Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110320622 | MANAGING INTERNET PROTOCOL CONNECTIVITY ACCESS NETWORK SESSIONS - The invention is directed to managing a subscriber session, particularly an Internet Protocol connectivity access network (IP-CAN) session in the context of LTE networks, responsive to a change in circumstances related to the subscriber such as a change in subscriber profile information, an event trigger, or a usage management trigger. According to embodiments of the invention, such management includes receiving an indication of a change in circumstances relating to a subscriber; identifying a session related to the change; determining if taking an action related to the session is desirable; and taking the action in accordance with the determination. | 12-29-2011 |
20120278472 | USAGE MONITORING AFTER ROLLOVER - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: determining a session to roll over; determining whether usage monitoring at a usage monitoring node is currently disabled for the session; and if usage monitoring at the usage monitoring node is currently disabled for the session, sending a message from the session management node to the usage monitoring node, wherein the message includes an instruction to enable usage monitoring for the session. Various alternative embodiments additionally include one or more of the following: waiting for a length of time to receive a usage report at the session management node from the usage monitoring node; wherein the step of sending a message from the session management node to the usage monitoring node is only performed when a usage report is not received during the length of time. | 11-01-2012 |
20120297074 | PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION IN SCHEDULED TASK PERFORMANCE - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: determining, by the session management node, a next task time for a session; storing the next task time; waiting for a period of time; after waiting, determining whether a task should be performed with respect to the session based on the next task time; and if the task should be performed with respect to the session, sending a message to at least one other node in the subscriber network including an indication that the task should be performed with respect to the session. | 11-22-2012 |
20120303795 | QOS CONTROL IN WIRELINE SUBSCRIBER MANAGEMENT - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a session management node. A session management node may include: a receiver configured to receive an accounting message; a session information storage that includes a record of accumulated network usage of the subscriber; a session manager configured to determine a Quality of Service (QoS) for the subscriber based upon the subscriber's accumulated network usage and an update time; and a transmitter configured to send an authorization message to the NAS. A session management node may also include: a configurable NAS profile; a usage reporter; a policy engine; and a reauthorization scheduler. Various exemplary embodiments may relate to a method of authorizing QoS based on subscriber usage and current time period. The method may include: receiving an accounting message; monitoring the usage of the subscriber; authorizing a QoS; and transmitting an authorization message. Subscriber network usage may be associated with a monitoring key and/or rating factor. | 11-29-2012 |
20120303796 | MAPPING ACCOUNTING AVPS TO MONITORING KEYS FOR WIRELINE SUBSCRIBER MANAGEMENT - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a session management node. A session management node may include: a receiver that receives an accounting message indicating network usage of a subscriber, the message including at least one field; a NAS profile that maps the accounting message to a type of usage based on the field; a session information storage that includes a record of accumulated network usage for the type of usage; and a usage reporter that updates the subscriber's accumulated network usage. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method of measuring network usage of a subscriber. The method may include: receiving an accounting message; determining a type of usage; and monitoring the subscriber's usage according to the type of usage. In various exemplary embodiments, various messages including vendor specific fields may be mapped to the same type of usage. A rating factor for monitoring may be assigned to a type of usage. | 11-29-2012 |
20130084826 | USAGE SHARING ACROSS FIXED LINE AND MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method for determining the usage of a subscriber to mobile and fixed line services including: receiving subscriber usage information from a fixed line network; receiving subscriber usage information from a mobile network; computing a usage metric based upon the received subscriber usage information from the fixed line network and the mobile network and rating factor information; comparing the usage metric to a predetermined usage threshold; determining a usage policy action; and transmitting a usage policy action message. | 04-04-2013 |
20130085909 | SY BASED INTEGRATED POLICY AND CHARGING CONTROL - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method for managing subscriber usage in a mobile network by a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) including: receiving a credit control request (CCR) message from a policy and enforcement rules function (PCEF) for an application; determining if a Sy connection to an online charging system (OCS) is necessary to implement the CCR; determining if a Sy session is present; sending an application authorization request (AAR) message to the OCS; binding a counter to the application; determining a policy to apply based upon the application; and sending a credit control answer (CCA) message to the PCEF to effect the policy. | 04-04-2013 |
20130086252 | FLEXIBLE RULE BASED USAGE METERING POLICIES - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method of managing usage of a service. The method may include: defining a plurality of metering policies associated with the service; assigning an applicability condition to each of the plurality of metering policies; assigning a quota to each of the plurality of metering policies; selecting an applicable first metering policy for a subscriber session based on the applicability condition; measuring usage of the service according to the first metering policy; comparing the usage against the quota of the first metering policy; and selecting an applicable second metering policy for the subscriber session based on the applicability condition assigned to the second metering policy if the usage exceeds the quota of the first metering policy. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a network node for managing subscriber usage. The network node may include: a metering policy storage; a limit selector; an interface; and a processor. | 04-04-2013 |
20130086253 | HIERARCHICAL METERING POLICY ATTRIBUTES - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a policy and charging rules node for managing usage of a subscriber. The method may include: defining a primary metering policy having a first applicability condition and a first quota; defining a secondary metering policy having attributes including a second applicability condition and at least one inherited attribute that references an attribute of the primary metering policy; determining that the second metering policy is applicable when the first applicability condition and the second applicability condition are true; selecting the secondary metering policy as an active metering policy; and managing subscriber usage according to the attributes of the secondary metering policy. In various alternative embodiments, the step of managing subscriber usage includes: measuring subscriber usage according to a rating factor of the secondary metering policy; and charging the measured subscriber usage to both the primary metering policy and the secondary metering policy. | 04-04-2013 |
20130231081 | QOS CONTROL IN PCRF BASED ON USAGE AND TIME OF DAY - Embodiments of the invention provide a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) node and a method for authorizing a Quality of Service (QoS) for a wireless subscriber based on subscriber usage and time-of-day for a 3GPP-compliant packet data network | 09-05-2013 |
20130326076 | PER FLOW AND PER SESSION METERING LIMIT APPLICATION - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a policy and charging rules node (PCRN), the method including: receiving a metering limit associated with a user; defining a session key associated with the metering limit; defining a flow key associated with the metering limit; dynamically selecting the session key; commanding a policy and charging enforcement node to apply the dynamically selected session key to a session of the user; dynamically selecting the flow key; and commanding a policy and charging enforcement node to uninstall the session key and to apply the dynamically selected flow key to a flow of the user. | 12-05-2013 |
20140038547 | METERED SERVICES - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: determining that a service should be configured for a subscriber; identifying a metering object that is currently applicable to the subscriber, wherein the metering object includes a metering limit and a plurality of actions; selecting a first action of the plurality of actions, wherein the first action includes a first parameter; configuring the service on the PCEN according to the first parameter, wherein configuring the service comprises instructing the PCEN to report usage of the service; and applying the metering limit to usage reported by the PCEN. | 02-06-2014 |
20140059201 | PER FLOW DYNAMIC METERING SELECTION - Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving, at the PCRN, a request for establishment of a new service data flow (SDF) for a subscriber; generating a policy and charging control (PCC) rule based on the request; identifying a first metering object of a plurality of metering objects as currently applicable to the subscriber, wherein the first metering object includes a first monitoring key; and transmitting the PCC rule and the first monitoring key to the PCEN for installation. Various embodiments additionally include, after transmitting the PCC rule and the first monitoring key. identifying a second metering object of the plurality of metering objects as currently applicable to the subscriber, wherein the second metering object includes a second monitoring key; and transmitting the second monitoring key to the PCEN for installation in association with the PCC rule. | 02-27-2014 |