1. 4 G LTE Pl aybook
4th Generation Wireless for
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
LGS 4G Mobile Solutions will enable mobile access to a wide variety of
end-user devices and enhance the use of cloud services for the Federal
Government. By leveraging LTE commercial wireless infrastructure
with carrier grade redundancy, 4G Mobile Solutions will deliver
mission-critical services and applications through value-added services
management such as Mobile Device Management and Mobile Apps.
This white paper addresses how the 4G mobile government worker will
benefit from fourth generation wireless technology and focuses on the
challenges that the Federal Government faces and the potential benefits
realized through LGS 4G Mobile Solutions.
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2. 4G for the U.S. GOVERNMENT —
Trends & Challenges
Mobility is a primary enabler of workforce efficiency. Mobile broadband access reduces the time to perform regular business
functions through a more rapid response to situations that require collaboration regardless of team members’ locations. This
gives transparent access to critical data and applications anywhere, anytime, on any device.
Until 2010, most second and third generation cellular networks were based on air interface standards such as Global Systems
for Mobile (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
While these standards support both voice and data, none use end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) that most Federal Government
enterprises utilize on a daily basis. Therefore, federally approved protection systems to secure data in flight and at rest
on a Federal Government enterprise do not secure the federal data over a commercial cellular network. In 2010, the 3GPP1
specified Long Term Evolution (LTE) as the global standard for 4G networks. As a result, commercial service providers are
investing in LTE networks to handle the rapidly increasing demand for mobile broadband voice, data and video.
The mobile government worker needs to use their mobile device across multiple environments with different security levels
from the home to a government enterprise to a secure government enclave. Therefore, the Federal Government has drivers
that exceed those of commercial mobile subscribers.
Table 1–1 | USG Mobile Service Drivers
USG Drivers S olu t i o n R e q u i r e m e n t s
M ob i l e S e r v i c e s »» Extend Enterprise Unified Communications to mobile devices
»» Enhance Situational Awareness through advanced wireless
»» Leverage commercial wireless infrastructure, transport & devices
Services »» Segregate authenticated USG users’ data from the public network
Manag em ent »» Authorize mobile access to apps in a USG private cloud
»» Secure centralized management & monitoring of wireless devices
D u a l- Hom i n g »» Enforce UGS mobile device restrictions within USG enclave
»» Allow USG mobile devices on commercial networks
Cov e r a g e »» Scale to smaller base-level enclaves to larger-scale enterprise agencies
B e n e f i t s o f 4 G M ob i l e S olu t i o n s
4G mobile services have the potential to dramatically change the way Federal Government accesses and provides unified
communications, resulting in improvements in Network Performance, Cost Savings, and Services Management.
Network Performance: 4G LTE technology extends unified communications to the mobile workforce, improves user
experience, and enhances situational awareness for mission-critical services. This technology offers major performance gains
over its predecessor technologies, including delivering broadband to the mobile user at a much lower cost per bit. Gains are
attributed to:
»» Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) – modulation techniques for increased spectral efficiency.
»» Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) – antenna technology for increased link capacity for better user experience.
»» Flat IP architecture – end-to-end IP which reduces latency and enables real time interactions.
1
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). http://www.3gpp.org
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3. Improvements in 4G over 3G technologies result in a 10-fold increase in throughput, 4-fold increase in spectral efficiency,
and a 6-fold gain in reduced latency.
Cost Savings: LTE delivers a single global standard, achieving higher economies of scale than 3G technologies. The
commercial wireless market is experiencing global investment in the LTE technology and user devices. For example, Global
Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)2 reports that 327 operators in 99 countries have committed to commercial LTE network
deployments. Even now, it is estimated that there are 347 LTE devices from 63 manufacturers and 72 commercial LTE
networks in 37 countries. Fueling this dramatic subscriber growth is the explosion of mobile broadband data. It is projected
that global mobile data traffic is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 91% over the next five years3. 4G Mobility
solutions provide the superior quality of service and cost efficiencies required to handle these trends in data growth,
subscriber increases, and mobile devices. The U.S. Government’s adoption of LTE should leverage commercial wireless
infrastructure and user devices, and potentially reduce service costs.
Services Management: A significant advantage of migrating to 4G mobile services is the potential to offer a secure end-user
experience. The USG’s adoption of LTE should leverage commercial wireless infrastructure and user devices, and therefore
potentially reduce service costs, increase the diversity of devices, and extend the availability of mobile broadband.
Mobile services management can be achieved through an LGS integrated
platform that manages dual-homing user devices across multiple networks
from the home to the government enterprise to secure enclaves. By providing
centralized control for device management, real-time policy-based identity
access, and real-time visibility across the network elements and application Same device - multiple networks & security requirements
layers, the Federal Government 4G workers have ubiquitous, secure mobile
services.
A significant challenge in realizing the benefits of 4G is to ensure the
security and integrity of highly sensitive and/or classified data. Examples
include authentication of user and network, centralized identity and device management, policy enforcement, and the
protection of data inside and outside the U.S. Government. Additionally, the Department of Defense (DoD) has unique
challenges such as the secure access of information at multiple classification levels under multiple authorities (DoD, DHS)
and the Certification & Accreditation process.
4G Mobile Solutions adhere to inherent, commercial LTE security mechanisms but also incorporate these security criteria:
»» Ensure security & privacy
»» Data integrity, separation, protection & management
»» Policy-based service management
»» Real-time traffic and threat analysis.
2
“Evolution to LTE,” June 4. 2012 - www.gsacom.com
3
“Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update 2010-2015,” February, 2011.
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4. S umm a r y
4G Mobile Solutions will be a primary enabler to enhance the Federal Government’s workforce efficiency. Transparent
and secure access to high speed, broadband information reduces the time required to perform regular business regardless
of team members’ locations - anywhere, at any time, on any device. A key component of the recently announced Federal
Government’s Digital Strategy is the ability to deliver and receive digital content in any format in a safe and secure manner.
LGS 4G Mobility Solutions provide the foundation to transform the Federal Government’s IT infrastructure and achieve the
Digital Strategy goals.
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5. 4 G LTE Pl aybook
4G Mobility Solutions from
LGS Innovations
LGS 4G Mobility solutions offer secure mobile access to a wide
variety of end-user devices through value-added services, leveraging
commercial LTE infrastructure with carrier grade redundancy to
deliver mission critical services and applications. By enhancing the
government’s ability to securely send and receive high speed, broadband
information – anywhere, at any time, on any device – 4G Mobility
Solutions will significantly contribute to mission success, from the
warrior on the battlefield to protection of the homeland to improved
digital services for the citizen.
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6. LTE Overview
4G Mobility Solutions are built on Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technologies, which are designed to
support high speed applications via mobile devices. With its architecture centered on Internet Protocol (IP), LTE, based on
3GPP Standards, has been designed to have excellent support for web browsing, VoIP, and other IP-based services. Through
the use of IP protocol stacks, LTE provides the first end-to-end mobile network capable of utilizing IP security mechanisms
that are accepted by many federal agencies to secure both data at rest and data in flight of the mobile user.
The “all IP” LTE architecture is shown in the figure below. In earlier wireless standards, voice switching and packet
switching were carried out in parallel. The circuit switching for voice communications is done in the Mobile Switching
Center (MSC), and data is handled in the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) or the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) for
CDMA.
2G/3G
N e w , a ll- IP mob i l e c o r e n e t w o r k i n t r odu c e d w i t h LTE
»» End-to-end IP, every service delivered over IP
»» Clear delineation of control panel and data plane
»» Simplified architecture; flat-IP architecture with a single core
LTE+EPC
The lower portion of the figure shows the end-to-end LGS LTE architecture. Mobile terminals are served over IP channels
by eNodeB network elements in the Radio Access Network (RAN). The converged Evolved Packet Core (EPC) controls all
multimedia services. The control plane and data (or bearer) planes are separate, which facilitates scaling, data throughput,
QoS (Quality of Service) and a number of other advantageous features. LTE network elements integrate an all-IP backhaul
and transport network, Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture (META), to enable low latency (less than 20 ms end-to-end)
and the delivery of high throughput in a cost-effective way. META supports a diverse set of transport alternatives to enable
the evolution to all-IP across any media (copper, fiber, wireless, satellite). This flexibility is important for potential military
uses, which can be in widely varying environments that often have limited bandwidth in backhaul facilities. An additional
LTE architectural element is the IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) Service Delivery Environment (SDE), which efficiently
manages standardized VoIP and Video services and blends telecom with web 2.0, enabling rich multimedia applications
regardless of access technology.
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7. Inherent Network Securit y
The 4G LTE standard builds in security features such as mutual authentication of the user and network, centralized identity
management, and policy enforcement.
End user authentication, tracking area list management, and idle mode mobile device access are functions managed in the
Mobility Management Entity (MME) of the EPC. The system-wide user identity is housed in the Home Subscriber Server
(HSS) database. The Policy and Charging Resource Function (PCRF) queries the policy database and enforces QoS policy.
Data plane traffic is carried over bearers in virtual containers with unique QoS characteristics. The PCRF supports dynamic
QoS management and the Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN GW) acts as the Policy & Charging Enforcement Function
(PCEF) point to maintain QoS /SLA for each of the service data flows.
»» Authentication »» Query policy database
»» Tracking area list management »» Enforce QoS policy
»» Idle mode UE reachability »» Request specific QoS
THE H O M E S U B S CRI B ER S ER V ER ( H S S )
»» Master user database
»» Supports the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network entities
»» Supports authentication and authorization of user
»» Provides information about the subscriber’s location
PCRF — Policy and Charging Resource Function
E x t e n d i n g t h e R a d i o A c c e ss Foo t p r i n t
Small cells are small form factor base stations that may be deployed in USG campus environments or on military bases to
extend commercial wireless service in-building or outdoors. The LGS portfolio of small cell products has various form-
factors, commercial RF spectrum options, and output power levels.
Alcatel-Lucent’s award-winning1 lightRadio™ is a radically different small cell product family that is first of its kind.
The lightRadio™ technology is a single, scalable small cell, the “Cube,” which is multi-technology and multi-band with
wideband active antenna arrays, deployable on a pole, in a stadium or on a building façade, putting data capacity where it is
needed and extending RF coverage. Bell Labs’ analysis estimates that lightRadio™ achieves significant operational savings
over legacy RAN systems: 66% site rental, 60% civil works, and 51% power consumption.
1
Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio™ receives first place award in 2011 CTIA E-Tech Competition honoring emerging mobile technologies
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8. The lightRadio™ incorporates Bell Labs innovations in RF, is
an end-to-end IP design with a software defined, ultra-compact
baseband System-on-a-Chip (SoC).
The lightRadio has integrated with Wi-Fi access. This innovative,
3GPP standards-based approach provides a ubiquitous and
economical alternative that may extend the U.S. Government’s
wireless on-campus footprint with trusted Wi-Fi and LTE in the
same cube-based cell. Furthermore, this solution offers seamless
and secure roaming between the 4G commercial and Wi-Fi
networks using the same mobile device.
S umm a r y
The LGS 4G Mobility Solutions, based on LTE wireless technologies and value added services such as Mobile Device
Management and Mobile Apps can deliver secure high speed, broadband data - anywhere, anytime, to any device - and will
enhance overall mission effectiveness. A key component of the recently-announced Federal Government’s Digital Strategy
is the ability to deliver and receive digital content in any format in a safe and secure manner. 4G Mobility Solutions provide
the foundation to transform the Federal Government’s IT infrastructure and achieve the Digital Strategy goals.
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9. 4 G LTE Pl aybook
Wireless Services Management
for THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
A significant advantage of 4G mobile services is the potential
for advanced end-user experiences with voice, data, and video
communications. LGS 4G solutions offer the U.S. Government value-
added services which secure wireless access, while leveraging
commercial infrastructure and components with carrier grade
redundancy to deliver mission critical services and mobile access to
agile, cloud-based applications.
The U.S. Government has mobility requirements beyond those of
commercial mobile subscribers. For example, the government should
control “who” has access to the network, “what” devices access the
network and “how” government data is handled by the network. LGS
value-added solutions incorporate an integrated approach to mobile
services management, which addresses these needs.
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10. 4G Service Management
Solutions
Mobile service management can be achieved through an integrated LGS services offer that supports dual-homing user
devices across multiple networks, from the home to the government enterprise to secure enclaves. By providing centralized
control for device management, real-time policy-based identity access, and real-time visibility across the network elements
and application layers, the U.S. Government fourth generation mobile worker can achieve ubiquitous, secure mobile
services.
Services that Secure the Network
LGS provides end-to-end managed services that secure the 4G network to the user devices.
USG
Service
Console Device Capabilities
Device Content
Subscripton
SERVICE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM
Access Management
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Network Security
MDM Identity Signaling & IP Traffic Data Source Integration &
Visibility Service Orchestration
Devices Wireless Networks Mobile IP Network IP Network, B/OSS
End-to-End Services Management
LGS services management offers value-added services that:
»» Centralize device configuration and management with policy-based rules
»» Authorize access to public and private cloud-based applications
»» Authenticate dual-homed devices that operate securely within a government enclave & roam to the commercial
network
»» Provide end-to-end, real-time visibility of government application and network traffic.
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11. Mobile Devices & Services Management
LGS leverages Alcatel-Lucent Customer Experience Solutions (CXS) to secure “What” is on the network. CXS performs
standards-based Mobile Device Management (MDM) that simplifies key user device touch points for activation, support, and
maintenance. It handles device operations and help desk capabilities to support and maintain a wide range of 2G, 3G, and
4G mobile devices:
»» Android, iPhone, Blackberry Support
»» Automatic Device Detection
»» Configuration management
»» Lock & Wipe, passwords, remote control, problem remediation
»» Applications installation
»» Multi-device-capable: handset, USB modems & CPEs.
CX Analytics (CXA) Services extend traditional MDM functions with end-to-end visibility and control of mobile broadband
services across the entire service delivery chain. These capabilities pinpoint and resolve customer issues by gathering and
analyzing critical QoE information from devices, back office, and network management systems.
Mobile Services Optimization
Alcatel-Lucent CX Optimization (CXO) Services help manage “How” a complex wireless user and network environment
operates through a powerful tool to optimize decision making and implement corrective actions. The ALU Wireless
Network Guardian (WNG) capability provides mechanisms to the U.S. Government to analyze and manage their data and
user traffic on the network.
Often wireless service providers stitch together separate performance and analysis tools to manage their networks, namely
RF analysis tools (cell performance without linkage to users, apps, devices, or Quality of Experience (QoE)), IP management
tools (aggregate IP apps, traffic, trends without connection to RAN/RF load, and performance or QoE), and customer care
tools (profile, trouble tickets, service plans, billing history without connection to QoE, usage, performance).
The Alcatel-Lucent CXO Wireless Network Guardian (WNG) overcomes these shortcomings. It automates and correlates
data and performs analysis from the user device through the network elements, thereby giving end-to-end visibility to
application, traffic performance, and anomalies. Several typical use case scenarios include:
»» Alarms on heavy users and congested cells in real time; congestion-based policy management
»» Understanding the relationship between network settings/policies and device/application behavior
»» Identifying the impact of permitted/prohibited device features on network load and performance
»» Identifying popular new “over-the-top” applications and their impact.
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