dsTest™ supports the GPRS Tunneling Protocol Version 2 for Control plane (GTPv2-C) message sets over the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) signaling interfaces S3, S4, S5, S8, and S11. dsTest also supports GTPv1-C for the GPRS Gn and Gp interfaces.
Test GTP-C initiators (MMEs and SGSNs), and verify responses from gateways (GGSNs, PGWs, and SGWs).
Using our SmartFlow™ application, you have the ability to create simple or complex transaction flows for a specific GTP-C interface, including the message definitions and state machine elements. The SmartFlow can define different paths for success, failure, or other conditions, all defined within the state machine. The SmartFlow states contains a unique list of states that a GTP-C message flow can traverse. In addition to the defined messages sets, you can create and customize user-defined message templates to increase the flexibility of your test scenarios. When defining a message template it is only necessary to include and provision the elements whose values will be compared to information in the received message. Multiple handlers can be used with different templates of the same message type in order to execute various actions or state changes depending on the composition of a received message.
As with all dsTest products, the GTP-C node configuration and test scenarios are easily defined and configured with XML files that are validated against a published XML Schema to avoid invalid definitions.
A rich set of operational measurements is collected at specified intervals and stored in a SQLite database on the dsTest server. Real-time measurements may be retrieved through our dsClient™ CLI interface or graphed via our dsClient GUI interface.
Implementation
With SmartFlow, you can initiate the following events for a GTP node:
- Create, Modify, Delete GTP tunnel
- Start a transaction using the selected state flow
- Force the sending of a message
- Indicate the receipt of a message
- Trigger a timeout event on the state machine
- Indicate the receipt of an unsupported message
GTP-C Initiator Simulation
Verify the reaction of your gateway nodes by simulating a MME or SGSN GTP-C Initiator. Our SmartFlow application provides the ability to create
GTP-Cv1/v2 state machines and use them in combination with PCC interface applications to test gateway elements in the mobile packet core. You can use our SmartEvents™ feature with other interface applications to trigger network-initiated events from our Emulators and validate the resulting GTP-C signaling.
For example, with the S11 interface, test your SGW by initiating default bearer activation from the simulated MME with a Create Session Request. Verify that your SGW sends the appropriate response and retains the bearer information. On the S5 interface, simulate bearer activation with a Create Session Request, informing the SGW of the bearer’s attributes in a Create Session Response from the simulated PGW.
In a test of your PGW, initiate default bearer activation from the simulated SGW via the S5 interface. Verify that the PGW sends a correct Create Session Response, and informs the PCRF of a session establishment and generates a credit request to the OCS.
Read more about network testing.
Read more about our Emulators.
Read more about testing Policy Management.
GTP-C Responder Simulation
Simulate GTP-C interfaces to your MME or SGSN GTP-C initiator. Verify that the initiator correctly 
interprets the gateway GTP-C responses. For example, simulate bearer activation by initiating an Attach and verify that your MME sends a Create Session Request, and correctly processes the Create Session Response from the simulated SGW. Verify that your MME retains bearer information and attributes, and, upon location changes, sends a Modify Bearer Request and correctly processes a Modify Bearer Response from the simulated SGW.
Test the capacity and performance of your MME by using SmartEvents™ with other interface applications to trigger network-initiated events and validate the resulting GTP-C signaling.
Supporting Standards
- GTPv2-C – 3GPP TS 29.274
- GTPv1-U – 3GPP TS 29.281