LAWFUL INTERCEPTION ITEMS FOR VOLTE

by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione

VoLTE, Voice over Long Term Evolution (LTE), is a standard-based technology used to support voice calls over the LTE technology being now used by 4G wireless networks.

1.     Introduction
VoLTE, Voice over Long Term Evolution (LTE), is a standard-based technology, defined by the GSMA based on 3GPP Technical Specifications, used to support voice calls over the LTE technology being now used by 4G wireless networks.

VoLTE provides subscribers with natural-sounding high-definition voice services, crisp and clear as if you were face to face. Voice calls are maintained on LTE network as for data allowing to keep 4G data sessions (e.g. browsing or file downloading) while talking. Furthermore, due to LTE connectivity bandwidth, network operators may provide conference call services with high quality, and during a VoLTE call users may share content such as photos and video clips, upgrade the audio call to a video call and establish a multi-party high quality call.
At the end of 2015 there were more than 100 million VoLTE subscriptions. The uptake is expected to accelerate in the coming years, with 2.3 billion subscriptions projected by 2021. US, Canada, Japan and South Korea, are estimated to have around 80 percent of LTE subscriptions using VoLTE by 2021. In addition, the penetration of VoLTE-capable smartphones is increasing rapidly (e.g. more than 340 VoLTE-enabled smartphone models commercialized at April 2016 supporting different regions and frequencies).

Lawful Interception per gli Operatori di Tlc

The LTE standard only supports packet switching with its all-IP network. Voice calls in GSM, UMTS and CDMA2000 are circuit switched, so with the adoption of LTE, the Network Operators have to re-engineer their voice call network. VoLTE approach is based on the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, with specific profiles for control and media planes of voice service on LTE. GSMA specification IR.92 [1] defines a voice over IMS profile by listing a number of Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) , Evolved Packet Core (EPC), IMS core, and UE features that are considered essential to launch interoperable IMS based voice.
VoLTE Service Description is provided by [11] which describes the logical architecture based on the relevant components in terms of VoLTE UE, LTE, EPC, and the IMS Core Network.

The VoLTE approach results in the voice service (control and media planes) being delivered as data flows within the LTE data bearer: there is no dependency on (or ultimately, requirement for) the legacy Circuit Switch voice network to be maintained.
ETSI refers to 3GPP specifications to define alternative specific functionalities such as CSFB (Circuit Switched Fallback, [10] see note 1) and SRVCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity, [9]) that allows a smooth interaction between LTE networks and GSM/WCDMA networks, in order to have coexistence and easy network upgrade.

Lawful Interception per gli Operatori di Tlc

2.     Lawful Interception (LI)
Lawful Interception (LI) items for VoLTE have being addressed by ETSI primarily by means of a Study Report (SR 003 292) on items for LTE and IMS [2].
The interception of VoLTE is deployed as an interception of packetized services by using the Access Session Border Controller (ref. clause 7A of [6]) as the point of intercept, due to the available access to both the IMS signaling and the media. Deeply, the interception of Intercept Related Information (IRI) can be located in the IP Multimedia System at the level of the IMS Proxy or Serving Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF and S-CSCF). This intercept configuration is identified by Figure 1d of [6] which identifies also the administrative interface X1_1 from ADMF towards CSCF’s which provide the raw IRI to the MF/DF entities mapping them into HI2 external format to LEA.
The interception of CC for basic VoLTE call can be located in the IMS GWs or Packet Data Gateway (PDN-GW) which forwards data to the MF/DF entities formatting it into HI3 external format towards LEA.
In addition, the interception of non-IMS traffic (not covered by IMS based VoLTE interception) may be addressed by Evolved Packet Interception (EPC) as defined by [6] and [7].

The applicable standards of VoLTE for Handover Interfaces are not uniquely defined. [2] provides indications on Pro and Con on their usage to deliver intercepted data to LEMF. ETSI refers to the 3GPP specifications [6] and [7] to address the latest development of 3GPP services with target identification based on TEL URI, SIP URI, IMSI, MSISDN, IMEI, NAI.  More LEMF user friendly and resilient system related to HI3 are provided by selecting the ETSI HI TS 102 232 parts for IMS [4] in conjunction with [3] which provides also application keep alive. IMSI is not included as possible target identities.  ETSI has indicated the additional HI IP delivery mechanism with the 3GPP data of [7] delivered via ETSI mobile service TS 102 232-7 [5] in conjunction of [3].

VoLTE roaming is a major standard issue for LI with reference to the two IMS voice architectures of Local Breakout (LBO) and S8 Home Routing (S8HR). 3GPP is studying LI for S8HR by means of a Technical Report [8] whose primary scope is to identify the changes to the LI architecture, function and protocols for inbound roamers in the VPLMN when S8HR is employed to allow the same level of LI functionalities as for LBO in the VPLMN for VoLTE services. ©

NOTES
Note 1 : CSFB (Circuit Switched Fallback) is VoLTE, where LTE just provides data services, and when a voice call is to be initiated or received, it will fall back to the CS domain. When using this solution, CSP’s just need to upgrade the MSC instead of deploying the IMS, and therefore, can provide services quickly. However, the disadvantage is longer call setup delay.

REFERENCES
GSMA IR.92 v7.0 “IMS Profile for Voice and SMS”
ETSI SR 003 292 LTE Frequently Asked Questions and Implementation Guidance”
ETSI TS 102 232-1 Lawful Interception (LI); Handover Interface and Service-Specific Details (SSD) for IP delivery; Part 1: Handover specification for IP delivery v3.11.1 (2016-03)
ETSI TS 102 232-5 Lawful Interception (LI); Handover Interface and Service-Specific Details (SSD) for IP delivery; Part 5: Service-specific details for IP Multimedia Services v3.5.1 (2015-10)
ETSI TS 102 232-7 Lawful Interception (LI); Handover Interface and Service-Specific Details (SSD) for IP delivery; Part 7: Service-specific details for Mobile Services v3.3.1 (2016-03)
ETSI TS 133 107 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; 3G security; Lawful interception architecture and functions (3GPP TS 33.107 version 13.2.0 Release 13) (2016-04)
ETSI TS 133 108 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; 3G security; Handover interface for Lawful Interception (LI) (3GPP TS 33.108 version 13.1.0 Release 13)
3GPP TS 33.827 v0.0.1: “Study on Providing for LI in the S8 Home Routing Architecture for VoLTE (Release 14)”
ETSI TS 123 216 V13.1.0 (2016-03) Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC); Stage 2 (3GPP TS 23.216 version 13.1.0 Release 13)
ETSI TS 123 272 V13.3.0 (2016-04) Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+) (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Circuit Switched (CS) fallback in Evolved Packet System (EPS); Stage 2 (3GPP TS 23.272 version 13.3.0 Release 13
GSMA FCM.01 – VoLTE Service Description and Implementation Guidelines.

Other articles of Gerald McQuaid

ETSI LI & RD Status (Sept. 2019)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXIX)
This article highlights the relevant ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) as update to the previous article of February 2017. The 2018th and 2019th period work items are described in the following section.

ETSI INTERFACE TO IMPLEMENT EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION ORDERS (EIOs)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXVIII)
The ETSI work to provide a Technical Specification (TS) to support the Directive 2014/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 regarding the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters [1] had started in 2016 and was carried on during all 2017 and 2018 on all technical aspects of the new interface resulting now finalized with the publication of a first version of the Inter LEMF Handover Interface (ILHI) [4]. This specification provides LEMF’s with all implementation details to allow LI data transferring from one LEMF located in the country B (responding country where a target abroad is requested to be intercepted) to a LEMF located in the country A (requesting country where the request of interception is originated).

LAWFUL INTERCEPTION IN VIRTUALIZED NETWORKS (Sept. 2017)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXVII)
NFV refers to the replacement of traditional specialised hardware devices with software that can be installed on standardised, off-the-shelf piece of hardware. ETSI work on NFV was initially set to address a requirement to define a list of base security requirements imposed by lawful interception in the NFV architecture.

ETSI LI & RD Status (Feb. 2017)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. I_MMXVII)
Current ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) is managed mainly by three main standardization committees: ETSI TC LI (the leading LI/RD group), TC CYBER and ISG NFV

LEMF TO LEMF INTERFACE TO SUPPORT EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION ORDERS (EIOs)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. IV_MMXVI)
Imminently, the Directive 2014/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 regarding the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters [1] is expected to become part of the EU-nations’ national laws. This EU directive requires each European Member State to transpose the directive into national law by 22 May 2017 (Article 33). This EIO describes the possibilities about lawful interception (LI) of telecommunications and collection of traffic and location retained data (RD) extended to network scenarios out of a pure national network context: an EIO may be issued for the interception of telecommunications by a Member State to obtain intercepted data of a target when using a communication service in a CSP’s network located in another Member State country (ref. Article 30 of [1]).

THE LI-INTERFACE FOR WARRANT INFORMATION
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXVI)
Traditionally the ETSI standardization work was focused on IRI and CC data details by defining, updating and maintaining related data Handover Interfaces (HI-2 and HI-3) specifications. Furthermore, ETSI had defined a dedicated Handover Interface, named HI-1, referred to be also crossing borders between countries based on corresponding international laws or agreements. HI-1 was defined as an interface between LEA and CSP to transport all kind of administrative information being used for the transmission of the request to establish or to remove the interception action from the LEA to the CSP and the acknowledgement message back to the LEA.

ETSI AND STATUS OF LI & RD STANDARDS
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. I_MMXVI)
This thematic section is intended to inform readers on the latest progress of standardization work items on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) mainly focusing on European regional level (ETSI). The scope is to cover all relevant LI and RD aspects in terms of requirements, communication service providers architecture and network interfaces/protocols definition.

Other articles of Domenico Raffaele Cione

ETSI LI & RD Status (Dec. 2022)
by Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. IV_MMXXII)
This document highlights the ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) at end of 2022 as update from Q4 2021 status.

ETSI LI & RD Status (Dec. 2021)
by Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. IV_MMXXI)
This document highlights the ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) at end of 2021 as update from Q4 2020 status.

ETSI LI & RD Status (Dec. 2020)
by Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. IV_MMXX)
This article highlights the ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) as update to the previous article of September 2019.

ETSI LI & RD Status (Sept. 2019)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXIX)
This article highlights the relevant ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) as update to the previous article of February 2017. The 2018th and 2019th period work items are described in the following section.

ETSI INTERFACE TO IMPLEMENT EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION ORDERS (EIOs)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXVIII)
The ETSI work to provide a Technical Specification (TS) to support the Directive 2014/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 regarding the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters [1] had started in 2016 and was carried on during all 2017 and 2018 on all technical aspects of the new interface resulting now finalized with the publication of a first version of the Inter LEMF Handover Interface (ILHI) [4]. This specification provides LEMF’s with all implementation details to allow LI data transferring from one LEMF located in the country B (responding country where a target abroad is requested to be intercepted) to a LEMF located in the country A (requesting country where the request of interception is originated).

LAWFUL INTERCEPTION IN VIRTUALIZED NETWORKS (Sept. 2017)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXVII)
NFV refers to the replacement of traditional specialised hardware devices with software that can be installed on standardised, off-the-shelf piece of hardware. ETSI work on NFV was initially set to address a requirement to define a list of base security requirements imposed by lawful interception in the NFV architecture.

ETSI LI & RD Status (Feb. 2017)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. I_MMXVII)
Current ETSI activity on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) is managed mainly by three main standardization committees: ETSI TC LI (the leading LI/RD group), TC CYBER and ISG NFV

LEMF TO LEMF INTERFACE TO SUPPORT EUROPEAN INVESTIGATION ORDERS (EIOs)
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. IV_MMXVI)
Imminently, the Directive 2014/41/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 regarding the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters [1] is expected to become part of the EU-nations’ national laws. This EU directive requires each European Member State to transpose the directive into national law by 22 May 2017 (Article 33). This EIO describes the possibilities about lawful interception (LI) of telecommunications and collection of traffic and location retained data (RD) extended to network scenarios out of a pure national network context: an EIO may be issued for the interception of telecommunications by a Member State to obtain intercepted data of a target when using a communication service in a CSP’s network located in another Member State country (ref. Article 30 of [1]).

THE LI-INTERFACE FOR WARRANT INFORMATION
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. III_MMXVI)
Traditionally the ETSI standardization work was focused on IRI and CC data details by defining, updating and maintaining related data Handover Interfaces (HI-2 and HI-3) specifications. Furthermore, ETSI had defined a dedicated Handover Interface, named HI-1, referred to be also crossing borders between countries based on corresponding international laws or agreements. HI-1 was defined as an interface between LEA and CSP to transport all kind of administrative information being used for the transmission of the request to establish or to remove the interception action from the LEA to the CSP and the acknowledgement message back to the LEA.

ETSI AND STATUS OF LI & RD STANDARDS
by Gerald McQuaid and Domenico Raffaele Cione (N. I_MMXVI)
This thematic section is intended to inform readers on the latest progress of standardization work items on Lawful Interception (LI) and Retained Data (RD) mainly focusing on European regional level (ETSI). The scope is to cover all relevant LI and RD aspects in terms of requirements, communication service providers architecture and network interfaces/protocols definition.