SAE and the Evolved Packet Core: Driving the Mobile Broadband Revolution

This book provides a clear, concise, complete and authoritative introduction to System Architecture Evolution (SAE) standardization work and its main outcome: the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), including potential services and operational scenarios. After providing an insightful overview of SAE’s historical development, the book gives detailed explanations of the EPC architecture and key concepts as an introduction. In-depth technical descriptions of EPC follow, including thorough functional accounts of the different components of EPC, protocols, network entities and procedures. Case studies of deployment scenarios show how the functions described within EPC are placed within a live network context, while a description of the services that are predicted to be used shows what EPC as a core network can enable.

This book is an essential resource for professionals and students who need to understand the latest developments in SAE and EPC, the 'engine' that connects broadband access to the internet.

All of the authors have from their positions with Ericsson been actively involved in GPRS, SAE and 3GPP from a business and technical perspective for many years. Several of the authors have also been actively driving the standardization efforts within 3GPP.

"There is no doubt that this book, which appears just when the mobile industry starts its transition away from legacy GSM/GPRS and UMTS networks into the future will become the reference work on SAE/LTE. There are no better qualified persons than the authors of this book to provide both communication professionals and an interested general public with insights into the inner workings of SAE/LTE. Not only are they associated with one of the largest mobile network equipment vendors in the world, they have all actively contributed to and, in some cases, been the driving forces behind the development of SAE/LTE within 3GPP." - from the foreword by Dr. Ulf Nilsson, TeliaSonera R&D, Mobility Core and Connectivity

"The authors have done an excellent job in writing this book. Their familiarity with the requirements, concepts and solution alternatives, as well as the standardization work allows them to present the material in a way that provides easy communication between Architecture and Standards groups and Planning/ Operational groups within service provider organizations." - from the foreword by Dr. Kalyani Bogineni, Principal Architect, Verizon

• Up-to-date coverage of SAE including the latest standards development
• Easily accessible overview of the architecture and concepts defined by SAE
• Thorough description of the Evolved Packet Core for LTE, fixed and other wireless accesses
• Comprehensive explanation of SAE key concepts, security and Quality-of-Service
• Covers potential service and operator scenarios including interworking with existing 3GPP and 3GPP2 systems
• Detailed walkthrough of network entities, protocols and procedures
• Written by established experts in the SAE standardization process, all of whom have extensive experience and understanding of its goals, history and vision

Magnus Olsson is an expert in system architecture and standardization at Ericsson. He has worked with the overall mobile network architecture since joining Ericsson in 1995 and has over 10 years of experience in the standardization of mobile systems. He served as the chairman of 3GPP TSG SA WG2 (Architecture Working Group) for four years and has contributed to numerous specifications within this forum. He has been involved in driving the System Architecture Evolution (SAE) work item since its inception within 3GPP. He holds an MSc in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering from the Linköping Institute of Technology.

Dr Cathy Mulligan is a Visiting Researcher at Imperial College and was a founding Co-Director of the ICL Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering. She is also a Senior Research Associate at University College where she is Chief Technology Officer of the GovTech Lab and DataNet, which focuses on the potential and application of blockchain, AI and advanced communications technologies as a foundational part of the world’s economy. Cathy is an expert and fellow of the World Economic Forum’s Blockchain council and has recently become a member of the United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Digital Co-Operation. She holds a PhD and MPhil from the University of Cambridge and is the author of several books on telecommunications including EPC and IoT.

Stefan Rommer is a Senior Specialist at Ericsson in Gothenburg, Sweden. Since joining Ericsson in 2001 he has worked with different areas of telecommunications, primarily with packet core network standardization and development. He has been involved in 5G standardization from the start and participated actively in 3GPP for several years. Stefan holds an M.Sc. in engineering physics and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics, both from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

Shabnam Sultana is an expert in standardization architecture at Ericsson. She has worked with the overall mobile network architecture since joining Ericsson in 1993 and has over 15 years of experience in the standardization of mobile systems. She has worked in the areas of North American Systems and associated Standards prior to joining 3GPP. She has been involved in driving the IP Multimedia System (IMS) and System Architecture Evolution (SAE) work since their inception within 3GPP. She holds an Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.

Lars Frid is a Director of Strategic Product Management of 5G Core Networks at Ericsson, currently based in Stockholm, Sweden. He has over 25 years of experience of working with wireless data communications in Sweden and in Silicon Valley, California, US. His area of work has covered global standards and technologies for 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile data communications, as well as IP routing, satellite systems, and dedicated mobile data systems for industries and enterprises.His current priorities is to drive product strategies for 5G systems, with a specific focus on business modelling and business development in relation to 5G network architectures and capabilities.Lars holds several patents in mobile communications and is the co-author of two books. He has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from studies at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine in London, UK.