eNB on Telrad ePC

#1

Hi Guys,

We’re trying to setup our enb to work with the telrad epc.
I’ve heard reports of guys doing this already.
We’ve had the baicell ue’s (with telrad sim inside) on the telrad enb+epc just fine.

So far, I’ve not had my epc pickup my enb, and the enb’s mme ip is pointed to the epc.
I’ve heard rumor of a ‘patch’ as well as downgrading the epc to get this to work.

I’m looking for someone whose actually done it, and want to pick their brain. They’re supposed to be to the ‘LTE standard’ so theoretically, they should work together, barring vendor war… :slight_smile:

#2

Hanson,

Here is a detailed post from SunDot Communications (posted on the FB Baicells Operator Support Group on Dec. 11th) about how to make your Baicells in eNB connect to a Telrad EPC. Interesting note about throughput at the last bit of this explanation. Thank you so much for this!

This is what we changed in the Baicell ENB to connect to our Telrad EPC:

Under the BTS Settings:

  1. Change the MME IP to the IP address of the the EPC MME.
  2. Change the PLMN to match the Telrad EPC PLMNID.
  3. Change the TAC entry to match the Telrad MMC.

Under the LTE Setting, LGW Settings we turned LGW off, may not be neccessary but we wanted to assign our own IP addressing on the UE’s.

Under Network settings, IPsec Settings we disabled IPSec Status.

Under Network settings, Interfaces - WAN we changed the following:

  1. IPv4 address to an address on the MME network
  2. IPv4 netmask to the subnet mask of the MME network

Under Network Settings ,Interfaces, we selected Add VLAN INTERFACE. This we did to add a managment VLAN for our Baicell EnB on our management network.

  1. Provide a name for the VLAN Name entry we used MGMT.
  2. For VLAN Protocol we chose STATIC
  3. VLAN ID add the VLAN you wish to use.

Under Network Settings,Interfaces -MGMT we added and IP address to manage the Baicell ENB.

  1. Set Protocol to Static
  2. IPv4 Address set to an address on your management network
  3. IPv4 netmask set to the subnet mask of you management network
  4. IPv4 gateway, set to the management network IP of your router
  5. DNS, set your DNS server IP’s

We setup the Biacell EnB WAN connection to a Netonix switch the MGMT interface a Tagged and the MME as untagged on the MME VLAN the Terad EPC is on.

On the Telrad EPC we are running 0606.01004 software.

Finally we tested the Telrad 8000 and 7000 UE’s and the Biacell CPE for connection to the Baicells EnB. Every UE connected. For the UE SIMM’s we used Telrad SIMM’s. Speedtests were around 60-65Mbit on the UE’s on a 20 MHz channel. This was not as good as the 75-85Mbit we have seen using the Baicells EPC. We have not investigated to reason for the difference.

#3

Perfect for a sticky!

I’d found that info the night I’d posted this.
What’s more, there’s some really exciting performance reports of the baicell vs telrad in the facebook group… if anyone is interested!

I prefer a mailing list format to the facebook group and was reluctant to join. Glad I did though.

Will update this post if I find anything more to add regarding the enb on telrad epc.
I suspect some changes might be coming when you release Layer 2 firmware updates for ues…

#4

can you post a link to where the telrad vs baicells facebook group is? I’m wondering if some of the slower Telrad tests are simply due to the eNB already having subscribers on them, compared to a fresh Baicells eNB with little to no load?

#5

Baicell Owners support group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/baicellsoperatorsupportgroup/?ref=br_rs

#6

Hi
I have a EPC controller from Star Solutions and was told it will work fine.

#7

Cirrus, What does that have to do with the Telrad EPC and Baicell eNB ?
Please create a new thread for Star Solutions and Baicell enb’s.

IMHO Star Solutions products aren’t anywhere near the same league as baicell and telrad. They’ve created an EPC for mobile LTE networks, that will work on stationary LTE networks. IE: Their product is priced for the large mobile carriers and not within the range of wisps that are using Baicell and Telrad.

FWIW, the star solutions epc is approximately 4x the cost of the telrad epc for the software alone. Not worth it.

#8

If you wish to use your own EPC, then you would configure the following from the eNodeB web gui:

Under BTS Settings->Quick Settings, change the following to match your EPC’s configuration:
MME IP
PLMN
TAC

Under Network Settings->Network Interface, change the following:
Configure WAN (DATA interface) to be on the EPC subnet. This is the interface that is used to connect to the MME.
(Optional) You can also add a vlan interface depending on your network design. This is generally done if you have a specific management vlan you wish to access the eNB by.

Under Network Settings->IPsec, change IPsec Status from Enable to Disable.

Under LTE Settings->LGW Settings, change LGW from Enable to Disable. LGW (Local Gateway) is the LIPA function that separates the user traffic (S1-U) and routes traffic to the gateway of the WAN interface. This is how we are able to utilize our cloud EPC as only the control plane (S1-C) is sent to the cloud EPC while user traffic is routed locally on the eNodeB itself. When using your own local EPC, it may be desired to run all traffic to the EPC using the standard LTE architecture method. I have attached the LGW User Guide in case you decide to utilize this feature.

**After making the changes above, a reboot of the eNB will be required.

When using your own EPC, you would want to use your own SIM cards. As for our Auth and OPc data, I am checking internally on this. I am not sure if we are able to provide this info as it could be a security risk if there are any patterns in the formula used to generate this. I’ll get back to you on this part but it may not be until tomorrow.

#9

Hanson,

You may be surprised at the pricing once you start comparing like # of user support and features. For example the Telrad 2020 EPC entry price is low but only has 150 user licenses and no L2 support by default. Get a vendor to price it out with 1K users, IHSS for 1K users and L2 support and its price jumps up to more then the Star Solutions quote for a similar 1K user EPC. Plus Telrad is talking about adding an additional license to work with non-Telrad enodeB’s in a future firmware.

#10

Maybe we’ve got a good deal from our canadian vendor, but I highly doubt it.
Yes, our epc came with 150 subs default, also has iHSS+L2 by default. $5.5k. The catch is that telrad is wanting to use their breezeview software, which if you purchase it plus a 1k sub core, you end up in a similar ball park.

Not demeaning their product in anyway(Stars), I’m sure that when push comes to shove, it will outperform the telrad when heavily burdened, simply because of the hardware YOU feed it. (And no, I’m no telrad fan boy, I’m pretty disappointed with them.)

I wanted to update this thread:
So far, we have successfully got the Telrad EPC working with the Baicell ENB and Baicell UE’s.
It’s working with both Telrad and Baicell ENB’s as well as Baicell and Telrad UE’s.

At this point, it’s like playing with lego. With one brand being megablocks and one brand lego. You can pair either UE with either ENB, all on the single telrad core. Please note, this is ATM L3 only.

Which allows us to capitalize on customers who are too close to connect by putting them on a baicell. (one of the telrad shortfalls in our deployment).

#11

Rick,
Was it determined that we would have to use another brand of sim card to use any other EPC?

#12

At this point, as long as the AP/ENB is setup proper, you can use any core. (Disable LGW, set pointers as above, etc).

Our Telrad core needs the OPC and Auth codes preprogrammed into the HSS IMSI’s records. Once this is done, any sim card in any ue works, so far.

Unless Baicell has plans to change this, so far so good. I’ve heard rumors that Telrad wants the cross compatibility broken.

#13

That was my question to Rick.

In this post, he said he didn’t know if they could give us the K and opc for THEIR sims.

I understand the rumors and such. We have a telrad core also. And just like any good rumor, it has no teeth as of yet. Yes, they are going to be charging soon for a fair amount of their breeze view software and other things soon. But, not yet. I don’t think any one really knows what they are going to do yet. I’ve heard licensing will be based off of their sim cards, among other things. Both platforms have their fees.

So, back to the question. How do I get the “codes” for baicells sims, or can I??

#14

I’ve had sucess getting the opc and auth codes from both our vendors as well as baicell themselves.

Realistically, you can use any usim as long as you have the codes, the card will work.
The UE’s read the card and authenticate against the core using that cards info. As long as you can come up with the codes, you’re good… which means we can use our own if you’ve a programmer for them.

#15

Send an email to support_na@baicells.com. I know others have requested the K and OPC numbers. Sonny should be able to assist you.