APN

Definition

An access point name (APN) identifies an external packet data network (PDN) that a user needs to access. Users connect to a PDN using the APN of the PDN. As shown in Figure 12-3, a router can connect to the carrier's PDN and the enterprise's gateway using the APNs configured for the carrier and enterprise. For example, APN1 is used to access the IMS network, and APN2 is used to access the enterprise data gateway.

Figure 12-3 PDN access using APNs

LTE Multi-APN

In Figure 12-4, the 1LTE-L interface card on the router supports two APNs that share the same cellular interface. You need to bind each APN to a cellular channel interface configured on the cellular interface. Each cellular channel interface is a logical service interface that has its own IP address, DCC dial-up configuration, and services (such as voice, data, and VPN).

Figure 12-4 LTE multi-APN networking

The two APNs share uplink bandwidth on the cellular interface. QoS must be configured to schedule services of the APNs. For example, if one APN is used to transmit voice services and the other APN is used to transmit data services, voice services must be transmitted with a higher priority. QoS parameters must be configured on the cellular interface to ensure that voice services are preferentially scheduled.