PCMD record information elements

The MAG-c supports PCMD record IEs including header IEs, session IEs, and PCMD heartbeat message IEs.

Header information elements

The MAG-c supports Common Header, Report Header 2, and Sending Node IP container IEs.

Common Header IEs

Table 1. Common Header IEs
Information element Description
PCMDVersion

Version of the PCMD feature

Mandatory field 1
RecordType

Type of record:

  • 3 - session2
  • 4 - heartbeat

Mandatory element
RecordLength

Total record length in bytes

Mandatory element
1 The current value of PCMDVersion is 6. The version changes whenever there is a modification in the Header structure or some non-compatible change in the structure of the containers.

Report Header2 IEs

Table 2. Report Header2 IEs
Information element Description
RecordOpeningTime

Opening timestamp for the record generation

First 4 bytes: seconds, indicating time since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC

Second 4 bytes: nanoseconds, precision of the procedure start time

Mandatory element
RecordSequenceNumber

Unique sequence identifier for the record type per card and per record type

Each card generates the RecordSequenceNumber for each record type it transmits.

If the maximum is reached, the number is set to 1.

If an MSCP-group or MG-Group failover occurs, the number is set to 1.

If a switchover occurs to a new active card or VM, the numbering restarts from 1.

Mandatory element
GwId

Mobile gateway ID

Range: 1 to 8

Mandatory element
MscpGroupId

MSCP group ID

Range: 1 to 15

Mandatory element
SendingNodeType

Type of node that sends the PCMD record:

  • 9 – combined SGW-C + PGW-C
  • 14 – SMF

Mandatory element
UEid

IMSI of the combined SGW-C + PGW-C session

IMSI is encoded in TBCD format.

The SUPI is used when the record is reported for a 5G PDU session.

The field is set to zero when the IMSI or SUPI is not available; for example, emergency attach with just the IMEI.

Mandatory element
SendingNodeIpV6

Sending node IP address type:

  • 1 – The SendingNodeIP contains an IPv6 address.
  • 0 – The SendingNodeIP contains an IPv4 address, stored in the first 4 bytes.

Sending Node IP container IEs

Table 3. Sending Node IP IEs
Information element Description
SendingNodeIP

The IP address of the sending node is the IP address of the system interface of the base router.

If the system interface is configured with both an IPv4 and an IPv6 address, the SendingNodeIP in the PCMD Header contains the IP address that matches the IP version on the transport layer.

Mandatory element

Session PCMD record information elements

The MAG-c supports session PCMD record IEs.

Session Decoding container IEs

Table 4. Session Decoding container IEs
Information element Description
MessageNum

Number of message containers

Range: 0 to 40

Mandatory element
ProcNum

Number of procedure containers

Range: 1 to 3

Mandatory element
PeerNum

Number of peers containers

Range: 0 to 15

Mandatory element
Table 5. SessionFlags2 IEs
Information element Description
SnssaiFlag Presence of the SNSSAI container
UliTypeFlag

Type of ULI in the Session Extended container

See the ULI IE description in Session extended container IEs.
Table 6. SessionFlagsV2 IEs
Information element Description
BrNum

Number of bearer containers, or the number of QoS Flows containers for 5G Sessions

Range is 0 to 11
ApnFlag

Presence of the APN or DNN container

Mandatory element
ExtendedFlag

Extended report type flag

The report type is extended when set to 1

Mandatory element
ImeiFlag

Presence of the IMEI or PEI for 5G Session container

Mandatory element
MsisdnFlag

Presence of the MSISDN or GPSI for 5G Session container

Mandatory element

Session3 container IEs

Table 7. Session3 container IEs
Information element Description
RatType

Radio access technology:

  • 0 – reserved
  • 6 – EUTRAN (WB-E-UTRAN)
  • 14 – NR

Mandatory element
DT

Direct tunnel indication:

  • 0 – undefined (when UE is idle)
  • 1 – S1-U
BLC

Bearer level charging or sessions flag:

  • 0 – Session level charging is used
  • 1 – Bearer level charging is used

GCID is reported for every bearer

For 5G sessions, only PDU session-level charging is supported

Mandatory element
CI

Charging indication:

  • 0 – no charging is done on the session
  • 1 – charging is done on the session

The charging indication takes into account online and offline charging as configured or imposed by the PCF
PDNType

PDN type:

  • 0 – UE IP container is not present, for example in UE level procedures (see UE-level procedures)
  • 1 – IPv4
  • 2 – IPv6
  • 3 – Dual stack
IwkI

Interworking indication, from the AMF for a 5G-attached UE or from the MME for a 4G-attached UE:

  • 0 – reserved
  • 1 – sessions with no interworking
  • 2 – sessions with N26 interworking
  • 3 – sessions without N26 interworking
UPSelection

Consists of UPSelectionAttributes and UPSelectionPeer; see the following table
SSC-Mode

SSC-Mode 1, 2, or 3 are reported

Value 0 indicates undefined

Mandatory element
PduSessionId

PDU session ID for the UE (0-15)

Note: 0 for 4G sessions
Table 8. User Plane Selection IEs
Information element Description
UPSelectionAttributes

0 – UPSelection not relevant

UPSelectionAttributes is 0 in the current version.

Mandatory element
UPSelectionPeer

Present when UPSelectionAttributes is not 0.

Conditional element

Procedure container IEs

Table 9. Procedure container IEs
Information element Description
ProcedureID

ID of the procedure

See ProcedureIDs for possible values and meanings.

Mandatory element
ProcedureResult

ProcedureResult associated with the current procedure:

  • 1 – Success
  • 2 – Failure

Mandatory element
ProcedureCause

ProcedureCause associated with the ProcedureResult for the current procedure.

See Causes for possible values and meanings.

When no value is reported, this is set to 0. This code is identical to the GTPv2, HTTP2, or PFCP external causes associated with the detailed cause (internal status events).

Conditional element
ProcedureDetailedCause

ProcedureDetailedCause associated with the ProcedureCause for the current procedure.

See Detailed causes for possible values and meanings.

When no value is reported, this is set to 0. This code is identical to internal status events.

Conditional element
ProcedureDuration

Elapsed time since the start of the procedure, in hundredths of seconds.

Mandatory element

IMEI container IEs

Table 10. IMEI container IEs
Information element Description
IMEI

IMEI or PEI (14 decimal digits plus a check digit) or IMEI/SV (16 digits) for the UE

The structure of the IMEI/SV is specified in 3GPP TS 23.003 and includes information about the origin, model, and serial number of the device.

Non-zero if it is available

Encoded in telephony binary-coded decimal (TBCD)

Mandatory element

MSISDN container IEs

Table 11. MSISDN container IEs
Information element Description
MSISDN

MSISDN or GPSI identifying the subscription

Non-zero if available

Encoded in TBCD

Mandatory element

Peers container IEs

Table 12. PeerNTypeV2 container IEs
Information element Description
PeerNId

ID of the nth peer

It is IPv4, IPv6, or UUID according to the peerIdType value for the specific peer.
PeerIdType
  • 10 – PeerNId is IPv6
  • 00 – PeerNId is IPv4
  • 01 – PeerNId is UUID
PeerType

Indicates whether the PeerIP container is present, and if present, the type of peer node:

  • 2 – MME
  • 16 – combined SGW-U + PGW-U
  • 20 – UPF
  • 21 – Nsmf_PDUSession consumer
  • 23 – Namf_Communication service
  • 25 – Nudm_SubscriberDataManagement service
  • 26 – Nudm_UEContextManagement service
  • 27 – Npcf_SMPolicyControl service
  • 28 – Nchf_ConvergedCharging service

Mandatory element

APN container IEs

Table 13. APN container IEs
Information element Description
ApnLength

Length of the APN in bytes

Mandatory element
APN

Access Point Name

Conditional element
Note: APN is not reported in the UE level procedures (see UE-level procedures).

Session extended container IEs

The ULI container presence is indicated by the ExtendedFlag.

Table 14. Session extended container IEs
Information element Description
UliLength

Length of the ULI

Optional element
ULI

If the UliTypeFlag is not set (0), the ULI format is as specified in 3GPP TS 29.274, section 8.21.

Only the bytes from 5 onwards defined in the specification are present in this field (the first 4 bytes containing type, length, spare, and instance are not present in the PCMD ULI field).

If the UliTypeFlag is set (1), the ULI format is as specified in 3GPP TS 29.061, section 16.4.7.2.

Only the bytes from 3 onwards defined in the specification are present in this field (the first 2 bytes containing 3GPP type and length are not present in the PCMD ULI field).

This format is used for 5G ULI.

Only the following types are reported:
  • 137 NrLocation – 5GS TAI and NCGI
  • 130 EutraLocation – 5GS TAI and ECGI
From 29.571 (5.4.4.3-5):
  • TAI = PLMN-ID + 5GS TAC
  • ECGI = PLMN-ID + eutraCellId
  • NCGI = PLMN-ID + nrCellId
  • TAC, eutraCellId, and nrCellId encoded as per section 5.4.2 of 3GPP TS 29.571

For the PLMN-ID part, the MCC and MNC are encoded according to 3GPP TS 29.274.

Optional – Conditional element
Note: In 5G, the TAC part of TAI can be a 2- or 3-octet string, however in 2G, 3G, and 4G, it is always 2 octets.

Message container IEs

There are 0 to 40 message containers in the Session PCMD record.

Table 15. Message container IEs
Information element Description
MessageMarker_n

Code defining a specific procedure message when any message is received or sent during the associated procedure.

See Message marker IDs and SBI service operation messages for possible values and meanings.

Conditional element
ReferencePoint_n

Code specifying the reference point where the message is received or sent.

See Reference point and SBI services IDs for the possible values and meanings.

Conditional element
Direction_n

Code specifying the direction of the message.

See Direction_n IDs for the possible values and meanings.

Conditional field
TimestampMM_n

Time elapsed since the procedure started, in hundredths of seconds.

Conditional element

MessageAI container IEs

There are 0 to 40 MessageAI containers in the Session PCMD record.

Table 16. MessageAI container IEs
Information element Description
MessageCauseCode Message cause or reason code

Bearer and QoS Flow container IEs

There are 0 to 11 bearer containers in the session PCMD record.

Table 17. Bearer and QoS Flow container IEs
Information element Description
BearerID

ID of the bearer

Conditional element
LBI

Set to 0 in the default bearer record

For 5GC QoS flow reporting, the BearerId is not known if the N26 interface is not used in the network. Also, the EBI is not a unique identifier of a QoS flow, so multiple QoS flows may be reported with the same EBI.

Conditional element
BearerResult

Bearer result value

See Results for a list of possible values and their meanings.

Conditional element
BearerCause

Bearer cause value

See Causes for a list of possible values and their meanings.

When no value is reported, it is set to 0.

Identical to GTPv2 – external causes associated with detailed cause (internal status events)

Conditional element
BearerDetailedCause

Bearer detailed cause value

See Detailed causes for a list of possible values and their meanings.

When no value is reported, it is set to 0.

The code is identical to internal status events.

Conditional element
BearerQCI

Bearer QoS class ID

For a 5G QoS flow, it is the 5QI value of the QoS flow.

Conditional element
PVI

Bearer pre-emption vulnerability indicator

Conditional element
PCI

Bearer pre-emption capability indicator

Conditional element
PL

Bearer priority level

Conditional element
FTeidUIpV4BrIdRef
Four-bit indicator:
  • 0x0 – indicates absence of an IPv4 address.
  • equal to BearerId – indicates that an IPv4 address is reported in an FTEID IP container, immediately following the TEID container.
  • X in range 0x5 to 0xF and not equal to the BearerId value – indicates that the IPv4 address of this bearer FTEID has been reported in the same session record with bearer X. Serves as a reference to the bearer X FTEID IP, that is, same IP address is used.

Mandatory element
FTeidUIpV6BrIdRef
Four-bit indicator:
  • 0x0 – indicates absence of an IPv6 address.
  • equal to BearerId – indicates that an IPv6 address is reported in an FTEID IP container, immediately following the TEID container, or the FTEID IP container having the IPv4.
  • X in range 0x5 to 0xF and not equal to the BearerId value – indicates that the IPv6 address of this bearer FTEID has been reported in the same session record with bearer X. Serves as a reference to the bearer X FTEID IP, that is, same IP address is used.

When an IPv6 address is explicitly reported, the FTEID IP address container is reported immediately following the IPv4 FTEID IP container (if this is present), or immediately following the TEID container if the IPv4 address is not present.

If both FTeidUIpV4BrIdRef and FTeidUIpV6BrIdRef are set to 0x0, no FTEID IP address and no TEID containers are present.

Mandatory element
QosFlag5G
  • 0 – the reported container is for an EPS bearer
  • 1 – the reported container is for a 5G QoS flow

When the flag is set to 1, a 5G QoS container is present.
Tun5GIpv4 When set, the IP address of the 5G UP tunnel is an IPv4 address.

If this flag or the Tun5GIpv6 flag is set, there is only one FTEID being reported and the FTeidUIpV4/V6BrIdRef IEs must be ignored.
Tun5GIpv6

When set, the IP address of the 5G UP tunnel is an IPv6 address.

If this flag or the Tun5GIpv4 flag is set, the FTeidUIpV4/V6BrIdRef IEs is ignored.

When an IPv6 address is explicitly reported, the FTEID IP address container is reported immediately following the IPv4 FTEID IP container (if this is present) or right after the TEID container, if the IPv4 address is not present.

If both Tun5GIpv4 and Tun5GIPv6 and QoSFlag5G are 0, no FTEID IP address and no TEID containers are present for this QoS flow.

FTEID is reported only for the first QoS flow in a PCMD record.

TEID container IEs

Table 18. TEID container IEs
Information element Description
TeidU

TEID value of the S1-U for the combined SGW + PGW session.

For 5G sessions, the TEID is the TEID of the UP tunnel on the N3 UPF side. A single TEID is reported for all the QoS flows.

If there are multiple UPFs for some QoS flows, the N3 tunnel is reported for all.

The TEID is reported only for the first QoS flow in a PCMD record.

FTEID IP container IEs

Table 19. FTEID IP container IEs
Information element Description
FTeidUIp

IPv4 or IPv6 address

The TEID for 5G sessions is the TEID of the UP tunnel on the N3 UPF side. A single TEID is reported for all the QoS flows.

If there are multiple UPFs for some QoS flows, the N3 tunnel is reported for all the UPFs.

Bearer extended container IEs

Table 20. Bearer extended container IEs
Information element Description
Uplink APN-AMBR

Uplink aggregate maximum bit rate in kb/s

Conditional-optional element
Downlink APN-AMBR

Downlink aggregate maximum bit rate in kb/s

Conditional-optional element
Uplink MBR

Uplink maximum bit rate in kb/s

Conditional-optional element
Downlink MBR

Downlink maximum bit rate in kb/s

Conditional-optional element
Uplink GBR

Uplink guaranteed bit rate in kb/s

Conditional-optional element
Downlink GBR Downlink guaranteed bit rate in kb/s

Conditional-optional element

5GC QoS container IEs

Table 21. 5G QoS container IEs
Information element Description
QFI

QFI value of the QoS flow (1 to 63) (6 bits)

Mandatory element
RT

Resource type (2 bits):

  • 1 – GBR
  • 2 – Non-GBR
  • 3 – Delay critical GBR

Mandatory field
PDB

Packet delay budget (5 bits):

  • 0 – Undefined
  • 1 – 5 ms
  • 2 – 10 ms
  • 3 – 30 ms
  • 4 – 50 ms
  • 5 – 60 ms
  • 6 – 75 ms
  • 7 – 100 ms
  • 9 – 150 ms
  • 11 – 200 ms
  • 13 – 300 ms
PER

Packet error rate (3 bits):

  • 0 – Undefined
  • 1 – 10-6
  • 2 – 10-5
  • 3 – 10-4
  • 4 – 10-3
  • 5 – 10-2
QNC

QoS control status:

  • 0 – disabled
  • 1 – enabled
RQI

Reflective QoS status:

  • 0 – disabled
  • 1 – enabled
AW

Averaging window (1 to 4095 ms)

(12 bits)
MBV

Maximum burst volume (1 to 4095 Bytes)

(12 bits)

Charging container IEs

There are 1 to 11 Charging containers in the session PCMD record.

Table 22. Charging container IEs
Information element Description
GCID

Session GCID when BLC is 0

Bearer GCID when BLC is 1, that is, bearer-level charging is used. In this case there are multiple GCID bearers, one per bearer container.

Mandatory element

UE IP container IEs

Table 23. UE IP container IEs
Information element Description
UeIPs

IP addresses allocated to the UE

The container is present when the PdnType is not 0.

Length is from 4 to 20 bytes, depending on the PdnType in the report header:

  • PdnType = 1 (IPv4) – UeIPs contain the IPv4 allocated to the UE, length is 4 bytes.
  • PdnType = 2 (IPv6) – UeIPs contain the IPv6 allocated to the UE, length is 16 bytes.
  • PdnType = 3 (Dual Stack) – The first 4 bytes of the UeIPs contain the IPv4 allocated to the UE, and the next 16 bytes contain the IPv6; length is 20 bytes.

Optional element
Note: Because the PdnType is set to 0 for UE-level procedures, the UE IP is not reported; see UE-level procedures for more information.

SNSSAI container IEs

Table 24. SNSSAI container IEs
Information element Description
sst

Slice service type

Range: 0 to 215
sd

6 byte-string, allowed characters "0" to "9" and "A"to "F"; for example, 0xD143A5

3 bytes, mandatory

PCMD Heartbeat message IEs

The MAG-c supports Heartbeat container IEs for PCMD.

Table 25. Heartbeat container IE
Information element Description
HBSequenceNumber

Unique sequence identifier for the Heartbeat

If the maximum value of 65535 is reached, the number is set to 1.

Number is reset to 1 on failovers and each time the PCMD record transmission is enabled.

Mandatory element
GwId

Mobile gateway ID

Range: 1 to 8

Mandatory element
HBTxTime

Timestamp when the heartbeat message was transmitted

Seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC

Mandatory element
SendingNodeIpV6
  • 1 – SendingNodeIP contains an IPv6 address
  • 0 – SendingNodeIP contains an IPv4 address stored in the first 4 bytes

Mandatory element