Download - Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Product Description
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Yota 2013
Yota PCRF
Product Description
Product version: 3.5.2
Document version: 2.8
Status: development
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Yota PCRF 3.5.2
Product Description
Yota 2013 2
Revision History
Date Version Author Revision
09.03.2011 1.0 Evgenia Martynyuk Document created
01.06.2011 1.1 Evgenia Martynyuk Integration with 3G CDMA2000 was added.
Figures review and update
06.06.2011 1.1 Evgenia Martynyuk Geographical distribution was added
28.07.2011 1.2 Evgenia Martynyuk Yota PCRF architecture update
17.08.2011 1.2 Evgenia Martynyuk Integration with LTE network figure was changed
29.08.2011 1.3 Evgenia Martynyuk Functional and Redundancy figures were changed
17.10.2011 2.1 Evgenia Martynyuk Supported product version changed to 2.5
19.01.2012 2.2 Evgenia Martynyuk
Supported product version changed to 3.0,
"Yota PCRF Architecture" and "Feature
Description" chapters update
04.03.2012 2.3 Evgenia Martynyuk
Supported product version changed to 3.1,
"Yota PCRF Architecture" and "Network
Integration" chapters updated
13.07.2012 2.4 Evgenia Martynyuk Supported product version changed to 3.2,
"Yota PCRF Architecture" chapter updated
21.08.2012 2.5 Evgenia Martynyuk Supported product version changed to 3.3
29.10.2012 2.6 Evgenia Martynyuk Supported product version changed to 3.4. "Yota
PCRF Architecture" chapter updated
31.01.2013 2.7 Evgenia Martynyuk
Supported product version changed to 3.5.1.
"Yota PCRF Architecture" and "Integration"
chapters updated
02.04.2013 2.8 Evgenia Martynyuk Supported product version changed to 3.5.2.
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Table of Contents
About the document .................................................................................................. 5
Formatting conventions .......................................................................................... 5
Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 5
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 8
Yota PCRF Architecture .............................................................................................. 9
Yota PCRF System Functional Components .................................................................. 10
Geographical Distribution .......................................................................................... 10
PCRF Node Components ............................................................................................ 11
PCRF Core ........................................................................................................... 12
PCRF Database ..................................................................................................... 12
Diameter Interfaces .............................................................................................. 12
HTTP Interfaces .................................................................................................... 13
Administration Tools ............................................................................................. 15
EDR Writer .......................................................................................................... 15
Watchdog ............................................................................................................ 16
BackUp ............................................................................................................... 16
Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 16
DDF Node Components ............................................................................................. 17
DDF .................................................................................................................... 17
Propagator ........................................................................................................... 18
PCRF Database ..................................................................................................... 18
Diameter Interfaces .............................................................................................. 18
HTTP Interfaces .................................................................................................... 19
MiniCRM .............................................................................................................. 20
Administration Tools ............................................................................................. 20
Watchdog ............................................................................................................ 20
BackUp ............................................................................................................... 20
Monitoring and Statics ........................................................................................... 22
Cluster Architecture .................................................................................................. 23
Integration ............................................................................................................... 24
Network Integration .................................................................................................. 25
LTE ..................................................................................................................... 25
WiMAX ................................................................................................................ 25
3G UTMS ............................................................................................................. 26
3G CDMA2000 ...................................................................................................... 27
IMS..................................................................................................................... 28
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Convergence ........................................................................................................ 29
Integration with IT Infrastructure ............................................................................... 30
Billing ................................................................................................................. 30
Self-care ............................................................................................................. 30
OSS .................................................................................................................... 30
PLM/Product Catalog ............................................................................................. 30
Connection Manager ............................................................................................. 31
Feature Description .................................................................................................. 32
Policy Control in General ........................................................................................... 33
Usage-based Policy Control ........................................................................................ 33
Personalized Services ................................................................................................ 33
Time-based Policy Control ......................................................................................... 34
Location-based Policy Control ..................................................................................... 34
Policy Control Based on Device Type ........................................................................... 35
Parental Control ....................................................................................................... 35
Shared Quota ........................................................................................................... 35
Congestion Management ........................................................................................... 36
Notifications and Promotions ...................................................................................... 37
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About the document
Yota 2013 5
About the document
The purpose of this document is to provide general overview of Yota PCRF system and describe architecture and functions in term of product structure, integration with networks and features.
Formatting conventions
The following conventions are used in the document:
Item Convention Example
Document titles Title caps, italic See "Yota PCRF 3.4 Periodic Tasks
Description"
Chapter titles Title caps, in quotation
marks See Chapter 2, "PCRF System Processes"
Command on menus
and buttons
Bold, capitalization as in a
user interface Click Add button
System components Default, capitalization PCRF Core
General emphasis Italic
Reference to another chapter of the same
document is made as a cross reference in
the following format
Abbreviations
Abbreviation Meaning
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
AAA Authentication Authorization Accounting
AF Application Function
ASN-GW Access Service Network Gateway
BS Base Station
BSC Base Station Controller
CLI Command Line Interface
CRM Customer Relationship Management
CSP Communications Service Provider
DDF Data Distribution Function
DPI Deep Packet Inspection
eGGSN enhanced GGSN
eNB E-UTRAN NodeB
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FTP File Transfer Protocol
GGSN Gateway GPRS Service Node
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
HLR Home Location Register
HSS Home Subscriber Server
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity
LTE 3GPP Long Term Evolution
MME Mobility Management Entity
MS Mobile Station
O&M Operations and Maintenance
OSS/BSS
(B/OSS) Operation Support System/Business Support System
P2P Peer to Peer
PC Personal Computer
PCC Policy and Charging Control
PCEF Policy and Charging Enforcement Function
PCRF Policy and Charging Rules Function
P-CSCF Proxy Call Session Control Function
PDN-GW (P-
GW) Public Data Network Gateway
PDSN/HA Packet Data Serving Node / Home Agent
PLM Product Lifecycle Management
QoS Quality of Service
SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol
SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node
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S-GW Serving Gateway
SMS Short Message Service
SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol
SPR Subscriber Profile Repository
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
USSD Unstructured Supplementary Service Data
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
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Introduction
In the era of packet communication technologies and a rapidly growing demand for bandwidth
and data transfer volumes intelligent control over quality of services (QoS) provided to
subscribers plays a major role.
In telecommunication networks dynamic control over QoS policies is performed by PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function), which is supplied with SPR (Subscriber Profile Repository).
Yota PCRF is a standard compliant policy management solution that enables operator to
dynamically control network elements with real-time policies based on service, subscriber or usage context.
Yota PCRF allows making policy decisions based on:
Subscriber profile and enabled services
Subscriber application and protocol (Skype, P2P)
Content type (Video, MP3)
Subscriber device (Mobile, iPad, TV, PC)
Subscriber location (home, roaming, specific cell)
Date and time
Accumulated usage (per month, week, day, hour)
Cell congestion
Any combination of the above and other parameters
Yota PCRF gives operators the flexibility to quickly respond to competitor tactics, new devices, applications and changing consumer data habits.
Yota PCRF gives service providers valuable abilities like:
Dynamic online control over subscribers services
Protection of key revenue-generating services
Optimized and maintained network utilization
New business models and new revenue streams
A better understanding of subscriber behavior
At the same time Yota PCRF provides subscribers with the following benefits:
Improved QoE (Quality of Experience)
True personalization
Real-time interaction with the network
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1
Yota PCRF Architecture
Yota PCRF System Functional Components
Geographical Distribution
PCRF Node Components
DDF Node Components
Cluster Architecture
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This chapter describes the high-level architecture of Yota PCRF product.
Yota PCRF System Functional Components
Yota PCRF system consists of two main elements:
PCRF. This element carries all policy selection logic and also incorporates SPR functionality.
DDF. This element is required for geographically distributed configuration.
These elements are described in the sections below.
Geographical Distribution
Yota PCRF supports installation in multiple regions. The component that provides geographical
distribution is DDF (Data Distribution Function).
DDF has the following major functions:
Carries out a single entry point for BSS. BSS sends commands only to DDF. DDF then
forwards these commands to Yota PCRF clusters.
Performs subscriber profiles migration from one regional PCRF cluster to another.
The scheme of geographically-distributed configuration is shown in the figure below:
Figure 1. Geographical distribution
BSS
DDF
HTTP
SPR
PCRF
PCRF
DB
City A
PCRF
DB
HTTP,
Diameter (I0,I1)
HTTP,
Diameter (I0,I1)
HTTP,
Diameter (I0,I1)
SPR
PCRF
PCRF
DB
City B
SPR
PCRF
PCRF
DB
City C
PCEFPCEF PCEFPCEF PCEFPCEF
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PCRF Node Components
PCRF cluster carries all policy selection logic and also incorporates SPR functionality.
The functional architecture of a PCRF node is illustrated on the figure below:
Figure 2. Functional architecture of PCRF node with integrated SPR
PCRF Core
Secondary
PCRF Node
In-memory DB
PCRF
DB
PCRF
Node
DDF
Diameter Interfaces
PCEF
Policy Engine
Gx
BSS
HTTP
Monitoring
I0, I1
I0, I1 (Diameter)
Administrator Monitoring
Center
DDF O&M
Console
HTTP Interfaces
SPR
Configuration
Interface
Subscriber
Management
Interface
Subscriber
Session Info
Interface
GRAPI
RxGxx
Clu
ste
r
watc
hdog
BBERF AF
CRM
SNMP,
HTTP
Administration Tools
CLIPCRF O&M
Console
Watchdog
MiniCRM
BackUpSystem
Logging
EDR
Writer
S9
Visited
PCRF
Arrows direction shows the information flow between components.
PCRF consists of the following key components:
PCRF Core
PCRF Database
Diameter Interfaces
HTTP Interfaces
Administration Tools
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PCRF Core
PCRF Core contains Policy Engine, which implements the logic of policy decision for subscriber
access, based on different criteria. The input is SPR information (subscription information,
subscriber location), session information, accumulated usage, used quota or roaming
conditions. The output is the chosen policy, which defines access of a subscriber to network resources and levels of QoS.
Policy Engine has embedded script processor which is based on Lua scripting language. Script
processor can operate with PCRF functions and attributes, and build any combination of
attributes and conditions for policy decision. This enables virtually unlimited flexibility in
configuration of rules in PCRF.
PCRF Database
In-memory PCRF database contains:
SPR information
Session information
Other service information
SPR Information
This is information about:
Subscribers (such as subscriber identity, his profile). These subscribers are attached to the
Network in the region that is served by the local PCRF.
Subscription (services and quotas)
Accumulated usage of a service
SPR information on local PCRF cluster is only part of total Operator subscriber database. Each PCRF cluster has its own SPR information.
Session Information
This service information contains network session context and information of all Diameter
interfaces: Gx, Rx, S9, etc
Diameter Interfaces
Diameter interfaces allows PCRF node to communicate with PCEF, AF, secondary cluster node
and DDF. Yota PCRF supports Diameter message transfer over TCP or SCTP transport protocol.
Several DPIs and/or PCEFs (e.g., PDN-GW, GGSN) can be connected to PCRF in cluster or standalone mode.
The following Diameter Gx dialects are supported:
Default Gx (3GPP TS 29.212 Rel 8,9)
Vendor-specific dialects
Yota PCRF has successfully passed IOT with all vendors mentioned below:
Huawei
Cisco
Procera
Samsung
Sandvine
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The following Rx interface specifications are supported:
3GPP TS 29.214 Rel 8,9
The following Gxx interface specification is supported:
3GPP TS 29.212 Release 9
The following S9 roaming specification is supported:
3GPP TS 29.215 Release 8,9
PCRF clusters communicate with DDF cluster via I0 and I1 interfaces which are based on Diameter.
HTTP Interfaces
The following HTTP interfaces are available for external systems:
Subscriber Management Interface
SPR Configuration Interface
Subscriber Session Information Interface
Generic Request API
Request format is HTTP REST. Answer format is JSON over HTTP.
Subscriber Management Interface
This interface is used for provisioning of subscription information to local PCRF database and allows managing subscriber profile, services, and accumulators.
The interface supports the following command types:
Commands for subscriber profile management (add\delete\update\get subscriber
information, etc.)
Commands for services management (add\delete services to\from a subscriber, update
service information, get all subscribers services, etc.)
Commands for usage accumulator management (add\delete\update\get accumulator
information, etc.)
Information
For more information about Diameter interfaces, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Diameter Interfaces".
Information
For more information about the interface, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Subscriber
Management Interface".
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SPR Configuration Interface
This interface is used for managing SPR dictionaries.
Information in the following dictionaries can be changed:
Service dictionary. Contains information about all services that can be assigned to a
subscriber.
Threshold Scheme dictionary. Contains information about all threshold schemes that are
used in Yota PCRF.
Accumulator dictionary. Contains information about all accumulators that are used in
Yota PCRF.
Attribute dictionary. Contains information about all supplementary attributes that can be
added to a specified service or subscriber.
The interface supports the following operations:
add dictionary information
delete dictionary information
update dictionary information
get dictionary information, etc.
Subscriber Session Information Interface
The interface is used for obtaining information from active Gx session context. Such
information includes session ID, subscriber ID, and other parameters.
Generic Request API (GRAPI)
Generic Request API (GRAPI) gives operators a flexible ability to customize processing logic on
PCRF side. GRAPI doesnt require any integration features development.
Using GRAPI operator can perform operations on:
services
subscriber and service attributes
session information
any other information, available for PCRF
GRAPI involves launching a custom Lua script, which contains processing logic, to a PCRF node
by HTTP request.
Information
For more information about the interface, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 SPR
Configuration Interface".
Information
For more information about the interface, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Subscriber Session Information Interface".
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Administration Tools
PCRF O&M Console
PCRF O&M Console is one of the main administration tools. It allows configuring, maintaining,
monitoring of the PCRF system.
This Web Interface:
allows an operator to make flexible configuration of a PCRF cluster.
allows process and session browsing, which occur in the system, connections generating,
dynamic routes creating, and other operations.
enables fault management, overload management, and shows counters statistics.
The PCRF O&M Console is available at:
http://
CLI
This component is optional and is used for performing simple administration tasks like adding,
updating, or deleting subscriber profile or service information.
Mass Operation Utility
Mass Operation Utility performs mass operations with subscriber profile information. The utility
takes subscriber ID (and other additional parameters if there are any) from subscriber list file
and sends management commands (HTTP-requests), which were specified in a file, to DDF or PCRF node to modify subscriber profile information.
EDR Writer
EDR Writer (Event Data Records Writer) generates files with information about all events that
lead to a QoS policy or rules set change. EDR files contain all policy change history for each
subscriber that makes subscriber support easier. This information can be loaded into external BI systems for further analysis.
EDR file includes:
Cause of event and time stamp
PCRF node information
Subscriber information
Information
For more information about the interface, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Generic Request API".
Information
For more information about the utility, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Mass Operation Utility Description".
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Policy and rule information
Session information
Roaming information
Watchdog
This component manages active processes in the system. If a process is down or doesnt respond the Watchdog will restart it.
BackUp
This component is optional and performs full backup of the information (such as subscriber
profiles, session information, configuration files, server settings, etc.), which is stored in PCRF
database. Full backup of the database is performed every 3 hours.
Monitoring
This component is optional and serves for monitoring of system status, including sub-components, load level and performance.
Information
For more information about EDR files, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 EDR Generation".
Information
For more information about backup and restore procedures, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Backup and Recovery".
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DDF Node Components
DDF cluster is used for forwarding of provisioning interface commands from BSS to Yota PCRF clusters.
The functional architecture of DDF node is illustrated on the figure below:
Figure 3. Functional architecture of DDF node
HTTP Interfaces
DDF
Secondary DDF
Node
In-memory DB
DDF
Node
BSS
PCRF
DB
HTTP
Monitoring
I0, I1
PCRF
Clusters
Clu
ste
r
wa
tch
do
g
Propagator
Proxy
HTTP
Diameter Interfaces
Monitoring
Center
StatisticsDDF Info
Interface
SPR
Configuration
Interface
GRAPI
Subscriber
Session Info
Interface
Subscriber
Management
Interface
HTTP
CRM
HTTP
Administrator
Administration Tools
DDF O&M
ConsoleCLI
BackUp
Watchdog
System
Logging
MiniCRM
DDF consists of the following key components:
Data Distribution Function (DDF)
Propagator
PCRF Database
Diameter Interfaces
HTTP Interfaces
miniCRM
Administration Tools
DDF
Performs subscriber profiles migration from one regional PCRF cluster to another.
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Propagator
This component propagates SPR configuration commands to regional PCRF clusters.
PCRF Database
DDF database has the same structure as PCRF database on a PCRF node and contains:
SPR information
Session information
PCRF database on DDF is used as:
1. Storage of SPR configuration (ServiceInfo dictionary, AccumInfo, SchemeInfo, etc.)
2. Temporary storage of a subscriber profile while it is migrated from old PCRF database to
new PCRF database and when a new subscriber is created.
When SPR configuration commands are received, they are processed locally and then are propagated to all regional PCRF clusters.
PCRF database on DDF is not used as a permanent storage for all Operator subscriber
database.
Subscriber profiles are stored on DDF only when:
DDF performs a subscriber profile migration from one PCRF database to another.
The complete transaction is divided into two parts. At first, DDF requests profile from an
old PCRF cluster database and stores it in own database. Then DDF adds profile to a new
PCRF cluster database and removes it from PCRF database on DDF.
BSS sends a command to create new subscriber, to whom DDF doesnt have routing information.
In this case DDF creates a profile in its own PCRF database. The subscriber profile
information will be migrated to a home PCRF cluster right after the first attach to the
network of this subscriber.
When subscriber profile is added to PCRF database on DDF during migration and if a profile
with the same Subscriber Id already exists in the database, then an old DDF database record should be removed and a new one created.
Session information is required only for interaction with regional PCRF clusters.
Diameter Interfaces
DDF communicate with PCRF clusters via I0 and I1 interfaces which are based on Diameter.
Information
For more information Diameter Interfaces, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Diameter Interfaces".
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HTTP Interfaces
The following interfaces are available for external systems on DDF node:
SPR Configuration Interface
DDF Information Interface
Subscriber Management interface
Subscriber Session Information Interface
Generic Request API
SPR Configuration Interface
SPR configuration commands, which are sent from BSS to DDF, are processed on DDF first and
then are propagated to all regional PCRF clusters.
See more details about the interface in "SPR Configuration Interface" section of PCRF node description.
DDF Information Interface
This interface is used to request subscriber home PCRF address by subscriber ID or session IP.
Subscriber Management Interface
Subscriber Management Interface commands are routed to home PCRF cluster after validation
on DDF.
See more details about the interface in "Subscriber Management Interface" section of PCRF
node description.
Subscriber Session Information interface
Subscriber Session Information Interface commands are routed to home PCRF cluster after
validation on DDF.
See more details about the interface in "Subscriber Session Information Interface" section of PCRF node description.
Generic Request API
GRAPI commands are routed to home PCRF cluster after validation on DDF.
See more details about the interface in "Generic Request API (GRAPI)" section of PCRF node description.
Information
For more information about the interface, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 DDF Information Interface".
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MiniCRM
miniCRM is a centralized interface, which is used to obtain subscriber profiles and session information by subscriber ID or session IP.
The following information is available via miniCRM:
Subscriber location
Subscriber Mapping Status (mapping type: normal or temporary)
Full subscriber information from SPR (services, attributes, accumulators, accumulators
schemes, services attributes)
Session information (session ID, base station ID, QoS policy, region, etc.)
MiniCRM can be embedded to different external CRM systems.
Administration Tools
To provide full Operations & Maintenance function Yota PCRF system has the following main administration tools:
DDF O&M Console
Command Line Interface (CLI)
DDF O&M Console
DDF O&M console is used for configuration, administration and maintenance of all Yota PCRF
system clusters.
The DDF O&M Console is available at:
http://
CLI
CLI on DDF node is optional and has the same functions as PCRF The PCRF O&M Console is
available at:
http://
CLI.
Watchdog
This component manages active processes in the system. If a process is down or doesnt respond the Watchdog will restart it.
BackUp
This component is optional and performs backup of DDF databases information (subscriber
profiles, session information, server settings, etc.). Full backup is performed every 3 hours.
Information
For more information about backup and restore procedures, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.5.2 Backup and Recovery".
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Monitoring and Statics
This is optional component, which serves for monitoring of system status, including sub-components, load level and performance.
Built-in statistics collection provides values of various counters, such as number of requests, processing errors and so on.
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Cluster Architecture
In standard configuration PCRF cluster includes two nodes. Each node is a server with installed required sofrware.
PCRF cluster supports Active/Hot-standby architecture.
PCRF cluster nodes process requests in Active/Hot-standby mode. Session and SPR information
is replicated between nodes. If primary cluster node is unavailable, the second one takes over
all workloads and handles sessions, which were created on the unavailable node.
Figure 4. Redundancy
PCEF Cluster
DDF
Diameter
Interfaces
PCRF
DB
Diameter
Interfaces
PCRF
DB
DDF
PCEF
Primary
Node
Secondary
Node
DB replication
HTTPHTTP
Master link Slave link
HTTP
Interfaces
HTTP
Interfaces
Policy Engine Policy Engine
Cluster
watchdog
PCEF
PCRF Cluster
BSS
Gx Gx GxGx
Active/Active mode is also possible.
DDF cluster also supports Active/Hot-standby architecture. But on the secondary node Propagator components is stopped.
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2
Integration
Network Integration
Integration with IT Infrastructure
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Network Integration
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This chapter describes Yota PCRF integration with different networks and integration with IT
infrastructure.
Network Integration
LTE
A high-level view of Yota PCRF integration with LTE network is shown in the figure below:
Figure 5. Integration with LTE network
P-GW
Gx
Gxx
eNB
DPIPCEF
Services
Internet
Content Video
PCRF
MME S-GW
Yota PCRF can be integrated with S-GW or P-GW. In GTP-based network Yota PCRF is
integrated with P-GW via Gx interface. In PMIP-based network Yota PCRF is also integrated with S-GW via Gxx interface.
Integration with Gx-enabled external DPI is available as well.
WiMAX
A high-level view of Yota PCRF integration with WiMAX network is shown in the figure below:
Figure 6. Integration with WiMAX network
PCRF
BS
ASN-GW
MS Gx
DPI
AAA
PCEF Services
Internet
Content Video
For QoS management in WiMAX networks, Yota PCRF is integrated with DPI via Gx interface.
In some cases it is needed to get traffic between AAA and ASN-GW to detect a device identifier.
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3G UTMS
If the 3G network has an enhanced GGSN (eGGSN) component, which includes PCEF function, Yota PCRF integrates with the eGGSN via Gx interface. See Figure 7.1.
Figure 7.1. Integration with 3G UTMS network (eGGSN)
PCRF
Services
Internet
Content Video
Gx
eGGSNPCEF
SGSN
BSC
If the 3G network has GGSN without Gx support and external DPI with built-in PCEF, Yota
PCRF can be integrated with DPI via Gx interface. To identify subscribers Yota PCRF integrates with the GGSN. See figure 7.2.
Figure 7.2. Integration with 3G UTMS network (GGSN)
PCRF
ServicesSGSN
Internet
Content Video
Gx
BSC
DPIPCEF
GGSN
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3G CDMA2000
If the 3G CDMA 2000 network doesnt have an independent DPI component and PCEF function is included in the PDSN\HA, Yota PCRF integrates with the PDSN\HA via Gx interface. See Figure 8.1.
Figure 8.1. Integration with 3G CDMA2000 network (without independent DPI)
PCRF
ServicesPDSN/HA
Internet
Content Video
Gx
BSC
If the 3G CDMA 2000 network has an independent DPI component, which includes PCEF
function, Yota PCRF integrates with the DPI via Gx interface. To identify subscribers Yota PCRF integrates with the PDSN\HA. See Figure 8.2.
Figure 8.2. Integration with 3G CDMA2000 network (independent DPI)
PCRF
ServicesPDSN/HA
Internet
Content Video
Gx
BSC
DPIPCEF
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IMS
A high-level view of Yota PCRF integration with IMS is shown in the figure below:
Figure 9. Integration with IMS
PCRF
IMS
GxP-CSCF
LTERx
AF
AF Rx
Rx
Yota PCRF is integrated with the IMS P-CSCF (Proxy Call Session Control Function) via Rx
interface and with LTE network via Gx interface.
IMS P-CSCF component manages QoS and authorizes the usage of specific bearer services
(services that allow transmission of information signals between network interfaces) in relation to IMS-based services.
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Convergence
Yota PCRF is a network-agnostic solution. It supports LTE, WiMAX, 3G and is capable of
controlling policies of different networks and enables operators to build a centralized policy
control solution across all operators networks. This network convergence concept is illustrated in figure below:
Figure 10. Convergence
PCRF
LTE
WiMAX
3G
IMS
AFAF
Polic
y Con
trol
QoS
reque
st
Polic
y C
ontr
ol
Policy Control
QoS request
Yota PCRF receives QoS requests from different services via different interaction interfaces and applies policies based on subscribers/network/session information.
Yota PCRF can implement policy control functions over transport networks as well as receive
notifications and QoS requests from IMS and AF via Rx and in compliance with this information
dynamically manage policies over transport networks.
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Integration with IT Infrastructure
In order to bring more value and policy features like Turbo Button in Connection Manager,
parental control, and intelligent reaction on subscriber QoS change like notifications and promo
offerings, Yota PCRF can be integrated with different BSS and IT components.
The scheme of integration with BSS components can be displayed the following way:
Figure 11. Integration with IT infrastructure
PCRF
Connection
Manager
Cell load
information
- Subscriber status
- Quota / Usage
Self-care
PLMOSS
- Notifications
- Subscriber status
- Quota / Usage
QoS Tariffs
Billing
Pro
vis
ion
ing
Billing
Yota PCRF integration with Billing allows subscribers to centralize policies and billing functions
in a multi-service/multi-network environment and have access to consolidated subscriber information.
Self-care
Yota PCRF integration with self-care allows subscribers to see online status of their services.
Online status includes information about a subscribers remaining quota, either in terms of time or volume.
OSS
Yota PCRF integration with OSS enables service providers to detect network congestion periods and during these periods provide services with QoS based on subscriber data plans.
PLM/Product Catalog
Today, policy is a parameter of the same level of service as a price. Operator offers should
have both price and QoS configured in the same place.
Yota PCRF integration with PLM/Product Catalog rapidly decreases time required for configuring
new tariffs by service provider staff, thus reducing Time-to-Market for new marketing offers.
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Integration with IT Infrastructure
Yota 2013 31
Connection Manager
The best way to interact with mobile broadband subscribers is via the Connection Manager instead of SMS, USSD, and other communication channels commonly used by service providers.
Yota PCRF integration with Connection Manager enables service providers to notify, make promotions, and interact with subscribers via the Connection Manager which is always at hand.
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Yota 2013 32
3
Feature Description
Policy Control in General
Usage-based Policy Control
Personalized Services
Time-based Policy Control
Location-based policy control
Policy Control Based on Device Type
Parental Control
Shared Quota
Congestion Management
Notifications and Promotion
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Policy Control in General
Yota 2013 33
This chapter gives a brief description of basic Yota PCRF features.
Policy Control in General
The growing popularity of rich media, interactive applications, and convergent devices are
driving exponential increases in data usage. Per user megabyte consumption is multiplying at
an accelerated pace in almost every part of the world. But data revenue growth is far behind traffic growth and costs of increasing network capacity.
The future success of service providers greatly depends upon their ability to create new
revenue streams. Service providers are now faced with several strategic questions like how to profit from data growth, how best to manage limited network resources.
The answers to these questions can be found in Policy Control.
Policy Control enables operator to dynamically control network elements with real-time policies
based on service, subscriber, or usage context. The policies include information about
bandwidth, charging, consumption and other network parameters for a subscribers entire data session or for one or more particular applications.
With Policy Control, service providers are enabled to adjust and segment their offerings
around: data volumes, time-of-day conditions, application type, URL / domain, protocol, location, content categories, and etc
This ability transforms IP networks from best-effort dumb pipes to smartly managed environments ensuring a high level of service, based on network, application, and subscriber
awareness.
Usage-based Policy Control
Many operators are faced with a situation in which a small number of heavy users are
consuming large volumes of network capacity leading to network congestion. In this
environment, service providers must ensure network costs do not outstrip revenue growth
while meeting the data usage needs of all subscribers.
With Yota PCRF service providers can ensure optimal experience for all subscribers by
dynamically managing subscriber usage and network resources in real-time. Operators can
enforce usage-based policies and manage network congestion while increasing the value of
their networks.
With Yota PCRF operator can configure and assign usage limits to individual subscribers,
monitor limits in real-time, and apply a specific policy when subscribers usage exceeds their quota. A variety of actions can be taken whenever a subscriber exceeds his usage limit, such as disallowing certain usage or reducing connection speed during peak hours.
In order to help subscribers by preventing bill shock, operators give subscribers an opportunity
to track their data usage utilizing online reports and/or an automatic alert notification.
Personalized Services
One size never fits all. Some subscribers only use instant messaging programs (e.g., ICQ) or
do internet browsing to access social networks. They dont need high speed, but want to always be on-line. Others download lots of movies and music from the Internet using P2P
services and high speed is important to them. And there also are subscribers who use their
USB dongles for business purposes. They need to be online even on the go. It is critical for them to have guaranteed quality.
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Yota PCRF 3.5.2
Product Description
Yota 2013 34
Service providers need the ability to segment their subscribers by offering choices of different
data plans and prices, based on speed of access, data volume limits, exclusion of certain application and devices.
With Yota PCRF operator can offer targeted services, which will fit subscribers needs, and assign quality for each service according to the subscribers preferences. By controlling the quality of services in real-time operators make the traffic usage fairer and prevent network
congestion.
Time-based Policy Control
Yota PCRF is comprehensive tool for creation of time-based policies, which can be configured by the service provider or subscriber himself via the self-care portal.
With Yota PCRF an operator can offer the following policies based on time:
Service validity period
Time of a day or/and days of a week policies
Service validity period - PCRF controls the validity period which was set for each particular
service. If the service validity time comes to an end, PCRF takes an action like bandwidth
reducing or blocking broadband access. It can be used for parental controls when parents set
limited Internet access time for their children.
Time of a day/ days of a week - Operator can offer broadband access only during weekends
and holidays or during non-congestion periods for lower prices.
Location-based Policy Control
Modern mobile technologies give subscribers an opportunity to have access to the Internet
from almost anywhere. But typically, people only require high speed connections in limited
locations.
With Location-based Policy Control, operators can offer subscribers control of the quality of
their services based on the location. Subscribers can configure one or several favorite zones
via the self-care portal and enjoy hyper speed Internet within these zones. Outside favorite zones subscribers still can have Internet but with lower speed.
Yota PCRF monitors subscriber location and enforces an action when his location changes.
After applying a particular policy and adjusting subscriber bandwidth each time he enters or
leaves one of his favorite zones PCRF informs the subscriber about the QoS change as long as the subscriber is online while entering or leaving a favorite zone.
Another example of location-based policy control is bill shock prevention.
Roaming is the best opportunity to have connectivity all over the world. Yota PCRF can protect
subscribers from bill shock by allowing them to block certain services during roaming,
configure cut-off mechanisms once a subscribers usage reaches a certain limit. In addition operators can configure usage thresholds which trigger notification to be sent to a subscriber.
Location-based policy control helps Operators to:
Optimize network usage
Control quality of service based on subscribers location and their favorite zones
Location-based policy control helps Subscribers to:
Have connectivity all over the world and prevent roaming surprises
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Policy Control Based on Device Type
Yota 2013 35
Policy Control Based on Device Type
There are a lot of devices which can give access to the Internet nowadays. But different
devices have different requirements to QoS. For example, a small mobile phone doesnt need high bandwidth because download speed in this case will depend on the mobile phone technical
abilities. On the contrary, subscriber with a notebook requires high bandwidth for work with
video streaming, P2P, and other heavy services. Another issue is that with today's mobile
networks, which can provide high speed broadband access to the Internet, users can use their
mobile device as a modem. When ordinary subscribers can use tethering to access simple
services such as e-mail, some advanced users will use it for work with bandwidth consuming applications.
Yota PCRF enables service providers to:
Give required bandwidth to a specified type of devices
Enforce traffic optimization and congestion management
Define a list of blocked devices or a list of blocked applications for specific devices
Manage devices and their usage to make sure that the subscriber uses his device in
accordance with a service plan
Implementation of network restrictions management can protect subscribers from extra charges, protect networks from congestion, and prevent unauthorized heavy traffic.
Parental Control
With internet access now becoming standard on mobile devices, parents want the peace of
their mind knowing that their children are safe when using their phone or PC and that
excessive usage can be prevented. For example, parents dont want their children to visit specific sites and use the Internet more than 3 hours a day. Via the self-care portal, parents
can configure the list of sites which can be visited by their children, the time period when the
Internet can be used, and the parent can specify the maximum duration of daily Internet usage.
Yota PCRF allows the abilities to:
Apply gating according to the rules, configured by a subscriber
Redirect a child to a special page each time he tries to access a site that was not approved
by his parents
Enforce full blocking of the Internet for children when their usage reaches daily limit
With the Parental Control feature, subscribers can make flexible configurations of the list of
web sites which can be visited with their subscription in self-care. These business rules then are automatically applied and controlled in the network.
Shared Quota
Beyond increasing volumes, the growth of mobile data has also increased the number of
subscriptions per customer. Many companies provide their employees with mobile broadband
devices and many families may have several of them. Sometimes buying broadband access for
every device can be rather troublesome because a subscriber will have to monitor each of his
accounts and top-up pre-paid balance in time.
Yota PCRF provides advanced subscriber profile structure, where different subscriptions of an
individual or different individuals in an organization or a family, can be connected to each other.
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Yota PCRF 3.5.2
Product Description
Yota 2013 36
For example, all data traffic from all devices can be countered against a common capacity limit,
and a number of subscribers can share capacity.
With Yota PCRF companies can get corporate plans, which have cheaper prices per one device, and can centralize broadband access and charging management.
With Yota PCRF a family can unite each of family members accounts; it will help to manage family traffic consumption, overcome thresholds and facilitate charging.
The ability to offer such services to subscribers will become increasingly important as more and more devices start using mobile data connections.
Congestion Management
With the Congestion Management feature Yota PCRF can control cell load and apply specific policies to particular subscriber categories when congestion threshold is reached.
Cell load awareness begins with mapping active subscribers to the cell in which they have
active data sessions. Mapping is followed by measuring the cell in terms of the number of
active subscribers in the cell and in terms of the total bandwidth being used by those
subscribers. Once a pre-configured congestion threshold has been crossed, a specific policy
may be applied selectively per subscriber or for everyone in the cell until new measurements indicate that the triggering condition has subsided.
Figure 12. Congestion Management Scheme
SPRPCRF
Cell load information
1.
Co
ng
estio
n
no
tifica
tio
n
5.
Co
ng
estio
n
relie
f
2. Requests profiles of
affected subscribers
3. Sends profiles of
affected subscribers
4. Applies specific rules
for affected subscribers6. Removes specific rules
for affected subscribers
Network
The following scenario can be implemented for Congestion Management cases:
1. OSS radio network analyzer detects that a particular cell is overloaded. PCRF is notified
about cell congestion and then analyzes existing sessions and detects affected subscribers.
2. PCRF requests profiles of the affected subscribers from SPR.
3. SPR retrieves requested profiles and sends them to PCRF; PCRF analyzes the profiles and
checks for a VIP status of the subscribers.
4. For non-VIP subscribers the level of service is downgraded.
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Notifications and Promotions
Yota 2013 37
5. When cell load level becomes normal, radio network analyzer notifies PCRF about subsiding
and PCRF removes previously provisioned rules.
Notifications and Promotions
Notifications ensure that subscribers are always informed about reaching thresholds, quota
exhaustion, roaming charges, location changes, and etc In-session redirection is one of the most efficient ways to guarantee that a subscriber receives a notification, enabling a subscriber
to associate their usage with the offer being made in real-time. For mobile broadband subscriber another suitable way of informing is through the Connection Manager.
Yota PCRF can trigger notifications based on real-time events or conditions such as current
location, current session, usage intensity, etc by providing an outlet to promote new plans, features, or products.