPC. Evolved Packet Connectivity. Core network of 3GPP LTE systems. o EUTRAN. Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network. Radio network from LTE based systems. oMME.NGW-MME. Network Gateway - Mobility Management Entity. Handle mobility of the UE o NB-IoT. Narrow Band IoT. Referring to 3GPP LPWAN technology based in LTE architecture but with additional optimization for IoT and using a Narrow Band spectrum frequency. oSGW.NGW-SGW. Network Gateway - Serving Gateway. Routes and forwards the user data packets through the access network o HSS. Home Subscriber Server. It is a database that performs mobility management oPGW.NGW-PGW. Network Gateway - Packet Data Node Gateway. An interface between the internal with the external network o PDU. Protocol Data Unit. Data packets including headers that are transmitted between entities through a protocol. o SDU. Service Data Unit. Data packets (PDUs) from higher layers protocols used by lower layer protocols as a payload of their own PDUs that has not yet been encapsulated. o IWK-SCEF. InterWorking Service Capabilities Exposure Function. Used in roaming scenarios and serves for interconnection with the SCEF of the Home PLMN and is located in the Visited PLMN oSCEF.NGW-SCEF. Network Gateway - Service Capability Exposure Function. EPC node for exposure of 3GPP network service capabilities to 3rd party applications. 3. Architecture+--+ D |UE|+---+ +------+ |Dev| \ +-----++------+ +--+----| HSS | +---+ \ |MME |-----| HSSNGW | +------+ |E|-MME |\__ \ / +-----++------+ +--+\ +---+ \+-----+ / |V |UE|+------+ |Dev| ----| RGW |- |+--+ |(eNB)||INGW- | +---+ |-eNB | | | SCEF |---------+ /+-----+ \ | +------+ | / \ +------+C| / \|NGWNGW- |+------+ Service PDN +--++-----+ +-----------+ +---+ /|(S-GW)|--| NGW |-- e.g. Internet E |UE|| CSGW |--| NGW-|---|Application| |Dev| ||(P-GW)| +--+ +------+| | PGW | | Server | +---+ +------+S+-----+ +-----------+ Figure 1: 3GPP network architecture The Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) architecturefor 3GPP LTE networkhasbeen reused for NB-IoT with some optimizationsa more complex structure. It relies on different NGWs from different providers andsimplifications knowncan send data by different paths, each path with different characteristics such asCellular IoT (CIoT). Consideringbandwidths, acknowledgments, and layer two reliability and segmentation. Figure 1 shows this architecture where thetypical use cases for CIoT devices here are described someNetwork Gateway Cellular Internet ofthe additions to the LTE architecture specific for CIoT. C-SGN(CIoTThings Serving GatewayNode) is a deployment option co-locating EPSNode (NGW-CSGN) optimizes co- locating entities inthe control plane and user plane paths (fordifferent paths. For example,MME + SGW + P-GW) anda Dev using theexternal interfaces ofpath form by theentities supported. The C-SGN also supports at least some ofNetwork Gateway Mobility Management Entity (NGW- MME), thefollowing CIoT EPS Optimizations: o Control Plane CIoT EPS Optimization for small data transmission. o User Plane CIoT EPS Optimization for small data transmission. o Necessary security procedures for efficient small data transmission. o SMS without combined attach for NB-IoT only UEs. o Paging optimizations for coverage enhancements. o Support for non-IP data transmission via SGi tunneling and/or SCEF. o Support for Attach without PDN (PacketNGW-CSGW, and Network Gateway Packet DataNetwork) connectivity.Node Gateway (NGW-PGW) may get a limited bandwidth transmission from few bytes/s to one thousand bytes/s only. Another node introduced in theCIOTNBIoT architecture is theSCEF (ServiceNetwork Gateway Service Capability ExposureFunction) that provide means toFunction (NGW-SCEF), which securelyexposeexposes service and network capabilities to entities external to the network operator.The northbound APIS are defined byOMA andOneM2M.OneM2M define the northbound APIS [TGPP33203]. In this case, the path is small for data transmission. The main functions ofa SCEFthe NGW-SCEF are: oNon-IP Data Delivery (NIDD) established through the SCEF.Connectivity path o Device Monitoringand exposure of event related to UE reachability, loss of connectivity, location reporting, roaming status, communication failure and change of IMEI-IMSI association. +-------+ | HSS | +-+-----+ NGW / DEV RGW +---------+ __/S6a +--------+ | +-----+ +_/ NGW +----+ C-Uu | +---+-+ MME | | T6i+--------+ T7 +----+ |CIOT+--------+ eNB |S1 | | +-+----+IWK-SCEF+----+SCEF| |UE | |(NB-IoT)| | +---+-+ | +--------+ +----+ +----+ +--------+ | | | |C-SGN| | | |S11| +------+ | | | +--------+LTE-Uu| | | +--+-+ | |LTE eMTC|(eMTC)|eNB +---+--+SGW | | S8+---+ +-----------+ | UE +------+(eMTC)|S1 | | +-+---+PGW|SGi |Application| +--------+ +------+ | +----+ | | +----+Server (AS)| +---------+ +---+ +-----------+ DEV RGW NGW NGW App Figure 2: 3GPP optimized CIOT network architecture4. Data Transmission3GPPNB-IoT networks dealnot onlywithdata transmittedend-to-endbut also withuser data and in-band signalingthat is usedbetween the nodes and functions to configure,controlcontrol, and monitor the system functions and behaviors. Thecontrolsignaling datais handled using a Control Plane which hasuses a different path with specificset ofprotocols, handlingprocessesprocesses, andentities. In contrast, theentities but can transport end-to-endoruser datautilize a User Plane with characteristics of its own separated from the Control Plane. The handling and setup of the Control Plane and User Plane spans over the whole 3GPP network and it has particular implications in the radio network (i.e., EUTRAN) and in the packet core (ex., EPC). For the CIOT cases, additionally to transmissions of data over User Plane, 3GPP has specified optimizationsforsmall data transmissions, allowing to transport user data (IP, Non-IP) within signaling onIoT services. In contrast, theaccess network (Data transmission over Control Plane or Data Over NAS).end-to-end application only transports end-to-end data. The maximum recommended MTU size is 1358 Bytes. The radio network protocols limit the packet sizesto be transmittedover theairair, including radio protocol overhead to 1600Octets. ButBytes. However, thevalueMTU isreduced furthersmaller to avoid fragmentation in thebackbone of thenetwork backbone due to the payload encryption size (multiple of 16) andhandling ofthe additional core transportoverhead.overhead handling. 3GPP standardizes NB-IoTandand, ingeneralgeneral, the cellular technologies interfaces andfunctions are standardized by 3GPP.functions. Therefore the introduction of SCHC entities toUE, eNBDev, RGW-eNB, andC-SGN does needNGW-CSGN needs to be specified in the NB-IoTstandard. Thisstandard, which implies that standardspecifiedspecifying SCHC support would not bebackwardsbackward compatible. A terminal or a network supporting a version of the standard withoutsupport ofSCHC or without capability implementation (in case of not being standardized as mandatory capability)is not able tocannot utilize the compression services with this approach. SCHC could be deployed differently depending on where the header compression and the fragmentation are applied. The SCHC functionalitiescould be applied to the packets about tocan betransmittedused over theair, or to the whole end-to-end link. To accomplishradio transmission only, between thefirst, it is required to place SCHC compressionDev anddecompression entities intheeNB and inRGW-eNB. Alternatively, theUE for transmissionspackets transmitted over theUser Plane. Additionally, to handle the case ofend-to-end link can use SCHC. Else, when the transmissions overControl Planethe NGW-MME orData Over NAS,NGW-SCEF, thenetworkNGW-CSGN uses SCHCentity has to be placed in the C-SGN as well.entity. For these two cases, the functions are to be standardized by 3GPP. Another possibility is to apply SCHC functionalities to the end-to- end connection or at least up to the operator network edge.In that case, theSCHCentities would be placedfunctionalities are available in the application layer of theterminal in one end,Dev andeither intheapplication serversApplication Servers orina broker functioninat the edge of the operatornetwork in the other end. For thenetwork. The radionetwork,network transmits the packetsare transmittedas non-IPtraffic, which can be currently served utilizingtraffic using IP tunneling or SCEF services. Since this option does not necessarily require 3GPP standardization, it is possible to also benefit legacy devices with SCHC byutilizingusing the non-IP transmission features of the operator network.Accordingly, there are four different scenarios where SCHC can be used in the NB-IoT architecture. IP header compression on the data transmission over User Plane, IP header compression on the optimized transmissions over Control Plane (i.e.,DoNAS), non-IP transmissions of SCHC packets by IP tunneling, and non-IP transmissions of SCHC packets by SCEF forwarding. The following sections describe each of them in more detail. The first two scenarios refer to transmissions using the 3GPP IP transmission capabilities and the last two refers to transmission using the Non-IP capabilities.5. IP based Data Transmission 5.1. SCHC overUser Plane transmissionsthe Radio link Deploying SCHC only over the radio link would requireto placeplacing it as part of theUser Plane data transmission. The User Plane utilizes theprotocol stackof the Access Stratum (AS)for datatransfer. AS (Access Stratum)transfer between the Dev and the RGW-eNB. This stack is the functional layer responsible for transporting data over the wireless connection and managing radio resources.The user plane AS hasThere is support for features such as reliability,segmentationsegmentation, and concatenation. The transmissionsof the AS makeuseoflink adaptation, meaning that the system will optimize the transport formatutilized for the transmissions are optimizedused according to the radio conditions, the number of bits totransmittransmit, and the power and interferenceconstrains.constraints. That means that the number of bits transmitted over the air dependsofon the Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS) selected.TheA Transport Block (TB) transmissions happen in the physical layerhappensat network synchronized intervalsof timescalledTTI (TransmissionTransmission TimeInterval). The transmission of a Transport Block (TB) is completed during, at least, one TTI.Interval (TTI). Each Transport Block has a different MCS and number of bits available to transmit. The MAC layer [TGPP36321] defines the Transport Blockscharacteristics are defined by the MAC technical specification TGPP36321.characteristics. TheAccess Stratum for User Plane is comprised byRadio link Figure 2 stack comprises the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)TGPP36323,[TGPP36323], Radio Link Protocol (RLC)TGPP36322,[TGPP36322], Medium Access Control protocol (MAC)TGPP36321[TGPP36321], and the Physical LayerTGPP36201. More[TGPP36201]. The Appendix gives more details ofthis protocols are given in the Appendix.these protocols. 5.1.1. SCHC Entities Placing The current architecture provides support for header compression in PDCPutilizingwith RoHC [RFC5795]. Therefore SCHC entities can be deployedin similar fashionsimilarly without the need formajorsignificant changes in the 3GPP specifications. In this scenario, RLC takes care ofthe handling offragmentation(ifunless for the transparentmode is not configured) whenmode. When packetsexceedsexceed the transport block size at the time oftransmission. Thereforetransmission, SCHC fragmentation isnot neededunnecessary and should not be used to avoid the additional protocol overhead. It is not common to configure RLC in Transparent Mode forIP based user planeIP-based data.ButHowever, given the case in the future, SCHC fragmentation may be used. In that case, a SCHC tile would match the minimum transport block size minus the PDCP and MAC headers. +---------+ +---------+ | |IP/non-IP+------------------------------+IP/non-IP+->+ +---------+ | +---------------+ | +---------+ | | PDCP +-------+ PDCP | GTP|U +------+ GTP-U |->+ | (SCHC) + + (SCHC)| + + | | +---------+ | +---------------+ | +---------+ | | RLC +-------+ RLC |UDP/IP +------+ UDP/IP +->+ +---------+ | +---------------+ | +---------+ | | MAC +-------+ MAC | L2 +------+ L2 +->+ +---------+ | +---------------+ | +---------+ | | PHY +-------+ PHY | PHY +------+ PHY +->+ +---------+ +---------------+ +---------+ | C-Uu/ S1-U SGiCIOT/ LTE+Uu C-BS/eNB C-SGN LTE eMTC UEDev RGW-eNB NGW-CSGN Figure3:2: SCHCentities placement in the 3GPP CIOT radio protocol architecture for dataoveruser planethe Radio link 5.2.Data Over Control Plane The Non-AccessSCHC over No-Access Stratum(NAS),(NAS) The NGW-MME conveys mainly control signaling between theUEDev and the cellular networkTGPP24301. NAS is transported[TGPP24301]. The network transports this traffic on top of theAccess Stratum (AS) already mentioned in the previous section. NAS has been adapted to provide support for user planeradio link. This kind of flow supports data transmissions to reduce the overhead when transmitting infrequent small quantities of data. This transmission is known as Data overNASNo-Access Stratum (DoNAS) or Control Plane CIoT EPS optimization. InDoNASDoNAS, theUE makes use ofDev uses thepre-established NASpre- established security and piggybackuplinksmall uplink data into the initialNASuplinkmessage,message and uses an additionalNASmessage to receive downlink small data response. The NGW-MME performs the data encryption from the network sideis performed by the C-SGNin aNASDoNAS PDU. Depending on the data type signaled indication (IP or non-IP data), the network allocates an IP address orjust establishestablishes a direct forwarding path. DoNAS(Data over NAS)is regulated under rate control upon previous agreement, meaning that a maximum number of bits per unit of time is agreed upon per device subscription beforehand and configured in the device. The system will useofDoNASis typically expectedwhen a terminal in apower savingpower-saving state requiresto doa short transmission andreceivereceives an acknowledgment or short feedback from the network. Depending on the size of buffered data to transmit, theUEDev mightbe instructed todeploy the connected mode transmissions instead, limiting and controlling the DoNAS transmissions to predefined thresholds and a good resource optimization balance for the terminal and the network. The support for mobility of DoNAS is present but produces additional overhead.AdditionalThe Appendix gives additional details ofDoNAS are given in the Appendix.DoNAS. 5.2.1. SCHC Entities PlacingIn this scenarioSCHCcan be appliedmay reside in theNASNon-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol layerinstead of PDCP.in this scenario. The same principlesthanas foruser planeRadio link transmissionsappliesapply here as well. The main difference is the physical placing of the SCHC entitiesinon the network side as theC-SGN (placedNGW-MME resides in the corenetwork)network and is the terminating node for NAS instead of the eNB. +--------+ +--------+--------+ + +--------+ | IP/ +--+-----------------+--+ IP/ | IP/ +-----+ IP/ | | Non-IP | | | | Non-IP | Non-IP | | | Non-IP | +--------+ | | +-----------------+ | +--------+ | NAS +-----------------------+ NAS|GTP|C/U +-----+GTP|C/U|GTP-C/U +-----+GTP-C/U | |(SCHC) | | | | (SCHC) | | | | | +--------+ | +-----------+ | +-----------------+ | +--------+ | RRC +-----+RRC |S1|AP+-----+ S1|AP | | | | | +--------+ | +-----------+ | +--------+ UDP +-----+ UDP | | PDCP* +-----+PDCP*|SCTP +-----+ SCTP | | | | | +--------+ | +-----------+ | +-----------------+ | +--------+ | RLC +-----+ RLC | IP +-----+ IP | IP +-----+ IP | +--------+ | +-----------+ | +-----------------+ | +--------+ | MAC +-----+ MAC | L2 +-----+ L2 | L2 +-----+ L2 | +--------+ | +-----------+ | +-----------------+ | +--------+ | PHY +--+--+ PHY | PHY +--+--+ PHY | PHY +-----+ PHY | +--------+ +-----+-----+ +--------+--------+ | +--------+ C-Uu/ S1-lite SGiCIOT/ LTE-Uu C-BS/eNB C-SGN PGW LTE eMTC UEDev RGW-eNB NGW-MME NGW-PGW *PDCP is bypassed until AS security is activated TGPP36300. Figure43 5.3. Parameters for Static Context Header Compression (SCHC) 5.3.1. SCHC Context initialization RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol is the main tool used to configure theoperationparameters of theAS transmissions for 3GPP technologies. RoHC operation is configured with this protocol and it is to expect that SCHCRadio link. It willbe configuredconfigure SCHC and the static contextdistributed in similar fashiondistribution as it has made forthese scenarios.RoHC operation [TGPP36323]. 5.3.2. SCHC Rules Thenumber of rules in a context are defined by thenetwork operator in thesescenarios. For this,scenarios defines the number of rules in a context. The operator must be aware of the type of IP traffic that the device will carry out.This meansImplying that the operator might use provision sets of rules compatible with the use case of the device. For devices acting as gateways of otherdevicesdevices, several rulesthatmay match the diversity of devices and protocols used by the devices associatedtowith the gateway.Meanwhile thanMeanwhile, simpler devices (forexampleexample, an electricity meter) may have a predetermined set of fixed protocols andparameters fixed.parameters. Additionally, the deployment ofIPV4IPv4 addressesin addition to IPV6and IPv6 may forceto provision separatedifferent rules to deal with eachof the cases.case. 5.3.3. Rule IDFor these transmission scenarios in NB-IoT,There is a reasonable assumption of 9 bytes of radio protocol overheadcan be expected.for these transmission scenarios in NB-IoT, where PDCP uses 5 bytes due to header and integrity protection, and4 bytes ofRLC andMAC.MAC use 4 bytes. The minimum physical TransportBlockBlocks (TB) that can withhold this overhead value according to 3GPP Release 15 specificationsare:are 88, 104,120120, and 144 bits.If it is wished to optimize the number of transmissions of a very small application packet so that in some cases can be transmitted usingA transmission optimization may require only one physical layertransmission, then thetransmission. SCHC overhead should not exceed the available number of effective bits of the smallestutilephysical TB available. The packets handled by 3GPP networks are byte-aligned, and therefore the minimum payload possible (including padding) is 8 bits. Therefore in order toutilizeuse the smallestTBTB, the maximum SCHC header is812 bits.ThisThese 12 bits must include the Compression Residue in addition to the Rule ID.InOn the other hand,it is possible thatmore complex NB-IoT devices (such as a capillarity gateway) might require additional bits to handle the variety and multiple parameterstheofhigher layerhigher-layer protocols deployed. In that sense, the operator may want to have flexibility on the number and type of rules supported by each device independently, andconsequentlyconsequently, these scenarios require a configurablevalue is preferred for these scenarios.value. The configuration may beset aspart of the operation profile agreed together with thecontextcontent distribution. The RuleIdID field size may rangefor examplefrom 2bitsbits, resulting in 4 rules toaan 8 bits value that would yield up to 256 ruleswhichthat can be used together with the operators and seems quite a reasonable maximum limit even for a device acting as a NAT. More bits could be configured, but it shouldtake in accountconsider the byte-alignment of the expected CompressionResidue too.Residue. In the minimum TB size case, 2 bitssizeof Rule Id leave only 6 bits available for Compression Residue. 5.3.4. SCHC MAX_PACKET_SIZE TheAccess StratumRadio Link can handle the fragmentation of SCHC packets ifneededneeded, including reliability. Hence the packet size is limited by the MTUpossible to behandled by theASradio protocols thatcorrespondscorrespond to 1600 bytes for 3GPP Release 15. 5.3.5. Fragmentation For thesescenariosscenarios, the SCHC fragmentation functions arerecommend to bedisabled. The RLC layer of NB-IoT can segment packets in suitable units that fit the selected transport blocks for transmissions of the physical layer. Theselection of theblocks selection isdonemade according to theinput of thelink adaptation input function in the MAC layer and the quantity of data in the buffer. The link adaptation layer may produce different results at each Time Transmission Interval(TTI)(TTI), resulting in varying physical transport blocks thatdepends ofdepend on the network load,interference andinterference, number of bitsto be transmittedtransmitted, and QoS. Even if setting a value that allows the construction of data units following the SCHC tiles principle, the protocol overhead may be greater or equal than allowing theAS radioRadio link protocols to take care of the fragmentation natively. 5.3.5.1. Fragmentation in Transparent Mode If RLCis configured to operateoperates in Transparent Mode, there could be a case to activate a fragmentation function together with a light reliability function such as the ACK-Always mode. Inpractice ,practice, it isvery rareuncommon to transmituser planeradio link data using thisconfiguration and it isconfiguration. It mainlytargeting control planetargets signaling transmissions. In thosecasescases, thereliability is normally ensured byMACbased mechanisms,layer mechanisms ensure reliability, such as repetitions or automatic retransmissions, and additional reliability might only generate protocol overhead.In future operations, it could be devised the utilization ofSCHCtomay reduce radio network protocols overheadandin future operations, supportthe reliability of thereliable transmissions, andtargetingtransmit small data withthefewer possibletransmissions. This could be realizedtransmissions by using fixed or limitedset oftransport blocks compatible with the tiling SCHC fragmentation handling. 6.Non-IP based Data TransmissionEnd-to-End Compression The Non-IP Data Delivery (NIDD) services of 3GPP enable thepossibilitytransmission oftransmittingSCHC packets compressed by the application layer. The packets can be deliveredby means of IP- tunnelsusing IP-tunnels to the 3GPP network orusing SCEFNGW-SCEF functions (i.e., API calls). In bothcasescases, as compression occurs before transmission, thepacket IP isnetwork will notunderstood byunderstand the3GPP network since it is already compressedpacket, and the network does nothashave context information ofthe context used forthis compression. Therefore the network will treat the packet asaNon-IP traffic and deliver it to theUEDev without any other stack element, directly under the L2. 6.1. SCHC Entities Placing In the two scenarios usingNIDD,End-to-End compression, SCHC entities are located almostinon top of the stack. In theterminal, it may be implemented by aDev, an applicationutilizingusing the NB-IoT connectivityservices. In the network side, theservices may implement SCHCentities are located inand the ApplicationServer (AS).Server. The IP tunneling scenario requires that the Application Serversendssend the compressed packet over an IP connectionthat isterminated by the 3GPP core network. IfinsteadtheSCEF services are used, thentransmission uses the NGW-SCEF services, it is possible to utilizeaan API call to transfer the SCHC packets between the core network and theAS, alsoApplication Server. Also, an IP tunnel could be established by theAS,Application Server if negotiated with theSCEF.NGW-SCEF. +---------+ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX +--------+ | SCHC | XXX XXX | SCHC | |(Non-IP) +-----XX........................XX....+--*---+(Non-IP)| +---------+ XX +----+ XX | | +--------+ | | XX |SCEF+-------+ | | | | | XXX 3GPP RAN & +----+ XXX +---+ UDP | | | XXX CORE NETWORK XXX | | | | L2 +---+XX +------------+ | +--------+ | | XX |IP TUNNELING+--+ | | | | XXX +------------+ +---+ IP | +---------+ XXXX XXXX | +--------+ | PHY +------+ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX +---+ PHY | +---------+ +--------+ UE AS Figure5:4: SCHC entities placed when using Non-IP Delivery (NIDD) 3GPP Sevices 6.2. Parameters for Static Context Header Compression 6.2.1. SCHC Context initialization Thestatic context is handled in theapplication layerlevel, consequentlyhandles thecontexts are required tostatic context; consequently, the context distribution must bedistributedaccording to theapplications ownapplication's capabilities, perhaps utilizing IP data transmissions up to context initialization.AlsoAlso, the static contexts delivery may use the same IP tunneling orSCEFNGW-SCEF services used later for the SCHC packetstransport may be used by the applications in both ends to deliver the static contexts to be used.transport. 6.2.2. SCHC Rules Even when thetransmissionstransmission contentareis not visible for the 3GPP network, the same limitationsthanas forIP basedIP-based data transmissions applies in these scenarios in terms of aiming to use the minimum number of transmission and minimize the protocol overhead. 6.2.3. Rule IDSimilarlySimilar to the case of IP transmissions, the Rule ID size can be dynamically setpriorbefore the context delivery. Forexampleexample, negotiated between the applications when choosing a profile according to the type of traffic andtype ofapplication deployed.SameThe same considerations related to the transport block size and performance mentioned for the IP type of traffichas tomust befollowfollowed when choosing a size value for the Rule ID field. 6.2.4. SCHC MAX_PACKET_SIZE In thesescenariosscenarios, the maximum recommended MTU size that applies is 1358Bytes,Bytes since the SCHC packets (and fragments) are traversing the whole 3GPP network infrastructure (core and radio),andnot only the radio as the IP transmissions case. 6.3. Fragmentation Inprinciple the fragmentation function should be activated forprinciple, packetsgreaterlarger than 1358Bytes.bytes need the fragmentation function. Since the 3GPP uses reliabilityfunctions take great deal care of it, for simple point to point connectionsfunctions, the No-ACK fragmentation mode may be enougha NO-ACK mode. Neverthelessin point-to-point connections. Nevertheless, additional considerations are described below for more complexcases are mentioned in the next subsection to be taken in account.cases. 6.3.1. Fragmentation modesDepending of theA global service assigns a QoSthat has been assignedto thepackets, it is possible thatpacketsaredepending on the billing. Packets with very low QoS may get lost before they arrivetoin the 3GPP radio network transmission, forexampleexample, in between the links of a capillaritygateway,gateway or due to buffer overflow handling in a backhaul connection.In consequence, itThe use of SCHC fragmentation with the ACK- on-Error mode ispossiblerecommended to secure additional reliability on the packets transmitted with a small trade-off on additional transmissions to signal thepackets arrival indicationend-to-end arrival of the packets if no transport protocol takes care of retransmission.To achieve this, the packets fragmentation is activated withAlso, theACK-on- ErrorACK-on-Error modeenabled. In some cases, itis even desirable to keep track of all the SCHC packetsdelivered, indelivered. In that case, the fragmentation function could be active for all packets transmitted by theapplications (SCHC MAX_PACKET_SIZE == 1 Byte) and the ACK-on- Error mode. In the NAS stratum,applications. SCHC ACK-on-Error fragmentation may be active for theusetransmission ofonly fragmentation when anon-IPpacket is transmitted is possible if this packet is considered as apackets on the NGW-MME. If these packets are considering to use SCHCpacket and is identifyed usingwith the RuleID fornon- compressingnon-compressing packets as {RFC8724} allowsit, depending on the application an ACK-onError mode may be used.it. 6.3.2. Fragmentation ParametersThe FragmentationSCHC profile with the fragmentation mode will have specific Rules. SCHC defines the Rule IDis given when choosing the profileaccording to the fragmentationmode, 1 bit can be used tomode; 2 bits could recognizeeach mode. To adaptall the fragmentation modes or another solution depending on the Rules implementation. SCHCtoparametrization considers that NBIoT aligns theNB-IoT constraints, two configuration are proposedbit and uses padding and the size of the Transfer Block. SCHC will try to reduce padding tofilloptimize thebestcompression of thetransfer block (TB).information. The Header size needs to be multiple of44, and the Tilescanmay keep afixfixed value of 4 or 8 bits to avoidthe needpadding except for transfer block equals 16 bits where Tiles may be ofpadding.2 bits. For the other parameters, the transfer block size has a wide range that needs two configurations. o For Transfer Blocks smaller than 300bits: 8 bits-Header_size configuration, with the size of the header fields asfollow:follows: Rule ID 3 bits, DTag 1 bit, FCN 3 bits, W 1 bits.This configuration may ne used with TB lesso For Transfer Blocks bigger than 300bits. obits: 16 bits-Header_size configuration, with the size of the header fields asfollow:follows: Rules ID 8 - 10 bits, DTag 1 or 2 bits, FCN 3 bits, W 2 or 3 bits.This configuration may be used with TB above 300 bits.The IoT devicescommunicatescommunicate with small data transfer and have a battery life of 10 years.To minise the power consumption theseThese devices use the Power Save Mode and the Idle ModeDRXDRX, which govern how often the device wakes up, staysupup, andareis reachable.TheTable 10.5.163a in {3GPP-TS_24.088} specifies a range for the radio timers as N to 3N in increments of one where the units of N can be 1 hour or 10 hours. To adapt SCHC to theNB-IoTNB- IoT activities, theInnactivityInactivity Timermay be above 1h or 10hand the Retransmission Timer maybe below than 1h or 10h.use these limits. 7. Padding NB-IoT and 3GPP wireless access, in general, assumesbyte alignedbyte-aligned payload. Therefore the L2 word for NB-IoT MUST be considered 8bitsbits, and thetreatment ofpadding treatment should use this value accordingly. 8. Security considerations 3GPP access security is specified in(TGPP33203).[TGPP33203]. 9. 3GPP References o TGPP23720 3GPP, "TR 23.720 v13.0.0 - Study on architecture enhancements for Cellular Internet of Things", 2016. o TGPP33203 3GPP, "TS 33.203 v13.1.0 - 3G security; Access security for IP-based services", 2016. o TGPP36321 3GPP, "TS 36.321 v13.2.0 - Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification", 2016 o TGPP36323 3GPP, "TS 36.323 v13.2.0 - Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification", 2016. o TGPP36331 3GPP, "TS 36.331 v13.2.0 - Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification", 2016. o TGPP36300 3GPP, "TS 36.300 v15.1.0 - Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2", 2018 o TGPP24301 3GPP "TS 24.301 v15.2.0 - Non-Access-Stratum (NAS) protocol for Evolved Packet System (EPS); Stage 3", 2018 o TGPP24088 3GPP, "TS 24.088 v12.9.0 - Mobile radio interface Layer 3 specification;Core network protocols; Stage 3", 2015. 10. Appendix 10.1. NB-IoT User Plane protocol architecture 10.1.1. Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Each of the Radio Bearers (RB)areis associated with one PDCP entity.AndMoreover, a PDCP entity is associated with one or two RLC entities dependingofon the unidirectional or bi-directional characteristics of the RB and RLC mode used. A PDCP entity is associated with either a control plane or a user planewhichwith independent configuration and functions. The maximum supported size for NB-IoT of a PDCP SDU is 1600 octets. Themainprimary services and functions of the PDCP sublayer for NB-IoT for the user plane include: o Header compression and decompressionby means ofusing ROHC (Robust Header Compression) o Transfer of user and control data to higher and lower layers o Duplicate detection of lower layer SDUs when re-establishing connection (when RLC with Acknowledge Mode in use for User Plane only) o Ciphering and deciphering o Timer-based SDU discard in uplink 10.1.2. Radio Link Protocol (RLC) RLC is a layer-2 protocol that operates between the UE and the base station (eNB). It supports the packet delivery from higher layers toMACMAC, creating packetsthat aretransmitted over theairair, optimizing the Transport Block utilization. RLC flow of data packets isunidirectionalunidirectional, and it is composed of a transmitter located in the transmission device and a receiver located in the destination device. Therefore to configure bi-directional flows, twosetsets of entities, one in each direction (downlink anduplink)uplink), must be configured andthey areeffectively peered to each other. The peering allows the transmission of control packets (ex., status reports) between entities. RLC can be configured for data transfer in one of the following modes: o Transparent Mode (TM).In this modeRLCdodoes not segment or concatenate SDUs from higher layers in this mode anddodoes not include any header to the payload.When acting as a transmitter,RLC receives SDUs from upper layers when acting as a transmitter andtransmittransmits directly to its flow RLC receiver via lower layers. Similarly,ana TM RLC receiver would only deliver withoutadditionalprocessing the packets to higher layers upon reception. o Unacknowledged Mode (UM). This mode provides support for segmentation and concatenation of payload. Thesize of theRLCpacketpacket's size dependsofon the indication given at a particular transmission opportunity by the lower layer (MAC) andareis octets aligned. The packet delivery to the receiverdodoes not includesupport forreliability support, and thelostloss of a segment from a packet means awholecomplete packet loss.AlsoAlso, in the case of lower layerretransmissionsretransmissions, there is no support for re-segmentation in case of change of the radio conditions triggering the selection of a smaller transport block.AdditionallyAdditionally, it provides PDU duplication detection anddiscard,discards, reordering ofout of sequenceout-of-sequence, and loss detection. o Acknowledged Mode (AM).AdditionalIn addition to the same functions supportedfromby UM, this mode also adds a movingwindows basedwindows-based reliability service on top of the lower layer services. It alsoprovides support for re-segmentationsupports re-segmentation, and it requires bidirectional communication to exchange acknowledgment reports called RLC Status Report and triggerretransmissions is needed. Protocol error detection isretransmissions. This model alsosupported by this mode.supports protocol error detection. The modeusesused dependsofon the operator configuration for the type of data to be transmitted. For example, data transmissions supporting mobility or requiring high reliability would be most likely configured usingAM, meanwhileAM. Meanwhile, streaming andreal timereal-time data would bemapmapped to a UM configuration. 10.1.3. Medium Access Control (MAC) MAC provides a mapping between the higher layers abstraction called Logical Channels comprised by the previously described protocols to the Physical layer channels (transport channels). Additionally, MAC may multiplex packets from different Logical Channels and prioritize what to fit into one Transport Block if there is data and space available to maximizethe efficiency ofdatatransmission.transmission efficiency. MAC also provides error correction and reliability supportby means ofthrough HARQ, transport formatselectionselection, and scheduling information reporting from the terminal to the network. MAC also adds the necessary padding and piggyback control elements when possibleadditional toand the higher layers data. <Max. 1600 bytes> +---+ +---+ +------+ Application |AP1| |AP1| | AP2 | (IP/non-IP) |PDU| |PDU| | PDU | +---+ +---+ +------+ | | | | | | PDCP +--------+ +--------+ +-----------+ |PDCP|AP1| |PDCP|AP1| |PDCP| AP2 | |Head|PDU| |Head|PDU| |Head| PDU | +--------+ +--------+ +--------+--\ | | | | | | | | |\ `----\ +---------------------------+ | |(1)| `-----\(2)'-\ RLC |RLC |PDCP|AP1|RLC |PDCP|AP1| +-------------+ +----|---+ |Head|Head|PDU|Head|Head|PDU| |RLC |PDCP|AP2| |RLC |AP2| +-------------|-------------+ |Head|Head|PDU| |Head|PDU| | | | | | +---------|---+ +--------+ | | | LCID1 | | / / / / / / / / _/ _// _/ _/ / LCID2 / | | | | | / _/ _/ / ___/ | | | | || | | / / +------------------------------------------+ +-----------+---+ MAC |MAC|RLC|PDCP|AP1|RLC|PDCP|AP1|RLC|PDCP|AP2| |MAC|RLC|AP2|Pad| |Hea|Hea|Hea |PDU|Hea|Hea |PDU|Hea|Hea |PDU| |Hea|Hea|PDU|din| |der|der|der | |der|der | |der|der | | |der|der| |g | +------------------------------------------+ +-----------+---+ TB1 TB2 Figure6:5: Example of User Plane packet encapsulation for two transport blocks 10.2. NB-IoT Data over NAS (DoNAS) TheASAccess Stratum (AS) protocol stack used by DoNAS is somehowspecial.particular. Since the security associations are not established yet in the radio network, to reduce the protocol overhead, PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) is bypassed until AS security is activated. RLC (Radio Link Control protocol)is configureduses by defaultinthe AM mode, but dependingofon the network's featuressupported by the networkand theterminalterminal, it maybe configured inchange to other modes by the network operator. For example, the transparent mode does not add any header ordoes notprocess the payloadin any way reducingto reduce the overhead, but the MTU would be limited by the transport block used to transmit thedatadata, which is a couple of thousandofbits maximum. If UM (only Release 15 compatible terminals) is used, the RLC mechanisms of reliabilityis disabledare disabled, and only the reliability provided by the MAC layer by Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) is available. In this case, the protocol overhead might be smaller thanforthe AM case because of the lack of status reporting but with the same support for segmentation up to 16000 Bytes. NASpacketpackets are encapsulated withinaan RRC (Radio Resource Control) TGPP36331 message. Dependingofon the data type indication signaled (IP or non-IP data), the network allocates an IP address orjust establishestablishes a direct forwarding path. DoNAS is regulated under rate control upon previous agreement, meaning that a maximum number of bits per unit of time is agreed upon per device subscription beforehand and configured in the device. The use of DoNAS is typically expected when a terminal in apower savingpower-saving state requiresto doa short transmission andreceivereceiving an acknowledgment or short feedback from the network. Dependingofon the size of buffered data to transmit, the UE might be instructed to deploy the connected mode transmissions instead, limiting and controlling the DoNAS transmissions to predefined thresholds and a good resource optimization balance for the terminalandthe network. The support for mobility of DoNAS is present but produces additional overhead. +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ | | | | | | +-----------------+ | UE | | C-BS | | C-SGN | |Roaming Scenarios| +----|---+ +--------+ +--------+ | +--------+ | | | | | | | | +----------------|------------|+ | | P-GW | | | Attach | | +--------+ | +------------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | +------|------------|--------+ | | | | |RRC Connection Establishment| | | | | |with NAS PDU transmission | | | | | |& Ack Rsp | | | | | +----------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | |Initial UE | | | | | |message | | | | | |----------->| | | | | | | | | | | | +---------------------+| | | | | |Checks Integrity || | | | | |protection, decrypts || | | | | |data || | | | | +---------------------+| | | | | | Small data packet | | | |-------------------------------> | | | Small data packet | | | |<------------------------------- | | +----------|---------+ | | | | | Integrity protection,| | | | | | encrypts data | | | | | | +--------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | |Downlink NAS| | | | | |message | | | | | |<-----------| | | | +-----------------------+ | | | | |Small Data Delivery, | | | | | |RRC connection release | | | | | +-----------------------+ | | | | | | | | +-----------------+ Figure7:6: DoNAS transmission sequence from an Uplink initiated access +---+ +---+ +---+ +----+ Application |AP1| |AP1| |AP2| |AP2 | (IP/non-IP) |PDU| |PDU| |PDU| ............... |PDU | +---+ +---+ +---+ +----+ | |/ / | \ | | NAS /RRC +--------+---|---+----+ +---------+ |NAS/|AP1|AP1|AP2|NAS/| |NAS/|AP2 | |RRC |PDU|PDU|PDU|RRC | |RRC |PDU | +--------+-|-+---+----+ +---------| | |\ | | | |<--Max. 1600 bytes-->|__ |_ | | | \__ \___ \_ \_ | | \ \ \__ \_ +---------------|+-----|----------+ \ \ RLC |RLC | NAS/RRC ||RLC | NAS/RRC | +----|-------+ |Head| PDU(1/2)||Head | PDU (2/2)| |RLC |NAS/RRC| +---------------++----------------+ |Head|PDU | | | | \ | +------------+ | | LCID1 | \ | | / | | | \ \ | | | | | \ \ | | | | | \ \ \ | +----+----+----------++-----|----+---------++----+---------|---+ MAC |MAC |RLC | RLC ||MAC |RLC | RLC ||MAC | RLC |Pad| |Head|Head| PAYLOAD ||Head |Head| PAYLOAD ||Head| PDU | | +----+----+----------++-----+----+---------++----+---------+---+ TB1 TB2 TB3 Figure8:7: Example of User Plane packet encapsulation for Data over NAS 11. Normative References [RFC5795] Sandlund, K., Pelletier, G., and L-E. Jonsson, "The RObust Header Compression (ROHC) Framework", RFC 5795, DOI 10.17487/RFC5795, March 2010, <https://www.rfc- editor.org/info/rfc5795>. [RFC8376] Farrell, S., Ed., "Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Overview", RFC 8376, DOI 10.17487/RFC8376, May 2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8376>. [RFC8724] Minaburo, A., Toutain, L., Gomez, C., Barthel, D., and JC. Zuniga, "SCHC: Generic Framework for Static Context Header Compression and Fragmentation", RFC 8724, DOI 10.17487/RFC8724, April 2020, <https://www.rfc- editor.org/info/rfc8724>. Authors' Addresses Edgar Ramos Ericsson Hirsalantie 11 02420 Jorvas, Kirkkonummi Finland Email: edgar.ramos@ericsson.com Ana Minaburo Acklio 1137A Avenue des Champs Blancs 35510 Cesson-Sevigne Cedex France Email: ana@ackl.io