Signaling Security in LTE Roaming

LTE (Long Term Evolution) also known as 4G, is highly in demand for its incomparable levels of experience like high data rates, low latency, good Quality of Services(QoS) and roaming features. LTE uses Diameter protocol, which makes LTE an all IP network, connecting multiple network providers, providing flexibility in adding nodes and flexible mobility management while roaming. Which in turn makes LTE network more vulnerable to malicious actors. Diameter protocol architecture includes many nodes and the communication between the nodes is done through request and answer messages. Diameter manages the control session. Control session includes the signaling traffic which consists of messages to manage the user session. Roaming signaling traffic arises due to subscribers movement out of the geographical range of their home network to any other network. This signaling traffic moves over the roaming interconnection called S9 roaming interface. This thesis project aims to interfere and manipulate traffic from both user-to-network and network-to-network interfaces in order to identify possible security vulnerabilities in LTE roaming. A fake base-station is installed to establish a connection to a subscriber through the air interface. The IMSI (International Mobile Subscription Identity) is captured using this fake station. To explore the network-to-network communication an emulator based LTE testbed is used. The author has investigated how Diameter messages can be manipulated over the S9 interface to perform a fraud or DoS attack using the IMSI number. The consequences of such attacks are discussed and the countermeasures that can be considered by the MNOs (Mobile Network Operators) and Standardization Committees

Performance analysis and deployment of VoLTE mechanisms over 3GPP LTE-based networks

Long Term Evolution based networks lack native support for Circuit Switched (CS) services. The Evolved Packet System (EPS) which includes the Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is a purely all-IP packet system. This introduces the problem of how to provide voice call support when a user is within an LTE network and how to ensure voice service continuity when the user moves out of LTE coverage area. Different technologies have been proposed for the purpose of providing a voice to LTE users and to ensure the service continues outside LTE networks. The aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the overall performance of these technologies along with Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) Inter-RAT handover to Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Networks/ GSM-EDGE radio access Networks (UTRAN/GERAN). The possible solutions for providing voice call and service continuity over LTE-based networks are Circuit Switched Fall Back (CSFB), Voice over LTE via Generic Access (VoLGA), Voice over LTE (VoLTE) based on IMS/MMTel with SRVCC and Over The Top (OTT) services like Skype. This paper focuses mainly on the 3GPP standard solutions to implement voice over LTE. The paper compares various aspects of these solutions and suggests a possible roadmap that mobile operators can adopt to provide seamless voice over LTE

Review of network integration techniques for mobile broadband services in next generation network

Next Generation Network (NGN) is intended at integrating the existing heterogeneous wireless access networks in order to produce a composite network that provides users with ubiquitous broadband experience. Currently, it has been established that Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, as a backbone network, provides broadband capacity with high efficiency, reduced latency and improved resource provisioning. Resource provisioning on this backbone network is not without its limitation as more mobile broadband services (MBBs) are evolving and users demand for mobility is on the increase. This paper, therefore, reviewed the different integration techniques for the heterogeneous networks that use LTE network as backbone that supports mobile broadband services.Keywords: MBB, NGN, LTE, SIP, Qo

Future Trends and Challenges for Mobile and Convergent Networks

Some traffic characteristics like real-time, location-based, and community-inspired, as well as the exponential increase on the data traffic in mobile networks, are challenging the academia and standardization communities to manage these networks in completely novel and intelligent ways, otherwise, current network infrastructures can not offer a connection service with an acceptable quality for both emergent traffic demand and application requisites. In this way, a very relevant research problem that needs to be addressed is how a heterogeneous wireless access infrastructure should be controlled to offer a network access with a proper level of quality for diverse flows ending at multi-mode devices in mobile scenarios. The current chapter reviews recent research and standardization work developed under the most used wireless access technologies and mobile access proposals. It comprehensively outlines the impact on the deployment of those technologies in future networking environments, not only on the network performance but also in how the most important requirements of several relevant players, such as, content providers, network operators, and users/terminals can be addressed. Finally, the chapter concludes referring the most notable aspects in how the environment of future networks are expected to evolve like technology convergence, service convergence, terminal convergence, market convergence, environmental awareness, energy-efficiency, self-organized and intelligent infrastructure, as well as the most important functional requisites to be addressed through that infrastructure such as flow mobility, data offloading, load balancing and vertical multihoming.Comment: In book 4G & Beyond: The Convergence of Networks, Devices and Services, Nova Science Publishers, 201

VoIP on 3GPP LTE Network: A Survey

As wireless access networks evolve towards an all-IP architecture, the principles of operations of communication services (specifically voice services), which have hitherto been circuit switched are being revisited. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has been identified as a solution and is potentially capable of completely replacing existing phone networks.  However, as opposed to circuit switching technology, the call quality obtained via packet switching through IP has not been encouraging due to certain issues. The increasing demands on data rates, mobility, coverage and better service quality, led to the evolution in Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to an era of last-mile fourth generation (4G) access technologies among which is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is an all-IP network initially meant for carrying data only, while carriers would be able to support voice traffic either by utilizing 2G or 3G systems or by using VoIP. This paper seeks to describe all options for providing VoIP services as a method of voice transfer over the LTE network. Keywords: 4G, Circuit switching, Convergence, LTE, Packet switching, RAT, VoIP