PDP Context Reject : Cause Values and Descriptions

I was looking at some PDP context reject issue today and checked 3GPP 24.008. But it is always useful to have a small cheat sheet with all the reject cause values in one place. This provides all the PDP context, Secondary PDP Context or Modify PDP context reject cause values and their Descriptions. Also there is a small Description why the reject message is sent and who transmit the PDP reject message, MS or network.

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Unsuccessful PDP context activation initiated by the MS

Upon receipt of an ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT REQUEST message the network may reject the MS initiated PDP context activation by sending an ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT REJECT message to the MS.

ACTIVATE PDP CONTEXT REJECT (NW → UE)

Cause #	Description
8	Operator Determined Barring
26	insufficient resources
27	missing or unknown APN
28	unknown PDP address or PDP type
29	user authentication failed
30	activation rejected by GGSN, Serving GW or PDN GW
31	activation rejected, unspecified
32	service option not supported
33	requested service option not subscribed
34	service option temporarily out of order
35	NSAPI already used. The network shall not send this cause code
50	PDP type IPv4 only allowed
51	PDP type IPv6 only allowed
52	single address bearers only allowed
95 – 111	protocol errors
112	APN restriction value incompatible with active PDP context

Unsuccessful PDP context activation requested by the network

Upon receipt of the REQUEST PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION message, the MS may reject the network requested PDP context activation by sending the REQUEST PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION REJECT message to the network.

REQUEST PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION REJECT (UE → NW)

Cause #	Description
26	insufficient resources
31	activation rejected, unspecified
40	feature not supported
95 – 111	protocol errors

Unsuccessful Secondary PDP Context Activation Procedure initiated by the MS

Upon receipt of an ACTIVATE SECONDARY PDP CONTEXT REQUEST message, the network may reject the MS initiated PDP context activation by sending an ACTIVATE SECONDARY PDP CONTEXT REJECT message to the MS.

ACTIVATE SECONDARY PDP CONTEXT REJECT (NW → UE)

Cause #	Description
26	insufficient resources
30	activation rejected by GGSN, Serving GW or PDN GW
31	activation rejected, unspecified
32	service option not supported
33	requested service option not subscribed
34	service option temporarily out of order
41	semantic error in the TFT operation
42	syntactical error in the TFT operation
43	unknown PDP context
44	semantic errors in packet filter(s)
45	syntactical errors in packet filter(s)
46	PDP context without TFT already activated
48	request rejected, Bearer Control Mode violation
56	collision with network initiated request
60	bearer handling not supported
95 – 111	protocol errors

Unsuccessful secondary PDP context activation requested by the network

Upon receipt of the REQUEST SECONDARY PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION message, the MS may reject the network requested secondary PDP context activation by sending the REQUEST SECONDARY PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION REJECT message to the network.

REQUEST SECONDARY PDP CONTEXT ACTIVATION REJECT (UE → NW)

Cause #	Description
26	insufficient resources
31	activation rejected, unspecified
40	feature not supported
41	semantic error in the TFT operation
42	syntactical error in the TFT operation
43	unknown PDP context
44	semantic errors in packet filter
45	syntactical errors in packet filter
46	PDP context without TFT already activated
48	request rejected, Bearer Control Mode violation
95 – 111	protocol errors

MS initiated PDP Context Modification not accepted by the network

Upon receipt of a MODIFY PDP CONTEXT REQUEST message, the network may reject the MS initiated PDP context modification request by sending a MODIFY PDP CONTEXT REJECT message to the MS.

MODIFY PDP CONTEXT REJECT (NW → UE)

Cause #	Description
26	insufficient resources
30	activation rejected by GGSN, Serving GW or PDN GW
32	Service option not supported
37	QoS not accepted
41	semantic error in the TFT operation
42	syntactical error in the TFT operation
44	semantic errors in packet filter
45	syntactical errors in packet filter(s)
48	request rejected, Bearer Control Mode violation
60	bearer handling not supported
95 – 111	protocol errors

Network initiated PDP Context Modification not accepted by the MS

The MS may reject the network initiated PDP context modification request by sending a MODIFY PDP CONTEXT REJECT message to the network.

MODIFY PDP CONTEXT REJECT (UE → NW)

Cause #	Description
41	semantic error in the TFT operation
42	syntactical error in the TFT operation
44	semantic errors in packet filter
45	syntactical errors in packet filter(s)
48	request rejected, Bearer Control Mode violation
95 – 111	protocol errors