CoreControl

simple module

The control plane of the core network, one per cellular network alongside its Binder and BearerConfigurator: the MME and the control plane of the gateways of an EPC, or the AMF and the SMF of a 5G core, in one module.

As the MME/AMF, it takes the UEs' registrations: a UE's leg that connects at a base station is announced here by that base station (initialUeMessage(), the INITIAL UE MESSAGE of S1AP/NGAP; at initialization, every leg attached to its configured cell). As the gateways' control plane/SMF, it keeps a session per UE (session id 1), of the type the UE requests with its registration (the sessionType parameter of LteUe), established at the UE's first registration and released when the UE leaves the simulation. A type the anchor's core network cannot carry is an error: an EPC (a PgwStandard anchor) carries the IP types only. An Unstructured session (a 5G core's) needs a UE stack with SDAP, and has one QoS flow and no QoS rules: no ulQfiRules entry may be scoped to its UE. The module allocates its N6 address from the anchor UPF's unstructuredPrefix (see UserPlaneNodeControl), and gives it no MEC host tunnels, as MEC steering goes by the IP destination. The module programs the nodes that end the session's tunnels, and tells them the session's type, through their control-plane entry points: the user plane nodes' UserPlaneNodeControl and the base stations' connection controls (ConnectionControlEnb, whose sessionResourceSetup() also installs the UE's uplink QoS rules and static bearers). A session has an uplink tunnel at the anchor UPF (or PGW) and at each MEC host UPF of the anchor's core network, and a downlink tunnel at each base station the session's downlink has entered the RAN at; the tunnel endpoint ids (TEIDs) are allocated by the receiving node itself. The anchor is the core network gateway of the base station the UE's downlink enters the RAN at when the session is established, and it stays for the lifetime of the session (SSC mode 1): a handover only moves the downlink end of the tunnel (the path switch, TS 23.502 4.9.1.2.2), on the target base station's PATH SWITCH REQUEST, and the anchor closes the old path with an End Marker. The target's tunnels are set up at handover preparation, between the base stations over Xn, and reported with the request.

The module also delivers the QFI classification rules authored in the BearerConfigurator (its dlQfiRules and ulQfiRules parameters) to their evaluation sites: the downlink rules to each user plane node, the uplink rules to each SDAP UE's classifier (the QoS rules NAS signaling installs into a UE at PDU session establishment, TS 23.501 5.7.1.4).

Like the Binder, the module is reached through module paths supplied in parameters (coreControlModule), so several cellular networks -- each with its own Binder, BearerConfigurator and CoreControl -- can coexist in one simulation. The signaling toward the user plane nodes (GTP-C/PFCP) and the base stations (S1AP/NGAP) is modeled as calls; a separate S-GW, intermediate UPFs (I-UPF) and SSC modes 2 and 3 are not modeled.

Used in

Name	Type	Description
EthernetSessions	network	A 5G standalone network whose UPF anchors Ethernet PDU sessions: its Ethernet N6 link goes to dnStation, a host of the data network's Ethernet LAN, and its IP N6 link to a router and a server, for the UEs of IP sessions. With hasSecondGnb, a second gNB (with an X2 link to the first) lets a UE hand over. device[] are the Ethernet devices behind ue[0], which is then an Ethernet bridge (see the ethernetMode parameter of LteUe).
MultiCell	network	Two eNodeB cells on a shared EPC PgwStandard, joined by an X2 link, with a router and a server behind the core. Four LteUe terminals are placed two per cell, and numExtCells ExtCell cells can be added as interferers. With hasD2D, the network holds the D2dBinder that D2D-capable nodes need, so that '**.hasD2D = true' turns D2D on in the network and in all its nodes.
MultiCell_D2DMultihop	network	Five eNodeB cells, each reaching the EPC PgwStandard through a router of its own, with a further router and a server behind the core. There are no X2 links. numUe1 to numUe5 LteUe terminals attach per cell, and an EventGenerator and a MultihopD2DStatistics module sit beside them, wired to nothing.
MultiCell_Standalone	network	Two gNodeB cells served by a 5G core: the anchor Upf faces the data network (a router and a server), an intermediate Upf feeds both gNodeBs, and an X2 link joins them. numUe NrUe terminals attach, and numBgCells BackgroundCell cells can be added as interferers.
MultiCell_withSecondaryGnb	network	The two-cell version of SingleCell_withSecondaryGnb: two eNodeB masters, each paired over X2 with its own gNodeB secondary, and a further X2 link between the two masters. Both eNodeBs connect to the EPC PgwStandard, which faces a router and a server; neither gNodeB has a core-network link. numUe NrUe terminals attach, and numBgCells BackgroundCell cells can be added as interferers.
MultiCell_X2Mesh	network	Three eNodeB cells in a full X2 mesh. Each reaches the EPC PgwStandard through a router of its own, and the server sits directly on the PgwStandard's data-network gate. numUe1, numUe2 and numUe3 LteUe terminals attach per cell, and numExtCells ExtCell cells can be added as interferers.
MultiMecHost	network	Two gNodeB cells, each on an intermediate Upf of its own with a MecHost hung off it, so every cell has its own MEC host. Both intermediate Upf nodes meet at the anchor Upf, which carries the Ualcmp and, behind it, the MecOrchestrator. An X2 link joins the two gNodeBs. numUe NrUe terminals attach, and numBgCells BackgroundCell cells can be added as interferers.
MultiMecHost_delay	network	MultiMecHost with the two intermediate Upf nodes linked directly to each other, and with no X2 link between the gNodeBs. The length of that link -- and so its propagation delay -- follows the routersDelay parameter, which makes the distance between the two MEC hosts configurable.
MultiOperator	network	Two operator networks side by side. Each has three gNodeB cells chained by X2, an intermediate Upf that feeds them and carries the operator's MecHost, an anchor Upf, and a Ualcmp with its MecOrchestrator. The two anchor Upf nodes meet at a shared router, the only node the operators have in common. numUe_A and numUe_B NrUe terminals attach to operator A and B respectively, and numBgCells BackgroundCell cells can be added as interferers.
RnisTest	network	The topology of SingleMecHost -- one gNodeB and one MecHost on a shared intermediate Upf, with a Ualcmp and a MecOrchestrator behind the anchor Upf -- without its playground size parameters. numUes NrUe terminals attach to the gNodeB.
SingleCell	network	The minimal LTE topology: one eNodeB connected to an EPC PgwStandard, which faces a router and a server, plus numUe LteUe terminals.
SingleCell_D2D	network	SingleCell with its UEs split into three vectors, so that a configuration can address cellular terminals (ueCell), D2D transmitters (ueD2DTx) and D2D receivers (ueD2DRx) separately. The rest of the topology is the same: one eNodeB on an EPC PgwStandard, with a router and a server behind it.
SingleCell_D2DMulticast	network	SingleCell with its UEs split into cellular terminals (ueCell) and members of a D2D multicast group (ueD2D). The rest of the topology is the same: one eNodeB on an EPC PgwStandard, with a router and a server behind it.
SingleCell_Standalone	network	One gNodeB served by a 5G core: the anchor Upf faces the data network (a router and a server), and an intermediate Upf sits between it and the gNodeB. numUe NrUe terminals attach to the gNodeB, and numBgCells BackgroundCell cells can be added around it as interferers.
SingleCell_Standalone_D2D	network	SingleCell_Standalone with its UEs split into three vectors, so that a configuration can address cellular terminals (ueCell), D2D transmitters (ueD2DTx) and D2D receivers (ueD2DRx) separately. The rest of the topology is the same: one gNodeB behind an intermediate and an anchor Upf, with a router and a server on the data network, plus numBgCells BackgroundCell interferers.
SingleCell_withSecondaryEnb	network	The mirror image of SingleCell_withSecondaryGnb: here the gNodeB is the master node and the eNodeB is its secondary, so the UE is anchored on its NR stack and its LTE stack carries the secondary cell group. All data-plane traffic enters at the gNodeB.
SingleCell_withSecondaryGnb	network	An EN-DC topology: an eNodeB master paired over X2 with a gNodeB secondary. The eNodeB is the only node with a core-network link -- an EPC PgwStandard facing a router and a server -- so all data-plane traffic enters there, and the gNodeB contributes its radio leg alone. numUe NrUe terminals attach to both, and numBgCells BackgroundCell cells can be added as interferers.
SingleMecHost	network	One gNodeB and one MecHost hung off the same intermediate Upf, behind an anchor Upf that carries the Ualcmp and, behind it, the MecOrchestrator. numUes NrUe terminals attach to the gNodeB.
UrbanNetwork	network	(no description)

Parameters

Name	Type	Default value	Description
binderModule	string	"binder"
bearerConfiguratorModule	string	"bearerConfigurator"

Properties

Name	Value	Description
display	i=block/cogwheel

Source code

//
// The control plane of the core network, one per cellular network alongside its
// ~Binder and ~BearerConfigurator: the MME and the control plane of the gateways of
// an EPC, or the AMF and the SMF of a 5G core, in one module.
//
// As the MME/AMF, it takes the UEs' registrations: a UE's leg that connects at a
// base station is announced here by that base station (initialUeMessage(), the
// INITIAL UE MESSAGE of S1AP/NGAP; at initialization, every leg attached to its
// configured cell). As the gateways' control plane/SMF, it keeps a session per
// UE (session id 1), of the type the UE requests with its registration (the
// sessionType parameter of ~LteUe), established at the UE's first registration and
// released when the UE leaves the simulation. A type the anchor's core network cannot
// carry is an error: an EPC (a ~PgwStandard anchor) carries the IP types only. An
// Unstructured session (a 5G core's) needs a UE stack with SDAP, and has one QoS
// flow and no QoS rules: no ulQfiRules entry may be scoped to its UE. The module
// allocates its N6 address from the anchor UPF's unstructuredPrefix (see
// ~UserPlaneNodeControl), and gives it no MEC host tunnels, as MEC steering goes by
// the IP destination. The module programs the nodes that end the session's
// tunnels, and tells them the session's type, through their control-plane entry
// points: the user plane nodes' ~UserPlaneNodeControl and the base stations'
// connection controls (~ConnectionControlEnb, whose sessionResourceSetup() also
// installs the UE's uplink QoS rules and static bearers). A session has an uplink
// tunnel at the anchor UPF (or PGW) and at each MEC host UPF of the anchor's core
// network, and a downlink tunnel at each base station the session's downlink has
// entered the RAN at; the tunnel endpoint ids (TEIDs) are allocated by the receiving
// node itself. The anchor is the core network gateway of the base station the UE's
// downlink enters the RAN at when the session is established, and it stays for the
// lifetime of the session (SSC mode 1): a handover only moves the downlink end of the
// tunnel (the path switch, TS 23.502 4.9.1.2.2), on the target base station's PATH
// SWITCH REQUEST, and the anchor closes the old path with an End Marker. The target's
// tunnels are set up at handover preparation, between the base stations over Xn, and
// reported with the request.
//
// The module also delivers the QFI classification rules authored in the
// ~BearerConfigurator (its dlQfiRules and ulQfiRules parameters) to their evaluation
// sites: the downlink rules to each user plane node, the uplink rules to each
// SDAP UE's classifier (the QoS rules NAS signaling installs into a UE at PDU session
// establishment, TS 23.501 5.7.1.4).
//
// Like the ~Binder, the module is reached through module paths supplied in
// parameters (coreControlModule), so several cellular networks -- each with its own
// Binder, BearerConfigurator and CoreControl -- can coexist in one simulation. The
// signaling toward the user plane nodes (GTP-C/PFCP) and the base stations (S1AP/NGAP)
// is modeled as calls; a separate S-GW, intermediate UPFs (I-UPF) and SSC modes 2 and
// 3 are not modeled.
//
simple CoreControl
{
    parameters:
        @display("i=block/cogwheel");
        string binderModule = default("binder");
        string bearerConfiguratorModule = default("bearerConfigurator");
}

File: src/simu5g/corenetwork/coreControl/CoreControl.ned