Access Service Network (Asn) - Cisco ASR 5000 series Product Overview

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▀ ASN Gateway in a WiMAX Network

Access Service Network (ASN)

The ASN is an aggregation of functional entities and corresponding message flows associated with the access services.

The ASN represents a boundary for functional interoperability with WiMAX clients, WiMAX connectivity service

functions, and other vendor-specific functions.

An ASN is defined as a complete set of network functions that provide radio access to a WiMAX subscriber. The ASN

provides the following functions:

WiMAX Layer-2 (L2) connectivity with WiMAX SS/MS

The transfer of AAA messages to WiMAX subscribers' Home Network Service Provider (H-NSP) for

authentication, authorization, and session accounting for subscriber sessions

Network discovery and the selection of an appropriate NSP from which WiMAX subscribers accesses WiMAX

Relay functionality for establishing Layer-3 (L3) connectivity with a WiMAX SS/MS (IP address allocation)

Radio resource management

ASN-CSN tunneling

In addition to the above mandatory functions, for a portable and mobile environment the ASN supports the following

ASN anchor mobility

CSN anchor mobility

Paging and location management

The ASN has the following network elements:

The WiMAX base station, which is a logical entity that embodies a full instance of the WiMAX Medium Access

Control (MAC) layer and physical layer in compliance with the IEEE 802.16 suite of applicable standards. The

base station may host one or more access functions and is logically connected to one or more ASN Gateways.

The ASN Gateway (ASN Gateway), which is a logical entity that represents an aggregation of control plane

functional entities. These entities are paired with a corresponding function in the ASN, for example a base

station instance, a resident function in the CSN, or a function in another ASN.

The ASN Gateway may also perform bearer plane routing or bridging functions.

The ASN consists of at least one instance of a base station and at least one instance of an ASN Gateway (ASN

Gateway). An ASN may be shared by more than one Connectivity Service Networks (CSN).

The ASN decomposition with Network Reference Model (NRM) is shown in the following figure.

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ASN Gateway Overview