The Mobility Management Entity (MME) is the key control-node for the LTE access-network. It is responsible for Idle mode UE tracking and paging procedure including re-transmissions. It is involved in the bearer activation/deactivation process and is also responsible for choosing the Security Gateway (SGW) for a UE at the initial attach . MME is also responsible for authenticating the user (by interacting with the HSS.
The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling terminates at the MME and it is also responsible for generation and allocation of temporary identities to UEs. The MME is the termination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protection for NAS signaling and handles the security key management.
When emulating an SGW in a MME Nodal test case, Landslide supports the following functionality:
Connects to the MME using the S11 interface
Sends session information to the MME as necessary (such as at MS session establishment) to emulate a flow
Responds to requests from the MME
Tears down the emulated flow
The eNodeBs are connected by means of the S1-MME interface to the MME and to the Serving Gateway (S-GW) by means of the S1-U. The S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation between MMEs/Serving Gateways and eNodeBs. When emulating eNodeB in a MME Nodal test case, Landslide supports the following functionality:
Connects to the MME using the S1-MME interface
Sends session information to the MME as necessary (such as at MN session establishment) to emulate an MN session/flow
Performs session/flow modification updates to the MME
Responds to requests from the MME
supports the S1U interface in the end-to-end mode.
Tears down the emulated flow
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