Glossary of Terms

1xEV-DO. See EV-DO.

1xEV-DV. The third phase of CDMA2000 following 1xEV-DO deployment. 1xEV-DV stands for 1x Evolution - Data Voice, and is characterized by a maximum data rate of 5.2 Mbps and the ability to support wireless Voice over IP (VoIP) services.

1xRTT. The first phase of CDMA2000, characterized by the ability to support a maximum data rate of 1.44 kbps. 1xRTT stands for 1x, denoting the one radio channel of 1.25 MHz in Radio Transmission Technology.

2G. The second generation of wireless technology that was characterized by its use of digital transmissions rather than analog methods. Radio bandwidth is used for data transmissions. Data transmissions are limited to a maximum rate of 1.44 kbps for CDMA 2G services. Radio bandwidth is consumed whenever the Mobile Node (MN) is connected to the Internet, regardless of whether it is receiving or transmitting data. This is based on the IS-95A standard for CDMA.

2.5G. An evolutionary step between 2G and 3G wireless services wherein two enhancements were introduced over 2G. The first is that the MN only consumes radio bandwidth when data is being transmitted or received. The second is that the maximum data rate increased to approximately 64 kbps. Most 2.5G services only support data rates between 1.15 kbps and 384 kbps. This is based on the IS-95B standard for CDMA.

3G. The third generation of wireless technology, wherein data services are packetized, with speeds up to 2 Mbps. Based on the CDMA2000 standards.

3GPP. Third Generation Partnership Project. A group of organizational partners from ETSI, TIA/EIA, and other standardization bodies who are working together to define the evolution of GSM-based wireless communication core networks.

3GPP2. Third Generation Partnership Project 2. A second group of organizational partners from ETSI, TIA/EIA, and other standardization bodies who are working together to define the evolution of CDMA-based wireless communication networks

4G. The fourth generation of wireless technology provides mobile ultra-broadband Internet access. Based on the ITUR-R International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT-Advanced) specification, 4G has a target peak speed requirement of 100 Mbps for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 Gbps for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users). A 4G system does not support traditional circuit-switched telephony service, only Internet Protocol (IP) based communication. See LTE.

A10. The subscriber data portion of the R-P interface (based on GRE as defined in RFC-2784 and IP Encapsulation Within IP as defined in RFC-2003). See R-P interface.

A11. The control portion of the R-P interface (based on Mobile IPv4 as defined in RFC-2002).

A11 Manager. A StarOS task that controls the signalling de-multiplexing tasks of the A11 interface used for wireless communications.

AA. Attribute Authority issues attribute certificates (ACs) to users. See AC, IPSec and X.509.

AA-A. Authentication/Authorization Answer.

AA-R. Authentication/Authorization Request.

AAA. Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting. The security and billing methodology used by operators to ensure a user's identity and to determine their network usage so that they are properly billed. Often interchanged with RADIUS and Diameter protocols.

AAA Manager. This is a StarOS task that performs all AAA protocol operations and functions for subscribers and context-level administrative users within the system.

AAL. ATM Adaptation Layer supports information transfer protocols that are not based on ATM. This adaptation layer defines how to segment and reassemble higher-layer packets into ATM cells, and how to handle various transmission aspects in the ATM layer.

AC. Attribute Certificate contains a sequence of data items and a digital signature that is computed from that sequence. The AC is the primary data structure used for PMI. An AC strongly binds a set of attributes to its holder that describe the holder’s access privileges. See AA, IPSec and X.509.

Acceptable Cell. This is a cell that the MS may camp on to make emergency calls. It must satisfy criteria which are defined for A/Gb mode in 3GPP TS 43.022 and for Iu mode in 3GPP TS 25.304.

Access Technology. The access technology associated with a PLMN. The MS uses this information to determine what type of radio carrier to search for when attempting to select a specific PLMN (for example, GSM, UTRAN, GSM COMPACT or EUTRAN). A PLMN may support more than one access technology.

ACL. Access Control List is a filtering mechanism used by many access IP routers that controls which traffic may be received or transmitted on an interface or port.

ACO. Alarm Cut Off is a toggle switch used to temporarily disable a central office alarm that occurs on a specific network device.

ACR. Accounting Request Message. See Diameter.

ACR. Active Charging Record.

ACS. Active Charging System is an in-line service feature that enables operators to reduce billing-related costs and gives the ability to offer tiered, detailed, and itemized billing to their subscribers. Also known as ECS.

ADC. Application Detection and Control is an in-line service that runs on the ASR 5x00 chassis and detects Peer-to-Peer (P2P) protocols via traffic analysis.

Address resolution. The process of determining the link-layer address of a node whose network-layer address is known.

ADMF. Administrative Function manages orders for interception. See CALEA.

AE. Application Entity. See LI.

AF. Access Function. See LI.

AF. Application Function is an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources. The AF is capable of communicating with the CRF to transfer dynamic charging rules related service information. One example of an AF is the P-CSCF of the IM CN subsystem. See PCC.

AFI. Address Family Identifier carries the identity of the Network Layer protocol associated with the Network Address that follows. See BGP and SAFI.

Agent advertisement. The procedure by which a mobility agent becomes known to the mobile node.

Agent discovery. The process by which a mobile node can obtain the IP address of a Home Agent or Foreign Agent, depending upon whether the mobile node is home or away from home. Agent discovery occurs when a mobile node receives an agent advertisement, either as a result of periodic broadcast or in response to a solicitation.

Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate. The maximum bit rate that limits the aggregate bit rate of a set of non-GBR bearers of a UE. The label (EUTRAN only) indicates this subclause or paragraph applies only if EUTRAN is used as current radio access network.

AGW. Access Gateway.

AH. Authentication Header is part of the IPSec specification. Other IPSec header mechanisms include Diffie-Hellman, DES, 3DES, and others.

AIN. The Advanced Intelligent Network is the variant of Intelligent Network (IN) developed for North America by Bellcore (now Telcordia).

AKA. Authentication and Key Agreement. This mechanism performs authentication and session key distribution in networks. AKA is a challenge- response based mechanism that uses symmetric cryptography. AKA is typically run in a Services Identity Module.

Allowable PLMN. For an MS operation mode A or B, this is a PLMN which is not in the list of “forbidden PLMNs” in the MS. For an MS operating in MS operation mode C, this is a PLMN which is not in the list of forbidden PLMNs or in the list of “forbidden PLMNs for GPRS service” in the MS.

Allowed CSG List. A list of CSG IDs stored in the UE. A UE is able to access only those CSG cells that have a CSG ID in this list.

API. Application Programming Interface is a protocol that enables software components to communicate with each other. An API is a library that may include specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables.

APN. Access Point Name is a logical name for a packet data network and/or a service to which the GGSN supports access.

APS. Automatic Protection Switching is a means of achieving network redundancy via automatic switching mechanisms that switch from a primary circuit to a pre-defined secondary circuit.

ARP. Address Resolution Protocol is a standard protocol for performing address resolution between IP addresses and various link-layer addresses.

ARQ. Automatic Repeat Request. A link layer may automatically retransmit packets that were not correctly received by the next hop link layer. This improves the robustness of the packet delivery, but comprises the latency and packet overhead.

AS. Application Server is a SIGTRAN term that describes an application which runs in an IPSP and is addressed using either a DPC/OPC or SIO/DPC/OPC (if using SCCP) and represents a Routing Key.

ASBR. Autonomous System Border Router. An Inter-AS network deployment can be configured so that the ASBRs exchange IPv4/IPv6 routes and MPLS labels.

ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation One is a standard and flexible notation that describes rules and structures for representing, encoding, transmitting, and decoding data in telecommunications and computer networking. The formal rules enable representation of objects that are independent of machine-specific encoding techniques. See OID.

ASN-GW. Access Service Network Gateway processes subscriber control and bearer data traffic, and supports connection and mobility management across cell sites and inter-service provider network boundaries. An ASN-GW is a logical entity in the ASN of a WiMAX radio access network and interfaces directly with base transceiver station or base station via an R6 GRE reference interface. ASN-GW performs control plane functions, bearer plane routing or bridging functions, resident functions in the connectivity service network, or a function in another ASN.

ASP. Application Server Process (SS7).

ASR 5000. Cisco Aggregation Services Router 5000.

ASR 5500. Cisco Aggregation Services Router 5500.

AT. Access Terminal.

ATM. Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a connection-oriented data link layer protocol used in cell relay/packet switched networks.

Authorization Token. The authorization token consists of the AF session identifier as well as the PDF identifier. The AF session identifier is assigned by the P-CSCF on successful IMS session establishment. The authorization token is sent to the UE by P-CSCF as part of the session establishment. The UE passes the authorization token in the binding information to the AGW. AGW uses the authorization token to get the PDF to be communicated for policy authorization and the session identifier is used for the authorization request to indicate the session to which authorization event belongs.

Automatic Home Agent discovery. The process by which a mobile node can obtain the IP address of an HA on its home network, involving the transmission of a registration request to the subnet broadcast address of its home network.

AVP. Attribute -Value Pair corresponds to an Information Element in an AAA message.

BBERF. Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function. See HSGW or S-GW.

BBU. Baseband Unit. See eNodeB.

BCE. Binding Cache Entry. See PBU.

BCF. Board Control Firmware (ASR 5500).

BE. Best Effort.

BFD. Bidirectional Forwarding Detection is a network protocol used to detect faults between two forwarding engines connected by a link. BFD establishes a session between two endpoints over a particular link. If more than one link exists between two systems, multiple BFD sessions may be established to monitor each one of them.

BGP. Border Gateway Protocol is a routing protocol used for interdomain routing within large networks to maintain integrity of the network. It allows the routers to exchange only pre-specified information with pre-specified routers in other domains.

BHSA. Busy Hour Session Attempts. A measure of dynamic sessions (traffic calls) that can be attempted in an average Busy Hour.

BHSC. Busy Hour Session Completion. A measure of dynamic sessions (traffic calls) that can be completed in an average Busy Hour.

Binding. The triplet of numbers that contains the mobile node's home address, its care-of address, and the registration lifetime-how long the mobility agents may use the binding. Binding within StarOS creates the association of a virtual interface to a physical port on the system. This process allows the flow of traffic from the context through the physical port with which the interface is associated.

Binding Information. The binding information associates a PDP context to the IP flows of a media. The binding information is generated by the P-CSCF and sent to UE during the IMS session establishment. The system receives the binding information from the UE during PDP context activation or modification. The binding information consists of a single authorization token and one or more flow identifiers for the IMS session. See IMS and SCM.

Binding Mechanism. This mechanism is used to associate a PDP context bearer with the IP flow(s) of an IMS session in the PDF.

Binding update. The message that supplies a new binding to an entity that needs to know the new care-of address for a mobile node. The binding update contains the mobile node's home address, new care-of address, and a new registration lifetime.

BIOS. Basic Input/Output System is the first software run by a CPU when powered on. The BIOS initializes and tests the system hardware components, and loads an operating system or other programs from a mass memory device.

BISUP. Broadband ISDN User Part encompasses call set-up procedures for Broadband networks to deliver services such as HDTV, video-conferencing. (SS7)

BITS. Building Integrated Timing Supply is a method for distributing a precision clock among telecommunications equipment. The physical medium is a T1/E1 (DS1) line.

Blacklisting. Refers to the disabling of the use of a mobile device based on its IMEI appearing in an database of blacklisted handsets. See EIR.

BLOB. BLock Of Bits.

BRA. Binding Revocation Acknowledgement.

BRI. Binding Revocation Indication.

BS. Base Station is an entity in the public radio telecommunications system used for bidirectional radio communications with mobile stations or mobile nodes.

BSC. Base Station Controller is a significant device within the 2G/2.5G RAN, the BSC allocates channels and manages BTS handoff. In 2G wireless, the BSC's upstream interfaces (to the MSC) are always TDM. In 2.5G, a BSC supports both TDM and packet upstream interfaces. In 3G, a BSC can support any combination of TDM and packet, TDM only, or packet only interfaces.

BSCS. Business Support and Control System. See OSS.

BSS. Base Station Subsystem is the 2G/2.5G Radio Access Network (RAN) technology responsible for connecting the mobile User Equipment (UE) with the Core Network (CN) in a GPRS/UMTS wireless network. The BSS incorporates the BTS, the BSC, and the PCU.

BSS. Business Support System consists of components that a service provider uses to run its business operations towards the customer. See OSS.

BSSMAP. Base Station System Mobile Application Part encompasses the procedures used from the Mobile Switching Center (MSC) to the Base Station Controller (BSC) in GSM networks.

BTS. Base Transceiver Station is a component of the base station that includes the transmitting and receiving radio equipment. A BTS is sometimes equated with the physical cell site of a wireless network.

Busy Hour. An uninterrupted 60-minute period during which the average volume of traffic is at its maximum.

CA. Certificate Authority or Certification Authority is an entity that issues digital certificates. The digital certificate certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate. This allows others to rely upon signatures or assertions made by the private key that corresponds to the public key that is certified. A CA is a trusted third party that is trusted by both the owner of the certificate and the party relying upon the certificate. CAs are characteristic of many PKI schemes. See IPSec and PKC.

CAC. Call Admission Control is used in VoIP call set-up phase and applies to real-time media traffic as opposed to data traffic. CAC mechanisms complement and are distinct from the capabilities of QoS tools to protect voice traffic from the negative effects of other voice traffic and to keep excess voice traffic off the network.

Cached EPS security context. This is a cached security context used in ECS.

CAE. Content Adaptation Engine is an optional component of the Cisco Mobile Video Solution. It runs on the Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System) platform and functions in a UCS cluster to bring video storage and additional video optimization capabilities to the Mobile Video Solution.

CAF. Control and Availability FPGA firmware (ASR 5500). See FPGA.

CALEA. Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act is a United States wiretapping law (Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279, codified at 47 USC 1001-1010). CALEA's purpose is to enhance the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to conduct electronic surveillance by requiring that telecommunications carriers and manufacturers of telecommunications equipment modify and design their equipment, facilities, and services to ensure that they have built-in surveillance capabilities, allowing federal agencies to monitor all telephone, broadband internet, and VoIP traffic in real-time. See LI.

Call Control. This is the generic term used to describe messages which are concerned with establishing (call set-up) or terminating (call tear-down) a connection on a Circuit Switched Network (CSN).

CAMEL. Customized Applications for Mobile networks Enhanced Logic. CAMEL service enables operators of 2.5G/3G networks to provide operator-specific services (such as prepaid GPRS service and prepaid SMS service) to subscribers, even when the subscribers are roaming outside their home public land mobile network (HPLMN). See Ge interface.

Camped on a cell. The MS (ME if there is no SIM) has completed the cell selection/reselection process and has chosen a cell from which it plans to receive all available services. Note that the services may be limited, and that the PLMN may not be aware of the existence of the MS (ME) within the chosen cell.

CAP. CAMEL Application Part is a signalling protocol used in the Intelligent Network (IN) architecture. It is a Remote Operations Service Element (ROSE) user protocol that is layered on top of TCAP in the SS7 protocol suite. CAP is based on a subset of the ETSI Core and allows for the implementation of carrier-grade, value added services such as unified messaging, prepaid and fraud control in both the GSM voice and GPRS data networks.

Care-of address. An IP address at the mobile node's current point of attachment to the Internet, when the mobile node is not attached to the home network. A collocated care-of address is a care-of address assigned to one of the mobile node's network interfaces, instead of one being offered by a foreign agent.

CBC. A Cell Broadcast Center (located at the operator side) is a node that is a source of CBS and connected to RNC in UMTS networks via a standardized interface over TCP/IP protocol.

CBS. Cell Broadcasting Service is a mobile technology that allows a text or binary message to be distributed to all mobile equipment and similar devices connected to a set of cells or within a designated geographical area. Cell broadcast messages are destined to radio cells rather than a specific or a few mobile terminals.

CC. Contents of Communication. See LI.

CCA. CC-Answer. See AVP and Diameter.

CCC. Call Content Channel. See CALEA.

CCP. Compression Configuration Protocol.

CCR. CC-Request. See AVP and Diameter.

CDETS. Cisco Defect and Enhancement Tracking System is an internal corporate database for tracking bug fixes and feature requests in all Cisco products.

CDF. Charging Data Function addresses are used for offline billing and Online Charging Function (OCF) for online billing. See GTP’.

CDMA. Code Division Multiple Access is one of three wireless technology classes that encompasses 2G, 2.5G, and 3G communications. The other two are GSM and TDMA.

cdmaOne. Defines the 2G and 2.5G versions of CDMA technology. Based on IS-95A and IS-95B standards respectively.

CDMA2000. Defines the 3G version of CDMA technology.

CDP. CRL Distribution Point is a PKC extension that identifies the location from which end entities should retrieve CRLs to check status information. See CA, CRL and IPSec.

CDR. Charging Data Record (also known as call detail record) is a GTPP-based subscriber accounting record that consists of formatted information that includes event-based billing information such as call duration. Different systems generate different types of CDRs. The types, content and handling of CDRs is defined in various 3GPP specs within the TS 32.2xx series,

CE. Customer Edge router is an MPLS VPN router that provides customer peering service. See PE.

Cell. The unit of a base station having the ability to radiate in a given geographic area; a “sector” or “face” of a physical radio equipment implementation.

CEPS. Call Events per Second.

CEPT. European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations is the coordinating body for European state telecommunications and postal organizations.

CF. Collection Function. See LI.

CF. Content Filtering is an in-line service available for 3GPP and 3GPP2 networks to filter HTTP and WAP requests from mobile subscribers based on the URLs in the requests. This enables operators to filter and control the content that an individual subscriber can access, so that subscribers are inadvertently not exposed to universally unacceptable content and/or content inappropriate as per the subscribers’ preferences. CF runs on an external server under Linux OS (RHEL).

CFE. Common Firmware Environment refers the control processor-based firmware running on hardware components within the ASR 5x00.

CG. Charging Gateway is the device on the GSM GPRS or UMTS network that collects and maintains Call Detail Records (CDRs) for subscriber PDP contexts. Also referred to as a Charging Gateway Function (CGF). See Ga interface.

CGF. Charging Gateway Function. See CG

CGI. Common Gateway Interface is a standard (see RFC 3875: CGI Version 1.1) method for web server software to delegate the generation of web content to executable files. Such files are known as CGI scripts; they are programs, often stand-alone applications, usually written in a scripting language.

Charging Rule. A set of information including the service data flow filters (IP 5-tuple), the gating status (pass/drop packets matching the rule) and the rating group, for a single service data flow. For an IMS media component a charging rule typically defines a single IP flow associated to a media component (for example, RTP or RTCP).

CIF FPGA. Chassis Information FPGA firmware (ASR 5000). See FPGA.

CLC2. Channelized Line Card (OC-3/STM-1, Frame Relay, ASR 5000). The CLC2 provides frame relay over SONET or SDH. It supports network connectivity through a gigabit interface to connect to the Packet Control Unit (PCU) of the base station subsystem (BSS) in a mobile network. These interfaces are commonly used with the SGSN product to support frame relay. Each CLC2 provides four optical fiber physical interfaces (ports).

CLCI Client. Common Language Circuit Identification DCCA client located in a GGSN.

CLCI Server. Common Language Circuit Identification DCCA server typically located in the Online Charging System.

CLEI code. Common Language Equipment Identifier code is an industry standard, globally unique identifier for telecommunications equipment with a uniform feature-oriented classification.

CLI. Command Line Interface is a Man-machine Interface (MMI) used to configure, monitor, and administer a network device through its Operating System (OS). See StarOS.

CMIP. Client Mobile IP is an MIP stack that allows mobile devices to interact with Mobility Agents in the home and foreign network. CMIP is the opposite of PMIP.

CMISE. Common Management Information Service is the service interface specified in ITU-T Recommendation X.710, ISO/IEC International Standard 9595 that is employed by OSI network elements for network management. It defines the service interface that is implemented by the Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) as specified in ITU-T Recommendation X.711, ISO/IEC International Standard 9596-1. See SNMP.

CMP. Certificate Management Protocol is a PKI management protocol that enables CAs to collect information for issuing and revoking certificates (RFC 2510). See CA, CRL, IPsec and PKI.

CN. Core Network.

CO. Central Office. The telecommunications facility where calls are switched.

CompactFlash. This is the type of memory card used internally and externally on the ASR 5000 System Management Card. See SMC.

Context. A specific group of StarOS configuration parameters that apply to the ports, interfaces, protocols, and services supported by a system. Each system can support multiple contexts and each context can reside as a separate, logically independent instance. Multiple context support allows numerous like or disparate services to exist on the same physical hardware.

CORBA. Common Object Request Broker Architecture is the Object Management Group's (MAG’s) core specification for distributed object interoperability. CORBA enables separate pieces of software written in different languages and running on different computers to work with each other like a single application or set of services. More specifically, CORBA is a mechanism in software for normalizing the method-call semantics between application objects residing either in the same address space (application) or remote address space (same host, or remote host on a network). See WEM.

Correspondent node. A node that sends or receives a packet to an MN; the correspondent node may be another mobile node or a non-mobile Internet node.

CP. Control Processor, a high-speed state-of-the-art CPU used by the system.

CPE. Customer Premises Equipment is any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication channel(s) at the demarcation point (demarc). The demarc is a point established in a building or complex to separate customer equipment from the equipment located in either the distribution infrastructure or central office of the Communications Service Provider.

CRF. Charging Rule Function. See PCRF.

CRL. Certificate Revocation List is periodically issued by a CA and contains the serial number of all digital certificates that are revoked. See CA and IPSec.

CS. Circuit Switched is a methodology of implementing a telecommunications network in which two network nodes establish a dedicated communications channel (circuit) through the network before the nodes may communicate. The circuit guarantees the full bandwidth of the channel and remains connected for the duration of the communication session. The circuit functions as if the nodes were physically connected as with an electrical circuit.

CSCF. Call Session Control Function consists of a collection of SIP servers or proxies that are used to process SIP signalling packets in IMS. See E-CSCF and P-CSCF.

CSFB. Circuit Switched Fallback. In MME deployments CSFB enables the UE to camp on an EUTRAN cell and originate or terminate voice calls through a forced switchover to the circuit switched (CS) domain or other CS-domain services.

CSG. Closed Subscriber Group identifies subscribers of an operator who are permitted to access one or more cells of the PLMN but which have restricted access (CSG cells).

CSG Cell. A CSG cell identifies a specific CSG that is accessible by the members of the closed subscriber group for that CSG. All CSG cells sharing the same CSG identity use the same radio access technology.

CSG ID. A CSG ID is an identifier associated with a cell or group of cells with access restricted to a defined group of users.

CSG2. Content Services Gateway - 2nd Generation provides intelligent network capabilities such as flexible policy management and charging, deep packet inspection, and subscriber and application awareness capabilities for mobile operators. It runs on the SAMI in a Cisco 7600 Series router.

CSN. Circuit Switched Network.

CSP. Card Slot Port is a StarOS subsystem that manages all cards, slots, and physical ports installed in a system.

CTF. Charging Trigger Function receives charging events from the CTF via the Rf reference point. It then uses the information contained in the charging events to construct CDRs. See OFCS.

Current EPS security context. the EPS security context which has been taken into use by the network most recently.

Current serving cell. This is the cell on which the MS is camped.

Data Radio Bearer. Data Radio Bearer transports the packets of an E-RAB between a UE and an eNodeB. There is an one-to-one mapping between the E-RAB and the Data Radio Bearer.

DCCA. Diameter Credit Control Application is a networking protocol for implementing real-time credit-control for a variety of end user services (IETF RFC 4006).

Dedicated Bearer. An EPS bearer that is associated with uplink packet filters in the UE and downlink packet filters in the P-GW where the filters only match certain packets.

Dedicated PDP Context. A PDP context with associated TFT filters, this may be a secondary or a primary PDP context (updated after its activation). There can be several such PDP contexts for a UE IP address.

Default APN. A Default APN is defined as the APN which is marked as default in the subscription data and used during the Attach procedure for PDN connection.

Default Bearer. The EPS bearer which is first established for a new PDN connection and remains established throughout the lifetime of the PDN connection.

DER. Distinguished Encoding Rules produce unequivocal transfer syntax for data structures described by ASN.1. DER ensures that a data structure that needs to be digitally signed produces a unique serialized representation. It is widely used for digital certificates such as X.509. See CA, IPSec and SA.

Destination Context. The virtual context, or location, where a particular service configuration resides that mobile subscriber is directed to upon successful authentication through the system.

DF. Delivery Function. See LI.

DHCP. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a protocol by which a host obtains from a server certain information it needs to communicate, such as an IP address, prefix length, and Domain Name System (DNS) server address.

Diameter. A second-generation AAA protocol. Diameter Applications extend the base protocol by adding new commands and/or attributes, such as those for use of EAP.

DiffServ. See DSCP Marking.

DIMM. Dual In-line Memory Module.

DL. Downlink is the transmission path from a cell site to the cell phone. See UL.

DNS. Domain Naming System. A system within the network that maps host-names into IP addresses.

DoS. Denial-of-Service is an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. A DoS attack generally consists of the efforts of one or more people to temporarily or indefinitely interrupt or suspend services of a host connected to the Internet.

DPC. Destination Point Code (DPC) is carried in the Routing Label and indicates the Point Code to which the messages is addressed. It is used by MTP3 to address SS7 MSUs.

DPC. Data Processing Card (ASR 5500). DPCs manage subscriber sessions and control traffic.

DPCA. Diameter Policy Control Application. See PCRF.

DPD. Dead Peer Detection, also known as Keepalive, is a timer that starts after the last IKE_AUTH message is sent to the MS and resets when traffic is received from the MS. If no valid messages are received when the timer expires the session is disconnected.

DPI. Deep Packet Inspection is a form of computer network packet filtering that examines data within a packet as it passes an inspection point. DPI searches for protocol non-compliance (viruses, spam, intrusions) or defined criteria to decide whether: (a) the packet may pass or if it needs to be routed to a different destination; (b) to collect statistical information.

DSCP Marking. DiffServ Code Point (IP Differentiated Services). DiffServ is a computer networking architecture that specifies a simple, scalable and coarse-grained mechanism for classifying and managing network traffic and providing quality of service (QoS) on modern IP networks. DiffServ uses the 6-bit Differentiated Services Field (DS field) in the IP header for packet classification purposes. The DS field and ECN field replace the outdated IPv4 TOS field.

DT-FPGA. Data Transport FPGA firmware (ASR 5000). See FPGA.

Dynamic Charging Rule. Charging rule where some or all of the data within the charging rule (example, service data flow filter information) is assigned via real-time analysis using for example dynamic application derived criteria. An example of a dynamic charging rule is a rule determined by the E-PDF by means of real-time SDP derived information analysis.

E1. An ITU-T compliant E1 link operates at a line data rate of 2.048 Mbps, full duplex, which is split into 32 timeslots of 8 bits. Time slot 0 is devoted to transmission management and time slot 16 for signaling; the rest are available for voice/data transport. See T1.

E-CSCF. Emergency-Call Session Control Function handles certain aspects of emergency sessions, for example, routing of emergency requests to the correct emergency center or Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). See IMS.

E-PDF. Enhanced Policy Decision Function. See PCRF.

E-RAB. Evolved Radio Access Bearer uniquely identifies the concatenation of an S1 Bearer and the corresponding Data Radio Bearer. When an E-RAB exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this E-RAB and an EPS bearer of the Non Access Stratum.

E-RAB identity. Uniquely identifies an E-RAB for one UE. Note. The E-RAB identity remains unique for the UE even if the UE-associated logical S1-connection is released during periods of user inactivity.

eAN/ePCF. Evolved Access Network/Evolved Packet Control Function.

EAP. Extensible Authentication Protocol is an authentication protocol which provides an infrastructure that enables clients to authenticate with a central authentication server.

EAP-AKA. An extension to the EAP enabling authentication and session key distribution using the UMTS AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement) mechanism.

ECM. EPS Connection Management.

ECMP. Equal Cost Multiple Path routing distributes traffic across multiple routes that have the same cost to lessen the burden on any one route.

ECN. Explicit Congestion Notification is an extension to the Internet Protocol and to TCP (RFC 3168). ECN allows end-to-end notification of network congestion without dropping packets. ECN is an optional feature that is only used when both endpoints support it and are willing to use it.

ECS. Enhanced Charging Services (also known as Active Charging Service [ACS]). This is an in-line service feature that enables operators to reduce billing-related costs and offer tiered, detailed, and itemized billing to their subscribers. Using shallow and deep packet inspection (DPI), ECS allows operators to charge subscribers based on actual usage, number of bytes, premium services, location, and so on. ECS also generates CDRs for postpaid and prepaid billing systems.

EDGE. Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution is a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM.

EDR. Event Data Records are generated by the ECS and sent to an external billing system. An EDR contains information about different flow types (HTTP, SMTP, MMS) and are used for content billing purposes. EDR content is configurable by an operator.

EHPLMN. Equivalent Home PLMN. Any of the PLMN entries contained in the Equivalent HPLMN list. To allow provision for multiple HPLMN codes, PLMN codes that are present within this list shall replace the HPLMN code derived from the IMSI for PLMN selection purposes. This list is stored on the USIM and is known as the EHPLMN list. The EHPLMN list may also contain the HPLMN code derived from the IMSI. If the HPLMN code derived from the IMSI is not present in the EHPLMN list then it shall be treated as a Visited PLMN for PLMN selection purposes.

eHRPD. Evolved High Rate Packet Data (3GPP2).

EIR. Equipment Identity Register is a security database that enables network operators to track mobile phones in a wireless network and to disable stolen equipment. See IMEI and S13 interface.

EMACS. This is a standard UNIX text editor that employs macros to manipulate command lines in the CLI.

EMM. EPS Mobility Manager. Supports UE mobility, such as informing the network of its present location and providing user identity confidentiality. It also provides connection management services to the session management (SM) sublayer. See EPS.

EMM context. An EMM context is established in the UE and the MME when an attach procedure is successfully completed.

EMM-CONNECTED mode. A UE is in EMM-CONNECTED mode when a NAS signalling connection between UE and network is established. The term EMM-CONNECTED mode used in the present document corresponds to the term ECM-CONNECTED state used in 3GPP TS 23.401.

EMM-IDLE mode. A UE is in EMM-IDLE mode when no NAS signalling connection between UE and network exists.

EMS. Element Management System defines the system or application used to manage a network device, or groups of like network devices. See WEM.

Encapsulation. The process of incorporating an original IP packet (less any preceding fields such as a MAC header) inside another IP packet, making the fields within the original IP header temporarily lose their effect.

eNodeB. EUTRAN Node B or Evolved Node B is the hardware that communicates directly with mobile handsets (UEs), like a base transceiver station (BTS) in GSM networks.

EPC. Evolved Packet Core. The successor to the 3GPP Release 7 packet-switched core network, developed by 3GPP within the framework of the 3GPP System Architecture Evolution (SAE).

ePDG. Evolved Packet Data Gateway. The ePDG allows interworking between the EPC and fixed non-3GPP networks that require secure access, such as Wireless LAN. The ePDG provides a secure access to EPC and supports what LTE standards refers to as un-trusted non-3GPP access through the SWu and S2b or S2c interfaces.

EPS. Evolved Packet System or evolved 3GPP packet-switched domain consists of the evolved packet core network and EUTRAN.

ESD. Electrostatic discharge is the sudden flow of electricity between two objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown. ESD can be caused by a buildup of static electricity or by electrostatic induction.

ESM. EPS Session Management.

ESN. Electronic Serial Number is a unique 32-bit binary number that identifies each cellular device. This information is passed as part of the call setup.

ESS. External Storage System. Collects, stores, and reports billing information from the ECS running on the ASR 5000 chassis. The ESS can simultaneously fetch any type of files from one or more chassis, including CDR, EDR, NBR, and UDR files.

ETSI. European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, non-profit, standardization organization in the telecommunications industry (equipment makers and network operators) in Europe, with worldwide projection.

EUTRAN. Enhanced UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (3GPP). This is the air interface of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for mobile networks. It replaces UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA technologies specified in 3GPP releases 5 and beyond. EUTRAN is incompatible with W-CDMA. It provides higher data rates, lower latency and is optimized for packet data.

EV-DO. The second phase of CDMA2000 following 1xRTT deployment. 1xEV-DO stands for 1x Evolution - Data Only, and is characterized by a maximum data rate of 2.4 Mbps.

eWAG. Enhanced Wireless Access Gateway enables Wi-Fi integration into 3G mobile packet core (MPC), allowing clientless UE attaches to trusted Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) for access to 3G services. The UE does not require a client, has no dependencies on the Wi-Fi architecture, and does not realize that it is connecting to a 3G network.

FA. Foreign Agent is a mobility agent on the foreign network that can assist the mobile node in receiving datagrams delivered to the care-of address.

FDMA. Frequency Division Multiple Access is a method of allocating a discrete amount of frequency bandwidth to individual users to allow multiple conversations across many users.

FDR. Flow Data Record. See EDR.

FEC. Forward Error Correction. The physical link layer may add many extra bits to the data before transmitting it. The receiving physical link layer uses those bits to automatically correct errors in the received data, without needing the data to be retransmitted. The transmitter and receiver must use the same FEC algorithm.

FEC. Forwarding Equivalency Class is a term used in MPLS to describe a set of packets with similar and/or identical characteristics which may be forwarded the same way; that is, they may be bound to the same MPLS label. An FEC tends to correspond to a label switched path (LSP). See FTN and NHLFE.

FELC/FLC2. Fast Ethernet Line Card (Ethernet 10/100, ASR 5000).

femtocell. This is a small, low-power cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business. It connects to the service provider’s network via broadband (such as DSL or cable). See HNB.

Firewall. A device that protects a private network against intrusion from nodes that are using the public network.

FISU. Fill-In Signal Unit is one of three packet types that are used in a SS7 signaling network. The FISU is sent only when the SS7 network is idle and is used to monitor signal quality and network integrity. The other packet types are LSSU and MSU.

FITS. Failure in Time Statistics is a statistical method of determining the number of failures that are expected to occur over a specific time period. The telecommunications industry generally assumes this number to represent the number of failures per million hours (Fpmh).

Flow Identifier. An IP flow is indicated uniquely in an IMS session by means of a flow identifier. The flow identifier is created based on the ordinal number of the media stream and of the IP flow in the media where the IP flows are arranged based on the ports used.

FNG. Femto Network Gateway enables mobile operators to provide 3G network services to subscribers with wireless handsets via Femtocell Access Points (FAPs). The FNG makes it possible for operators to provide secure access to the operator’s 3G network from a non-secure network, extend wireless service coverage indoors, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable, reduce the load on the macro wireless network, and make use of existing backhaul infrastructure to reduce the cost of carrying wireless calls. See HNB.

Foreign network. The network to which the mobile node is attached when it is not attached to its home network, and on which the care-of-address is reachable from the rest of the Internet.

Forward Tunnel. The direction of encapsulated data traveling from the Home Agent to the Foreign Agent.

FPGA. Field-Programmable Gate Array is an integrated circuit that contains programmable logic components called “logic blocks”, and a hierarchy of reconfigurable interconnects that allow the blocks to be “wired together”. The FPGA configuration is generally specified using a hardware description language in the form of downloadable firmware.

FQDN. Fully Qualified Domain Name is a complete domain name as defined by the Domain Name System (DNS). A node can be known locally by a relative domain name that is a sub-string of its FQDN, but such a relative name cannot be resolved correctly by Internet nodes outside of the part of the domain name hierarchy indicated by the relative name. The FQDN can be resolved from anywhere in the Internet, subject to access control and ability to route of the resolution request.

Frame Relay. This is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels for a variety of network interfaces. It can run on fractional T1/EI, or full T-carrier or E-carrier systems. Frame Relay complements and provides a mid-range service between basic rate ISDN and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).

Frequency layer. Set of cells with the same carrier frequency.

FSC. Fabric Storage Card (ASR 5500). The FSC sources fabric cross-bar connections to each MIO and DPC. It also includes two serial attached SCSI (SAS) solid state drives (SSDs) with a 6 Gbps SAS connection to each MIO.

FTN. FEC-To-NHLFE is an MPLS table structure. See FEC, ILM and NHLFE.

FTP. File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host or to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.

G-CDR. GGSN charging data record.

Ga interface. The interface between GGSN or SGSN and the charging gateway (CG). It uses GTPP to communicate.

Gb interface. The interface between the SGSN and the 2G/2.5G RAN base station subsystem – usually the connection between the BSS and the PCU.

GBR bearer. Guaranteed Bit Rate Bearer uses dedicated network resources related to a GBR value, which are permanently allocated during EPS bearer establishment/modification.

Gc interface. The interface used by the GGSN to communicate with the HLR via a GTP-to-MAP (Mobile Application Part) protocol convertor.

Ge interface. The GPRS interface between the SGSN and the service control point (SCP). See CAP protocol.

GELC/GLC2. Gigabit Ethernet Line Card (Ethernet 100, ASR 5000). The GELC/GLC2 supports a variety of 1000 Mbps optical and copper interfaces based on the type of Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) modules installed on the card.

General Purpose PDP Context. A PDP context without associated TFT filters where all the traffic is allowed, including internet traffic. This may be a primary or a secondary PDP context. However, only one PDP context without associated TFT filters can exist.

GERAN. GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network.

Gf interface. The SS7 interface between the SGSN and an EIR.

GGSN. Gateway GPRS Support Node is a device in a GSM GPRS/UMTS data network that performs data session establishment, accounting, and traffic routing.

Gi interface. The interface used by the GGSN to communicate with Packet Data Networks (PDNs) external to the PLMN.

GLMC. Gateway Mobile Location Center is a control plane system that interfaces with the MME and SGSN to provide operators with location information about a UE. The GMLC is the first node an external LCS client accesses in a GSM or UMTS network. The GMLC may request routing information from the HLR or HSS. After performing registration authorization, it sends positioning requests to either the VMSC (Visited Mobile Switching Centre), SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) or MSC (Mobile Switching Centre) Server and receives final location estimates from the corresponding entity. See LCS.

GMT. Greenwich Mean Time. See UTC.

Gn interface. The interface used between two GSN (GGSN and/or SGSN) in the same GPRS/UMTS Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). This interface serves as both the signalling and data path for establishing and maintaining subscriber PDP contexts.

Go interface. The interface used by the GGSN to communicate with Policy Decision function (PDF) for provisioning of policy for a PDP context bearer used for IMS session media flow transport.

Gp interface. The IP-based interface used between a GGSN and a GPRS support nodes (GSNs, for example, GGSNs and/or SGSNs) in a different PLMNs.

GPRS. General Packet Radio Service is the GSM version of 2.5G wireless data communications.

GPS. Global Positioning System (is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. See Stratum clocking.

GR. Generic Requirements provide the Telcordia view of proposed generic criteria for telecommunications equipment, systems, or services considering a wide variety of factors, including interoperability, network integrity, participating-client expressed needs, and other inputs.

Gr interface. The SS7 interface between the SGSN and an HLR.

GRE. Generic Routing Encapsulation is used to tunnel data between various networks (RFC 2784). This protocol is mandated for use in R-P and Mobile IP communications.

Gs interface. The SS7 interface between the SGSN and an MSC/VLR.

GSM. Global System for Mobile communications is one of three wireless technology classes that encompasses 2G, 2.5G, and 3G communications. The other two are CDMA and TDMA.

GSN. GPRS Support Node can be either an SGSN or a GGSN.

GSS. GTPP Storage Server. An external backup/storage server for one or more types of CDRs: eG-CDRs, G-CDRs, M-CDRs, S-CDRs, and/or SMS CDRs.

GT. Global Title is a unique SCCP address (such as a mobile phone number) used to identify a destination. A global title does not include routing information.

GTP. GPRS Tunneling Protocol is used between the GGSN and the SGSN.

GTP’ or GTP-P. GPRS Tunneling Protocol-Prime uses the same message structure as GTP (GTP-C, GTP-U), but is largely a separate protocol. GTP' uses registered UDP/TCP port 3386. GTP' can be used for carrying charging data from the Charging Data Function (CDF) of the GSM or UMTS network to the Charging Gateway Function (CGF).

GTP-C. GPRS Tunneling Protocol for the control plane handles signalling between GSNs within the core network.

GTP-U. GTP User. Supports user data plane signalling that handles user data moving between the RAN and the Core Network (CN), and within the CN.

GTT. Global Title Translation is the SS7 mechanism that provides translation of the destination global titles to enable message routing to the appropriate end-point.

GUMMEI. Globally Unique MME Identifier consists of a PLMN Identity, an MME Group Identity and an MME Code. An MME logical node may be associated with one or more GUMMEI, but each GUMMEI uniquely identifies an MME logical node. (3GPP TS 23.003)

GUTI. Globally Unique Temporary Identifier is an identifier for the UE allocated by MME so that IMSI is not required to be transmitted over the radio interface (where it is susceptible to interception). The structure of GUTI is designed such that it is possible to identify the MME that allocated it: GUTI = GUMMEI + M-TMSI.

Gx interface. The interface used by the GGSN to communicate with Charging Rule Function (CRF). Gx interacts between GGSN, the TPF (Traffic Plane Function) and the CRF. It is based on the Diameter base protocol and DCCA standard. The GGSN acts as the client where as the CRF contains the Diameter server functionality.

H.323. This is an ITU-T recommendation that defines the protocols for audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network. The H.323 standard addresses call signaling and control, multimedia transport and control, and bandwidth control for point-to-point and multi-point conferences.

HA. Home Agent is a node on the home network that effectively causes the mobile node to be reachable at its home address even when the mobile node is not attached to its home network.

Handoff. The process by which an air interface circuit between a mobile node and the network, including all signalling and transfer of user information.

Handover. Procedure that changes the serving cell of a UE in RRC_CONNECTED.

HAT. High Availability Task is a StarOS task that manages the operational state of the system.

HI. Handover Interface. See LI.

HLR. Home Location Register stores access service parameter information for users belonging to the particular GSM home network.

HNB. A Home Node B is the 3GPP term for a 3G femtocell. It is an element of a 3G macroRAN. A femtocell performs many of the function of a Node B, but is optimized for deployment in the home.

HNB-GW. Home Evolved NodeB Gateway is a gateway for Home NodeBs (HNBs) to access the core networks. The HNB-GW concentrates connections from a large number of HNBs through an IuH interface and terminates the connection to existing Core Networks (CS or PS) using an IuCS or IuPS interface.

Home address. The IP address assigned to the mobile node, making it logically appear attached to its home network.

Home network. The network at which the mobile node seems reachable, to the rest of the Internet, by virtue of its assigned IP address.

Home PLMN. This is a PLMN where the MCC and MNC of the PLMN identity match the MCC and MNC of the IMSI.

HRPD. High Rate Packet Data. See EV-DO.

HRPD Access. Combination of the eAN - PCF of the cdma2000 access.

HSDPA. High-Speed Downlink Packet Access is a 3G mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family. It allows UMTS networks to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity.

HSGW. HRPD Serving Gateway terminates the HRPD access network interface from the Evolved Access Network/Evolved Packet Core Function (eAN/ePCF) and routes UE-originated or terminated packet data traffic. The HSGW supports interworking of the AT with the 3GPP EPS architecture and protocols specified in 3GPP 23.402.

HSPA. High Speed Packet Access is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony protocols, HSDPA and HSUPA, that extends and improves the performance of existing 3rd generation mobile telecommunication networks utilizing the WCDMA protocols.

HSS. Home Subscriber Service includes the master user database and software that support IMS network entities that handle calls and sessions. HSS contains user profiles, performs authentication and authorization of the user, and can provide information about the physical location of user. HSS is similar to the GSM Home Location Register (HLR).

HSUPA. High-Speed Uplink Packet Access is a 3G mobile telephony protocol in the HSPA family with up-link speeds up to 5.76 Mbps.

HTTP. Hypertext Transfer Protocol is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. It is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web.

IA. Intercepted Area. See LI.

ICMP. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. It is chiefly used by the operating systems of networked computers to send error messages indicating, for example, that a requested service is not available or that a host or router could not be reached. ICMP can also be used to relay query messages.

ICS. Internet Connection Sharing is the use of a device with Internet access such as 3G cellular service, broadband via Ethernet, or other Internet gateway as an access point for other devices. It makes use of DHCP and network address translation (NAT).

ICSR. Interchassis Session Recovery is a redundancy configuration that employs two identically configured ASR 5x00 chassis as a redundant pair. ICSR chassis share the same chassis key. If ICSR detects that the two chassis have incompatible chassis keys, an error message is logged but the ICSR system will continue to run. Without the matching chassis key, the standby ICSR chassis can recover services if the active chassis goes out of service; the standby chassis will still have access to the passwords in their decrypted form. See SRP.

IDL. Interface Definition Language refers to the application programming interface used to develop CORBA-based management interfaces as defined by the Object Management Group (OMG).

IE. Information Element.

IEEE. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a professional association directed toward the advancement of the theory and practice of Electrical, Electronics, Communications and Computer Engineering, as well as Computer Science, the allied branches of engineering and the related arts and sciences.

IETF. Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It is an open standards organization, with no formal membership or membership requirements.

IKE. Internet Key Exchange is an IPSec mechanism that is used to create SAs (Security Associations) between two entities in an IP-based Virtual Private Network (VPN).

ILM. Incoming Label Map is an MPLS table structure. See FTN and NHLFE.

IMEI. International Mobile Equipment Identity is a number that uniquely 3GPP mobile devices. The IMEI is used by a GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used for stopping a stolen phone from accessing that network via an EIR. The IMEI is only used for identifying the device and has no permanent or semi-permanent relation to the subscriber. Instead, the subscriber is identified by transmission of an IMSI number, which is stored on a SIM card that can be transferred to any handset.

IMEI-SV. International Mobile Equipment Identity – Software Version.

IMS. IP Multimedia Subsystem provides wide application support for transport of voice, video, and data independent of the access support. IMS specifies a standard architecture for providing combined IP services (voice, data, multimedia) over the existing public switched domain.

IMSA. IP Multimedia Subsystem Authorization. For 3GPP networks this service requires specific support for a roaming IMS subscriber. Apart from other functionality sufficient, uninterrupted, consistent, and seamless user experience is required to particular subscriber session for an application. It is also important that the subscriber gets charged only for the amount of resources consumed by the particular IMS application used.

IMSI. International Mobile Subscriber Identity uniquely identifies a subscriber to a mobile telephone service. It is a 50-bit field in GSM that identifies a mobile device's home country and carrier.

IN. Intelligent Network is the standard network architecture specified in the ITU-T Q.1200 series recommendations. It is intended for fixed as well as mobile telecom networks and allows operators to differentiate themselves by providing value-added services in addition to the standard telecom services such as PSTN, ISDN and GSM services on mobile phones. IN is supported by the SS7 protocol between telephone network switching centers and other network nodes owned by network operators.

INAP. Intelligent Network Application Part is advanced signalling associated with Intelligent Network (IN) or Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) (US). [SS7]

Initial NAS message. A NAS message is considered as an initial NAS message, if this NAS message can trigger the establishment of a NAS signalling connection. For instance, the ATTACH REQUEST message is an initial NAS message.

Interface. As used in the context of system services, an interface is a virtual or logical assignment of a virtual router instance that provides higher-layer protocol transport. Interfaces are bound to physical ports within the system.

InTracer. InTracer is a high-performance subscriber troubleshooting and monitoring solution. It performs call tracing, control data acquisition, processing and analysis of both active and historical subscriber sessions. This provides a framework for operators to analyze and investigate call flows and call events for subscriber sessions in near real time.

IOT. Interoperability Testing.

IP. Internet Protocol is used for the transmission of packetized data. It is part of the TCP/IP suite of communications protocols.

IP in IP. Refers to the encapsulation of an inner IP header with an outer IP header for tunneling configuration.

IP-CAN. IP-Connectivity Access Network refers to 3GPP access networks such as GPRS or EDGE, but can be also used to describe wireless LAN (WLAN) or DSL networks. It was introduced in 3GPP IMS standards as a generic term referring to any kind of IP-based access network, as IMS put much emphasis on access and service network separation.

IPCF. Intelligent Policy Control Function runs under StarOS on ASR 5x00 chassis and is built around an intelligent rule configuration and execution system. Its policy rules engine is capable of acting on conditions such as the subscriber, the session state or network condition, or even time and day to decide on the corresponding treatment to be given to the subscriber. All information and rules fetched by querying the IPCF subscription plan stored in the SSC over an Sp interface. See PCC, PPT and SSC.

IPSec. IP Security is a multi-functional encryption technique used to transport packetized data in an un-readable fashion across multiple network devices.

IPSG. IP Services Gateway runs on the ASR 5x00 chassis and provides managed services to IP flows. The IPSG is situated on the network side of legacy, non-service capable GGSNs, PDSNs, HAs, and other subscriber management devices. It can provide per-subscriber services such as ECS, ADC, and others.

IPSP. IP Pool Sharing Protocol is a protocol that system-based HA services can use during an offline-software upgrade to avoid the assignment of duplicate IP addresses to sessions while allowing them to maintain the same address, and to preserve network capacity.

IPSP. An IP Signalling Point (IPSP) is defined by SIGTRAN to be an SS7 end-point in a IP network and which runs one or more AS.

IPv4. Internet Protocol version 4 address consists of 32 bits divided into four octets. These four octets are written in decimal numbers, ranging from 0 to 255 that are concatenated as a character string with full stop delimiters (dots) between each number. For example, 192.165.34.55

IPv4v6 capability. Capability of the IP stack associated with a UE to support a dual stack configuration with both an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address allocated.

IPv6. Internet Protocol version 6 address has two logical parts: a 64-bit network prefix, and a 64-bit host address part. An IPv6 address is represented by eight groups of 16-bit hexadecimal values separated by colons (:). For example, 2001:0db8:85a3:0042:0000:8a2e:0370:7334.

IRI. Intercepted Related Information. See LI.

ISAKMP. Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol. In IPSec negotiations, this protocol allows the receiver to obtain a public key and authenticate the sender using digital certificates.

ISDN. Integrated Services Digital Network is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the PSTN. ISDN provides access to packet switched networks by allowing digital transmission of voice and data over ordinary telephone copper wires. See SS7.

ISO. International Organization for Standardization is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards for products, services and good practice.

ISP. Internet Service Provider. A vendor, or telecommunications carrier, who provides Internet access services to customers.

ISR. Idle Mode Signalling Reduction is a feature that allows the UE to roam between LTE and 2G/3G. It aims at reducing the frequency of TAU and RAU procedures caused by UEs reselecting between EUTRAN and GERAN/UTRAN which are operated together.

ISR. Cisco Integrated Services Router

ISUP. ISDN User Part is an SS7 call control protocol used in establishing or terminating a connection on a Circuit Switched Network (CSN). Other call control protocols are TUP, BISUP and national variants such as IUP and NUP.

ITU. International Telecommunication Union is the specialized agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies. ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world and establishes worldwide standards.

IuCS. The interface between the RNC and the Circuit Switched Core Network (CS-CN).

IuH. The interface between the femtocell (HNB) and the HNB-GW.

IUP. Interconnect User Part (IUP) is a UK Call Control protocol used in establishing or terminating connection on a Circuit Switched Network (CSN). Other call control protocols are TUP, BISUP, ISUP and national variants such as NUP.

IuPS. The packet switched interface between the Radio Network Controller (RNC) in the UTRAN and a 3G SGSN. Supports both control plane and user data plane signalling, transmitting IP over ATM.

IWF. Inter-working Function is a device that is located between the MSC and the Internet, used to connect wireless subscribers to the Internet through 2G and 2.5G networks.

KPI. Key Performance Indicator is a type of performance measurement. KPIs are commonly used to measure the operational performance of a system based on such factors as availability, MTBF, MTTR and unplanned availability.

L2TP. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol is a communications protocol used to establish tunnels between network devices to securely transport data.

LAC. L2TP Access Concentrator is a LAC connects an L2TP tunnel from a subscriber to a peer LNS.

LAC. Location Area Code identifies an area in a PLMN within which the MS/UE can move without the need of a location update to the VLR.

LAES. Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance. See LI.

LAESP. LAES Protocol. See LI.

LAG. A Link Aggregation Group works by exchanging control packets via Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) over configured physical ports with peers to reach agreement on an aggregation of links (IEEE 802.3ad). The LAG sends and receives the control packets directly on physical ports attached to different traffic bearing ports. Link aggregation (also called trunking or bonding) provides higher total bandwidth, auto-negotiation, and recovery by combining parallel network links between devices as a single link. A large file is guaranteed to be sent over one of the links, which removes the need to address out-of-order packets.

LAI. Location Area Identifier. Each location area of a PLMN has this internationally unique identifier used for location updating of mobile subscribers. It is composed of a three-decimal digit MCC, a two- to three-digit MNC that identifies the GSM PLMN in that country, and a LAC which is a 16-bit number thereby allowing 65536 location areas within one GSM PLMN.

LAN. Local Area Network denotes a group or groups of physically inter-connected network devices that are capable of sharing information with each other.

Last Visited Registered TAI. A TAI which is contained in the TAI list that the UE registered to the network and which identifies the tracking area last visited by the UE.

LAU. Location Area Update is a UMTS procedure that allows a mobile device to inform the cellular network whenever it moves from one location area to the next. Mobiles are responsible for detecting LACs. When a mobile finds that the LAC is different from its last update, it performs another update by sending a location update request to the network, together with its previous location and its TMSI. See RAU and TAU.

LBS. Location Based Services are a general class of computer program-level services used to include specific controls for location and time data as control features in computer programs.

LC. Line Card is a rear-installed card within an ASR 5000 chassis that provides physical network connectivity. Most LCs have physical external network interfaces.

LCP. Link Control Protocol forms part of the point-to-point protocol (PPP). In setting up PPP communications, both the sending and receiving devices send out LCP packets to determine the standards of the ensuing data transmission.

LCS. LoCation Services is a standards-based, license-controlled functionality that enables the MME and the SGSN to report a UE's location information (geographical position) to facilitate a range of location/positioning-based services. See Lg interface, SLg interface, and GLMC.

LDAP. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is an application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol network.

LDP. Label Distribution Protocol is a protocol in which MPLS routers exchange label mapping information. Two routers with an established session are called LDP peers and the exchange of information is bidirectional. LDP is used to build and maintain LSP databases that are used to forward traffic through MPLS networks.

LEA. Law Enforcement Agency. See LI.

LER. Label Edge Router (also known as edge LSR) operates at the edge of an Multiprotocol Label Switching network. When forwarding IP datagrams into the MPLS domain, it uses routing information to determine appropriate labels to be affixed, labels the packet accordingly, and then forwards the labeled packets into the MPLS domain. Likewise, upon receiving a labeled packet which is destined to exit the MPLS domain, the LER strips off the label and forwards the resulting IP packet using normal IP forwarding rules. See LSR and MPLS.

Lg interface. This license-enabled interface is used by the SGSN to report location information for a UE to the GLMC. See GLMC and LCS.

LI. Lawful Intercept is an enhanced feature that enables Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to intercept data sessions. The LI service gives the network operator the capability to intercept control and data messages of targeted mobile users. To invoke this support, the LEA will request the network operator to start the interception of a particular mobile user. This request will be supported by a court order or warrant. The ASR 5x00 supports a proprietary interface to either a third party Mediation Function (MF) or Delivery Function (DF).

Linked Bearer Identity. This identity indicates to which default bearer the additional bearer resource is linked.

LMA. Local Mobility Anchor (mobility server, HA-like, P-GW). See PMIPv6.

LNS. L2TP Network Server terminates an L2TP tunnel from a peer LAC and provides a network connection through the tunnel.

Logical Port. A subdivision of a physical port or interface within the system.

LR. Location Registration. A GPRS MS which is IMSI attached to GPRS services or to GPRS and non-GPRS services performs location registration by the Routing Area Update procedure only when in a network of network operation mode I. An MS which is IMSI attached to non-GPRS services only performs location registration by the Location Updating procedure. Both location updating and routing area update procedures are performed independently by the GPRS MS when it is IMSI attached to GPRS and non-GPRS services in a network of network operation mode II or III. See TAU.

LRSN. Local Record Sequence Number. The SGSN or GGSN includes this node-specific, unique sequential number in every partial or complete CDR.

LSA. Localized Service Area consists of a cell or a number of cells. The cells constituting a LSA may not necessarily provide contiguous coverage.

LSP. Label-Switched Path is a path through an MPLS network, set up by a signaling protocol such as LDP, RSVP-TE or BGP. The path is set up based on criteria in the forwarding equivalence class (FEC).

LSR. Label Switch Router performs routing based on MPLS labels. LSRs in an MPLS network regularly exchange label and reachability information with each other in order to build a complete picture of the network they can then use to forward packets. See LER and MPLS.

LSSU. Link Status Signal Unit is one of three packet types that are used in an SS7 signaling network. The LSSU sends information about link status between end-points. The other packet types are FISU and MSU.

LTE. Long Term Evolution. Marketed as 4G LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core network improvements. The standard is developed by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and is specified in its Release 8 document series, with minor enhancements described in Release 9.

M3UA. MTP Level 3 (MTP3) User Adaptation Layer enables the SS7 protocol's User Parts (for example, ISUP, SCCP and TUP) to run over IP instead of telephony equipment like ISDN and PSTN. (RFC 4666) See SIGTRAN.

M-CDR. Mobility management CDR is generated by an SGSN.

M-TMSI. MME-TMSI identifies a UE served by an MME. See TMSI.

Mac address. A Media Access Control address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. The standard (IEEE 802) format for printing MAC-48 addresses in human-friendly form is six groups of two hexadecimal digits, separated by hyphens (-) or colons (:), in transmission order. For example 01-23-45-67-89-ab or 01:23:45:67:89:ab.

MAG. Mobile Access Gateway (mobility client, FA-like, HSGW, PMIP S-GW). The MAG function on the S-GW can maintain multiple PDN or APN connections for the same user session. The MAG runs a single node level Proxy Mobile IPv6 tunnel for all user sessions toward the LMA function of the P-GW.

MAP. Mobile Application Part is an SS7 protocol which provides an application layer for the various nodes in GSM and UMTS mobile core networks and GPRS core networks to communicate with each other in order to provide services to mobile phone users. MAP is the application-layer protocol used to access the HLR, VLR, MSC, EIR, Authentication Centre, SMS center and SGSN.

Mapped EPS security context. This is a mapped security context to be used in EPS.

MBMS. Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services is a point-to-multipoint interface specification for existing and upcoming 3GPP cellular networks. It is designed to provide efficient delivery of broadcast and multicast services, both within a cell as well as within the core network.

MBMS-dedicated cell. A cell dedicated to MBMS transmission.

MBR. Maximum Bit Rate (QoS).

MCC. Mobile Country Code. See PLMN.

MCSA. Multiple Child Security Association. See SA.

MDC. MIO Daughter Card firmware (ASR 5500).

ME. Mobile Equipment.

MEC. Midplane EEPROM Card firmware (ASR 5500).

MF. Mediation Function. See LI.

MGW. Media Gateway is a translation device or service that converts digital media streams between disparate telecommunications networks such as PSTN, SS7, Next Generation Networks (2G, 2.5G and 3G radio access networks) or PBX. Media gateways enable multimedia communications across Next Generation Networks over multiple transport protocols such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Internet Protocol (IP).

MIB. Management Information Base is a virtual database used for managing the entities in a communications network. Most often associated with SNMP, the term is often used to refer to a particular subset, more correctly referred to as MIB-module. Objects in the MIB are defined using a subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) [RFC 2578}. The software that performs the parsing is a MIB compiler. The database is hierarchical (tree-structured) and each entry is addressed through an object identifier (OID).

Minimal encapsulation. A variant encapsulation technique specified in RFC 2003 that temporarily alters the structure of the original IP header, but uses fewer bytes for tunneling packets to the care-of-address than the default method (IP-in-IP) uses.

MINE. Mobile and IP Network Enabler.

MIO. Management Input/Output card (ASR 5500). The MIO card performs chassis management, as well as local context (remote management) and non-local context (traffic bearing) external I/O operations.

MIP. Mobile IP is a protocol used to provide IP mobility to IPv4-based nodes (RFC-2002).

MME. Mobility Management Entity is an EPS element which manages mobility in EPC networks. The MME is the key control-node for the LTE access network. It works in conjunction with the eNodeB, S-GW within the EPC, or LTE/SAE core network to perform multiple functions.

MME area. An area containing tracking areas served by an MME. See TAI list.

MME Pool Area. An MME Pool Area is defined as an area within which a UE may be served without need to change the serving MME. An MME Pool Area is served by one or more MMEs (“pool of MMEs’) in parallel. MME Pool Areas are a collection of complete Tracking Areas. MME Pool Areas may overlap each other.

MMS. Multimedia Messaging Service is a standard way to send messages that include multimedia content to and from mobile phones. It extends the core SMS (Short Message Service) capability.

MMS-C. MMS-Center is a carrier’s store-and-forward server for MMS messages.

MN. Mobile Node is any device, handset, personal digital assistant, laptop, that connects to the Internet using wireless technology. A node that, as part of normal use, changes its point of attachment to the Internet. See MS.

MNC. Mobile Network Code. See PLMN.

MNO. Mobile Network Operator (also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier) is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell and deliver services to an end user, including radio spectrum allocation, wireless network infrastructure, back haul infrastructure, billing, customer care and provisioning computer systems and marketing, customer care, provisioning and repair organizations.

MNSRID. Mobile Node Session Reference ID. Denotes the calling number of the MN (the number from which the call is being made).

MO. A Mobile Originated call is initiated by a Mobile Station (MS).

Mobile hotspot. A mobile hotspot is a wireless device that connects to a cellular 3G or 4G network and then creates a personal Wi-Fi network, allowing access to the Internet. The hotspot can be a standalone device or a built-in smartphone function. See Tethering.

Mobility. The ability of a mobile node to change its point-of-attachment from one link to another while maintaining all existing communications and using only its IP home address.

Mobility Agent. A node (typically, a router) that offers support services to mobile nodes. A mobility agent can be either a Home Agent (HA) or a Foreign Agent (FA).

MP-eBGP. Multiprotocol-External BGP. See BGP.

MP-iBGP. Multiprotocol-Internal BGP. See BGP.

MPC. Mobile Packet Core. See EPC.

MPLS. Multiprotocol Label Switching is a mechanism in high-performance telecommunications networks that directs data from one network node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex lookups in a routing table. The labels identify virtual links (paths) between distant nodes rather than endpoints. MPLS can encapsulate packets of various network protocols. See LER and LSR.

MRME.Multi Radio Mobility Entity is a control network element for a SaMOG (S2a Mobility over GTP) solution that provides EPC services for trusted non-3GPP network access UEs via a WLC (Wireless LAN Controller).

MS. Mobile Station. See MN.

MSC. Mobile Switching Center. The MSC switches MS-originated or MS-terminated traffic. An MSC is usually connected to at least one base station. It may connect to other public networks PSTN, ISDN, etc., other MSCs in the same network. Another name used to identify the MSC is the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO). The MSC provides the interface for user traffic between the wireless network and other public switched networks, or other MSCs.

MSEG-3G. Mobile Service Edge Gateway - 3G.

MSID. Mobile Station Identification is a a number that is associated with the home service provider and the wireless phone number. This number is reprogrammed when the user changes home service providers.

MSISDN. Mobile Subscriber International ISDN Number is a number uniquely identifying a subscriber in a GSM or a UMTS mobile network. Essentially, it is the telephone number to the SIM card in a mobile/cellular phone.

MSS. Mobile Switching Center Server is a 3G core network element which controls the network switching subsystem elements. See MSC.

MSU. Message Signaling Unit is one of three packet types that are used in a SS7 signaling network. The MSU carries User Part protocol messages. The other packet types are LSSU and FISU.

MT. A Mobile Terminated call is received by a Mobile Station (MS).

MTBF. Mean Time Between Failure. Synonymous with MTTF, this is the anticipated time between failures of the same component.

MTP-3. Message Transfer Part is the component of SS7 used for communication in PSTNs. MTP is responsible for reliable, unduplicated and in-sequence transport of SS7 messages between communication partners. MTP Level 3 provides the Signalling Network functional level for narrowband signalling links (ITU-T, Q.704) and broadband signalling links (ITU-T, Q.2210).

MTTF. Mean Time To Failure is the average interval of time that a component will operate before failing.

MTTR. Mean Time To Repair is the average amount of time needed to repair or replace a component, recover a system, or otherwise restore service after a failure.

MUR. Mobility Unified Reporting is a Web-based application providing a unified reporting interface for diverse data from in-line service and storage applications. It runs on a dedicated, high availability Solaris server.

MVG. Mobile Video Gateway is the central component of the Cisco Mobile Video Solution. It employs a number of video optimization techniques that enable mobile operators to enhance the video experience for their subscribers while optimizing the performance of video content transmission over the mobile network.

MVNE. Mobile Virtual Network Enabler supplies marketing/sales personnel, customer support and/or billing systems to an MVNO.

MVNO. Mobile Virtual Network Operator is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the radio spectrum or wireless network infrastructure over which the MVNO provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with an MNO to obtain bulk access to network services at wholesale rates, then sets retail prices independently.

NAI. Network Address Identifier is used to create a new unique subscriber identifier, based on ESN or other identifiers, when a subscriber enters the network without a user name.

NAS. Non-access stratum s a functional layer in the UMTS wireless telecom protocol stack between a core network and user equipment. The layer supports signalling and traffic between those two elements.

NAS protocols. Non-access stratum protocols are the protocols between UE and MSC or SGSN that are not terminated in the UTRAN, and the protocols between UE and MME that are not terminated in the EUTRAN.

NAS signalling connection recovery. This is a mechanism initiated by the NAS to restore the NAS signalling connection on indication of “RRC connection failure” by the lower layers.

NAS signalling connection. This is a P2P S1 mode connection between UE and MME. A NAS signaling connection consists of the concatenation of an RRC connection via the “LTE-Uu” interface and an S1AP connection via the S1 interface. The UE considers the NAS signalling connection established when the RRC connection has been established successfully. The UE considers the NAS signalling connection released when the RRC connection has been released.

NAT. Network Address Translation is protocol (RFC 1631) that enables a LAN to use one set of IP addresses for internal traffic and another set of IP addresses for external traffic.

NE. Network Element is defined as a manageable logical entity uniting one or more physical devices. This allows distributed devices to be managed in a unified way using one management system. It includes a facility or equipment used in the provision of a telecommunications service, features, functions, and capabilities that are provided by means of such facility or equipment, including subscriber numbers, databases, signaling systems, and information sufficient for billing and collection or used in the transmission, routing, or other provision of a telecommunications service.

NEBS. Network Equipment Building Standards is a rigid and extensive set of performance, quality, safety, electrical, and environmental recommendations that are applicable to devices installed in a carrier's Central Office (CO).

Network Type. The network type associated with HPLMN or a PLMN on the PLMN selector. The MS uses this information to determine what type of radio carrier to search for when attempting to select a specific PLMN. A PLMN may support more than one network type.

NHLFE. Next-Hop Label Forwarding Entry is an MPLS table structure. See ILM and FTN.

NIC. Network Interface Controller or Network Interface Card.

NMS. Network Management System consists of applications that provide overall management of all network elements. Defined by the third tier of the TMN model of telecommunications management networks.

Nomadicity. The full range of network technology being designed to come to the assistance of the mobile (or nomadic) computer user, not limited to network-layer protocols.

Non-GBR bearer. An EPS bearer that uses network resources that are not related to a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) value.

NPU. Network Processor Unit is a high-speed, state-of-the-art processor optimized to perform packet forwarding functions.

NPU Manager. The StarOS NPU manager task provides NPU-related information to other software tasks and performs recovery services for the NPU. An NPU manager task is started for each processing card in the system.

NRI. Network Resource Identifier is a specific parameter used to identify the CN node assigned to serve a mobile station. The UE derives the NRI from TMSI, P-TMSI, IMSI or IMEI.

NTP. Network Time Protocol is a networking protocol for clock synchronization between computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks. NTP provides Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) including scheduled leap second adjustments. No information about time zones or daylight saving time is transmitted. See Stratum clocking.

Number Portability. This is a network feature that allows consumers to change service providers, locations, or service types without changing their telephone numbers. Number portability is a requirement for both wireline and wireless operators. An SS7 number portability database provides routing addresses for ported numbers. Network devices query the number portability database to resolve numbers during a call or service transaction. See SRF.

NUP. Network User Part is a UK SS7 call control protocol used in establishing or terminating a connection on a Circuit Switched Network (CSN). Other call control protocols are TUP, BISUP, ISUP and national variants such as IUP.

OAM. Operations, Administration and Maintenance is the processes, activities, tools, standards, etc. involved with operating, administering, managing, and maintaining any computer-based system.

OC-3. OC-3 is a network line with transmission data rate of up to 155.52 Mbps (payload: 148.608 Mbps; overhead: 6.912 Mbps, including path overhead) using fiber optics. Depending on the system, OC-3 is also known as STS-3 (electrical level) and STM-1 (SDH).

OCS. Online Charging System is a system that allows a communications service provider to charge their customers, in real time, based on service usage.

OFCS. Offline Charging System concurrently collects charging information for network resource usage. The charging information is then passed through a chain of logical charging functions. At the end of this process, CDR files are generated by the network, which are then transferred to the network operator's Billing Domain for subscriber billing and/or inter-operator accounting. See CTF, CDF and CGF.

OID. An OID, in the context of SNMP, consists of the object identifier for an object in a Management Information Base (MIB). Each OID identifies a variable that can be read or set via SNMP. MIBs use the notation defined by ASN.1.

OLC2. Optical Line Card (ATM, ASR 5000). Supports ATM over both SDH and SONET.

OMC. Operations and Maintenance Center is the central location to operate and maintain the network.

OMG. Object Management Group is an open membership, not-for-profit consortium that produces and maintains computer industry specifications for CORBA and other related protocols.

OnePK. Cisco One Platform Kit is a toolkit for development, automation and rapid service creation. It is a key element within Cisco's Open Network Environment (ONE) allowing for programmatic access to the network. OnePK represents an abstraction layer and unifying API that resides within Cisco's network software systems

OOB. Out-of-band Management is a method wherein management information exchanged between the network element and its associated management application is carried on a separate communications path from the user data that is coming to/from the network element. Conversely, in-band management is management data that is carried across the same interface as user data.

OPC. Origination Point Code is carried in the Routing Label and indicated the Point Code that originated the messages. It is used by MTP3 to address SS7 MSUs.

OS. Operating System is a collection of software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs. See StarOS.

OSS. Operations Support System. Methods and procedures that support the daily operations of a carrier's network infrastructure. This includes order processing, equipment assignment, and other administrative functions related to the devices installed in the network.

P2P. Peer-to-Peer refers to a distributed computer network in which each computer in the network can act as a client or server for the other computers in the network, allowing shared access to various resources such as files, peripherals, and sensors without the need for a central server. All computers in the network to use the same or a compatible program to connect to each other and access files and other resources found on the other computer. P2P networks can be used for sharing content such as audio, video, data, or anything in digital format.

P-CSCF. Proxy-Call Session Control Function is the first point of contact for the UE in the IMS network. The UE needs to establish a bearer context using which the IMS signalling is carried by the UE with the P-CSCF.

P-CSCF Discovery. As part of the initial context establishment, the system may be required to select/discover a P-CSCF to be used by the UE and send the selected P-CSCF information to the UE in the create response for that PDP context. This procedure is called the P-CSCF discovery procedure.

P-GW. Packet Data Network Gateway is the node that terminates the SGi interface towards the PDN. If a UE is accessing multiple PDNs, there may be more than one P-GW for that UE. The P-GW provides connectivity to the UE to external packet data networks by being the point of exit and entry of traffic for the UE. A UE may have simultaneous connectivity with more than one P-GW for accessing multiple PDNs. The P-GW performs policy enforcement, packet filtering for each user, charging support, lawful interception and packet screening.

P-TMSI. Packet domain TMSI is an identifier for the UE allocated by the SGSN. P-TMSI contains an NRI (Network resource identifier) which is used to identify the node that allocated it. In 3G, LAC (present as part of RAI) is used to identify the SGSN pool and NRI is used to identify a node within the pool. See TMSI.

PBA. Proxy Binding Acknowledgement.

PBU. Proxy Binding Update (defined in RFC 5213 Proxy Mobile IPv6). See PMIPv6.

PC. Point Code (PC). A unique address for a node in an SS7 environment.

PCC. Policy and Charging Control. The Cisco PCC solution is comprised of an Intelligent Policy Control Function (IPCF) and Subscriber Service Controller (SSC). It also includes a Web-based GUI tool, Policy Provisioning Tool (PPT) to implement and control the policy based subscriber access in the existing wireless network, as well as service flow based charging implementation.

PCCM. PDN Connection Configuration Message.

PCEF. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function is implemented in the serving gateway to enforce gating and QoS for individual IP flows on the behalf of the PCRF. It also provides usage measurement to support charging.

PCF. Packet Control Function. A part of the 3G networking equipment that relays packet data and control signalling between the BSC and the PCF. In some cases, the PCF may be integrated into the BSC.

PCMCIA. Personal Computer Memory Card International Association is the group of companies that defined the standard for a peripheral interface. See CompactFlash.

PCO. Protocol Configuration Options is a portion of an APN that contains external network protocol options that may need to be transferred between the GGSN and the MS (3GPP TS 24.008).

PCRF. Policy and Charging Rules Function is the node designated in real-time to determine policy rules in a multimedia network. It operates at the network core and efficiently accesses subscriber databases and other specialized functions, such as a charging systems, in a scalable, reliable, and centralized manner. The PCRF aggregates information to and from the network, operational support systems, and other sources (such as portals) in real time, supporting the creation of rules and then automatically making intelligent policy decisions for each subscriber active on the network. Such a network might offer multiple services, quality of service (QoS) levels, and charging rules. See PCC.

PCU. Packet Control Unit. Typically a component in the BSS that connects to the BSC to an SGSN in the core network of a GPRS/UMTS wireless network. Once the call is established, the PCU handles the packet data portion of a wireless call.

PDIF. Packet Data Interworking Function. A security gateway providing secure voice and data over a Wi-Fi network via an IPSec tunnel.

PDN. Packet Data Network is any packet-based data network, such as the Internet or an intranet, that a mobile subscriber would attempt to access.

PDN address. This is an IP address assigned to the UE by the Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW).

PDN Connection. The association between a UE represented by one IPv4 address and/or one IPv6 prefix/address, and a PDN represented by an APN.

PDN-ID. PDN Identifier.

PDP. Packet Data Protocol. See PDP Context.

PDP Context. The Packet Data Protocol context is a data structure present on both the SGSN and GGSN that contains the subscriber's session information when the subscriber has an active session. When a mobile wants to use GPRS, it must first attach and then activate a PDP context.

PDP Session. The Packet Data Protocol session is a unique association of a subscriber with a network access service given by the combination of MSISDN, APN and IP address. A PDP session can consist of one or more PDP contexts (one primary and zero or more secondary).

PDSN. Packet Data Serving Node is the part of the 3G network that performs packet processing and re-direction to the mobile user's home network through communications with the Home Agent (HA).

PE. Provider Edge router is an MPLS VPN router that provides service provider peering service. See PE.

PEAP. Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol is a protocol that encapsulates the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) within an encrypted and authenticated Transport Layer Security (TLS) tunnel.

PEP. Performance Enhancing Proxy is used to improve the performance of the Internet protocols (for example, TCP) on network paths where native performance suffers due to characteristics of a link or sub-network on the path.

PFU. Power Filter Unit (ASR 5000, ASR 5500). Supplies filtered -48VDC power to the ASR 5x00 chassis, cards and sub-components.

Pi Interface. The packet data interface from the Foreign Agent to the Internet or Home Agent.

PID. Cisco Part Identifier.

PKC. Public Key Certificate is a digitally signed document that serves to validate the sender's authorization and name. The document consists of a specially formatted block of data that contains the name of the certificate holder and the holder's public key, as well as the digital signature of a certification authority for authentication. The certification authority attests that the sender's name is the one associated with the public key in the document. See CA and IPSec.

PKI. Public Key Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, people, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates. See CA, CMP and IPSec.

Plain NAS message. A NAS message with a header that does not include a message authentication code or a sequence number.

PLMN. Public Land Mobile Network is a network that is established and operated by an administration or by a recognized operating agency (ROA) for the specific purpose of providing land mobile telecommunications services to the public. PLMN designates a GSM, GPRS or UMTS public mobile communications network that is identified by its MCC and MNC. PLMNs interconnect with other PLMNs and PSTNs for telephone communications or with internet service providers for data and internet access of which links are defined as interconnect links between providers.

PMI. Privilege Management Infrastructure involves managing user authorizations based on X.509 attribute certificates (ACs). PMIs are to authorization what PKIs are to authentication. See CA, IPSec, PKI, SA and X.509.

PMIP. Proxy Mobile IP. WiMAX and CDMA2000 networks use PMIP to introduce a MAG (Mobility Access Gateway) into the MIP architecture which interacts with the HA. The MAG is termed a LMA (Local Mobility Anchor) in PMIP parlance. With PMIP, the use of MIP in the network is transparent to the mobile device.

PMIPv6. Proxy Mobile IP version 6 is a mobility management protocol that enables a single LTE-EPC core network to provide the call anchor point for user sessions as the subscriber roams between native EUTRAN and non-native e-HRPD access networks. S2a represents the trusted non-3GPP interface between the LTE-EPC core network and the eHRPD network anchored on the HSGW. In the eHRPD network, network-based mobility provides mobility for IPv6 nodes without host involvement. Proxy Mobile IPv6 extends Mobile IPv6 signaling messages and reuses the HA function (now known as LMA) on the P-GW.

Policy Decision. The set of policy information AGW receives from E-PDF in a Gx/Ty Diameter message. E-PDF constructs policy decision on the basis of Application Function (AF) events and events received over a Gx/Ty interface.

Policy Information. The set of policy related data stored in E-PDF associated to a user, including information determined via real-time analysis of an SDP offer/answer exchange derived information in the context of an IMS session, information derived from a pre configured charging rule and preconcerted rule set. These information includes at least charging rules, media component data, binding information and authorized QoS. Policy information such as charging rules and authorized QoS are sent in a policy decision by the E-PDF to the AGW for enforcement.

Pool-area. A pool area is an area within which an MS may roam without need to change the serving CN node. A pool area is served by one or more CN nodes in parallel. All the cells controlled by a RNC or BSC belong to the same one (or more) pool area(s).

Port. A defined physical or logical connection where data enters or leaves a network device.

POS. Packet over SONET.

POSIX. Portable Operating System Interface is a family of standards specified by the IEEE for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines the application programming interface (API), along with command line shells and utility interfaces, for software compatibility with variants of Unix and other operating systems.[

PPC. Packet Processing Card (ASR 5000). The PPC is an application card providing memory and processing capabilities for handling subscriber sessions. The PPC is an economical alternative for smaller operators who do not require the throughput of PSC2s or PSC3s.

PPP. Point-to-Point Protocol. A protocol defined by RFC-1661 that allows for IP connectivity between network devices.

PPT. Policy Provisioning Tool is a Web-based client-server application that allows service providers or network operators to design policies for network usage and monitoring. These policies can then be used to monitor and control services rendered to subscribers, as well as their network usage. PPT runs on a Cisco UCS server and interfaces with other components of the PCC solution including IPCF and SSC to exchange data such as QoS profile or data plans.

Preconcerted Charging Rule. Charging rule created and configured in E-PDF by the operator.

Primary PDP Context. The first PDP context activated by a UE. At the primary PDP context activation an IP address (the PDP address) is assigned to a UE. When activated a primary PDP context is general purpose (i.e. with no associated TFT filters), during its lifetime may change to dedicated (i.e. with associated TFT filters).

PS. Packet Switched is a digital networking communications method that groups all transmitted data – regardless of content, type, or structure – into suitably sized blocks, called packets. It features delivery of variable-bit-rate data streams (sequences of packets) over a shared network. When traversing network adapters, switches, routers and other network nodes, packets are buffered and queued, resulting in variable delay and throughput depending on the traffic load in the network.

PSC. Packet Services Card (ASR 5000). The PSC is an application card providing memory and processing capabilities for handling subscriber sessions. There are multiple variants of the PSC designed to meet the processing requirements for individualized network deployments.

PSP. Peer Signalling Process is an instance of a peer server that can either be local or remote. A peer signaling process can process signaling traffic for multiple peer servers. A peer server process can be a signaling gateway process (SGP), an application server process (ASP), or an IP server process (IPSP). [SS7]

PSR. Power, Status and Reset firmware.

PSTN. Public Switched Telephone Network is the network of the world's public circuit-switched telephone networks. It consists of telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, communications satellites, and undersea telephone cables, all inter-connected by switching centers, thus allowing any telephone in the world to communicate with any other. The technical operation of the PSTN utilizes standards created by the ITU-T.

PTI. Procedure Transaction Identity. An identity which is dynamically allocated by the UE for the UE requested ESM procedures. The procedure transaction identity is released when the procedure is completed.

Pull Model. A communication model where a policy decision is requested by the AGW.

Push Model. A communication model where a policy decision is sent unsolicited by the authorizing entity to the AGW.

QCI. QoS Class Index is an operator provisioned value that controls bearer level packet forwarding treatments. Cisco EPC gateways also support the ability to map the QCI values to DiffServ codepoints in the outer GTP tunnel header of the S5/S8 connection. Additionally, the platform also provides configurable parameters to copy the DSCP marking from the encapsulated payload to the outer GTP tunnel header.

QGLC. Quad Gigabit Line Card (Ethernet 1000, ASR 5000). The QGLC is a four-port Gigabit Ethernet line card that supports the Star Channel (1 Gbps) for faster FPGA upgrades.

QoS. Quality of Service. A measure of the service quality provided to a subscriber. In the IP environment, this relates to acceptable levels of quality including bandwidth guarantees, latency, packet ordering, and other service-related levels of service.

R4 interface. This interface consists of a set of control and bearer plane protocols originating or terminating in various entities within the ASN that coordinate MS mobility between ASNs. See ASN-GW.

R6 interface. This interface consists of a set of control and bearer plane protocols for communication between the BS and the ASN-GW.

R-P interface. The Radio-Packet interface exists between the PCF and the PDSN in a CDMA2000 network.

R-P VPN. A routing domain for the ingress R-P protocol consisting of a group of physical or logical interfaces with an associated configuration. The system supports multiple R-P VPNs, and does not forward packets between multiple routing domains.

RA. Router Advertisement is an ICMP router discovery message that each router periodically multicasts from each of its multicast interfaces, announcing the IP address(es) of that interface. Hosts discover the addresses of their neighboring routers simply by listening for advertisements.

RAB. Radio Access Bearer is the entity responsible for transporting radio frames of an application over the access network in UMTS. The RAB carries the subscriber data between the handset and the core network. It is composed of one or more Radio Access Bearers between the handset and the Serving RNC, and one lu bearer between the Serving RNC and the core network. See WCDMA.

RADIUS. Remote Authentication Dial In User Service. A group of protocols used to provide AAA functionality for users through a defined server.

RAN or RN. Radio Access Network or Radio Network implements a radio access technology that resides between a mobile device and the core network (CN). Depending on the wireless standard being implemented, mobile phone and other wireless connected devices are varyingly known as user equipment (UE), terminal equipment or mobile station (MS). RAN functionality is typically provided by a silicon chip residing in both the core network, as well as the user equipment.

RANAP. Radio Access Network User Part is a 3G term that defines communication between the mobile equipment (ME) and the Radio Network Controller (RNC) and the Mobile Switching Center (MSC).

RAT. Radio Access Technologies/Radio Access Type is the air interface supported within LTE networks.

RAT-related TMSI. When the UE is camping on an EUTRAN cell, the RAT-related TMSI is the GUTI; when it is camping on a GERAN or UTRAN cell, the RAT-related TMSI is the P-TMSI.

RAU. Routing Area Update is the GPRS methodology for updating changes from one routing area to another by a mobile device. RAU is performed by the SGSN.

Rating Group. Information that identifies a user plane data traffic category and is used by the online and offline charging systems for rating purposes.

RCC. Redundancy Crossbar Card (ASR 5000). This is an interface card that provides redundant connectivity for line cards should a packet processing card fail.

RCT. Recovery Control Task is a StarOS task that controls the automatic failover and restart of other tasks within the system. Each recovery action is directed to the RCT from the HAT.

RD. Route Distinguisher is an address qualifier used only within a single internet service provider's MPLS network. It is used to distinguish the distinct VPN routes of separate customers who connect to the provider. See VPNv6.

Redirection. A message that is intended to cause a change in the routing behavior of the node receiving it.

REDR. Reporting Event Data Record.

Registration. The process by which the mobile node informs the Home Agent about its current care-of address.

Registration. This is the process of camping on a cell of the PLMN and doing any necessary location registrations (LRs).

Registration Area. A registration area is an area in which mobile stations may roam without a need to perform location registration. The registration area corresponds to location area (LA) for performing location updating procedure, to routing area for performing the GPRS attach or routing area update procedures, and to list of tracking areas (TAs) for performing the EPS attach or tracking area update procedure. The PLMN to which a cell belongs (PLMN identity) is given in the system information transmitted on the BCCH (MCC + MNC part of LAI). In a shared network a cell belongs to all PLMNs given in the system information transmitted on the BCCH.

Remote redirection. A redirect sent from a source not present on the local network. The source can be located anywhere in the global Internet and may have malicious intent and be untraceable.

Replay attacks. A security violation whereby a malicious entity attempts to imitate a transaction recorded during a previous and valid transaction between two protocol entities. Both protocol entities have to be aware that the subsequent identical traffic streams may no longer be valid. Since the previous transaction was valid, the algorithms for detecting replay attacks need to incorporate data that can never be reproduced in any correct subsequent transaction.

Reverse Tunnel. The direction of encapsulate data traveling from the Foreign Agent to the Home Agent.

Rf interface. This is the offline charging interface between the Charging Trigger Function (CTF) [for example, P-GW, S-GW, P-CSCF] and the Charging Collection Function (CCF). The Rf interface specification for LTE/GPRS/eHRPD offline charging is based on 3GPP TS 32.299 V8.6.0, 3GPP TS 32.251 V8.5.0 and other 3GPP specifications. The Rf interface specification for IMS) offline charging is based on 3GPP TS 32.260 V8.12.0 and 3GPP TS 32.299 V8.13.0.

RFC. Request for Comments is a document that contains Internet standards and protocols, along with other useful information that has relevance to the Internet community. RFCs provide developers the rules and directions on how to implement various Internet communications functions so that they adhere with, are interoperable to, other vendors' implementations of the same function. RFCs are controlled by the International Engineering Task Force (IETF).

RHEL. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market.

RM. Resource Management subsystem. This group of StarOS tasks assigns resources to other tasks within the system as they are initiated and monitors all resource allocations.

RMU. Rack Mounting Unit is a unit of measurement used in telecommunications to denote the amount of vertical space required to place a network device into an equipment cabinet or telecommunications rack. Each RMU is equivalent to 1.75 in. (4.45 cm.) in height.

RNC. Radio Network Controller is a governing element in UTRAN and is responsible for controlling the Node Bs that are connected to it. The RNC carries out radio resource management, some of the mobility management functions, and is the point where encryption is done before user data is sent to and from the mobile. The RNC connects to the Circuit Switched Core Network through a Media Gateway (MGW) and to the SGSN in the Packet Switched Core Network.

ROHC. RObust Header Compression is a standardized method for compressing the IP, UDP, RTP, and TCP headers of Internet packets. ROHC compresses the 40 bytes or 60 bytes of overhead into only 1 or 3 bytes by placing a compressor before the link that has limited capacity, and a decompressor after that link.

Route optimization. A process that enables the delivery of packets directly to the care-of address from a correspondent node without having to detour through the home network.

RPLMN. Registered PLMN. This is the PLMN on which certain LR outcomes have occurred. In a shared network the RPLMN is the PLMN defined by the PLMN identity of the CN operator that has accepted the LR.

RRC. Radio Resource Control belongs to the UMTS WCDMA protocol stack and handles the control plane signalling of Layer 3 between the UEs and the UTRAN.

RRM. Radio Resource Management is the system level control of co-channel interference and other radio transmission characteristics in wireless communication systems,

RS. Router Solicitation. The ICMP router discovery messages are called “Router Advertisements” and “Router Solicitations”. Each router periodically multicasts a Router Advertisement from each of its multicast interfaces, announcing the IP address(es) of that interface. Hosts discover the addresses of their neighboring routers simply by listening for advertisements.

RSVP. Resource ReSerVation Protocol is a Transport Layer protocol designed to reserve resources across a network for an integrated services Internet. RSVP operates over an IPv4 or IPv6 Internet Layer and provides receiver-initiated setup of resource reservations for multicast or unicast data flows with scaling and robustness. RSVP is described in RFC 2205.

RSVP-TE. Resource Reservation Protocol - Traffic Engineering supports the reservation of resources across an IP network. Applications running on IP end systems can use RSVP to indicate to other nodes the nature (bandwidth, jitter, maximum burst, and so forth) of the packet streams they want to receive. RSVP-TE is described in RFC 5151.

RTCP. Real-Time Transport Control Protocol. See RTP.

RTP. Real-time Transport Protocol defines a standardized packet format for delivering audio and video over IP networks. RTP is used extensively in communication and entertainment systems that involve streaming media, such as telephony, video teleconference applications, television services and web-based push-to-talk features. It is used in conjunction with the RTCP. While RTP carries the media streams while RTCP monitors transmission statistics and quality of service (QoS) and aids synchronization of multiple streams.

RTSP. Real Time Streaming Protocol is a network control protocol designed for use in entertainment and communications systems to control streaming media servers. The protocol establishes and controls media sessions between end points. Clients of media servers issue VCR-like commands, such as play and pause, to facilitate real-time control of playback of media files from the server. Most RTSP servers use the RTP in conjunction with RTCP for media stream delivery.

Rule Base. A collection of static charging rules configured in a system.

Rule Base ID. The identifier of a rule base.

S1. An interface between an eNodeB and an EPC, providing an interconnection point between the EUTRAN and the EPC. It is also considered as a reference point.

S1-MME. An interface/reference point for the control plane protocol between EUTRAN and MME.

S101 mode. This mode applies to a system that operates with a functional division that is in accordance with the use of an S101 interface.

S12 Interface. A GTP-U direct tunnel interface/reference point between an S-GW and an RNC.

S13 Interface. A GTP-C/U interface/reference point between an MME and an EIR.

S2a interface. Provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between trusted non-3GPP IP access and the Gateway. S2a is based on Proxy Mobile IP. To enable access via trusted non-3GPP IP accesses that do not support PMIP, S2a also supports Client Mobile IPv4 FA mode.

S2b interface. Provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) and the PDN GW. It is based on Proxy Mobile IP.

S2c interface. Provides the user plane with related control and mobility support between UE and the P-GW. This reference point is implemented over trusted and/or untrusted non-3GPP Access and/or 3GPP access. This protocol is based on Client Mobile IP co-located mode.

S3 Interface. An interface/reference point between an MME and a release 8 SGSN.

S4 Interface. An interface/reference point between an S-GW and a release 8 SGSN.

S5/S8 Interface. A PMIPv6/GTP interface/reference point between a P-GW and an S-GW. S5 is the non-roaming (home network) interface between a home P-GW and a home S-GW. S8 is the roaming interface between a home P-GW and a visited S-GW.

S6a interface. Enables transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the evolved system (AAA interface) between MME and HSS.

S-CDR. SGSN generated CDR.

S-GW. Serving Gateway routes and forwards data packets from the UE and acts as the mobility anchor during inter-eNodeB handovers. Signals controlling the data traffic are received on the S-GW from the MME which determines the S-GW that will best serve the UE for the session. Every UE accessing the EPC is associated with a single S-GW.

SA. Security Association is a relationship between two or more entities that describes how the entities will use security services to communicate securely. See IPSec.

SAAU. Simultaneously Attached and Active Users.

SABP. Service Area Broadcast Protocol is used between the CBC and HNB-GW. HNB-GW forwards these SABP messages individually to respective HNBs corresponding to the Service Area(s) present in the Service-Area list of received SABP messages by constructing new SABP messages.

SAE. System Architecture Evolution is the core network architecture of the 3GPP LTE wireless communication standard. It has a flat, all-IP architecture with separation of control plane and user plane traffic. The main component of the SAE architecture is the EPC with its MME, S-GW and P-GW subcomponents.

SAE-GW. System Architecture Evolution Gateway node is a collocation of S-GW and P-GW nodes on a single ASR 5x00 chassis. SAE-GW operates as a service on ASR5x00 and requires existing S-GW and P-GW services to be configured and mentioned inside SAE-GW service configuration. Existing standalone S-GW and P-GW services (when part of an SAE-GW umbrella service) work in tandem to present a single SAE-GW node as a black-box view.

SAFI. Subsequent Address Family Identifier provides additional information about the type of the Network Layer Reachability Information carried in the AFI attribute.

SAMI. Service and Application Module for IP is a hardware model that runs in a Cisco 7600 router. It is capable of running software applications such as CSG2, GGSN, HA and WSG.

SAU. Simultaneously Attached Users.

SABP. Service Area Broadcast Protocol is used between the CBC and HNB-GW. See CBS.

SBLP. Service-based Local Policy. This term refers to the instantiation of a policy for use of bearer resources in the access network based on Authorization by a service. In the context of Go interface this is the combined QoS given to a set of IP flows for an IMS session.

SCB. System Control Bus.

SCCP. Signaling Connection Control Part is an SS7 transport layer, connection-oriented protocol that works with MTP-3 to provide routing.

SCCP Network. A proprietary concept designed to facilitate the creation and management of SCCP parameters specific to the SGSN routing.

SCM. Service Control Manager delivers and controls a multimedia services and provides an on-ramp for deploying Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based services, as well as a migration path to IP Multimedia Subsystem/Multimedia Domain (IMS/MMD) architectures.

SCP. Signaling Control Point is a computer database that receives information request messages from the SS7 network and returns information that is necessary for the completion of calls or services. The SCP usually receives requests for a service switching point (SSP) via signaling transfer points (STPs) that determine that additional information is necessary to complete the call.

SCT. Shared Configuration Task is a StarOS task for configuring system parameters, retrieving information, and notifying system components of configuration changes.

SCTP. Stream Control Transmission Protocol is a transport layer protocol that is message-oriented like UDP and ensures reliable, in-sequence transport of messages with congestion control like TCP. See SIGTRAN.

SDF. Service Data Flow is an aggregate set of packet flows that matches a set of filters. Each flow is defined as a 5-tuple (source IP address, destination IP address, source port, destination port, protocol used above IP).

SDH. Synchronous Digital Hierarchy. See SONET.

SDHC flash. Secure Digital High Capacity flash memory card (ASR 5500).

SDP. Session Description Protocol is a format for describing streaming media initialization parameters. SDP is intended for describing multimedia communication sessions for the purposes of session announcement, session invitation, and parameter negotiation. SDP does not deliver media itself but is used for negotiation between end points of media type, format, and all associated properties. See RTSP.

SDT. Signalling De-Multiplexing Task. See A11 Manager.

Secondary PDP Context. A new activated PDP context reusing the PDP address and other PDP context information from an already active PDP context, but with a different QoS profile. A secondary PDP context may be dedicated (with associated TFT filters) or general purpose (with no associated TFT filters).

SectorID. Sector Address Identifier is used to identify an HRPD AN. The Network operator shall set the value of the SectorID according to the rules specified.

SeGW. Security Gateway establishes IPSec tunnels with HNBs using IKEv2 signaling for IPSec tunnel management. IPSec tunnels are responsible for delivering all voice, messaging and packet data services between HNB and the core network. The SeGW forwards traffic to HNB-GW.

Selected PLMN. This is the PLMN that has been selected according to subclause 3.1, either manually or automatically.

Service Based Authorization. This term refers to the authorization for use of bearer resources in the access network based on a determination by the application, possibly due to negotiation involving the user. In general, bearer resources may be authorized if the resources requested at the bearer do not exceed the resources negotiated or requested at the service level.

Serving GW Service Area. A Serving GW Service Area is defined as an area within which a UE may be served without need to change the S-GW. A Serving GW Service Area is served by one or more S-GWs in parallel. Serving GW Service Areas are a collection of complete Tracking Areas. Serving GW Service Areas may overlap each other. See TAI list.

Session Manager. A group of StarOS tasks used by the system for subscriber processing services. Each CP can have multiple session managers. Each session manager is paired with an AAA manager, and can support multiple A11 managers.

SFP. Small Form-factor Pluggable is a compact, hot-pluggable transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. An SFP converts digital electrical signals at up to one Gigabit per second to interface with optical or copper twisted pair media.

SFP+. Enhanced Small Form-factor Pluggable is an enhanced version of the SFP that supports data rates up to 10 Gigabits per second.

SFTP. SSH File Transfer Protocol (also Secure File Transfer Protocol or Secure FTP) is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management functionalities over any reliable data stream. It is an extension of the Secure Shell protocol (SSH) version 2.0 to provide secure file transfer capability.

SGs Interface. An interface between an MME and an MSC/VLR. Used for CSFB scenarios.

SGSN. Serving GPRS Support Node tracks the location of mobile devices in a GSM GPRS or UMTS network and routes packet traffic from the BSS to the GGSN.

Shared Network. An MS considers a cell to be part of a shared network, when multiple PLMN identities are received on the BCCH.

SI. International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system. It comprises a system of units of measurement devised around seven base units and the convenience of the number ten.

SID. System Identification. A number that uniquely identifies a network within a cellular or Personal Communication Service (PCS) system.

SIGTRAN. SIGTRAN (SIGnaling TRANsport) is the name of an IETF set of specifications for a family of protocols that provide reliable datagram service and user layer adaptations for Signaling System 7 (SS7) and ISDN communications protocols (RFC 2719). The SIGTRAN protocols are an extension of the SS7 protocol family. It supports the same application and call management paradigms as SS7 but uses an Internet Protocol (IP) transport called SCTP. SIGTRAN is used to carry PSTN signaling over IP.

SIM. Subscriber Identity Module stores the IMSI of an ME/MS/UE (SIM card).

Simple IP. The most commonly used routing protocol on the Internet. This is the IP portion of the TCP/IP suite of protocols used in wireless packet communications.

SIO. Service Information Octet contains general message characteristics for identifying the network type, prioritizing and delivering messages to the appropriate MTP3 user. (SS7)

SIP. Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol (IP). The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party (unicast) or multiparty (multicast) sessions. Sessions may consist of one or several media streams.

SIT. System Initiation Task is a critical StarOS task that is responsible for starting all tasks and system initialization on an ASR 5x00 chassis.

SLA. Service Level Agreement.

Slave SCB. Firmware component that allows cards other than an SMC to communicate with the SMC over the System Control Bus (SCB).

SLg interface. This license-enabled interface is used by the MME to report location information of a UE to the GLMC. See LCS.

SMC. System Management Card (ASR 5000). This application card serves as the primary controller and is responsible for initializing the entire system and loading the StarOS configuration image into other cards in the chassis. It also provides out-of-band management interfaces and access to centralized chassis resources.

SMLC. Serving Mobile Location Center is a network element in GSM Networks that resides in the BSC (Base Station Controller) and calculates network-based location of mobile stations (MS).

SMS. Short Message Service is a text messaging service component of phone, web, or mobile communication systems, using standardized communications protocols that allow the exchange of short text messages between fixed line or mobile phone devices.

SMTP. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is an Internet standard for e-mail transmission across IP networks [RFC 821, RFC 5321 (2008)].

SNMP. Simple Network Management Protocol is an Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP networks. It is used mostly in network management systems to monitor network-attached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention. See MIB.

SOAP. Simple Object Access Protocol is a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of Web Services in computer networks. It relies on XML for its message format.

SoLSA exclusive access. Cells on which normal camping is allowed only for MS with Localized Service Area (LSA) subscription.

SONET. Synchronous Optical Networking and SDH are standardized protocols that transfer multiple digital bit streams over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Source Base Station. The BS that is in control of the call is designated the source BS and remains the source BS until it is removed from control of the call.

Source Context. The StarOS context that a mobile subscribers is placed into by the system when they connect to the system through a PCF.

Source routing. A routing technique that causes some or all intermediate routing points to be represented directly in the data packet to be forwarded. This is in contrast to the typical situation in which intermediate routers rely on acquired routing state information to forward incoming packets.

Sp interface This the interface that links the PCRF with the SPR.

SPIO. Switch Processor I/O card (ASR 5000). Interface card within the system that provides input/output and management interfaces for its corresponding management card. See SMC.

SPMS. Service Parts Management Service is the main component of a complete Strategic Service Management process that companies use to ensure that right spare part and resources are at the right place at the right time.

SPOF. Single Point Of Failure is a part of a system that, if it fails, will stop the entire system from working.

SPR. Subscriber Profile Repository. See SSC.

SRE. Cisco Service Ready Engine. See ISR.

SRF. Signaling Relay Function delivers SS7 MAP queries to a number portability database. The SRF function queries the database and can route non-ported number queries to the appropriate HLR or return an acknowledgment to the originator (example, mobile switching center [MSC]) containing the location where the subscriber has been ported.

SRM. Status, Reset and Monitoring firmware.

SRNS. Serving Radio Network Subsystem is a relocation feature that is triggered by subscribers (MS/UE) moving from one RNS to another. If the originating RNS and destination RNS are connected to the same SGSN but are in different routing areas, an intra-SGSN Routing Area Update (RAU) is triggered. If the RNSs are connected to different SGSNs, the relocation is followed by an inter-SGSN RAU.

SRP. Service Redundancy Protocol. ICSR chassis use SRP to periodically check to see if the redundancy configuration matches with either decrypted passwords or DES-based two-way encryption strings. Since the configuration is generated internally to the software, users are not able to access the configuration used to check ICSR compatibility.

SRVCC. Single Radio Voice Call Continuity is an LTE functionality that allows a VoIP/IMS call in the LTE packet domain to be moved to a legacy voice domain (GSM/UMTS or CDMA 1x).

SS7. Signaling System Seven is a set of telephony signaling protocols which are used to set up most of the world's public switched telephone network telephone calls. There are many, country-specific variants of these protocols.

SS7 Routing Domain. A proprietary concept designed to facilitate the creation and management of SS7-based configuration parameters (such as, link IDs and application server processes) by organizing and grouping them.

SSC. Subscriber Service Controller provides extended centralized PCRF and Subscriber Profile Repository (SPR) functionality in the Cisco PCC solution and manages data related to service usage and subscriber profile for IP-CAN session. It is designed to be used in conjunction with IPCF running on ASR 5x00 chassis and the PPT running on Cisco© UCS platforms. SSC typically runs on a Cisco UCS or IBM Blade Center chassis capable of supporting multiple instances of database manager (RDBMS) along with multiple instances of SSC application.

SSC. System Status Card (ASR 5500). The SSC incorporates three alarm relays (Form C contacts), an audible alarm with front panel Alarm Cutoff (ACO) and system status LEDs

SSD. Acronym for the output of the show support details command.

SSH. Secure Shell is a cryptographic network protocol for secure data communication, remote shell services or command execution and other secure network services between two networked computers that it connects via a secure channel over an insecure network: an SSH server and an SSH client. See TLS.

SSID. Service Set Identifier is chosen by the client device that starts the WLAN. The SSID is broadcast in a pseudo-random order by all devices that are members of the network. See WLAN.

SSL. Secure Sockets Layer. See TLS.

StarOS. This is the operating system that runs on ASR 5x00 chassis.

Static Charging Rule. The data within the charging rule (for example, service data flow filter information) is statically assigned by configuration.

STM-1. Synchronous Transport Module level-1 is the SDH ITU-T fiber optic network transmission standard. It has a bit rate of 155.52 Mbps and provides stratum-3 timing for both TDM and packet interfaces. See Stratum clocking.

STP. Signal Transfer Point (STP) is a router that relays SS7 messages between signaling end-points (SEPs) and other signaling transfer points (STPs). Typical SEPs include service switching points (SSPs) and service control points (SCPs).

Stratum clocking. Stratum levels define the distance from the NTP reference clock. A reference clock is a stratum-0 device that is assumed to be accurate and has little or no delay associated with it. The reference clock typically synchronizes to the correct time (UTC) using GPS transmissions, CDMA technology or other time signals such as Irig-B, WWV or DCF77. Stratum-0 servers cannot be used on the network, instead, they are directly connected to computers which then operate as stratum-1 servers. A server that is directly connected to a stratum-0 device is called a stratum-1 server; it acts as a primary network time standard. A stratum-2 server is connected to the stratum-1 server over a network path. Thus, a stratum-2 server gets its time via NTP packet requests from a stratum-1 server. A stratum-3 server gets its time via NTP packet requests from a stratum-2 server, and so on.

Supplementary services. These are H.323 calling services that include call forward, call return, call forwarding and conference calling.

SWu interface. This is the reference point between the UE and the ePDG handling of IPSec tunnels. It represents the UE-initiated tunnel between the WLAN UE and the ePDG for user data packet transmission within the IPSec tunnel, and tear down of the tunnel and support for fast update of IPSec tunnels during handover between two untrusted non-3GPP IP accesses. See ePDG.

T1. A Ti circuit is a North American data circuit that runs at a 1.544 Mbps line rate. The T-1 circuit combines 24 x 64 kbps channels into one single channel, using a technique known as Channel Bonding or Channel Aggregation. See E1.

TAC. The Cisco Technical Assistance Center provides around-the-clock, technical support services for Cisco products and technologies. Go to www.cisco.com/tac.

TAC. Type Allocation Code is part of the IMEI which is available after a call is established. The TAC of the bearer is looked up in a mobile smartphone database. If a match is found, a tethering detection decision for that subscriber session depends on a subsequent OS and/or User Agent (UA) match. If required, ECS performs tethering detection for all flows for that subscriber. See Tethering.

TAI. Tracking Area Identifier. A tracking area that consists of multiple eNodeBs.

TAI list. A list of TAIs that identify the tracking areas that the UE can enter without performing a tracking area updating procedure. The TAIs in a TAI list assigned by an MME to a UE pertain to the same MME area.

TAN. Top Assembly Number.

TAU. Tracking Area Update is a an LTE procedure used to ensure that the MME knows in which TAI or set of TAIs the UE is currently located. TAU is performed when the UE moves to a TAI outside the list of TAIs it was assigned in the previous TAI Update or Attach procedure. TAU is also performed periodically even if the UE remains in the assigned TAI.

TCAP. Transaction Capabilities Application Part (ITU-T, Q.771-Q.775 or ANSI T1.114) is a protocol for SS7 networks. Its primary purpose is to facilitate multiple concurrent dialogs between the same sub-systems on the same machines, using Transaction IDs to differentiate these, similar to the way TCP ports facilitate multiplexing connections between the same IP addresses on the Internet. See SS7.

TCP. Transmission Control Protocol provides reliable, ordered delivery of a stream of octets from a program on one computer to another program on another computer over an IP network.

TD-LTE. Time-Division Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE), also referred to as Long-Term Evolution Time-Division Duplex (LTE TDD), is a 4G mobile-telecommunications technology and standard that offers asymmetric use of unpaired spectrum. It allocates separate channels for outgoing and incoming signals, emulating full-duplex transmission over a half-duplex communication link.

TDF. Traffic Detection Function.

TDM. Time Division Multiplex is a technique for simultaneously transmitting a number of separate data signals over a single communications medium by interleaving a part of each signal one after another.

TDMA. Time Division Multiple Access is one of the wireless technology classes that encompasses 2G, 2.5G, and 3G communications. The other is CDMA.

TEC. Telecommunication Engineering Center is a body under telecom commission and a nodal agency of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India which is responsible for drawing up of standards, generic requirements, interface requirements, service requirements and specifications for telecom products, services and networks.

Tethering. Refers to the use of a smartphone as a cellular data modem or a Wi-Fi hotspot to connect or “tether” tablets, notebooks or laptops to a wireless data network.

TFT. Traffic Flow Template. See HSGW.

TFTP. Trivial File Transfer Protocol is a file transfer protocol used for automated transfer of configuration or boot files between machines in a local environment. Compared to FTP, TFTP is extremely limited, providing no authentication, and is rarely used interactively by a user.

TIA. Tunnel Inner Address is an IP address assigned by a PDIF/FA and used to create the initial CHILD_SA. After authentication and the creation of a new IPSec_SA with the HoA, the initial CHILD_SA is torn down and the address returned to the pool.

TLLI. Temporary Logical Link Identifier is derived from the P-TMSI and the RA to uniquely identify an MS in a GPRS sub-network.

TLS. Transport Layer Security is a cryptographic protocol that provides communication security over the Internet. TLS encrypts the segments of network connections at the Application Layer for the Transport Layer, using asymmetric cryptography for key exchange, symmetric encryption for confidentiality, and message authentication codes for message integrity.

TLV. Type Length Value. Within data communication protocols, optional information may be encoded as a type-length-value or TLV element inside of the protocol. The type and length are fixed in size (typically 1-4 bytes), and the value field is of variable size.

TMN. Telecommunications Management Network is a protocol model defined by ITU-T (series M.3000) for managing open systems in a communications network. TMN provides a framework for achieving interconnectivity and communication across heterogeneous operations system and telecommunication networks. To achieve this, TMN defines a set of interface points for elements which perform the actual communications processing (such as a call processing switch) to be accessed by elements, such as management workstations, to monitor and control them. The standard interface allows elements from different manufacturers to be incorporated into a network under a single management control.

TMSI. Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity is the identity that is most commonly sent between the mobile and the network. TMSI is randomly assigned by the VLR to every mobile in the area, the moment it is switched on. The number is local to a location area, and so it has to be updated each time the mobile moves to a new geographical area.

TOS. Type of Service. Outdated, see DSCP Marking.

TPO. Traffic Performance Optimization.

TPS. Transactions per Second.

Traffic Category. User plane data traffic subject to the same access cost and rating type. A traffic category is identified by a Rating-Group and gathers a set of services.

Traffic flow aggregate. A temporary aggregate of packet filters that are included in a UE requested bearer resource modification procedure and that is inserted into a traffic flow template (TFT) for an EPS bearer context by the network once the UE requested bearer resource modification procedure is completed.

Triangular routing. The path followed by a packet from a correspondent host to a mobile node that must first be routed to the mobile node's Home Agent (HA).

TTG. Tunnel Termination Gateway provides access and an attachment point to the mobile packet core for un-trusted non-3GPP access such as Wi-Fi. TTG allows service providers to deploy Wi-Fi networks in order o off-load macro cellular radio.

TTLS. Tunneled Transport LAyer Security (RFC 5281). See EAP.

Tunnel. A path followed by a first packet while it is encapsulated within the payload portion of a second packet.

Tunneling. The same as encapsulation, but with additional connotations about changing the effects of Internet routing on the original IP packet.

TUP. Telephony User Part is an older version of SS7 call control procedures concerned only with analog telephony. Not widely used, ISUP is more common since it offers more extensive services.

UCS. Unified Computing System is a Cisco data center platform offering unified, model-based management, end-to-end provisioning, and migration support to accelerate and simplify application deployment with greater reliability and security. See RHEL.

UDI. Unique Device Identifier.

UDP. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) allows computer applications to send messages referred to as datagrams, to other hosts on an IP network without prior communications to set up special transmission channels or data paths.

UDR. Usage Data Records are generated by the ECS according to action statements in rule commands. Up to 32 different UDR schema types may be specified, each composed of up to 32 fields or analyzer parameter names. The records are written thresholds in comma-separated variable (CSV) format.

UE. User Equipment is a term commonly used in 3G/4G scenarios. Equivalent to MS or mobile station (commonly used in 2G/2.5G scenarios) and to MN or mobile node (commonly used in 2G/2.5G scenarios involving IP-level functions).

UE-associated logical S1-connection. The UE-associated logical S1-connection uses the identities MME UE S1AP ID and eNodeB UE S1AP ID. For a received UE associated S1-AP message the MME identifies the associated UE based on the MME UE S1AP ID IE and the eNodeB identifies the associated UE based on the eNodeB UE S1AP ID IE. The UE-associated logical S1-connection may exist before the S1 UE context is setup in eNodeB.

UE-associated signalling. When S1-AP messages associated to one UE uses the UE-associated logical S1-connection for association of the message to the UE in eNodeB and EPC.

UID. Unique Identifier is any identifier which is guaranteed to be unique among all identifiers used for those objects and for a specific purpose.

UL. Uplink is the radio transmission path from the mobile station (cell phone) to a base station (cell site). See DL.

UMTS. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System is the GSM-based evolution for 3G wireless communications. This term is also referred to as WCDMA.

Unicast/MBMS-mixed cell. This is the cell supporting both unicast and MBMS transmissions

UPID. Universal Part Identifier.

UPS. Uninterruptible Power Supply or Uninterruptible Power Source is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source, typically mains power, fails.

User Part. This is the collective term given to all information carried above the SS7 Message Transfer Part (MTP).

USSD. Unstructured Supplementary Service Data is a protocol used by GSM cellular telephones to communicate with the service provider's computers. USSD can be used for WAP browsing, prepaid callback service, mobile-money services, location-based content services, menu-based information services, and as part of configuring the phone on the network.

UTC. Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Time zones around the world are expressed as positive or negative offsets (hours or minutes) from UTC.

UTRAN. UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network is a collective term for the NodeBs and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) which make up the UMTS radio access network. This 3G communications network can carry many traffic types from real-time Circuit Switched to IP based Packet Switched. The UTRAN allows connectivity between the UE (user equipment) and the core network.

VLAN. Virtual Local Area Network is a concept of partitioning a physical network, so that distinct broadcast domains are created. This is usually achieved on switch or router devices that can mark packets through tagging, so that a single interconnect (trunk) may be used to transport data for various VLANs. VLAN membership can be configured through software instead of physically relocating devices or connections. Most enterprise-level networks today use VLANs.

VLR. Visited Location Register. The VLR caches access service parameter information (such as the MS/UE mobile number) that it obtains from a particular user's HLR upon call establishment. See HLR.

VoIP. Voice over IP. The protocol that describes the packetization of analog voice signals into digital data packets. See SIP.

VoLTE. Voice over LTE is an IMS-based specification devised by network operators seeking a standardised system for transferring voice traffic over LTE. Work on the definition of VoLTE is ongoing. See CSFB.

VPLMN. Visited PLMN is a PLMN different from the HPLMN (if the EHPLMN list is not present or is empty) or different from an EHPLMN (if the EHPLMN list is present).

VPN. Virtual Private Network is a virtual router or domain instance that enables secure communications between allowed network users and devices. Context is the work most commonly used to denote this type of connectivity.

VPNv6. This is an IPv6 VPN connected over an IPv6 interface or sub-interface to the Service Provider backbone via a PE router. The site can be both IPv4 and IPv6 capable. Each IPv6 VPN has its own address space which means a given address denotes different systems in different VPNs. This is achieved via a new address-family, VPN-IPv6 or VPNv6 address-family, which prepends a Route Distinguisher (RD) to the IP address.

VRF. Virtual Routing and Forwarding is a technology that allows multiple instances of a routing table to co-exist within the same router at the same time. Because the routing instances are independent, the same or overlapping IP addresses can be used without conflicting with each other.

VSA. Vendor-Specific Attribute is a RADIUS encapsulated AVP (IETF Attribute 26) that allows vendors to support attributes that are not suitable for general use.

VSNP. Vendor Specific Network Protocol. See HSGW.

VSNCP. Vendor Specific Network Control Protocol. See HSGW.

WAP. Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices, such as mobile phones, that use the protocol.

WCDMA or W-CDMA. Wideband CDMA. The GSM-based evolution for 3G wireless communications. See UMTS.

WEM. Web Element Manager is a CORBA-based application that provides complete Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security (FCAPS) capability for the ASR 5x00 system under management. WEM application implements a client-server architecture that allows remote clients with Java-enabled Web browsers to manage one or more systems via the server component which implements the CORBA interfaces. The server component is fully compatible with the Solaris® and Cisco RHEL operating systems.

Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is a popular technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) over a computer network, including high-speed Internet connections. The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on IEEE 802.11.

WiMAX. Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (IEEE 802.16). WiMAX is a wireless communications standard designed to provide 30 to 40 Mbps data rates (up to 1 Gbps for fixed stations).

WLAN. Wireless Local Area Network links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method (typically spread-spectrum or OFDM radio), and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network. Most modern WLANs are based on IEEE 802.11 marketed under the Wi-Fi brand name.

WLC. Wireless LAN Controller is used in combination with the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) to manage light-weight access points in large quantities by the network administrator or network operations center. The wireless LAN controller is part of the Data Plane within the Cisco Wireless Model. The WLAN controller automatically handles the configuration of anywhere from 6 to 500 wireless access-points, depending on the model.

WPOS. WinPath Operational Software (ASR 5000).

WSG. Wireless Security Gateway

X.509. This is an ITU-T standard for PKI and PMI that specifies standard formats for public key certificates, certificate revocation lists, attribute certificates, and a certification path validation algorithm. See CA, IPSec and SA.

X2 Interface. It is a logical interface between two eNodeBs. Whilst logically representing a point to point link between eNodeBs, the physical realization need not be a point to point link.

XGLC. 10 Gigabit Ethernet Line Card (Ethernet 10G, ASR 5000). The single-port XGLC supports the IEEE 802.3-2005 revision which defines full duplex operation of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. PSC2s or PSC3s are required to achieve maximum sustained rates with the XGLC.

XML. eXtensible Markup Language is a markup language created to structure, store, and transport data by defining a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. XML emphasize simplicity, generality, and usability over the Internet. It is a textual data format that is widely used for the representation of arbitrary data structures, for example in web services.

ZebOS. This is a scalable, robust and standards-based Layer 2 and Layer 3 carrier-class switching and routing software solution.