9.4 Relay Function

23.0603GPPGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS)Release 17Service descriptionStage 2TS

The relay function of a network node transfers the PDP PDUs received from the incoming link to the appropriate outgoing link. At the RNC, the SGSN the S‑GW, and the GGSN or P‑GW the relay function stores all valid PDP PDUs until they are forwarded to the next network node or until the maximum holding time of the PDP PDUs is reached. The PDP PDUs are discarded when buffering is longer than their maximum holding time. This maximum holding time is implementation dependent and can be influenced by the PDP type, the QoS of the PDP PDU, the resource load status, and by buffer conditions. The discarding protects resources from useless transfer attempts, especially the radio resource. Impacts on user protocol operation by too short holding time shall be avoided.

In A/Gb mode, the SGSN and GGSN or P‑GW relay functions add sequence numbers to PDP PDUs received from SNDCP and from the Gi or SGi reference points, respectively. In Iu mode, the RNC and GGSN or P‑GW relay functions add sequence numbers to PDP PDUs received from PDCP and from the Gi or SGi reference points, respectively.

PDP PDUs may be re-sequenced in the RNC, the SGSN, and/or in the GGSN depending on the setting of the delivery order attribute in the QoS profile. In A/Gb mode, the SGSN relay function may perform re-sequencing of PDP PDUs before passing the PDP PDUs to SNDCP. In Iu mode, the SGSN relay function may optionally perform re-sequencing of PDP PDUs before passing the PDP PDUs to Iu GTP‑U and before passing the PDP PDUs to Gn GTP‑U. The GGSN relay function may perform re-sequencing of PDP PDUs before passing the PDP PDUs to the Gi reference point. The RNC may perform re-sequencing of PDP PDUs before passing the PDP PDUs to PDCP.