VOICE OVER 5G – EVOLUTION, DEPLOYMENT,

TECHNOLOGY AND TESTING ASPECTS

Reiner Stuhlfauth
Technology Manager Wireless

Christian Hof
Senior Product Manager – Mobile Radio Testers
AGENDA

► Voice aspects in 5G
networks
► Various deployment
scenarios for voice
► Supplementary voice
services
► Test setup and challenges
for 5G voice aspects
► Voice in 5G – live demo
using the R&S®CMX500
mobile radio tester
 VOICE ASPECTS IN 5G NR - MOTIVATION
Voice and communications services are still growing!

The well-known 5G NR use case triangle

(source: Ericsson mobility report November 2020)
ITU vision of IMT 2020

Rohde & Schwarz

 VOICE ASPECTS IN 5G NR
Operator A Operator B
In 3GPP, the used term is voice over IP.
This implicits the usage of the IP AS HSS/SLF AS
multimedia subsystem (IMS).

S-CSCF I-CSCF S-CSCF

P-CSCF P-CSCF
Media
Path
Voice over NR Video over NR
PS Domain PS Domain
Radio Access Network Radio Access Network

EUTRAN or 5G NR
A Calls B
A B

Emergency calls + eCall

Rohde & Schwarz
 5G NR VOICE ASPECTS – DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS
There is no single technical
solution for voice in 5G!
Various scenarios are possible: 2
questions to understand the
background:

- What RAT is available and does

it support voice? EUTRA or NR?
- What core network is available
and does it support voice? 5GC
or EPC?

Emergency calls are treated

differently!

Rohde & Schwarz

 MTSI: MULTIMEDIA TELEPHONE SERVICES FOR IMS
User plane for MTSI Network Control plane for MTSI

Application layer Conversational multimedia

application
Speech Video Text
Media encoding SDP
Payload formats
RTCP

RTP RTSP DHCP DNS IKE SIP

Transport layer UDP TCP

Network layer IPv4, IPv6

Access technology EUTRAN 5G NR

Rohde & Schwarz

 5G NR VOICE – INFRASTRUCTURE ASPECTS
2G/3G circuit switched voice
Handover to 3G/2G only via EUTRAN
Assumption: 5G will not be deployed with full
coverage all over => tight coupling between EPC IMS
and 5GC (SA & NSA), new interfaces SIP signaling

EUTRAN I-CSCF
5G NR RAN
QoS policies for MtC
S1-U N26 interface N3 N2
S1-MME S5-U interface
S-CSCF
MME SGW UPF AMF
EPC
SMF PCF P-CSCF
S5-C interface
5GC N6 interface
HSS/UDM
AMF/MME query for MtC
Rohde & Schwarz
USEFUL DOCUMENT FOR VOICE SERVICES OVER 5GS + IMS

Rohde & Schwarz

VOICE SUPPORT – SIGNALING ASPECTS
Standard IMS signaling,
IMS
for 5G voice, few new
SIB = parameters, i.e. network
emergency 5GC info PANI, session
services support

Network capabilities signaled during registration procedure.

=> per “UE“ policy possible.
Valid per RAT, registration area and indicating various
aspects like: voice support, emergency support, mission
critical messages, fallback indicators etc.

Rohde & Schwarz

5GC REGISTRATION PROCEDURE ASPECTS (FOCUS ON VOICE)
AMF
UE NG-RAN

Registration request
UE usage setting = voice centric, 5GMM capability S1 mode = TRUE

Authentication procedure

UECapability enquiry

UECapability information
IMS parameters: voice over NR, EPS
fallback, voice over EUTRA

Registration accept
5GS registration result (3GPP, Non-3GPP access, both)
5GS network feature support ( N26 interface supported, emergency + emergency call fallback, IMS
voice over 3GPP flag)
Rohde & Schwarz
 5G NR VOICE ASPECTS AND POSSIBLE DEPLOYMENTS
2G/3G circuit switched voice
SRVCC *Rel. 16
Handover 4G  2G/3G
5G EN-DC: Voice as EPS fallback/RAT Voice over 5G:
Voice support: VoLTE fallback IMS voice in SA or NSA

VoLTE VoLTE
VoNR

eNB gNB eNB gNB eNB gNB

MME SGW IMS MME SGW AMF UPF AMF UPF

EPC EPC 5GC 5GC
IMS Voice over 5G NR
Dual connectivity: VoLTE + 5G data
 UL coverage due to higher freq. 5G band EPS fallback: VoLTE only  Voice over NR and 5GC
 Battery consumption  Handover to EPC or EUTRA  5G coverage needed, risk of
during call setup large #handovers/call drop
Rohde & Schwarz
VoLTE IN 5G – OPTION 3 NSA MODE WITH IMS
• Voice is using VoLTE principle.
5G EN-DC: IMS
Voice support • IMS connected to EPC
SIP signaling • IMS does not know about 5G NR
• VoLTE uses IMS SIP QoS profiles as
VoLTE
I-CSCF known from VoLTE
• Depending on UE capability, 5G link
eNB gNB is suspended during voice call or
S-CSCF kept for simultaneous data
• Challenge: battery consumption + UE
MME SGW
needs to support split bearer when
P-CSCF
PGW simultaneous data
EPC

PDN IMS SIP signaling with QCI = 5

Dedicated voice bearer with QCI = 1
Default PDN bearer as split bearer, QCI = 9

Rohde & Schwarz

EPS FALLBACK SCENARIO
SIP SIP
TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP
NR PDCP NR PDCP QoS flows,
NR RLC NR RLC Bearers,
RoHC
NR MAC NR MAC
NR PHY NR PHY

UE 5G NR with 5GC IMS

Voice, video + Audio Voice, video + Audio

suppl. services codec suppl. services codec
HTTP/ RTP/ HTTP/ RTP/
SIP SIP
XCAP RTCP XCAP RTCP
TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP
TCP/UDP IP
PDCP PDCP EPS bearer
RLC QCI 5 and
RLC
QCI 1 for SIP
MAC MAC signaling +
PHY PHY audio
UE EUTRA with EPC IMS
Rohde & Schwarz
 EPS FALLBACK SIGNALING PROCEDURE
UE 5GC NG-RAN/
NG-RAN IMS EPC
EUTRAN
Step 1: 5GMM registration
Step 2: PDU session (5QI = default)

Step 3: PDU session for IMS (5QI = 5, SIP signaling)

Step 4: IMS registration on NR with 3GPP-NR-FDD as PANI

INVITE (MO voice) with PANI = “3GPP-NR-FDD“
100 Trying + 183 Session in progress IMS voice session establishment failed
PRACK => PDU session resource modify
request with EPSfallbacksupported =
RRCRelease with redirectcarrierinfo = EUTRA + voicefallbackindication = TRUE TRUE

Step 5: TAU procedure to establish IMS + Internet PDN on EPC

RE-REGISTER (MO voice) with PANI = “3GPP-EUTRA-FDD“

2000 PRACK + 180 Ringing + 2000 INVITE

ACK (200 OK INVITE)

Step 6: IMS voice call establishment procedure on LTE

Rohde & Schwarz
RAT FALLBACK FOR VOICE SUPPORT
SIP SIP
TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP
NR PDCP NR PDCP QoS flows,
NR RLC NR RLC Bearers,
RoHC
NR MAC NR MAC
NR PHY NR PHY

UE 5G NR with 5GC IMS

Voice, video + Audio Voice, video + Audio

suppl. services codec suppl. services codec
HTTP/ RTP/ HTTP/ RTP/
SIP SIP
XCAP RTCP XCAP RTCP
TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP
TCP/UDP IP
NR PDCP NR PDCP QoS flows,
Bearers,
RLC RLC
RoHC
MAC MAC
PHY PHY
UE EUTRA with 5GC IMS
Rohde & Schwarz
VOICE OVER NR

Voice, video + Audio Voice, video + Audio

suppl. services codec suppl. services codec
HTTP/ RTP/ HTTP/ RTP/
SIP SIP
XCAP RTCP XCAP RTCP
TCP/UDP IP TCP/UDP IP
TCP/UDP IP
NR PDCP NR PDCP QoS flows,
NR RLC NR RLC Bearers,
RoHC
NR MAC NR MAC
NR PHY NR PHY

UE NR with 5GC IMS

Rohde & Schwarz

VOICE OVER NR - CALL FLOW
UE NG-RAN
NG-RAN AMF
AMF SMF
SMF UPF
UPF IMS
UE is MM_REGISTERED + CM_CONNECTED.
UE = voice centric. Network = voice support true

PDU session for IMS DNN established.

(ePCO = IM session true, SSC mode 1, always on flag true, 5QI = 5)
Optional: PDU session modification request
Video/voice added +
QoS flow

PDU session modification command

RRCReconfiguration
PDU session modification complete

IMS user plane data: voice / video added with the negotiated codecs

Rohde & Schwarz

VOICE OVER NR – BEARER + IMS ASPECTS
VoNR targets for standalone (option 2), dual Radio bearer configuration and support request
connectivity is possible
UM DRB with 5QI = 1 (conversational voice)

UM DRB with 5QI = 2 (conversational video)

AM DRB with 5QI = 5 (IMS SIP signaling)
AM DRB with 5QI = 6-9 (non-GBR video)
gNB
1 or 2 IMS registrations:
IMS • IMS DNN for all IIMS services
DNN/APN • HOS IMS DNN for home operator RCS services
AMF UPF
5GC
IMS
UE PDCP should support RTP and RTCP
HOS/DNN
RoHC compresssion and UE MAC layer should
support DRX

Rohde & Schwarz

 MTSI: MULTIMEDIA TELEPHONE SERVICES FOR IMS
Conversational Multimedia Application UE indicates whether it supports voice
MTSI user plane stack is assumed on Speech Video Text

Payload formats RTCP over NR via MCG or SCG in dual

top of IP. Lower 5G layers, no specific RTP
connectivity
settings for voice UDP

IP

Assumption: SDAP header = zero

Assumption: PDCP header = focus on
latency, no integrity check, only encryption
Assumption: RLC = unacknowledged mode
Assumption: MAC = low #HARQ process
Assumption: QoS settings: 5QI = 1 or 7
(5QI=7: priority 70, delay = 100ms, PER ~ 10-3)
Assumption: PHY supports semi-
persistent scheduling, DRX + slot
aggregation (e.g. TTI bundling in EUTRA)
Rohde & Schwarz
 5G NR VOICE: RRC MESSAGES WITH VOICE ASPECTS

UE capability information

IMS-Parameters ::= SEQUENCE {

ims-ParametersCommon IMS-ParametersCommon OPTIONAL,
ims-ParametersFRX-Diff IMS-ParametersFRX-Diff OPTIONAL,…}

IMS-ParametersCommon ::= SEQUENCE {

voiceOverEUTRA-5GC ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL,
...,
voiceOverSCG-BearerEUTRA-5GC ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL
voiceFallbackIndicationEPS-r16 ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL}

IMS-ParametersFRX-Diff ::= SEQUENCE {

voiceOverNR ENUMERATED {supported} OPTIONAL,
...
}

If UE supports voice over standalone 5G NR, than above flag “voiceOverNR” must be true.

Rohde & Schwarz

5G NR VOICE: NAS MESSAGE WITH VOICE ASPECTS
5GS network feature support

5GS network feature support IEI

Length of 5GS network feature support contents

MPSI IWK N26 EMF EMC IMS- VoPS-N3GPP IMS- VoPS-3GPP

Emergency service Emergency service Voice service support

5G-UP CIoT 5G- HC-CP CIoT
fallbackN3 data 5G-IPHC-CP
capability MCSI EMCN3
CIoT RestrictEC

0 Spare 0 Spare 0 Spare 0 Spare 0 Spare 5G-EHC-CP ATS-IND 5G-LCS

CIoT

Rohde & Schwarz

 ARCHITECTURE OPTIONS AND VOICE SERVICES IN 5G
Option 3 supports two possible voice implementations: VoLTE as legacy in LTE

Option 3 with voice support

EN-DC: E-UTRA-NR DC

eNB is the
Master Node
VoLTE using NR PDCP
eNB gNB

MME SGW IMS

EPC

Rohde & Schwarz

 ARCHITECTURE OPTIONS AND VOICE SERVICES IN 5G
VoLTE with NG-eNB and 5GC
Option 7 supports two possible voice implementations:

Option 7 with voice services

NGEN-DC: NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR

NG-gNB is the
Master Node

NG-eNB gNB VoNR over SCG bearer

AMF UPF IMS

5GC

Rohde & Schwarz

 ARCHITECTURE OPTIONS AND VOICE SERVICES IN 5G
VoLTE with NG-eNB and 5GC
Option 4 supports two possible voice implementations:

Option 4 with voice services

NE-DC: NR- E-UTRA dual connectivity

gNB is the
Master Node

NG-eNB gNB VoNR

AMF UPF IMS

5GC

Rohde & Schwarz

 ARCHITECTURE OPTIONS AND VOICE SERVICES IN 5G
Option 2 supports VoNR with optional EPS fallback or RAT fallback depending on coverage

Option 1 Option 2 supporting voice:

LTE standalone Standalone

VoNR

eNB gNB

MME SGW IMS AMF UPF IMS

EPC 5GC

Strongly recommended: LTE + 5G coexisting in parallel to support inter-

system mobility for best voice QoS
Rohde & Schwarz
ENHANCED VOICE SERVICES EVS

High data rate + good audio quality

Motivation for EVS is a mix of

speech and audio data (music)

EVS

EVS primary EVS AMR-

mode WB IO mode
• 11 codec modes • 9 codec modes
• Requires transcoding when used with AMR-WB • No transcoding needed
• Fully compatible with AMR-WB

Rohde & Schwarz

AUDIO BANDWIDTH DEFINITION
► 300-3400 Hz = Narrowband (NB)

► 50-7000 Hz = Wideband (WB)

► 50-14000 Hz = Super Wideband (SWB)

► 20-20000 Hz = Fullband (FB)

Working principle of speech codes are sampling rates of either 8, 16, 32 or

48 kHz converted into a 16 bit PCM
Rohde & Schwarz
EVS CODE RATES
EVS
EVS primary
mode
Source codec bit-rate Audio Source Controlled
(kbit/s) bandwidths Operation Available
supported
EVS AMR-
5,9 (SC-VBR) NB, WB Yes (Always On) WB IO mode
7,2 NB, WB Yes
8.0 NB, WB Yes
Source codec bit-rate (kbit/s)
9,6 NB, WB, SWB Yes
6,6
13,2 NB, WB, SWB Yes
8,85
13,2 (channel aware) WB, SWB Yes
12,65
16,4 NB, WB, Yes
14,25
SWB, FB
15,85
24,4 NB, WB, Yes
18,25
SWB, FB
19,85
32 WB, SWB, FB Yes
23,05
48 WB, SWB, FB Yes
23,85
64 WB, SWB, FB Yes
96 WB, SWB, FB Yes AMR-WB interoperable mode for
128 WB, SWB, FB Yes legacy codec compliance
Rohde & Schwarz
 SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE IN 5G NR
SMS service function
SMS over NAS (SMSoNAS) + legacy protocols,
e.g. MAP, Diameter
HSS/UDM

AMF SMSF

IMS to coordinate
SMS over IP transfer

UE NG-RAN
SMS-SC
SMS service centre, MtC
IMS + MoC SMS + connection
SMS over IP (SMSoIP) to legacy networks (i.e.
2G, 3G, 4G etc.)
UPF SIP-SM-GW
Note: SMS over Rich Communications
SMS service gateway
Suite (RCS) is not scope of today‘s webinar
Rohde & Schwarz
 IMS EMERGENCY SERVICE OPTIONS IN LTE + 5G NR
EUTRAN
MME/SGW PSAP
(LTE standalone or EN-DC)
Emergency
call over
LTE

Emergency call
S5 +
with EPS/RAT IMS LRF
N26
fallback

Emergency
call over 5G

5G NR RAN
5GC
(NR standalone or MC) PSAP

Rohde & Schwarz

R&S®CMX500 - 5G NR RADIO COMMUNICATION TESTER

Rohde & Schwarz

R&S®CMX500 - 5G NR RADIO COMMUNICATION TESTER

Future proof 5G NR signaling test platform

Independent Operating System (Linux)

Modular and scalable HW-Architecture

20 Gbps+ End-to-End IP Data Performance capability

FR2 Multiband Remote Radio Support (24 – 43.5GHz)

Single Web-based GUI for RF, Protocol and App Tests

LTE Anchor support for up to 8CC LTE, 8x4 DL MIMO

and 1024QAM (with CMW500)
CMX500 5G NR Signaling Tester

Rohde & Schwarz

 CMsquares
UNIFIED USER
INTERFACE FOR
Dashboard style: PROTOCOL, RF AND
Simple entry point APPLICATION
for all types of TESTING
applications

Rohde & Schwarz

CUSTOMER INTERFACES
REMOTE CONTROL

Sequencer
Interactive

Python

SCPI
Data Services DUT Control Measurements

NAS Data RF TX
RRC RRC gen
RF RX
PDCP PDCP FTP
RLC RLC
IMS
MAC MAC
Tput
PHY PHY
LTE NR

Rohde & Schwarz

R&S®CMX500 APPLICATION TEST
Description:

► Fully integrated „In a Box“ IP data testing environment for 5G NR FR1/FR2 NSA and SA testing

► Optimized IPv4/IPv6 and Server environment for high throughput and low latency verification

► IP measurements and integrated tooling to support 5G E2E IP throughput test and latency measurement
use-cases
► “Ready to use” and fully integrated application servers for testing common internet services e.g. File-
Transfer, Web-Browsing, IMS-Services, Media-Streaming…
► “Simple to use and easy to configure” by R&S®CMsquares interactive mode or via remote (SCPI &
XLAPI)

CMsquares
Rohde & Schwarz
 R&S®CMX500 APPLICATION TEST
Add measurements
to Workspace
• Ping
• Iperf
• Throughput
Configure IP settings
and servers

Services
Configuration

Rohde & Schwarz

INTRODUCTION IMS – IP MULTIMEDIA SUBSYSTEM
DEFINITION
►IMS is the enabler for VoLTE & VoNR, SMS over IMS and value adding services.

►IMS is a global access-independent and standards-based IP connectivity and service control

architecture that enables various types of multimedia services to end-users using common
Internet-based protocols.
Rohde & Schwarz
IMS PROTOCOL STRUCTURE
TEST SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS

Virtual phone simulation

IMS Subsytem emulation

IPv4/IPv6 infrasturcture
LTE/ 5G NR
LTE / 5G NR Network emulation

Rohde & Schwarz

TEST SETUP
CMW & CMX500

DUT IMS

Virtual Phone

Rohde & Schwarz

IMS SERVER

Use Case:
► Verification of IMS related
functions e.g. registration
procedures or voice/video calls

► Configuration of the internal

IMS server
− Switch ON/OFF
− Configure parameters:
− e.g. IP Sec Encryption
Algorithm
− Integrity Algorithm a.o.
− Perform Voice and Video calls
− …
VONR Procedure:
► UE registers to the 5G cell and internal CMX500 IMS Server
► User establishes a voice call with the UE
► 5G SA Mode
► The internal IMS Server set up the bearer with the 5G core
► Successor of VoLTE
► Call is established in 5G
► Uses IMS as service
► The user can listen to the echo/loopback voice at the loudspeaker of the DUT
enabler
► Ultra fast call setup time
► High quality Voice service

5G
EPS FALLBACK Procedure:
► UE registers to the 5G cell and internal CMX500 IMS Server
► User establishes a voice call with the UE
► Weak 5G coverage
► The internal IMS Server tries to set up the bearer and the 5G core triggers the
► 5G cell not configured for
redirection to 4G
VoNR calls
► After the redirection to 4G voice bearer setup continues / tracking area update
► Mobile device doesn’t happens and the VoLTE call is established
support VoNR calls
► The user can listen to the echo/loopback voice at the loudspeaker of the DUT
► Avoid handover during a
call @ the cell edge

5G 4G

UE is redirected
to EPC during
Voice Call setup
EPS FALLBACK CALL SETUP
5G call setup

Connection release
with redirect info
EUTRA call setup

Rohde & Schwarz

USE CASE: 5G AUDIO QUALITY TEST

Audio Analyzer
Ethernet (LAN DAU) Audio via IP
Ethernet interface
DAU USB

Audio Analyzer
Audio via analog
analog interface with e.g.
External media endpoint XLR connectors
CMX-ZG180A

Minimum Footprint Setup

Rohde & Schwarz

USE CASE: 5G AUDIO QUALITY TEST

Example Solution 1: Example Solution 2:

POLQA test with R&S UPV- or other Audio Analyzers

Rohde & Schwarz

VOICE OVER 5G – EVOLUTION, DEPLOYMENT,
TECHNOLOGY AND TESTING ASPECTS

www.rohde-schwarz.com/5G