Due to regulatory requirements, operators may have to disable the best service for UEs roaming in their network. A simple, but effective method relies on the MME capability to filter specific APNs. For that reason, a BEST APN structure is proposed in this section. Operators may agree on a different method in bilateral requirements.
APNs that are used for the BEST service may reside in a specific subdomain of the operator. It is proposed to use the subdomain 'best' for this specific service.
The HSE and the EAS act as both HTTP client and server. The underlying TCP connection permits bidirectional communication between the EAS and the HSE.
RESTful HTTP is used at the application delivery layer. The content type of the RESTful HTTP is XML.
The unsecured HTTP protocol shall be combined with TLS, as HTTPS, to provide confidentiality and integrity protection. Mutual authentication shall be enabled in TLS for authenticating and allowing only an authorized third party EAS to access the HSE. The profile for TLS implementation and usage shall follow the provisions given in TS 33.310, Annex E.
The EAS registers with the HSE by sending an HTTP POST "EAS Session Register" message to the HSE including its identifier (EAS_Id). The HSE establishes a session context for this EAS and returns session id in HTTP 201 CREATED.
The EAS obtains UE specific pre-shared key (KInt_EAS_PSK) from the HSE by sending an EAS Session Request message including an identity of the UE and the key identifier received from the UE. The HSE derives EAS specific pre-shared key and provides it in the EAS Session Start message.
During BEST Session setup, the HSE forwards the EAS specific pre-shared key (KInt_EAS_PSK) in the EAS Session Request message. The EAS responds with a EAS Session Start message.