DIAMETER base protocol and its Applications in 4G Network

Course outline : DIAMETER is an AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) protocol. It enables service providers to authenticate users, to authorize their access to services and to collect information on resource usage. DIAMETER is the protocol used by 3GPP for its LTE/ePC (Long Term Evolution of 3G/ Evolved Packet Core) and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) architectures. It enables the authentication, the authorization and the charging (online and offline charging) of LTE and IMS users. The goal of this course is to present the DIAMETER base protocol (DIAMETER nodes, DIAMETER messages, DIAMETER transport and routing capabilities, DIAMETER security) and the DIAMETER applications/interfaces related to LTE and IMS, particularly those related to mobility management in 4G and WiFi connected to ePC, namely S6a, SWx, SWm, S6b, those related to Policy and Charging Control (PCC), namely, Gx, Gy, Gz, Sy, etc, and those related to VoLTE namely Rx, Cx, Sh. Finally, the course presents SCTP protocol, its features and functions.

1. EPS (LTE + EPC) Architecture and role of DIAMETER in this architecture
1.1. LTE and EPC entities
1.1.1. eNodeB
1.1.2. MME/Serving GW/PDN GW
1.1.3. PCC entities
1.1.4. HSS/UDR and EIR
1.1.5. Telephony services with CS Fallback and VoLTE (IMS)
1.2. LTE and EPC interfaces
1.3. 3GPP and non-3GPP (e.g., WiFi) accesses to ePC
1.4. DIAMETER based signaling architecture
1.5. Roaming with DIAMETER International Broker/Hub
1.6. Attachment to EPS and bearer establishment

2. DIAMETER base protocol
2.1. DIAMETER versus RADIUS
2.2. Types of DIAMETER Nodes
2.2.1. Client
2.2.2. Server
2.2.3. Relay agent
2.2.4. Proxy agent
2.2.5. Redirect agent
2.2.6. Translation agent
2.3. DIAMETER commands and parameters
2.3.1. DIAMETER command format
2.3.2. DIAMETER Command codes (Message Type)
2.3.3. AVP format (Attribute-Value Pair)
2.4. DIAMETER Transport and Routing
2.4.1. DIAMETER Transport Concepts
2.4.2. DIAMETER Routing Concepts : Routing Tables (Peer table and Realm-based routing table) and Routing function
2.5. DIAMETER base protocol
2.5.1. Authentication
2.5.2. Authorization
2.5.3. Accounting
2.5.4. Credit Control
2.6. DIAMETER capability negotiation
2.7. DIAMETER security requirements

3. DIAMETER interfaces in telecommunications architectures
3.1. DIAMETER in ePC when access is LTE
3.1.1. For mobility management : S6a, S13
3.1.2. For SMS : SGd, S6c
3.1.3. For PCC : Gx, Gy, Gz, Sy
3.2. DIAMETER in ePC when access is non-3GPP (e..g., WiFi)
3.2.1. For mobility management : SWx, SWm, S6b
3.3. DIAMETER for location based services : SLh, SLg
3.4. DIAMETER in MTC : S6m, S6t, T4, T6a, Tsp
3.5. DIAMETER in IMS (3GPP)
3.5.1. Mobility management : Cx, Sh
3.5.2. PCC : Rx, Ro, Rf

4. SCTP protocol and SCTP service
4.1. SCTP features
4.2. SCTP versus TCP
4.3. SCTP endpoints
4.4. SCTP association
4.5. SCTP streams
4.6. SCTP chunks
4.7. SCTP primitives
4.8. SCTP messages
4.9. Establishment and release of an SCTP association
4.10. SCTP data transfer and data acknowledgement
4.11. Release of an SCTP association
4.12. Abort of an SCTP association
4.13. SCTP traces to understand SCTP mode of operation

5. From DIAMETER to HTTP2 signaling