Dedicated EPS bearer context activation procedure

  • Dedicated EPS bearer context activation procedure is to establish an EPS bearer context with specific QOS and TFT between UE and EPC.
  • This procedure is initiated by the network
  • UE  can also request for dedicated bearer by sending resource allocation request or modification request
  • MME will initiate dedicated EPS bearer context activation by sending ACTIVATE_DEDICATED_EPS_BEARER_CONTEXT_REQUEST





  • The dedicated bearer which will be associated with a default bearer will be identified by the linked EPS bearer identity field in dedicated bearer activation request.
  • The linked EPS bearer id also indicates which IP address, PDN the dedicated bearer is linked.
  • For all uplink traffic flows to radio bearer UE should use the TFT received in bearer activation request.

·         UE may reject the request with causes such as
o   #26 Insufficient resources
o   #43 Invalid EPS bearer identity
o   #41 Invalid TFT operation.

Reference : 3GPP TS 23.401