Message Correlation
When I first tried creating WCDMA protocol test cases several years ago, I was struggled a lot due to the dependencies between different messages in RRC/NAS protocol sequences. But with LTE, I struggled even more. At least in WCDMA, UE send back explicit complaining message (e.g, Reject or Failure messages) but in LTE UE does not explicitely complain.. just stop doing anything and stay stucked
there. So it is far more difficult to troubleshoot those issues in LTE if the root cause is from these message correlation.
If you are not the RRC/NAS protocol stack developer or test case developer, you would not see many of these issues on your daily life.. but once it happens, it is extremely difficult to find the root cause. One tip is to list up all the possible correlations and check through one-by-one until you are sure that there is no problem with these correlation issues.
The correlations in this page is not the full least and I will keep updating as I find more (as I come across more problems in my life -:))
EPS attach type value
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM:Attach Request + PDN Connectivity Request
|
IE |
Attach request.EPS attach type.EPS attach type value
|
Target |
Message |
RRC Connection Reconfiguration + EMM: Attach Accept + Activate Default EPS Bearer Request
|
IE |
Attach accept.EPS attach result.EPS attach result value
|
Length of UE network capability contents
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM:Attach Request + PDN Connectivity Request
|
IE |
Attach request.UE network capability.Octet1.Length of UE network capability contents
|
Target |
Message |
RRC Connection Reconfiguration + EMM: Attach Accept + Activate Default EPS Bearer Request
|
IE |
Security mode command.Replayed UE security capabilities.Octet1.Length of UE security capability contents
|
EEA
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM: Attach Request + PDN Connectivity Request |
IE |
Attach request.UE network capability.Octet2
|
Target |
Message |
dlInformationTransfer + EMM : Security Mode Command |
IE |
Security mode command.Replayed UE security capabilities.Octet2
|
EIA
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM: Attach Request + PDN Connectivity Request |
IE |
Attach request.UE network capability.Octet3
|
Target |
Message |
dlInformationTransfer + EMM : Security Mode Command |
IE |
Security mode command.Replayed UE security capabilities.Octet3
|
UEA
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM: Attach Request + PDN Connectivity Request |
IE |
Attach request.UE network capability.Octet4
|
Target |
Message |
dlInformationTransfer + EMM : Security Mode Command |
IE |
Security mode command.Replayed UE security capabilities.Octet4
|
UIA
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM: Attach Request + PDN Connectivity Request |
IE |
Attach request.UE network capability.Octet5
|
Target |
Message |
dlInformationTransfer + EMM : Security Mode Command |
IE |
Security mode command.Replayed UE security capabilities.Octet5
|
PDN type value
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM:Attach Request + ESM : PDN Connectivity Request
|
IE |
PDN connectivity request.PDN type.PDN type value
|
Target |
Message |
RRC Connection Reconfiguration + EMM: Attach Accept + ESM : Activate Default EPS Bearer Request
|
IE |
Activate default EPS bearer context request.PDN address.Octet2.PDN type value
|
APN1
|
Source |
Message |
RRC Connection Setup Complete + EMM:Attach Request + ESM : PDN Connectivity Request
|
IE |
PDN connectivity request.Access point name
|
Target |
Message |
RRC Connection Reconfiguration + EMM: Attach Accept + ESM : Activate Default EPS Bearer Request
|
IE |
Activate default EPS bearer context request.Access point name.Octet2-Octet101.Access point name value
|
APN2
|
Source |
Message |
ulInformationTransfer + ESM : PDN Connectivity Request
|
IE |
PDN connectivity request.Access point name
|
Target |
Message |
RRC Connection Reconfiguration + ESM : Activate Default EPS Bearer Request
|
IE |
Activate default EPS bearer context request.Access point name.Octet2-Octet101.Access point name value
|
GUTI or IMSI
|
Source |
Message |
ulInformationTransfer + EMM:Attach Request + ESM : PDN Connectivity Request
|
IE |
i) Attach request.Old GUTI or IMSI.Octet1.Length of EPS mobile identity contents
ii) Attach request.Old GUTI or IMSI.Octet2.Type of identity
iii) Attach request.Old GUTI or IMSI.Octet3~Octet 12
|
Target |
Message |
RRC Connection Reconfiguration + EMM: Attach Accept + ESM : Activate Default EPS Bearer Request
|
IE |
i) Attach accept.GUTI.Octet2.Length of EPS mobile identity contents
ii) Attach accept.GUTI.Octet3.Type of identity
iii) Attach accept.GUTI.Octet4~13
|
|