ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)

Technical Report
Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES);
Broadband Satellite Multimedia (BSM);
Services and architectures
2 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)

Reference
RTR/SES-00274
Keywords
architecture, broadband, IP, multimedia, satellite
ETSI
650 Route des Lucioles
F-06921 Sophia Antipolis Cedex - FRANCE

Tel.: +33 4 92 94 42 00  Fax: +33 4 93 65 47 16

Siret N° 348 623 562 00017 - NAF 742 C
Association à but non lucratif enregistrée à la
Sous-Préfecture de Grasse (06) N° 7803/88

Important notice
Individual copies of the present document can be downloaded from:
http://www.etsi.org
The present document may be made available in more than one electronic version or in print. In any case of existing or
perceived difference in contents between such versions, the reference version is the Portable Document Format (PDF).
In case of dispute, the reference shall be the printing on ETSI printers of the PDF version kept on a specific network drive
within ETSI Secretariat.
Users of the present document should be aware that the document may be subject to revision or change of status.
Information on the current status of this and other ETSI documents is available at
http://portal.etsi.org/tb/status/status.asp
If you find errors in the present document, please send your comment to one of the following services:
http://portal.etsi.org/chaircor/ETSI_support.asp
Copyright Notification
No part may be reproduced except as authorized by written permission.
The copyright and the foregoing restriction extend to reproduction in all media.

© European Telecommunications Standards Institute 2007.
All rights reserved.
TM TM TM
DECT , PLUGTESTS and UMTS are Trade Marks of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members.
TM
TIPHON and the TIPHON logo are Trade Marks currently being registered by ETSI for the benefit of its Members.
TM
3GPP is a Trade Mark of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members and of the 3GPP Organizational Partners.
ETSI
3 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights.5
Foreword.5
Introduction .5
1 Scope.6
2 References.6
2.1 Informative references.6
3 Definitions and abbreviations.7
3.1 Definitions.7
3.2 Abbreviations.9
4 Overview of BSM .10
4.1 Satellite network scenarios.10
4.2 IP networking scenarios .11
5 BSM roles, actors and equipment.12
5.1 General.12
5.2 Roles.12
5.2.1 Definitions.12
5.2.2 Relationships between roles.13
5.3 Equipment.14
5.3.1 Definitions.14
5.3.2 Relationship between roles and equipment.14
5.4 Billing and usage relationships.15
6 BSM reference models and architectures.16
6.1 Definitions.16
6.1.1 BSM System; Network and Subnetwork .16
6.1.2 Transparent and regenerative satellite architecture.17
6.1.3 Topologies.18
6.1.4 Link and channel attributes.18
6.2 BSM Network Types.19
6.2.1 Naming conventions.19
6.2.2 Transparent Satellite Star (TSS) .20
6.2.3 Transparent Satellite Mesh (TSM).21
6.2.4 Regenerative Satellite Mesh (RSM) .22
6.3 Reference models.23
6.3.1 Reference models for access network scenario.23
6.3.1.1 U-plane reference model.23
6.3.1.2 C-plane and M-plane reference model .24
6.3.2 Generalized reference models.25
6.3.2.1 BSM network types.25
6.3.2.2 Other BSM scenarios .25
6.4 Protocol architecture.26
6.4.1 BSM protocol architecture.26
6.4.2 SI-SAP and BSM families .27
6.4.3 Satellite Independent Service Access Point (SI-SAP) .27
6.4.4 BSM bearer services layered architecture.28
6.4.5 Air interface lower layer service elements.29
7 General service definitions.31
7.1 Media components.31
7.2 BSM connections.31
7.3 BSM service capabilities .31
7.4 Interoperability.32
8 Bearer services .32
ETSI
4 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
8.1 Definitions.32
8.1.1 Telecommunications bearer services .32
8.1.2 Connectionless and connection-oriented bearer services.33
8.1.3 Unidirectional and bidirectional bearer services.33
8.1.4 Bearer service symmetry .33
8.1.5 Bearer service configurations .33
8.2 BSM bearer services.34
8.2.1 General.34
8.2.2 Queue Identifiers (QIDs) .34
Annex A: Example protocol models .35
A.1 A protocol model for regenerative satellites .35
A.2 A protocol model for transparent satellites .35
Annex B: Topology examples.36
Annex C: Network interface examples.37
Annex D: Bibliography.38
History .39

ETSI
5 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
Intellectual Property Rights
IPRs essential or potentially essential to the present document may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (http://webapp.etsi.org/IPR/home.asp).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Foreword
This Technical Report (TR) has been produced by ETSI Technical Committee Satellite Earth Stations and Systems
(SES).
Introduction
The present document has been prepared by the TC-SES Broadband Satellite Multimedia (BSM) working group based
on the recommendations from the work of STF-126 [1].
ETSI
6 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
1 Scope
The present document defines the BSM services and architectures. It contains a set of definitions and reference models
in the following main areas:
• BSM roles and actors;
• BSM reference architectures and models;
• BSM bearer services.
The present document is intended to define the possible roles that Broadband Satellite Multimedia systems may have, to
define the main actors, to define a set of reference architectures and to define the services they can provide. These
definitions are intended as a common set of definitions for BSM standardization.
The overall objectives of BSM standardization are:
• to enable users to access a wide range of telecommunications services, including many that are today
undefined, with particular emphasis on IP-based multi-media services and high data rates;
• to provide an efficient means of using satellite network resources (particularly radio spectrum);
• to facilitate the provision of a high quality of service similar to that provided by fixed networks;
• to facilitate the provision of easy to use, low cost terminals.
2 References
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific.
• For a specific reference, subsequent revisions do not apply.
• Non-specific reference may be made only to a complete document or a part thereof and only in the following
cases:
- if it is accepted that it will be possible to use all future changes of the referenced document for the purposes
of the referring document;
- for informative references.
Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found at
http://docbox.etsi.org/Reference.
For online referenced documents, information sufficient to identify and locate the source shall be provided. Preferably,
the primary source of the referenced document should be cited, in order to ensure traceability. Furthermore, the
reference should, as far as possible, remain valid for the expected life of the document. The reference shall include the
method of access to the referenced document and the full network address, with the same punctuation and use of upper
case and lower case letters.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
2.1 Informative references
[1] ETSI TR 101 374-2: "Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES); Broadband satellite multimedia;
Part 2: Scenario for standardization".
[2] ETSI TS 122 101: "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Service aspects;
Service principles (3GPP TS 22.101 Release 7)".
ETSI
7 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
[3] MFA Forum: "Technology: ATM Forum Specifications".
NOTE: Available at http://www.mfaforum.org/tech/atm_specs.shtml.
[4] ETSI TS 123 107: "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS); Quality of Service (QoS) concept and architecture (3GPP
TS 23.107 version 6.4.0 Release 6)".
[5] ETSI TR 101 865: "Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES); Satellite component of
UMTS/IMT-2000; General aspects and principles".
[6] ETSI TR 102 353: "Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES); Broadband Satellite Multimedia
(BSM); Guidelines for the Satellite Independent Service Access Point (SI-SAP);".
[7] ETSI TS 102 357: "Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES); Broadband Satellite Multimedia
(BSM); Common Air interface specification; Satellite Independent Service Access Point SI-SAP".
[8] ETSI TS 102 295: "Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES); Broadband Satellite Multimedia
(BSM) services and architectures; BSM Traffic Classes".
[9] ETSI TR 102 187: "Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (SES); Broadband Satellite Multimedia;
Overview of BSM families".
3 Definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Definitions
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms and definitions apply:
broadcast: communication capability which denotes unidirectional distribution to an unspecified number of access
points connected to the network
NOTE: The communication may reach any or all access points and each terminal may select which broadcast
information to receive.
BSM bearer service: user plane (U-plane) data transmission services provided by the BSM subnetwork at the SI-SAP
interfaces.
NOTE 1: A BSM bearer service includes all QoS and other bearer service properties, as viewed at those SI-SAP
interfaces.
NOTE 2: BSM bearer services are a specific form of layer 2 service access point services. BSM bearer services are
therefore not the same as a Telecommunications bearer service as defined below.
BSM Network: a BSM subnetwork together with the BSM interworking and adaptation functions that are required to
provide an interface into the attached networks
BSM Subnetwork: all the BSM network elements below the Satellite Independent Service Access Point (SI-SAP)
BSM System (BSMS): A BSM System corresponds to a BSM Network together with the NMC and NCC plus any
additional elements that are required to provide the network services to the subscribers and their users.
channel: means of unidirectional transmission of signals between two points
NOTE: Channel is a generic term that can be used at different layers of the interface (e.g. physical channel,
logical channel). Several channels may share a common transport mechanism.
connection oriented: communication method in which communication proceeds through three well-defined phases:
connection establishment, data transfer, connection release
connectionless: communication method which allows the transfer of information between users without the need for
connection establishment procedures
ETSI
8 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
control plane (C-plane): plane which has a layered structure and performs control functions for the various services
NOTE: The C-plane deals with the signalling necessary to set up, maintain and release bearer services.
gateway (GW): network element that provides interworking between the BSM network and one or more external
networks.
layer management functions: management functions (e.g. meta-signalling) relating to resources and parameters
residing in its protocol entities
link: capability to exchange data between two points
NOTE 1: Link is a generic term that can be used at different layers of the interface. For example:
data link: capability of the data link layer to exchange data; and
physical link: capability of the physical layer to exchange data.
NOTE 2: Physical link (radio link) names can be used to indicate the direction and/or the usage and/or the operating
band. For example, "uplink", "feeder link" or "Ku-band link".
management plane (M-plane): plane which provides two types of functions, namely layer management functions and
network management functions
multicast: communication capability which denotes unidirectional distribution from a single ingress service access
point to a number of specified egress service access points
multipoint: communication configuration attribute which denotes that the communication involves more than two
service access points
Network Control Centre (NCC): equipment that provides the central control functions for a satellite network.
Network Management Centre (NMC): equipment that provides the central management functions for a satellite
network.
Satellite Independent Service Access Point (SI-SAP): the interface between the satellite dependent lower layers and
the satellite independent upper layers of the Satellite Terminal air interface
Satellite Terminal (ST): network element that contains at least one satellite network interface.
NOTE: An ST normally contains at least one other network interface and two different types of ST can be
defined:
User ST: that provides interworking between the satellite network and a premises network.
Gateway ST: that provides interworking between the satellite network and an external network.
service attribute: specified characteristic of a telecommunication service
NOTE: The value(s) assigned to one or more service attributes may be used to distinguish that telecommunication
service from others.
telecommunication service: service offered by a network operator or service provider to its customers in order to
satisfy a specific telecommunication requirement
NOTE: Telecommunication services are divided into two broad families: bearer services and teleservices:
telecommunications bearer service: type of telecommunication service that provides the capability of
transmission of signals between user access points, typically the user-network interface (UNI);
teleservice: type of telecommunication service that provides the complete capability, including terminal
equipment functions, for communication between users according to standardized protocols and
transmission capabilities established by agreement between operators
traffic class (or service class): service offered to the users described by a set of performance parameters and their
specified values, limits or ranges
NOTE: The set of parameters provides a comprehensive description of the service capability.
user plane (U-plane): plane which has a layered structure and provides for user data transfer
ETSI
9 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
ASP Application Service Provider
AESA ATM End System Addresses
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
BSM Broadband Satellite Multimedia
BSMS Broadband Satellite Multimedia System
CP Customer Premises
CPE Customer Premises Equipment
DAMA Demand Assigned Multiple Access
Diffserv Differentiated services
DL DownLink
DLL Data Link Layer
DVB-RCS Digital Video Broadcast-Return Channel by Satellite
DVB-S Digital Video Broadcast by Satellite
GSM Global System for Mobile communication
GW GateWay
IB InBound
ID IDentifier
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
Intserv Integrated services
IP Internet Protocol
IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4
IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ISP Internet Service Provider
ITSP Internet Telephony Service Provider
IWF InterWorking Functions
LAN Local Area Network
MAC Medium Access Control
MM MultiMedia
MSP Multimedia Service Provider
MTM Multipoint-To Multipoint
NAP Network Access Provider
NCC Network Control Centre
NMC Network Management Centre
NOC Network Operations Centre
NSP Network Service Provider
OB OutBound
OBP On Board Processing
OSI Open System Interconnection
PHY PHYsical
PILC Performance Implications of Link Characteristics
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
QID Queue IDentifier
QoS Quality of Service
RSVP Resource reSerVation Protocol
SAT SATellite
SCC Satellite Control Centre
SD Satellite Dependent
SDAF Satellite Dependent Adaptation Function
SI Satellite Independent
SIAF Satellite Independent Adaptation Function
SI-SAP Satellite Independent Service Access Point
SLA Service Level Agreements
SLC Satellite Link Control
SMAC Satellite Medium Access Control
SME Small to Medium sized Enterprises
SNO Satellite Network Operator
ETSI
10 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
SO Satellite Operator
SP Service Provider
SPHY Satellite PHYsical
ST Satellite Terminal
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TM/TC TeleMetry/TeleCommand
TOS Type Of Service
UDP User Datagram Protocol
UL UpLink
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
UT User Terminal
VCI Virtual Connection Identifier
VPI Virtual Path Identifier
VPN Virtual Private Network
VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal (satellite)
EH End Host
TSS Transparent Satellite Star
TSM Transparent Satellite Mesh
4 Overview of BSM
4.1 Satellite network scenarios
For the present document, we divide the BSM satellite networks into 3 different scenarios: Core network, Distribution
network and Access network as illustrated in figure 4.1:
• Access network, providing services to end users.
• Distribution network, providing content distribution to the edge.
• Core network, providing trunk interconnect services.
AAcceccessss N Neettwwoorrkk CContonteenntt D Diissttrriibbuuttiioonn CCoorree N Neetwtwoorrkk
((EEnndd U Usseerr <-<->E>Eddggee)) toto th thee E Eddggee ((TTrruunnkk In Inteterrccoonnnneecctt))
PPooinintt t too p pooinintt
PPooiinnt tot to p pooiinnt +t + M Muullttiiccaasstt MultMulticicaasstt
ee.gg. IS ISPP l liinnkkss
bebettwweeeenn c coontntinineennttss
CoConnttenentt
LMLMDDSS,,
LMLMDDSS,,
CCoorree N Neetwtwoorrkk
CCoorree N Neetwtwoorrkk
ADSADSLL
ADADSSLL
PoPoPP
Figure 4.1: Core network, distribution network and access network
Telecommunication satellites can be used to provide broadcasting and multicasting services as well as point-to-point
services as illustrated in figure 4.1. In addition to international or long haul communications, figure 4.1 shows satellites
being used to provide regional backbone networks and access networks, including access to added value services such
as Internet applications.
Due to their natural coverage of large mass of land or ocean satellites are also used to deliver broadcast broadband
services such as Digital Video and in this case interactivity can be provided either by the satellite or though a terrestrial
telecommunication infrastructure (e.g. PSTN, ISDN and GSM).
ETSI
11 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
4.2 IP networking scenarios
In the global Internet, a BSM system (BSMS) acts as another IP subnetwork. Only a small percentage of IP hosts will
be directly connected to that BSMS and it is unrealistic to require that any IP host (including both end hosts and
intermediate hosts such as routers) whose traffic transits a BSMS (at some point) should modify its IP-layer protocols.
Consequently, the main guideline for interworking IP services over a BSMS is that on the external (non-satellite) side of
a Satellite Terminal (ST) all IETF internet protocols should be supported unchanged.
On the satellite side of an ST the IP layer protocols can, when applicable, be adapted to better respond to the specifics
of the BSMS to accommodate a combination of the following differences relative to terrestrial wired and wireless
networks:
• Longer delays and large delay-bandwidth product.
• High utilization and capacity restrictions of satellite networks.
• Natural multicasting capabilities.
• Large coverage.
• Multiple spot beams.
• On-board switching and routing.
• On-board bandwidth control.
• Independence from ground infrastructure.
This approach of constraining any adaptation of the IETF internet protocols to be fully contained within the boundary of
the BSMS is not specific to BSM and can be found in many IP networks in the Next Generation Networks (NGN) such
as Virtual Private Networks and Mobile IP. This ensures that the BSMS can be complementary to terrestrial
infrastructure, reinforcing the inherent advantages of satellite systems for providing services to remote regions.
The different types of BSM IP networking scenarios are summarized in table 4.1.
Table 4.1: BSM IP networking scenarios
Access network Point-to-point Multicast Broadcast
scenarios
Corporate intranet Corporate VSAT network, Corporate Multicast Datacasting
i.e. site interconnections e.g. Data distribution
e.g. Video conferencing TV broadcast (private)
Corporate internet Internet Access via IP multicast ISP caching
rd
corporate ISP or via 3 RT streaming
party ISP ISP caching
SME intranet Small VSAT network SME multicast
rd
SME internet Internet Access via 3 IP multicast ISP caching
party ISP RT streaming
ISP caching
Soho Internet Access via ISP IP multicast ISP caching
Company access via VPN RT streaming
ISP caching
Residential Internet Access via ISP IP multicast ISP caching
RT streaming
ISP caching
Distribution network Point-to-point Multicast Broadcast
scenarios
Content to Edge ISP to Backbone IP multicast TV broadcast (public)
RT streaming
Caching at ISP/Edge
Core network Point-to-point Multicast Broadcast
scenarios
ISP interconnect Trunk interconnect N/A N/A

ETSI
12 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
5 BSM roles, actors and equipment
5.1 General
The following roles and actors are defined as a framework for the business aspects of a BSM network. The definitions
are designed to provide a clear separation between the different roles, but this strict separation of roles may be less clear
in deployed networks.
• The role defines a functional entity that is responsible for a defined set of business processes, where each
process implies a set of management functions.
• The actor defines a real entity, which performs one or more roles. For example, a company is an actor, which
can perform more than one role (e.g. Satellite Network Operator and Network Access Provider, etc.).
The roles are linked to the BSM architecture defined in clause 6, and are intended to be compatible with the separation
of transport and services as defined for Next Generation Networks (NGNs).
Selected pieces of network equipment are then defined in order to illustrate the responsibilities of the different roles for
this equipment. This strict separation of responsibilities may be less clear in deployed networks: for example, a single
actor (a single business entity) may perform all or most of the roles in a given BSM network.
5.2 Roles
5.2.1 Definitions
The different roles identified in the whole network business interacting with a BSM system are:
1) Satellite Operator (SO): The Satellite Operator is responsible for maintaining, managing, deploying and
operating the satellite platform. The SO business involves launching and operating satellites and selling their
transponder capacity to Satellite Network Operators. SO activities are performed at the Satellite Control
Centre (SCC) and TM/TC (TeleMetry/TeleCommand) stations.
2) Satellite Network Operator (SNO): The Satellite Network Operator owns and is responsible for maintaining,
managing, deploying and operating the Satellite Network, i.e. leasing satellite transponders and providing the
associated ground segment equipment It is responsible for the global traffic and the Satellite Network
management functions in terms of network availability and performance. It offers a given coverage,
connectivity and bandwidth to NAPs. It manages the partitioning of the resources between the NAPs according
to their contract and is in charge of the satellite payload configuration. It can delegate the actual operations on
the satellite to the SO. SNO activities are performed at the Network Operations Centre (NOC).
3) Network Access Provider (NAP): The Network Access Provider uses the services from one or more SNOs to
provide bulk transmission resources to the Service Providers (SPs) for use by their subscribers. The NAP is
responsible managing and operating the network access elements in the Satellite Terminals (STs) and one or
more Gateways (GWs). The NAP typically shares its network capacity between several SPs. The NAP is
linked to each SP by a contract specifying the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of the services that they are
allowed to use. The activities of each NAP is performed at a given Network Management Centre (NMC) and
Network Control Centre (NCC) and at one or several GWs.
4) Service Providers (SP): The Service Provider provides transmission resources to subscribers via one or more
of the STs associated with that subscriber. The SP is responsible managing and operating the related service
provider elements in the Satellite Terminals (STs) and one or more Gateways (GWs). The SP gives access to a
wide range of services involving terrestrial networks or not. In the "satellite bandwidth model", they buy bulk
(wholesale) capacity from the NAP and resell that capacity to their Subscribers.
NOTE 1: Several types of service provider can be identified. They can be Network Service Providers (NSP) or
Application Service Providers (ASP). Examples of NSP are Internet Service Providers (ISP) or
Corporations (e.g. VPN). Examples of ASP are Multicast Service Provider (MSP), Internet Telephony
Service Provider (ITSP). Only the Service Providers have a contractual interface with the subscribers:
they sell the service and/or the equipment, bill their subscribers, eventually based on information received
from the NAPs.
ETSI
13 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
5) Subscriber: The subscriber buys services from SPs. It has a contract with one or several SPs for the provision
of services. The subscriber can subscribe for services for one or several STs and each ST can itself serve one
or more end hosts (EHs). Usually one of these SPs provides the STs to the Subscriber. The subscriber
delegates service usage to end-users.
6) User (or end-user): The user is the entity that makes use of the services via an End Host (EH). The EHs can
connect directly or via a Local Area or Distribution Network its ST; several EHs and hence several users can
share the same ST. The user (via the EH) is connected to applications provided by SPs.
NOTE 2: The network equipment on the user side (i.e. routers, switches, firewalls etc. that are used to connect the
end hosts to the ST) is collectively referred to as the Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).
5.2.2 Relationships between roles
Figure 5.1 shows the relationships and cardinality between roles: the cardinality of each relationship is indicated by the
numbers on each line.
Satellite Operator
(SO)
N
N
SNO
N
N
NAP
N
N N
VPN Telco Service
ITSP ISP MSP
SP SP Providers
1 1 1
N N N
Subscriber Subscriber Subscriber

Figure 5.1: Relationships between roles
The following cardinalities are shown in figure 5.1:
a) A single SO can provide services to multiple SNOs (cardinality 1:N). But equally a single SNO can use
multiple satellites, including satellites operated by different SOs, to provide services (cardinality N:1). This
gives an overall cardinality of N:N.
b) A single SNO can be associated with multiple NAPs (cardinality 1:N). Likewise a given NAP can obtain
services from multiple SNOs, hence the overall cardinality is N:N.
c) A single NAP can be associated with multiple SPs (cardinality 1:N). But a given SP can only resell services
from a single NAP, hence the overall cardinality is 1:N.
The above definitions only restrict the relationship between roles to 1 NAP per SP. However, a single actor can perform
multiple roles and hence; a single company (one actor) can be an SP for multiple NAPs by performing multiple SP
roles.
Figure 5.1 shows a few different examples of SPs; namely a Corporate Virtual Private Network SP, a Telco SP or a
multiservice SP (ITSP, ISP plus MSP). These are examples only and other types of service provider may exist.
ETSI
14 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
5.3 Equipment
5.3.1 Definitions
A Gateway (GW) is the equipment that is used to provide interworking between the satellite network and one or more
external networks. Examples of external networks include a public network giving access to the global internet or a
private corporate network or even another wireless network.
A given GW belongs to only one NAP: the NAP is responsible for the GWs that it uses to provide its network services.
One or more SPs can be associated with the GW to provide access to their external networks. The SPs are responsible
for the upper layers of the GW (network layer and above) and they have appropriate visibility and control via the NAP.
A Satellite Terminal (ST) is the equipment that is used to provide interworking between the satellite network and one
or more users, either via direct connection or via a local network.
A given ST may be owned by either the NAP or the SP, depending on the business model. In both cases, the
management and control of the ST is made by the NAP: the NAP is responsible for the lower layers and the SP is
responsible for the upper layers and these upper elements are indirectly managed by SP via the NAP NCC.
The overall model of resource management between the SPs and the NAP is formalized by a "bandwidth" contract: the
SP either pays for a dedicated bandwidth which it partitions between its customers. Alternatively, some SPs may not
need to have a dedicated bandwidth but would prefer to pay for bandwidth on a usage basis (session per session). This
is formalized by a "wholesale connectivity" contract: the SP pays for a given number of STs that are connected, or for a
given number of User/ Application sessions which are in progress. These services can be simultaneously delivered by
the same NAP to one or several SPs through one or several GWs.
The Satellite Independent Service Access Point (SI-SAP) (as defined in clause 6.4) is recommended as the boundary
between the ST elements for which the SP is responsible and the ST elements for which the NAP is responsible. The SI-
SAP is primarily designed to separating the responsibilities of the ST, but the SI-SAP can also be used to separate the
GW responsibilities.
5.3.2 Relationship between roles and equipment
Figure 5.2 shows the relationships between equipment and roles:
• A square shape (square box) corresponds to a piece of equipment.
• A rounded shape (rounded box) corresponds to one of the roles (as defined above).
• A solid line between roles represents a business relationship and its cardinality.
• A solid line between a role and an equipment means the role directly controls some aspects of the equipment.
They also define the cardinality of the relationship.
• A dashed line between a role and an equipment means the role indirectly controls some aspects of the
equipment. They also define the cardinality of the relationship.
• A solid double line between equipment boxes represents a physical interface (communication link) and its
cardinality; and a dashed double line between equipment boxes represents a logical interface and its
cardinality.
This model is valid for both star and mesh system scenarios.
One can note the following restrictions of the model:
• A given SP is related to only one NAP.
NOTE 1: An actual SP actor can be linked to several NAPs, but in this case a separate SP role would be considered
for each NAP (an actor can hold several roles).
• A given ST is related to one NAP, one SP and one Subscriber. The ST is also linked via the satellite network
to 0 or 1 Gateway.
ETSI
15 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
• The network operations of a given ST is managed by one NMC and controlled by one NCC. The NMC and
NCC (NMC/NCC) are associated with one NAP.
NOTE 2: A network may also contain a secondary NMC and/or multiple NCCs to provide more resilience.
• The SP may have some indirect control and management of the STs via the NAP. Likewise, the SP may offer
some indirect control and management to the subscriber.
NOTE 3: A subscriber may subscribe to multiple SPs (and hence use services from multiple NAPs) but a given ST
can only be associated with a single NAP.
• A given User is related to one End Host and via that End Host to one Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)
and one ST.
BSM network roles and equipment Other roles and equipment
N N
1NNN NN
Subscriber
SNO NAP SP User
1 1
1 N
N 1
1 1
1 N NMC/
NOC
NCC
1 1
N
N N N N 1
0 or 1 N 1 N 1 N End
Gateway ST
CPE
Host
Role-Equipment Role-Equipment Logical interface
direct relationship indirect relationship between Equipment
Role-Role Physical interface
relationship between Equipment

Figure 5.2: Relationship between roles and equipment
5.4 Billing and usage relationships
An example of the billing and usage relationships that could exist between the satellite network operators and service
providers and some other roles is illustrated in figure 5.3.
ETSI
16 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
Content
Subscribers
Providers
network
payment
usage
billing
subscription
payment
billing
agreement
usage
delegation
Satellite Network Operators
network
and Service Providers
usage
(access providers,
connectivity providers)
Users
Receive service / content
Figure 5.3: Billing and usage relationships
NOTE: Figure 5.3 shows the billing and usage relationships that affect the satellite network operators and service
providers. Additional billing and usage relationships that may exist (e.g. between Users and content
providers) are out of scope for the present document and hence are not shown in this figure.
6 BSM reference models and architectures
6.1 Definitions
6.1.1 BSM System; Network and Subnetwork
The following three groupings of BSM elements are defined (in order of decreasing complexity):
• BSM System (BSMS): A BSM System corresponds to a BSM Network together with the NMC and NCC plus
any additional elements that are required to provide the network services to the subscribers and their users.
NOTE 1: The NMC and NCC represent a functional separation of the management and control functions and does
not imply any particular implementation.
• BSM Network: A BSM network corresponds to a BSM subnetwork together with the BSM interworking and
adaptation functions that are required to provide an interface into the attached networks.
NOTE 2: The boundaries of the BSM Network are the physical interfaces to those attached networks.
• BSM Subnetwork: A BSM subnetwork is all the BSM network elements below the Satellite Independent
Service Access Point (SI-SAP).
NOTE 3: The Satellite Independent Service Access Point (SI-SAP) is the interface between the satellite dependent
lower layers and the satellite independent upper layers of the Satellite Terminal air interface. The SI-SAP
is described in clause 6.4.
ETSI
17 ETSI TR 101 984 V1.2.1 (2007-12)
NMC NCC
SATELLITE TERMINAL (ST) GATEWAY (GW)
(User ST) (Gateway ST)
User Interworking Gateway Interworking
Peer-to-peer IP traffic
Function (UIF) Function (GIF)
Satellite Independent Interface (SI-SAP)
Premises Satellite Satellite External
To / from To / from
Network Network Network Network
Premises External
Interface
...