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F1 split design

[[TOC]]

Introduction

The F1 interface is the functional split of 3GPP between the CU (centralized unit: PDCP, RRC, SDAP) and the DU (distributed unit: RLC, MAC, PHY). It is standardized in TS 38.470 - 38.473 for 5G NR.

F1 specs:

  • 3GPP TS 38.470 F1 general aspects and principles
  • 3GPP TS 38.471 F1 layer 1

F1-C:

  • 3GPP TS 38.472 F1 signalling transport
  • 3GPP TS 38.473 F1 Application Protocol (F1AP)

F1-U:

  • 3GPP TS 38.474 F1 Data Transport

No equivalent for 4G exists.

Control plane (F1-C)

The interface F1-C is designed for the exchange of signalling messages between the Radio Network Layer (RNL) and the Transport Network Layer (TNL). It consists of F1 Application Protocol messages (F1-AP) exchanged over SCTP.

Data plane (F1-U)

F1-U uses GTP-U for information exchange.

OAI Implementation Status

The implementation of F1AP messages is seamlessly integrated into OAI, supporting both Monolithic SA and CU/DU functional split modes. The F1 code is therefore always compiled with nr-softmodem. This architecture ensures that even when operating a monolithic gNB, internal information exchange always utilizes F1AP messages. The major difference lies in the CU/DU split scenario, where ASN.1-encoded F1AP messages (F1-C) are exchanges over SCTP, via a socket interface.

This is the current status:

F1-C

F1AP messages

Refer to FEATURE_SET.md to learn about the current F1AP implementation status.

High-level F1-C code structure

The F1 interface is used internally between CU (mostly RRC) and DU (mostly MAC) to exchange information. In DL, the CU sends messages as defined by the callbacks in mac_rrc_dl.h, whose implementation is defined in files mac_rrc_dl_direct.c (monolithic) and mac_rrc_dl_f1ap.c (for F1AP). In the monolithic case, the RRC calls directly into the message handler on the DU side (mac_rrc_dl_handler.c). In the F1 case, an ITTI message is sent to the CU task, sending an ASN.1-encoded F1AP message. The DU side's DU task decodes the message, and then calls the corresponding handler in mac_rrc_dl_handler.c. Thus, the message flow is the same in both F1 and monolithic cases, with the difference that F1AP encodes the messages using ASN.1 and sends over a socket.

In UL, the callbacks defined in mac_rrc_ul.h are implemented by mac_rrc_ul_direct.c (monolithic) and mac_rrc_ul_f1ap.c (F1). In the direct case, an ITTI message is directly sent to the RRC task (hence, there is no dedicated handler). In F1, the DU task receives the ITTI message, encodes using ASN.1, and sends it over a network socket. The CU task decodes, and sends the same ITTI message to the RRC task as done directly in the monolithic case.

Summary of callbacks and handlers:

Entity Callback definition Callback F1 Implementation Callback Monolithic SA Implementation Handler
CU/RRC mac_rrc_dl.h mac_rrc_dl_f1ap.c mac_rrc_dl_direct.c No handler (use ITTI)
DU/MAC mac_rrc_ul.h mac_rrc_ul_f1ap.c mac_rrc_ul_direct.c mac_rrc_dl_handler.c

A sequence diagram for downlink F1AP messages over the OAI CU/DU functional split:

sequenceDiagram
    box rgba(17,158,189,255) CU/RRC
    participant TASK_RRC_GNB
    participant TASK_CU_F1
    end
    Note over TASK_RRC_GNB: MAC/RRC callback
    TASK_RRC_GNB->>+TASK_CU_F1: F1AP message (ITTI)
    Note over TASK_CU_F1: F1 message encoding
    Note over TASK_CU_F1: ASN.1 encoding
    box Grey DU/MAC
    participant TASK_DU_F1
    participant MAC
    end
    Note over TASK_DU_F1: F1AP DL message handler
    TASK_CU_F1->>+TASK_DU_F1: SCTP (ITTI)
    Note over TASK_DU_F1: F1 message decoding
    Note over TASK_DU_F1: ASN.1 decoding
    TASK_DU_F1->>+MAC: F1AP message (function call)
    Note over MAC: MAC DL message handler
Loading

and for the uplink F1AP messages:

sequenceDiagram
    box rgba(17,158,189,255) CU/RRC
    participant TASK_RRC_GNB
    participant TASK_CU_F1
    end
    box Grey DU/MAC
    participant TASK_DU_F1
    participant TASK_MAC_GNB
    end
    Note over TASK_MAC_GNB: MAC/RRC callback
    TASK_MAC_GNB->>+TASK_DU_F1: F1AP message (ITTI)
    Note over TASK_DU_F1: F1 message encoding
    Note over TASK_DU_F1: ASN.1 encoding
    Note over TASK_CU_F1: F1AP UL message handler
    TASK_DU_F1->>+TASK_CU_F1: SCTP (ITTI)
    Note over TASK_CU_F1: F1 message decoding
    Note over TASK_CU_F1: ASN.1 decoding
    TASK_CU_F1->>+TASK_RRC_GNB: F1AP message (ITTI)
Loading

Alternative sequence handling (e.g. Monolithic), for downlink:

sequenceDiagram
    box rgba(17,158,189,255) RRC
    participant TASK_RRC_GNB
    end
    Note over TASK_RRC_GNB: mac_rrc_dl_direct.c callback
    box Grey MAC
    participant TASK_MAC_GNB
    end
    TASK_RRC_GNB->>+TASK_MAC_GNB: raw F1AP message
    Note over TASK_MAC_GNB: mac_rrc_dl_handler.c
Loading

and for the uplink:

sequenceDiagram
    box rgba(17,158,189,255) RRC
    participant TASK_RRC_GNB
    end
    box Grey MAC
    participant TASK_MAC_GNB
    end
    Note over TASK_MAC_GNB: mac_rrc_ul_direct.c callback
    TASK_MAC_GNB->>+TASK_RRC_GNB: raw F1AP message (ITTI)
Loading

F1-U

Current status:

  • Buffer status report over GTP-U
  • Each packet is acknowledged individually
  • Support of multiple DUs per CU

How to run

As mentioned earlier, OAI uses F1 internally. It is always compiled in. To start CU/DU, you use ./nr-softmodem with the appropriate configuration files, for instance:

sudo cmake_targets/ran_build/build/nr-softmodem -O ci-scripts/conf_files/gnb-cu.sa.band78.106prb.conf
sudo cmake_targets/ran_build/build/nr-softmodem -O ci-scripts/conf_files/gnb-du.sa.band78.106prb.rfsim.conf

These files are tested in the CI, and are configured for use in docker, see this docker-compose file.

The rules to decide if a config triggers a start of a DU, CU, or monolithic gNB, are, in order:

  1. If the MACRLCs section lists f1 as northbound transport preference (tr_n_preference), it is a DU.
  2. If the gNBs section lists f1 as a southound transport preference (tr_s_preference), it is a CU.
  3. It is a (monolithic) gNB.

F1 IP configuration for Local network deployment of F1

The following paragraphs explain the IP configuration for F1 in the OAI config files on the example of a a local deployment. We assume that the CU will bind on 192.168.70.129 towards the core, 127.0.0.3 towards the DU, and the DU 127.0.0.4 towards the CU.

In the CU file:

  • Update the gNBs.[0].amf_ip_address and gNBs.[0].NETWORK_INTERFACES section towards the core (typically, OAI CN is configured to provide a docker bridge on 192.168.70.129 and the AMF is on 192.168.70.132):
    • gNBs.[0].amf_ip_address.[0].ipv4 192.168.70.132
    • gNBs.[0].NETWORK_INTERFACES.GNB_IPV4_ADDRESS_FOR_NG_AMF 192.168.70.129
    • gNBs.[0].NETWORK_INTERFACES.GNB_IPV4_ADDRESS_FOR_NGU 192.168.70.132
  • Set gNBs.[0].tr_s_preference (transport south-bound) to f1
  • Update the gNBs.[0].local_s_address (CU-local south address) for the F1-C/SCTP and F1-U/GTP/UDP south-bound interfaces: 127.0.0.3
  • Note: the gNBs.[0].remote_s_address (CU-remote/DU south address) is ignored, but we recommend to put 0.0.0.0 ("any")
  • Ports should match the ones in the DU config, but for simplicity and standards-conformity, simply set all to 2152:
    • local_s_portc in CU should match remote_n_portc in DU
    • local_s_portd in CU should match remote_n_portd in DU
    • remote_s_portc in CU should match local_n_portc in DU
    • remote_s_portd in CU should match local_n_portd in DU

In the DU file:

  • Set MACRLCs.[0].tr_n_preference to f1
  • Update MACRLCs.[0].local_n_address (local north-bound address of the DU) to 127.0.0.4. This IP address is used to bind the F1-C/SCTP and F1-U/GTP/UDP socket.
  • If you need to bind to different addresses for F1-C and F1-U, there is a second option MACRLCs.[0].local_n_address_f1u which is used to bind F1-U/GTP/UDP instead; F1-C/SCTP will still bind to the address in MACRLCs.[0].local_n_address.
  • Update MACRLCs.[].remote_n_address (remote north-bound address of the CU) to 127.0.0.3. This IP address is used as the CU destination IP address for F1AP communication.

Note: at the DU, you can bind to different interfaces for F1-C and F1-U with the options MACRLCs.[0].local_n_address and MACRLCs.[0].local_n_address_f1u, respectively. Note that this is not foreseen for the CU; in the case of the CU, please use separate CU-UP and CU-CP.

Configuration of multiple DUs

Upon F1 Setup Request of a new DU, the CU cross-checks that

  • no DUs have the same gNB-DU IDs, taken from gNBs.[0].gNB_ID, and
  • no cells have the same NR Cell ID, taken from gNBs.[0].nr_cellid, and
  • no cells have the same physical cell IDs, taken from gNBs.[0].servingCellConfigCommon.[0].physCellId.

If any of these are the same, the CU will reject the DU with an F1 Setup Failure. Thus, you should make sure that in the DU's configs, these parameters are set differently.

You have to of course make sure that the local interface of the DU (MACRLCs.[0].local_n_address) is different as well.

Assuming you use RFsim, you should make the RFsimulator server side (typically the gNB) bind on different hosts (rfsimulator.serverport).

Code documentation

Common multi-threading architecture

The CU and DU interfaces are based on ITTI threads (see common/utils/ocp_itti/itti.md) adopted by all OAI upper layers to run isolated threads dedicated to one feature.

graph TD
Linux[configuration file] --> APP[gNB_app_task]
Socks[Linux UDP] --> GTP[nr_gtpv1u_gNB_task]
APP --> CU
APP --> DU
A[Linux SCTP] -->|sockets| SCTP(OAI itti thread TASK_SCTP)
SCTP-->|TASK_NGAP| NG[ngap_gNB_task]
NG-->|TASK_SCTP| SCTP
SCTP-->|TASK_DU_F1| DU[F1AP_DU_task]
SCTP-->|TASK_CU_F1| CU[F1AP_CU_task]
CU-->|TASK_RRC_GNB| RRC
RRC -->|non ITTI| PHY[OAI L1+L2]
RRC -->|API calls to create tunnels| GTP
PHY --> |user plane| GTP
CU --> |TASK_GTPV1_U| GTP
DU --> |TASK_GTPV1_U| GTP
Loading

A "task" is a Linux thread running an infinite waiting loop on one ITTI queue.

The app task manages the initial configuration; the sctp task manages the SCTP Linux sockets.

The CU encoding/decoding runs in the task executing F1AP_CU_task(). It stores its private data context in a static variable. The DU encoding/decoding runs in the task executing F1AP_DU_task(). The design is similar to CU task.

All GTP-U tunnels are managed in a Linux Thread, that have partially ITTI design:

  1. tunnel creation/deletion is by C API functions direct calls (a mutex protects it)
  2. outgoing packets are pushed in a ITTI queue to the gtp thread
  3. incoming packets are sent to the tunnel creator using a C callback (the callback function is given in tunnel creation order). The callback should not block

F1-C messages towards the CU

The CU thread starts when the CU starts. It opens listening socket on the configuration-specified IP/port by sending the appropriate message to TASK_SCTP. It will accept any incoming connection and forward any F1 message to RRC.

You can trace any message by looking up the handler cu_task_handle_sctp_data_ind(), which ultimately triggers a corresponding ITTI message sent to RRC. All ITTI messages arriving are dispatched in the ITTI message handling function in rrc_gNB.c. For your convenience, find below a table of same messages that might arrive from the DU and how they are forwarded.

After handling messages, the RRC uses a callback that determines if messages go directly to the MAC or are sent to the CU ITTI task (see above)

You might also want to consult TS 38.401 regarding the message exchange.

Incoming F1 message ITTI message to RRC RRC handler Comments
F1 Setup Request F1AP_SETUP_REQ rrc_gNB_process_f1_setup_req() will trigger either a response or failure
Initial UL RRC Message Transfer F1AP_INITIAL_UL_RRC_MESSAGE rrc_gNB_process_initial_ul_rrc_message() first message from UE, follows up with RRC Setup or Reestablishment
UL RRC Message Transfer F1AP_UL_RRC_MESSAGE rrc_gNB_decode_dcch() UL RRC messages contain DCCH
UE Context Response F1AP_UE_CONTEXT_SETUP_RESP rrc_CU_process_ue_context_setup_response() does not trigger a follow-up, as UE sends Security Response
UE Context Modification Response F1AP_UE_CONTEXT_MODIFICATION_RESP rrc_CU_process_ue_context_modification_response() triggers Reconfiguration if CellGroup in answer
UE Context Modification Required F1AP_UE_CONTEXT_MODIFICATION_REQUIRED rrc_CU_process_ue_modification_required() triggers Reconfiguration
UE Context Release Request F1AP_UE_CONTEXT_RELEASE_REQ rrc_CU_process_ue_context_release_request() RRC will trigger UE release
UE Context Release Complete F1AP_UE_CONTEXT_RELEASE_COMPLETE rrc_CU_process_ue_context_release_complete() frees UE Context, signals to NGAP

F1-C Messages towards the DU

The task "gNB app", after reading the configuration file, sends a message F1AP_DU_REGISTER_REQ to the DU task. This message contains network configuration for the establishment of the SCTP connection, as well as the F1 Setup Request to be sent to the CU.

Using the network configuration, the DU task sets up an SCTP connection via the SCTP task. When it receives from the SCTP task the socket creation success, the DU task encodes and sends the F1 setup message to the CU.

Similarly as for the CU, you can trace any message by looking up the handler du_task_handle_sctp_data_ind(). Unlike in the CU, the decoders do NOT send an ITTI message, but directly call into the scheduler via a message handling function. This handler acquires the scheduler mutex and executes the corresponding message handling functionality. All handlers are in mac_rrc_dl_handler.c.

After handling messages, the MAC uses a callback that determines if messages are sent back to RRC via ITTI, or are sent to the DU ITTI task (see above)

You might also want to consult TS 38.401 regarding the message exchange.

Incoming F1 message MAC handler Comments
F1 Setup Response f1_setup_response() the DU does not start the radio before receiving this message
DL RRC Message Transfer dl_rrc_message_transfer() Processing timer started if reconfiguration is present1
UE Context Setup Request ue_context_setup_request()
UE Context Modification Request ue_context_modification_request()
UE Context Modification Confirm ue_context_modification_confirm()
UE Context Modification Refuse ue_context_modification_refuse() Will trigger release request
UE Context Release Command ue_context_release_command() Starts timer for release if UE in sync

F1-U messages

General

In the DU in UL, RLC checks in deliver_sdu() if we are operating in split mode, and either (direct) calls pdcp_data_ind (DRB) or (f1ap) sends a GTP message through the GTP API.

In the CU in UL, assuming the tunnel is in place, GTP decapsulates the packet and calls the callback cu_f1u_data_req(), which calls pdcp_data_ind() in CU.

In the CU in DL, the PDCP function deliver_pdu_drb_gnb() either (direct) calls into the RLC via enqueue_rlc_data_req(), or (f1ap) sends a GTP message through the GTP API.

In the DU in DL, assuming the GTP-U tunnel exists, GTP decapsulates the packet and calls the reception call back du_rlc_data_req(), which calls enqueue_rlc_data_req() in turn.

Tunnel Setup

In GTP-U, TS 29.281 specifies a optional header (NR RAN Container). This extension header may be transmitted in a G-PDU over the X2-U, Xn-U and F1-U user plane interfaces, but it is not mandatory.

Note that the GTP-U uses internal tables. Instead of exposing TEIDs, it uses the UE ID (RNTI, RRC UE ID) and Radio Bearer ID to map to a TEID for outgoing GTP-U packets. Upon receiving, it does the reverse and calls the callbacks. In the CU case, the DRB tunnel to DU and the tunnel on N3 have the same keys (RRC UE ID, RB ID), but they run in two different GTP-U instances. Each instance binds on diffrent sockets, which is the reason you cannot have the same interface for F1-U and N3/NG-U interfaces (this can be considered a design flaw).

In F1AP, for each "DRB to Be Setup Item IEs", we have a field TNL (transport network layer) to set a specific GTP tunnel (@IP, TEid). This is the same for each message related to DRBs.

So, For each F1AP containing DRB setup/modification/deletion, the related GTP-U tunnels will be modified one to one. The exception is the intialisation of new tunnel: in the call to tunnel creation, we need to send the remote TEID, but we don't know yet if we are the initial source. In this case, we issue a dummy (0xFFFF) remote TEID; when we receive the remote answer, we get the source teid, with which the GTP-U endpoint is updadet.

Footnotes

  1. The DU does not decode RRC messages, and does not know whether an RRC message is a reconfiguration. However, the spec mandates that a reconfiguration has to be triggered if the CU receives a CellGroupConfig, originating at the DU. See also flag expect_reconfiguration. ↩