8/25/2017 VoLTE Call Flow and Procedures - Voice Over IP Tutorial

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VoLTE Call Flow and Procedures

VoLTE Call Flow and Procedures

VoLTE call ow and procedures is very big area to cover because of the many scenarios to consider
from both UE and network perspective.

In this article I will try to put some examples of VoLTE call ow from UE point of view. These
procedures are the most important for VOLTE calls.

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From the UEs point of view the initial step is to camp on the network and read system information in
the form of Master Information Blocks (MIBs) and System Information Blocks (SIBs). Once that
information has been processed the UE can initiate its own processes.

EPS Attach for VoIP and Default Bearer Setup

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Lets discuss how UE attach to network after camping on and how default bearer is created for IMS
services. We are discussing the whole procedure from UE point of view. This process consists of some
important sub-procedures as follows:

PDN Connectivity
Authentication
Bearer Setup and EPS Attach
P-SCCF Discovery

PDN Connectivity

UE starts connection by sending RRC Connection Request message. This is similar to UMTS
registration. This is a UE originated message and it contains important information as what the UE
wants.

For example the cause value in RRC Connection Request can be Mobile Originated Signalling or
Emergency. If there is no problem in the network then network or eNodeB will respond with RRC
Connection Setup message. This message contains signalling radio bearer information and is
transmitted over downlink DCCH (Dedicated Control Channel) channel.

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After receiving the RRC Connection Setup message UE responds with RRC Connection Complete
message. At this point Attach Request is already sent to the network which is an exception from old
UMTS system.

Authentication

To protect UE and network from security and man in the middle attacks all UEs in the network need to
be checked and secured before they can use any network resources. To begin this process network
send Authentication Request message or a challenge to make sure the UE is a valid entity. In
response UE sends Authentication Response.

After that network sends Security Mode Command to UE. IT is also good to know that Security Mode
Command is integrity protected. This message carries vital information on ciphering. In response UE
sends Security Mode Complete message.

In order to protect EPS Session Management (ESM) information, the network now sends an ESM
Information Request; the UE reacts with an ESM Information response describing the now-protected
protocol con guration options.

Bearer Setup

At this point network must set up additional bearers to carry out IMS VoLTE call. To establish EPS bearer
network sends Radio Bearer Recon guration message. UE responds with Radio Bearer
Recon guration Complete message.

P-CSCF Discovery

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Before sending any Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) requests, the UE must perform P-CSCF Discovery,
the process of identifying (by address) the correct Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF). The
P-CSCF address may be discovered in one of three di erent ways:

It may be stored in the IP Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM).

The UE may request it as part of the PDN connectivity request during the Attach process.
The UE may request an IP address and Fully Quali ed Domain Name (FQDN) from a DHCP server
and then perform a DNS query on the returned IP address and FQDN.

SIP IMS Call Flow

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SIP Registration

After UE nishes radio procedures and it establishes radio bearers UE can start SIP registration towards
the IMS for VoLTE call.

Here is a typical IMS SIP registration call ow.

1. The IMS client attempts to register by sending a REGISTER request to the P-CSCF.
2. The P-CSCF forwards the REGISTER request to the I-CSCF.
3. The I-CSCF polls the HSS for data used to decide which S-CSCF should manage the REGISTER
request. The I-CSCF then makes that decision.
4. The I-CSCF forwards the REGISTER request to the appropriate S-CSCF.
5. The S-CSCF typically sends the P-CSCF a 401 (UNAUTHORIZED) response as well as a challenge
string in the form of a number used once or nonce.
6. The P-CSCF forwards the 401 UNAUTHORIZED response to the UE.
7. Both the UE and the network have stored some Shared Secret Data (SSD), the UE in its ISIM or
USIM and the network on the HSS. The UE uses an algorithm per RFC 33101 (e.g. AKAv2-MD5) to
hash the SSD and the nonce.
8. The UE sends a REGISTER request to the P-CSCF. This time the request includes the result of the
hashed nonce and SSD.
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9. The P-CSCF forwards the new REGISTER request to the I-CSCF.

10. The I-CSCF forwards the new REGISTER request to the S-CSCF.
11. The S-CSCF polls the HSS (via the I-CSCF) for the SSD, hashes it against the nonce and determines
whether the UE should be allowed to register. Assuming the hashed values match, the S-CSCF
sends 200 OK response to the P-CSCF. At this point an IPSec security association is established
by the P-CSCF.
12. The P-CSCF forwards the 200 OK response to the UE.

NOTE: It is typical that UE makes a deliberate unauthenticated registration attempt. It waits for the
expected 401 response, extracts the nonce from the response and hashes it with the SSD before
including the result in a second REGISTER request.

QoS Class Identifier (QCI)

QCI parameter generally targets a speci c service type based on delay and packet loss requirements.
For VoLTE call the bearer is associated with QCI value from row 1 as described in the following table.

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Chapter #5 IMS SIP Requests and Codes

5 COMMENTS

Makarand
2 years ago Permalink

What happens in case Inroamer(other network IMS customer roaming on your IMS network) is
initiating the call?

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El Boricua
2 years ago Permalink

I keep getting Volte Drop Calls with Error Internal Cause Code:(503) SIP 503 SERVICE UNAVAILABLE

Sanjana
10 months ago Permalink

Is there any way we can use the normal LTE phones for VOLTE? Recently the Jio sim was out and is
running based on the VOLTE service. I found an article explaining VOLTE here
http://www.techandseo.com/2016/10/volte-call- ow-voice-over-lte
But it discussed how to enable it in ios 8. nothing more.
Can you help me with this?
I use an iPhone 7 Plus

3gLteInfo
10 months ago Permalink

If iPhone 7 has Jio con guration enabled in the modem, VoLTE should be up. Otherwise check
with operator.

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sandy
4 months ago Permalink

Why subscribe and notify is sent after registration?

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