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Table Of Contents
Cisco Gateway GPRS Support Node
Cisco GGSN Functional Interfaces Supported
Cisco 7200 Series with NPE-400 Processor
Key Features of the Cisco NPE-400
Data Sheet
Cisco Gateway GPRS Support Node
The Cisco® GPRS Gateway Support Node (GGSN) is a high-performance data gateway connecting General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) mobile operators' Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs) to external data networks (Internet, corporate intranet, multimedia services, etc.). The Cisco GGSN supports General Packet Radio Service (GPRS, 2.5G) and UMTS (third-generation [3G]) connected mobile networks. The Cisco GGSN software runs on industry-leading Cisco routing platforms and is based on Cisco IOS® Software technology. The Cisco GGSN connects the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel directly from the mobile subscriber to the external data network.
The Cisco GGSN is a highly scalable and versatile solution that offers a wide range of enhanced features. It allows operators to maximize revenue potential by offering tailor-made solutions for their mobile subscribers. The Cisco GGSN uses Cisco IOS Software to provide standards-based interconnection offerings across a wide range of interface and protocol options.
The Cisco GGSN forms part of the Cisco Mobile Exchange architecture. The Cisco Mobile Exchange offers mobile operators a complete solution for connectivity, control, and charging. The Cisco Mobile Exchange delivers very flexible billing methods ranging from flat-rate, volume-based billing to content-aware per-download or per-click billing. The Cisco Mobile Exchange uses the proven Cisco 7600 Router platform to deliver all the connectivity needs required, including support for GPRS, UMTS, wireless LAN (WLAN), packet data serving node (PDSN), and tunneling protocols such as generic routing encapsulation (GRE), IP Security (IPSec), and Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP).
Cisco GGSN Feature Overview
Cisco GGSN Release 4.0 is a standards-based GGSN that supports all the relevant 3GPP standards for R97, R98, and R99. It supports the Gn, Gi, Ga, and Gp interfaces as per the 3GPP standards. It also supports per-user authentication and accounting and produces GGSN-Call Detail Record (G-CDR) billing tickets.
The Cisco GGSN functions are embedded in the Cisco IOS Software, which differentiates the Cisco GGSN solution from other industry alternatives. The Cisco IOS Software within the Cisco GGSN provides a sophisticated suite of networking capabilities that reside at the heart of internetworking devices. The Cisco GGSN software, combined with its routing capability, offers the same level of quality, reliability, and scalability that has made Cisco Systems® a leader in the Internet and data networking industry.
In addition to the standard features, the Cisco GGSN offers value-added features such as VPN services and dial-like services as well as consumer-based services. One example of these features is the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) regeneration using the L2TP tunneling feature, which helps enable operators to provide remote access using PPP between enterprises and their employees or Internet service providers (ISPs) and their subscribers. With this feature, operators can help enable their corporate customers to:
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Manage their own remote access corporate users with private IP addresses
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The Cisco GGSN also supports overlapping private IP addressing, in turn helping mobile operators enable their corporate customers to use their own private IP address ranges. This not only provides additional security for corporate VPN connections but also eases the overhead on operators for provisioning and managing IP address space for corporate customers or ISPs.
The Cisco GGSN 4.0 release supports both 2.5G and 3G functions in the same platform. This allows operators to deploy the Cisco GGSN 4.0 solution in their UMTS network without GGSN software change, and support roaming GPRS subscribers. Operators who currently have a GPRS network deployed and plan to upgrade to a UMTS network may do so without changing their GGSN platform. For operators who have the Cisco GGSN 1.4 or 3.0 versions installed, the 2.5G-to-3G migration for the Cisco GGSN is simply a software upgrade.
By implementing Cisco GPRS and UMTS products and mobile-related solutions, mobile operators can optimize their networks today by deploying high-quality mobile voice and data services. They also can benefit from new operating efficiencies, peer-to-peer IP-based architecture for scalability, and IP standard interfaces to billing (pre- and postpaid). Moreover, the Cisco GGSN 4.0 is supported by the CiscoWorks for Mobile Wireless and Cisco Mobile Wireless Center (MWC) network management suites, which are equipped with fault management Access Point Name (APN) management, and configuration management tools.
Cisco GGSN Feature Summary
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Network Management
Network management functions provide mechanisms to support operations, administration, and maintenance (OA&M) functions related to the Cisco GGSN. The Cisco GGSN management has a wide range of console and SNMP management tools designed to reduce operational costs. The Cisco GGSN Release 4.0 is supported by the Cisco MWC, which helps enable remote fault management, APN management, and configuration management for the Cisco GGSN. The Cisco MWC is a suite of element-management-system (EMS) applications that enhance the delivery of new mobile wireless services. Based on CiscoWorks, the Cisco MWC addresses the element management requirements of mobile operators and provides fault, configuration, accounting, performance, and security (FCAPS) functions as mobile operators transition their service delivery networks from 2G circuit-based traffic to 2.5G and 3G IP-based services. For more details about the Cisco MWC, go to:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/netmgtsw/ps820/index.html.
GTP SLB
The Cisco GPRS solution includes the Cisco IOS Server Load Balancing (SLB) feature to provide an even distribution of PDP context among a Cisco GGSN server farm. This increases availability and redundancy in smaller-scale solutions when using multiple Cisco GGSNs and distributes load in large- and small-scale solutions with dynamic feedback mechanisms to monitor Cisco GGSN performance.
Cisco IOS SLB allows mobile operators to represent a group of network servers (a server farm) as a single server instance, balance the traffic to the servers, and limit traffic to individual servers. The single server instance that represents a server farm is referred to as a virtual server. The servers that comprise the server farm are referred to as real servers.
In a Cisco GPRS environment, the clients (Serving GPRS Support Nodes [SGSNs]) issue the PDP context activation requests to an IP address of the Cisco GGSN virtual server on the Cisco IOS SLB router. Cisco IOS SLB uses the Dynamic Feedback Protocol (DFP) to calculate the weight for each Cisco GGSN node based on the currently active number of PDP contexts, CPU use, and processor memory on each Cisco GGSN. It then forwards the PDP context activation requests to real Cisco GGSN servers based on the calculated weights. The Cisco IOS SLB feature provides a highly available level of Cisco GGSN service, through the use of DFP and Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP). Cisco IOS SLB detects Cisco GGSN failures and immediately removes the failed GGSN node from the load-balancing list, so all new connection requests are redirected to a serviceable Cisco GGSN. Therefore, Cisco GGSN software upgrades and hardware maintenance can be performed without any disruption to service.
Standard Compliance
The Cisco GGSN 4.0 is fully compliant to R97, R98, and R99 as specified in the 3GPP standards. Cisco GGSN 4.0 supports all the Cisco GGSN 3.0 features with respect to Release 98 PDP contexts or user sessions.
The Cisco GGSN Release 4.0 is compliant with the following R98 standards:
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The Cisco GGSN Release 4.0 is compliant with the following R99 standards:
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TSG 14 corresponds to December 2001.
The detailed limitations regarding standard compliance are described in the Cisco GGSN Standard Compliance document.
Cisco GGSN Functional Interfaces Supported
The Cisco GGSN supports the following interfaces:
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Cisco GGSN Hardware Platforms
The Cisco GGSN is supported on two standard Cisco routing platforms, the high-end Cisco 7600 Series Router and the market-entry Cisco 7200 Series VXR routers. These platforms are unchanged from the normal routing platform except they require special Cisco IOS Software to run the Cisco GGSN function. An overview of the hardware platforms follows (refer to Figure 1).
The Cisco 7600 Series Router is a high-performance router deployed at the network edge, where performance, IP services, redundancy, and fault resiliency are critical. Combined with a central route processor and forwarding engine, the Cisco 7600 Series provides 30-Mpps forwarding rates and up to 256 Gbps of total throughput.
The versatile Cisco 7600 Series system scales WAN connectivity from OC-48/STM-16 to DS-0 and LAN connectivity from 10 Gigabit Ethernet through 10-Mbps Ethernet. The Cisco 7600 Series delivers these capabilities while implementing high-touch, hardware-accelerated IP services through the Cisco Parallel Express Forwarding (PXF) network processor.
Figure 1
Cisco 7600 Series Router
The Cisco 7600 Series delivers up to 13 slots of optical LAN, WAN, and metropolitan-area network (MAN) networking at the network edge, helping enable service providers to offer high-value, Differentiated Services. It provides mobile service providers with the ability to deploy the advanced network infrastructure necessary to succeed in demanding, high-traffic environments. The Cisco 7600 Series enhanced chassis delivers design improvements that incorporate redundant, tiered-speed fan trays with configurable options for route processor, switch fabric, and power supply redundancy.
The Cisco 7600 Series routers accommodate a broad selection of line cards supporting numerous applications, including:
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The Cisco 7600 Series Router is an outstanding choice for multiple applications. When combined with the Cisco 7600 Multiprocessor WAN Application Module (MWAM) and Cisco GGSN software, it delivers a high-performance, highly flexible, redundant platform for mobile service delivery.
For more information about the Cisco 7600 Series, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/7600.
Cisco GGSN MWAM
The Cisco MWAM is a Cisco IOS Software application module that can be installed in the Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switch or the Cisco 7600 Series Router (refer to Figure 2). The module runs multiple instances of a Cisco application; for example, the Cisco PDSN, the Cisco GGSN, or the Cisco Service Selection Gateway (SSG).
Figure 2
Cisco MWAM Card
Processor Complexes
A Cisco MWAM can run five instances of Cisco IOS Software. Each Cisco MWAM has one Cisco IOS application image—all processors on the MWAM are loaded with the same image. Mixed applications (for example, PDSN, GGSN, and SSG) on the same MWAM are not supported. The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series chassis and Cisco 7600 Series chassis can accommodate up to four Cisco GGSN MWAMs and additional cards. Therefore, multiple applications could run in the same chassis on different MWAMs.
Cisco 7200 Series with NPE-400 Processor
The Cisco 7200 Series Router delivers exceptional performance and price, modularity, and scalability in a compact form factor with a wide range of deployment options. With processing speeds up to 400,000 packets per second, port adapters ranging from n x DS-0 to OC-12, and an unparalleled number of high-touch IP services, the Cisco 7200 Series is the ideal GGSN platform for smaller service providers.
The Cisco 7200 Series addresses the mobile service provider solution requirements by integrating functions previously performed by separate devices into a single platform. Through this integration, the Cisco 7200 Series provides a single, cost-effective platform that supports:
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The Cisco GGSN software is supported only on the Cisco NPE-400 Network Processing Engine. The Cisco 7200 Series NPE-400 offers customers tremendous value for important applications, including customer premises equipment (CPE) and DS-1/DS-3 aggregation. Key benefits include:
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Figure 3
Cisco 7206 Router
I/O Controllers
The Cisco NPE-400 is supported on the following Cisco 7200 Series I/O controllers:
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Key Features of the Cisco NPE-400
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Capacity and Performance
Cisco 7600 Series MWAM performance information (for one MWAM card) is given in Table 1, and Cisco 7200 Series GGSN performance information is given in Table 2.
Ordering Information
Ordering information for the Cisco 7206 GGSN 4.0 and the Cisco GGSN 4.0 are given in Tables 3 and 4, respectively.
Hardware must be ordered additionally.
Service and Support
Cisco Systems is unmatched in the breadth and depth of its access to resources, shared intellectual capital, and leading data and telecommunications products and expertise. This combination helps enable Cisco to provide the highest quality available in carrier-class support, solutions, and vision for its service provider customers. Cisco service and support solutions enhance the value of your investment in network infrastructure, resulting in an overall reduced cost of doing business. Now you can deliver fully on the promise of internetworking technology, with the backing of world-class support and service.
For More Information
For more information about Cisco Mobile Wireless products, including the Cisco Mobile Exchange, go to
http://www.cisco.com/go/mobile.
