Yota PCRF Product Description Product version: 3.6 Document version: 2.9 Status: development
© Yota 2013
Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
Revision History Date 09.03.2011
Version 1.0
Author Evgenia Martynyuk
01.06.2011
1.1
Evgenia Martynyuk
06.06.2011 28.07.2011 17.08.2011 29.08.2011 17.10.2011
1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 2.1
Evgenia Evgenia Evgenia Evgenia Evgenia
19.01.2012
2.2
Evgenia Martynyuk
04.03.2012
2.3
Evgenia Martynyuk
13.07.2012
2.4
Evgenia Martynyuk
21.08.2012
2.5
Evgenia Martynyuk
29.10.2012
2.6
Evgenia Martynyuk
31.01.2013
2.7
Evgenia Martynyuk
02.04.2013
2.8
Evgenia Martynyuk
10.09.2013
2.9
Evgenia Martynyuk
© Yota 2013
Martynyuk Martynyuk Martynyuk Martynyuk Martynyuk
Revision Document created Integration with 3G CDMA2000 was added. Figures review and update Geographical distribution was added Yota PCRF architecture update Integration with LTE network figure was changed Functional and Redundancy figures were changed Supported product version changed to 2.5 Supported product version changed to 3.0, "Yota PCRF Architecture" and "Feature Description" chapters update Supported product version changed to 3.1, "Yota PCRF Architecture" and "Network Integration" chapters updated Supported product version changed to 3.2, "Yota PCRF Architecture" chapter updated Supported product version changed to 3.3 Supported product version changed to 3.4. "Yota PCRF Architecture" chapter updated Supported product version changed to 3.5.1. "Yota PCRF Architecture" and "Integration" chapters updated Supported product version changed to 3.5.2. Supported product version changed to 3.6. "Yota PCRF Architecture" chapter updated
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Table of Contents About the document .................................................................................................. 5 Formatting conventions .......................................................................................... 5 Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 5 Introduction Introdu ction ...................... ........................................... .......................................... ........................................... ........................................... ........................ ... 8 Yota PCRF Architecture .............................................................................................. 9 Yota PCRF System Functional Functi onal Components Component s ................................................... ............................. ..................................... ............... 10 Geographical Geograp hical Distribution Distributi on .................... .......................................... ............................................ ............................................ .......................... ....10 DDF as Temporary Subscriber Profile Storage ........ ................ ................ ................. ................. ................ ................. .........11 DDF as Permanent Subscriber Profile Storage ........ ................ ................ ................. ................. ................ ................. .........11 PCRF Node Components Comp onents .............................................................. ........................................ ............................................ .............................. ........ 11 PCRF Core ................................................ ........................... ........................................... ............................................ ..................................... ............... 12 PCRF Database Da tabase ..................... .......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ..................................... ............... 12 Diameter Interface In terfaces s ..................... .......................................... ........................................... ............................................ .............................. ........ 12 HTTP Interfa Interfaces ces .................... ......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ..................................... ............... 13 Administration Admini stration Tools ........................................................ .................................. ............................................ ..................................... ............... 15 EDR Writer ........................................... ...................... ........................................... ............................................ ......................................... ................... 16 BackUp ............................................. ........................ .......................................... ........................................... ........................................... ....................... ..16 Service Servi ce Components ........................................................ .................................. ............................................ ..................................... ............... 17 Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 17 DDF Node Components Component s ........................................................ .................................. ............................................ ..................................... ............... 18 Data Distribution Distri bution Function (DDF) (DDF ) ..................... .......................................... ........................................... .................................. ............ 19 Propagator Propagat or .................... ......................................... ........................................... ........................................... .......................................... ....................... ..19 PCRF Database Da tabase ..................... .......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ..................................... ............... 19 Diameter Interface In terfaces s ..................... .......................................... ........................................... ............................................ .............................. ........ 19 HTTP Interfa Interfaces ces .................... ......................................... ........................................... ............................................ ..................................... ............... 20 MiniCRM .............................................................................................................. 21 Administration Admini stration Tools ........................................................ .................................. ............................................ ..................................... ............... 21 Service Servi ce Components ........................................................ .................................. ............................................ ..................................... ............... 21 BackUp ............................................. ........................ .......................................... ........................................... ........................................... ....................... ..22 Monitoring Monito ring and Statics St atics ..................... ........................................... ............................................ ............................................ .......................... ....22 PCRF Cluster Cluste r Architecture Archit ecture .................... .......................................... ............................................ ............................................ .......................... ....23 Integration ............................................................................................................... 24 Network Integr Integration ation ...................... ........................................... .......................................... ........................................... .................................. ............ 25 LTE ...................... ........................................... ........................................... ............................................ ........................................... .............................. ......... 25 WiMAX ......................................................... ................................... ........................................... .......................................... .................................. ............. 25 3G UTMS ...................... ........................................... .......................................... ........................................... ........................................... ....................... ..26
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description 3G CDMA2000 ...................................................................................................... 27 IMS..................................................................................................................... 28 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
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
Document titles
Title caps, italic
Example See "Yota PCRF 3.4 Periodic Tasks Description"
Command on menus and buttons
Title caps, in quotation marks Bold, capitalization as in a user interface
System components
Default, capitalization
PCRF Core
Italic
Reference to another chapter of the same document is made as a cross reference in the following format
Chapter titles
General emphasis
See Chapter 2, "PCRF System Processes" Click Add button
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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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description 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 (PGW)
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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About the document
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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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
Introduction In the era of packet communication technologies and 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 2013
Yota PCRF System Functional Components
Geographical Distribution
PCRF Node Components
DDF Node Components
Cluster Architecture
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description 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 ge ographically distributed configuration.
The system can have one DDF cluster and several PCRF clusters (standalone nodes). Every cluster consists of two physical identical servers.
Geographical Distribution Yota PCRF supports installation in multiple regions. The component that provides geographical distribution is DDF (Data Distribution Function). DDF carries out a single entry point for BSS. BSS sends commands only to DDF. DDF then forwards these commands to Yota PCRF clusters. The scheme of geographically-distributed configuration is shown in the figure below: Figure 1. Geographical distribution
BSS HTTP
DDF HTTP, Diameter (I0,I1)
PCRF DB
HTTP, Diameter (I0,I1)
HTTP, Diameter (I0,I1)
PCRF
PCRF
SPR PCRF DB
PCEF PCEF City A
PCRF SPR PCRF DB
PCEF PCEF City B
SPR PCRF DB
PCEF PCEF City C
At the same time DDF can be configured as:
only temporary subscriber profile storage (default)
permanent subscriber profile storage
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PCRF Node Components
DDF as Temporary Subscriber Profile Storage In this case DDF is only temporary subscriber profil e storage for new and migrated profiles. DDF performs subscriber profiles migration from one regional PCRF cluster to another and subscriber profiles are then stored on local PCRF permanently. Every local PCRF cluster stores its own subscriber profiles information.
DDF as Permanent Subscriber Profile Storage In this case DDF stores the whole operator’ s subscriber database. No subscriber profile migration from one local PCRF to another. Local PCRF receives subscriber profiles and stores them until these subscribes session are terminated.
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 BSS
CRM
DDF
I0, I1 (Diameter)
DDF O&M Console Administrator
Monitoring Center
HTTP
PCRF O&M Console
CLI
MiniCRM
Subscriber Session Info Interface
GRAPI
Administration Tools
SPR Configuration Interface
Subscriber Management Interface
SNMP, HTTP
Monitoring
HTTP Interfaces
In-memory DB System Logging
BackUp PCRF DB
PCRF Core Service Components
EDR Writer
Policy Engine
PCRF Node Diameter Interfaces Gx
Gxx
r g o e d t s h c u t l C a w
Rx
S9
I0, I1
Secondary PCRF Node PCEF
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BBERF
AF
Visited PCRF
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description Arrows direction shows the information flow between components. PCRF consists of the following key components:
PCRF Core
PCRF Database (with incorporated SPR)
Diameter Interfaces (for interaction with network core equi pment and DDF)
HTTP Interfaces (for information provisioning, subscriber profiles management, information obtaining by external systems) Administration Tools
PCRF Core PCRF Core contains Policy Engine, which implements the l ogic 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 i s 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 a local PCRF cluster
Subscription (services and quotas)
Accumulated usage of a service
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 i n cluster or standalone mode. The following Diameter Gx dialects are supported:
Default Gx (3GPP TS 29.212 Rel 8,9)
Vendor-specific dialects
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PCRF Node Components Yota PCRF has successfully passed IOT with all vendors mentioned bel ow:
Huawei
Cisco
Procera
Samsung
Sandvine
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 specifications are supported:
3GPP TS 29.215 Release 8,9
PCRF clusters communicate with DDF cluster via I0 and I1 interfaces which are based on Diameter. I0 is used for subscriber profiles migration between clusters and I1 is used for subscriber session start reporting to DDF or PCEF.
Information For more information about Diameter interfaces, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.6 Diameter Interfaces".
HTTP Interfaces The following HTTP interfaces are available for e xternal 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 subscriber’s services, etc.) Commands for usage accumulator management (add\delete\update\get accumulator information, etc.)
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description Important If DDF is configured as single profile storage, Subscriber Management Interface commands are not propagated to PCRF clusters. All changes a will be applied to subscriber profiles that are stored on DDF cluster only.
Information For more information about the interface, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.6 Subscriber Management Interface".
SPR Configuration Interface This interface is used for managing SPR di ctionaries. Information of the following dictionaries can be changed:
Service dictionary. Contains information about all services that can b e 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
Information For more information about the interface, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.6 SPR Configuration Interface".
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.
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PCRF Node Components
Information For more information about the interface, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.6 Subscriber Session Information Interface".
Generic Request API (GRAPI) Generic Request API (GRAPI) gives operators a fl exible ability to customize processing logic on PCRF side. GRAPI doesn’t 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 3.6 Generic Request API".
Administration Tools PCRF O&M Console PCRF O&M Console is one of the main administration tools. It allows configuring, maintaining, monitoring of the Yota 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.
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description Information For more information about the administration tools, pl ease refer to "Yota PCRF 3.6 Administrator's Guide", chapter "Administration Tools".
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 another fil e, to DDF or PCRF node for subscriber profile modification.
Information For more information about the utility, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.6 Mass Operation Utility Description".
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
Policy and rule information
Session information Information For more information about EDR files, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.6 EDR Generation".
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.
Information For more information about backup and restore procedures, please refer to "Yota PCRF 3.6 Backup and Recovery".
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PCRF Node Components
Service Components Service components provide stable system operating and high performance, manage active processes in the system (if a process is down or doesn’t respond it will be restarted), root out session doubles and terminate them, collect required information required for RRD charts, etc…
Monitoring This component is optional and serves for monitoring of system status, including subcomponents, load level and performance.
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
DDF Node Components DDF cluster forwards 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
BSS
CRM
Administrator
Monitoring Center
HTTP
HTTP
MiniCRM
Subscriber Session Info Interface
GRAPI
HTTP
Subscriber Management Interface
SPR Configuration Interface
DDF Info Interface
Interfaces
DDF O&M Console
CLI
Statistics
Monitoring
Administration Tools
Proxy
In-memory DB BackUp
PCRF DB
System Logging
Service Components
Propagator
DDF
Diameter Interfaces HTTP
HTTP
I0, I1
PCRF Clusters
DDF Node
r g o e d t s h c u t l C a w
Secondary DDF Node
DDF consists of the following key components:
Data Distribution Function (DDF)
Propagator
PCRF Database
Diameter Interfaces
HTTP Interfaces
MiniCRM
Administration Tools
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DDF Node Components
Data Distribution Function (DDF) Performs subscriber profiles migration from one r egional PCRF cluster to another if DDF cluster is used only as temporary subscriber profile storage. In case of permanent subscriber profile storage DDF sends requested subscriber profile information to regional PCRF clusters and receives information about location change and accumulated usage from PCRF.
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 for: 1. 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. 2. Permanent storage of all Operator subscriber database. When SPR configuration commands are received, they are processed locally and then are propagated to all regional PCRF clusters if required. Session information is required only for interaction with regional PCRF clusters.
Temporary Storage In case of temporary storage subscriber profiles are stored on DDF only when:
DDF performs a subscriber profile migration from one regional PCRF 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 sends 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 doesn’t have routing information yet. 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.
Permanent Storage In case of permanent storage all subscriber profiles are stored on DDF. Local PCRF gets subscriber profile and stores it while this subscriber session exists on PCRF.
Diameter Interfaces DDF communicate with PCRF clusters via I0 and I1 i nterfaces which are based on Diameter. I0 is used for subscriber profiles migration between clusters and I1 is used for subscriber session start reporting.
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description Information For more information Diameter Interfaces, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.6 Diameter Interfaces".
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.
Information For more information about the interface, please refer to the "Yota PCRF 3.6 DDF Information Interface".
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.
Important If DDF is configured as single profile storage, Subscriber Management Interface commands are not propagated to PCRF clusters. All changes a will be applied to subscriber profiles that are stored on DDF cluster only.
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DDF Node Components
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.
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 PC RF 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 node CLI.
Service Components Service components provide stable system operating and high performance, manage active processes in the system (if a process is down or doesn’t respond it will be restarted), collect required information required for RRD charts, etc…
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
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 3.6 Backup and Recovery".
Monitoring and Statics This is optional component, which serves for monitoring of system status, including subcomponents, 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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PCRF Cluster Architecture
PCRF 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 secondary node takes over all workloads and handles sessions, which were created on the unavailable node. Figure 4. Redundancy BSS
Master link
DDF DDF
Slave link
HTTP
HTTP PCRF Cluster HTTP Interfaces
HTTP Interfaces
Secondary Node
Primary Node
DB replication
PCRF DB
PCRF DB
Policy Engine
Policy Engine
Cluster watchdog
Diameter Interfaces
Gx
Gx
Diameter Interfaces
Gx
PCEF
Gx
PCEF PCEF Cluster
Active/Active mode is also possible. DDF cluster also supports Active/Hot-standby architecture. But on the secondary node Propagator components is stopped. PCRF as standalone node installation is also possible. © Yota 2013
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2 Integration
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Network Integration
Integration with IT Infrastructure
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Network Integration 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
Internet
Services eNB
Content
MME
Video
P-GW
S-GW
PCEF
DPI
Gx Gxx
PCRF
Yota PCRF can be integrated with S-GW or P-GW. In GTP-based network Yota PCRF i s 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 Internet ASN-GW
DPI
PCEF
Services Content
BS
Video
Gx
MS
AAA
PCRF
For QoS management in WiMAX networks, Yota PCRF is integrated with DPI via Gx i nterface. In some cases it is needed to get traffic between AAA and ASN-GW to detect a device identifier. © Yota 2013
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
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)
BSC
Internet
eGGSN
SGSN
Services
PCEF
Content
Video
Gx
PCRF
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 i ntegrates with the GGSN. See figure 7.2. Figure 7.2. Integration with 3G UTMS network (GGSN)
BSC
Internet
SGSN
GGSN
DPI
PCEF
Services Content
Video
Gx
PCRF
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Network Integration
3G CDMA2000 If the 3G CDMA 2000 network doesn’ t 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)
Internet
Services
PDSN/HA
Content
BSC
Video
Gx
PCRF 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) Internet
PDSN/HA
DPI
PCEF
Services Content
BSC
Video
Gx
PCRF
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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
IMS A high-level view of Yota PCRF integration with IMS is shown in the figure below: Figure 9. Integration with IMS
IMS P-CSCF
Rx PCRF
AF
Gx
LTE
Rx Rx AF
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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Network Integration
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
IMS AF
AF s t u e q e S r Q o
Q o S r e q u e s t
PCRF l o n t r o C c l i y P o
LTE
l o r t n o C y c i l o P
P o l i c y C o n t r o l
3G
WiMAX
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 netwo rks 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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Yota PCRF 3.6 Product Description
Integration with IT Infrastructure In order to bring more value and policy features like Turbo Button in Con nection 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
Billing
Connection Manager - Notifications - Subscriber status - Quota / Usage
g n i n o i s i v o r P
Self-care - Subscriber status - Quota / Usage
PCRF
OSS
Cell load information
QoS Tariffs
PLM
Billing Yota PCRF integration with Billing allows subscribers to centralize polic ies 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 onl ine status of their services. Online status includes information about a subscriber’ s 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 pl ans.
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
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 pr oviders to notify, make promotions, and interact with subscribers via the C onnection Manager which is always at hand.
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3 Feature Description
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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 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 subscriber’s 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, b ased 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 whi le 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 subscriber’s 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 don’t 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 3.6 Product Description 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 th e 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 hi s 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 subscriber’s 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’ l ocation 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
Policy Control Based on Device Type There are a lot of devices which can give access to the Internet n owadays. But different devices have different requirements to QoS. For example, a small mobile phone doesn’t 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 se rvices. Another issue is that with today's mobile networks, which can provide high speed broadband access to the Internet, users can u se 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 pre vent 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 don’t 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 buyi ng 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, whe re 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 3.6 Product Description 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 p lans, 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 member’ s 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
Cell load information
Network 4 . A p f o r a p l ie s p e c ff e c s if te d s u b i c r u l e s sc r 6 . R ib e r e m s o f o r a v es s f f p e ct e e c d i c r s u b if s cr i u l es b er s
n o n i t o s i t e a g c i n f i o t C o . n 1
n o i t s f e e g i l n e o r C . 5
2. Requests profiles of affected subscribers PCRF
3. Sends profiles of affected subscribers
SPR
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 pr ofiles and checks for a VIP status of the subscribers. 4. For non-VIP subscribers the level of service is downgraded.
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