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Subscriber Authentication

Overview

Ella Core implements 5G-AKA as part of its subscriber authentication process.

The 5G-AKA protocol ensures secure and mutual authentication between the subscriber's device and the network, establishing a secure channel for communication.

The subscriber's Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) stores critical information required for authentication, including:

  • IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity): A globally unique identifier for the subscriber, typically represented as a string of decimal digits.
  • Key (Subscriber's Secret Key): A cryptographic key shared between the USIM and the Private Network for authentication and encryption.
  • OPc (Operator Code): A derived value computed as OPc = AES-128(Key, OP), resulting in user specific operator code.
  • SQN (Sequence Number): A counter maintained by both the USIM and the network to prevent replay attacks.

Subscriber Authentication in Ella Core

Users can update the Operator Key (OP) via the Operator API or the UI.

When creating a new subscriber via the Subscribers API or the UI, Ella Core automatically computes the OPc using the provided Key (subscriber key) and the current OP value.

The UI provides a user-friendly interface for automatically generating IMSI's, Key's, and SQN's for new subscribers.