DIAMETER

Diameter

Radius

Transportation Protocol

Connection-Oriented Protocols (TCP and SCTP)

Connectionless Protocol (UDP)

Agent Support

Relay, Proxy, Redirect, Translation

Implicit support.

Security

Hop-to-Hop, End-to-End

Hop-to-Hop only

Capabilities Negotiation

Negotiate supported applications and security level

(CER/CEA)

Doesn't support

Peer Discovery

Static configuration and dynamic lookup

Static configuration

Default Port

3868

1812 (Authentication), 1813

(accounting)

Server Initiated Message

Supported. for example, re-authentication Message,

Session termination

Doesn't support

RADIUS has some limitations: Its CHAP authentication is subject to dictionary attacks,and it protects
clear-text passwords (PAP) only on a hop-by-hop basis. The EAP support in RADIUS is not described in
the generic RFC, but in RFC 2869 "RADIUS Extensions".
Diameter base protocol offers support for NAIs, while the NASREQ application (see Sec. 1)for CHAP, EAP
and PAP.
The Gx Interface
application implements the following procedures:

On the PGW/GGSN PCEF:

Initiate an initial Credit Control Request (CCR-I) for an idle transaction

Initiate a Credit Control Update Request (CCR-U) for an active transaction

Initiate a Credit Control Terminate Request (CCR-T)for an active transaction

Initiate Event Triggers (for a complete list, click here);

Initiate Indication of IP Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) Service Establishment;

Initiate Indication of IP-CAN Service Modification;

Initiate Indication of IP-CAN Service Termination.

On the PCRF:
Initiate an Abort Session;

Initiate an Reauthorization Request (RAR);

Initiate a Termination request from an active transaction;

Initiate a rule install for an active transaction;

Initiate a rule remove for an active transaction;

Initiate an Application Detection and Control (ADC) rule install for an active transaction;

Initiate an ADC rule remove for an active transaction;

Initiate an event to update Quality of Service (QoS) Information.

During Initial Attach procedure, PGW check for the APN/Charging Characterstics received in Create session request for whether
dynamic Policy(configured in PCRF) or Static policy(configured on PGW) should be applied. Depending upon the configuration,
PGW forwards the request to PCRF for providing PCC Rule for the UE attach request

Rule name - This is to be used to reference a PCC rule in communication between PCEF and the PCRF .
Service data flow filters - shall be used to select the type of traffic that passes through the bearer on which the rule applies.
precedence : Determines the precedence of the bearer on which the rule is applied when data is received uplink or downlink
for a particular type UDP/TCP etc.
QoS parameters - Includes QoS Class Identifier (QCI), also the Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP) and GBR,MBR for uplink
and downlik.
Charging type - Defines whether online,offline or both or none charging is applied.
Call Flow
1) PGW sends CCR(Init) to PCRF to get the PCC Rule from PCRF.

PCRF has primarily two entities. PDT (Policy Derivation table) and PCT (Policy and Configuration table).

In PCT (Policy and Configuration table), PCRF has number of PCC Rules configured.

In PDT ((Policy Derivation table), PCRF has the selection criteria based upon which PCRF sends the
selected PCC Rules in
2) CCA.

Selection criteria- Can be IMSI,APN name, QCI, MBR/GBR etc. means if CCR request contains
value of IMSI or QCI and so then particular PDT is applied.

the given

For Example: In CCR (Init), PCRF receive IMSI 122334455667001. Based upon this IMSI, PCRF has PDT
configured in which PCRF applies two PCC Rules let suppose PCC1 and PCC
Upon getting successfull PDT matched PCRF sends successfull CCA (Init) to PGW.

3) Now, upon getting of successfull CCA (Init) PGW sends CCR (Update) to confirm the PCRF that the Rule is applied
successfully on the particular bearer (in this case default bearer) and also inform the ip address of the UE.Then
PCRF acknowlege with CCA(Update) success.
4) Now PGW has already applied the Rule(Qos,filters,MBR,GBR etc) received from PCRF to the requested bearer, it
sends Create Session Response to SGW and then the Default session created successfully.

Similar Procedure follows for dedicated bearer also.

In dedicated bearer creation/updation/deletion, PGW sends CCR Update to PCRF.PCRF
acknowledge the request with CCA Update
Note: CCR (Init) send by PGW only once for a UE session i.e on default bearer creation

The Rx application
IMS/AS and PCRF

Initial provisioning of session information

Modification of session information

AF session termination

Subscription to notification of signalling path status

IP-CAN session termination

Service data flow deactivation

IP-CAN type change notification

Access network charging information notification

The call is initiated from a UE, and arrives at the PCEF. It is forwarded on a CCR Initial to the PCRF using Gx.

The PCRF probes the Subscriber Store for relevant data and then returns the CCA initial with the default rules to the PCEF
over Gx.

The PCEF enforces the default rules, activating content for the UE. At this point the subscriber starts consuming
resources.

The application function/CSCF sends an AAR message to the PCRF using Rx, which updates the PCRF with
application/media information and then the PCRF returns an RAR message to the PCEF.

At this point the PCEF enforces the updated rules. The PCEF returns an RAA message over Gx to the PCRF, and then the
PCEF sends as many CCR -update messages to the PCRF as necessary.

The PCRF returns CCA - update messages in return. For each CCA message events and resource consumption are
reported, and the rules are updated.

After the call the application function/CSCF sends an STR message to the PCRF using Rx, and the PCRF returns an STA
message.

The PCEF sends a CCR - termination message to the PCRF, and the PCRF returns a CCA - termination message to
disconnect the session. Finally the PCEF sends a deactivate context message to the UE.

QoS
QoS to manage
Bandwidth
packet loss and
latency/jitter..
A bearer has two or four QoS parameters, depending on whether it is a real-time or besteffort
service:
QoS Class Indicator (QCI)
Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP)
Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) real-time services only
Maximum Bit Rate (MBR) real-time services only

LTE Call flow(Non PCRF)

Generic terms

UE and HSS parameters before attach

CS fall back Vs SRVCC

CSFB (Circuit Switched Fallback) is a mechanism where your LTE network moves you to a Legacy network which supports voice call. In case of
CSFB, your voice call is never active in LTE. When a voice call needs to be started, the UE initiates ESR(Extended Service Request) and the
network moves it to a legacy network through redirection/handover or CCO. The UE then initiates the call control procedures in legacy.
Whereas SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call continuity) is a process where your active voice call in LTE (may be VOIP), is handed over to the CS
domain of the legacy network (MSC), where IMS use STN-SR number (session transfer number) through IMS SCC AS (service call continuity AS).
This is useful when you are in an LTE coverage area and have an active voice call over IMS and you move out of the LTE area into a Legacy only
network coverage. Instead of the call getting dropped, the same will be handed over to the CS Legacy network if SRVCC is supported.

Default Bearer And Dedicated Bearer

Bearer is just a virtual concept. It defines how the UE data is treated when it travels across the network. Network might treat some data in a
special way and treat others normally. Some flow of data might be provided guaranteed bit rate while other may face low transfer. In short,
bearer is a set of network parameter that defines data specific treatment e.g. Person A will always get at least 256 Kbps download speed
on his LTE phone while for person B there is no guaranteed bit rate and might face extremely bad download speed at times
Now let me talk briefly about Dedicated and Default bearer one by one.

Default Bearer in LTE

When LTE UE attaches to the network for the first time, it will be assigned default bearer which remains as long as UE is attached. Default
bearer is best effort service. Each default bearer comes with an IP address. UE can have additional default bearers as well. Each default
bearer will have a separate IP address. QCI 5 to 9 (Non- GBR) can be assigned to default bearer.

Dedicated Bearer
To put it simple, dedicated bearers provides dedicated tunnel to one or more specific traffic (i.e. VoIP, video etc). Dedicated bearer acts as
an additional bearer on top of default bearer. It does not require separate IP address due to the fact that only additional default bearer
needs an IP address and therefore dedicated bearer is always linked to one of the default bearer established previously. Dedicated bearer
can be GBR or non-GBR (whereas default bearer can only be non-GBR). For services like VoLTE we need to provide better user
experience and this is where Dedicated bearer would come handy. Dedicated bearer uses Traffic flow templates (TFT) to give special
treatment to specific services

Example
Usually LTE networks with VoLTE implementations has two default and one dedicated bearer
Default bearer 1: Used for signaling messages (sip signaling) related to IMS network. It uses qci 5
Dedicated bearer: Used for VoLTE VoIP traffic. It uses qci 1 and is linked to default bearer 1
Default bearer 2: Used for all other smartphone traffic (video, chat, email, browser etc)
Why dont we use dedicated bearer for ims signaling as well ?
IMS network is separate network from normal internet. And it comes with its own APN. Therefore we need separate default bearer for IMS
network. This also helps in separating IMS traffic from normal internet traffic as well

How it is decided to send voip traffic (for example) on dedicated bearer?

Both UE and eNB has TFT which has rules for certain services. For example, incase of VoLTE voip traffic, the rule are defined on the basis
of protocol number , destination network ip network etc
How is dedicated bearer linked to default bearer?
The value of "Linked EPS bearer identity" defined in setup info of dedicated bearer is used to link dedicated bearer to default bearer
Please also visit Quality of Service (QoS) in LTE to get more better understanding on bearers and QoS