Patent Application
20120059944
The present invention relates to a method of establishing a communication session.
More particularly, the invention relates to establishing a communication session when there is a limitation on the Quality of Service available in the access network.
Telecommunications services provided over an IP Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) can be subject to charging and policy control mechanisms. This includes Quality of Service (QoS) control. Accordingly, some telecommunications systems incorporate Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architectures to provide this control. 3GPP TS 23.203 V8.1.1 describes such a PCC architecture in respect of packet flows in an IP-CAN session established by a user terminal through an Evolved 3GPP telecommunications system, including both 3GPP accesses (GERAN/UTRAN/E-UTRAN) and Non-3GPP accesses.
The PCRF is a functional element that encompasses policy control decision and flow based charging control functionalities, a combination of the functionality of the Policy Decision Function (PDF) and the Charging Rule Function (CRF) defined in release 6 of the 3GPP specification. A PCRF can be implemented as a standalone node and behaves as a Policy Decision Point (PDP), or Policy Server (PS), that stores user data related to QoS enforcement, access control lists, etc. The PCRF provides policy and charging control for the media components negotiated between the user terminal and the AF. The PCRF receives session and media related information from the AF and informs the AF of traffic plane events. The PCRF also provides network control regarding the service data flow detection, gating, QoS and flow based charging (except credit management) towards the PCEF. The PCRF can provision PCC rules and PCC decisions to the PCEF via the Gx reference point. Criteria such as the QoS subscription information may be used together with policy rules such as, service-based, subscription-based, or pre-defined PCRF internal policies to derive the authorized QoS to be enforced for a service data flow. The PCRF PCC decisions may be based on one or more of the following:
The PCEF is a functional entity that behaves as a Policy Enforcing Point (PEP) for enforcing decisions instructed by the PCRF and the OCS. The PCEF provides service data flow detection (based on the service data flow filter filters defined in the PCC rules) to capture and analyse any user and signalling traffic, to identify the user and to capture details of the service(s) being used. The PCEF can then communicate this information to the PCRF over the Gx interface, to the OCS over the Gy interface and to the OFCS over the Gz interface. The PCEF enforces QoS control according to the QoS authorised by the PCRF. The PCEF is preferably co-located within the gateway node implementing the IP access to the PDN. As such, in a GPRS core network the PCEF is located within the GPRS Gateway Support Node (GGSN), whilst in the case of a CDMA2000 network the PCEF may be located in a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN), and in a WLAN network the PCEF may be located in a Packet Data Gateway (PDG).
The BBERF functionality includes bearer binding, uplink bearer binding verification and event reporting to the PCRF. For example, in a GPRS core network the bearer binding mechanism associates the PCC rule with the PDP context that is to carry the service data flow. When GPRS Tunnelling Protocol (GTP) is used between the BBERF and the PCEF then bearer binding is performed by the PCEF. Alternatively, when Proxy Mobile IP (PMIP) is used between the BBERF and the PCEF, instead of GTP, then bearer binding is performed by the BBERF.
The OCS provides authorization for the usage of network resources based on the provisioned data and the user activity information it receives from PCEF. This authorization must be granted by the OCS prior to the actual resource usage. When receiving a network resource usage request, the network assembles the relevant charging information and generates a charging event towards the OCS in real-time. The OCS then returns an appropriate resource usage authorization over the Gy interface. The resource usage authorization may be limited in its scope (e.g. volume of data or duration) therefore this authorization may have to be renewed from time to time as long as the user's resource usage persists. The OCS can support time, volume and event-based charging.
The AF is an element offering applications that require policy and/or charging control of the IP-CAN user plane behaviour. The AF communicates with the PCRF over the Rx interface to transfer dynamic session information (e.g. a description of the media to be delivered in the transport layer) required for PCRF decisions, as well as to receive IP-CAN specific information and notifications about IP-CAN bearer level events. One example of an AF is the P-CSCF of the IP Multimedia Core Network (IM CN) subsystem. In the case of a P-CSCF, the information communicated over the Rx interface is derived from the P-CSCF session information (e.g. SDP when SIP is used for signalling) and it mainly includes media components. A media component comprises a set of IP flows, each of which is described by a 5-tuple, the media type and required bandwidth.
The SPR contains all subscriber/subscription related information needed for subscription-based policies and IP-CAN bearer level PCC rules by the PCRF. The Sp interface allows the PCRF to request subscription information related to the IP-CAN transport level policies from the SPR based on a subscriber ID and other IP-CAN session attributes.
According to current solutions the PCRF receives, from one or more Application Functions (AF), negotiated service information that will be used by the PCRF to provide access control by creating PCC rules. These PCC rules include QoS parameters (bandwidth, QoS class Identifier, Allocation & Retention Priority) and optionally charging information. The PCRF provides this information to the GW, (i.e. the PCEF when GTP is used from the GW towards the access network, or BBERF when PMIP is used). Upon receiving the PCC rules, the GW will proceed with the establishment of the appropriate bearer according to the provided QoS requirements. If there is a bearer already active that meets the QoS requirements, then that bearer will be modified instead of establishing a new bearer.
When the bearers are established by the network, i.e. by the GW, it may be the case that the GW cannot enforce the dynamic PCC rules provided by the PCRF, according to the QoS that is required for the service. For example, this may occur if:
In such circumstances the PCRF cannot be informed of this problem, nor can it be informed of the resources that are available for that service in the access network.
As such, the PCRF can not make correctly informed policy decisions and the GW might need to determine the policies locally. However, such decisions will not be based on user conditions or service priorities, but as a generic operator policy (e.g. the GW will not allow any degradation on the provided QoS). Furthermore, this violates the PCC architecture, as the PCRF will be unaware of the final QoS accepted by the network.
In such an erroneous situation, if the user was not yet using the service, and the bearer could not be established/modified because of bandwidth limitations, then the UE would not be able to start using the service, regardless of the priority of the service or the kind of user. As a consequence, the user's perception of the service would then be negative. If the user was already using the service, but the bearer cannot be modified according to meet some new QoS demands (e.g. video was added to an audio service, or the user roamed to a SGSN with QoS capability restrictions), then the user would perceive that the service does not work according to his/her demands.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of facilitating a communication session between a user terminal and an Application Function over an IP Connectivity Access Network. The method comprises, at a Policy and Charging Rules Function, receiving information relating to the session from the Application Function, determining one or more Policy and Charging Control rules for the session including deriving a Quality of Service authorised for the session, and sending the Policy and Charging Control rules, including the authorised Quality of Service, to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function. At the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, installing the one or more Policy and Charging Control rules including the authorised Quality of Service for the session, and, if it is determined that the authorised Quality of Service cannot be achieved due to a limitation on a Quality of Service available in the Access Network, then reporting this to the Policy and Charging Rules Function and including the available Quality of Service. At the Policy and Charging Rules Function, receiving the report from the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, including the available Quality of Service, and using the available Quality of Service to determine whether and/or how to maintain the session. The report sent to the Policy and Charging Rules Function may indicate the Policy and Charging Control rules for which the Quality of Service cannot be achieved.
Embodiments of the invention provide that a Policy and Charging Rules Function can be informed about Quality of Service limitations of the access network, such that the policy decisions made the Policy and Charging Rules Function can take into account the QoS currently available in the access network. The Policy and Charging Rules Function can therefore provide for the continuity of services according to its policies.
The step of using the available Quality of Service to determine whether and/or how to maintain the session may comprise one or more of:
If the authorised Quality of Service for the session can be modified to achieve the available Quality of Service then the Policy and Charging Rules Function may modify the authorised Quality of Service and send the Policy and Charging Control rules to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function including the modified authorised Quality of Service. The Policy and Charging Rules Function may also notify the Application Function of the modified authorised Quality of Service.
If the user terminal is participating in one or more additional sessions concurrently and if the Quality of Service of one or more of the additional sessions can be downgraded to increase the Quality of Service available for the session, then the Policy and Charging Rules Function may downgrade the Quality of Service of one or more of the additional sessions, send modified Policy and Charging Control rules for the or each of the additional sessions to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, including the downgraded Quality of Service, and send the Policy and Charging Control rules for the session to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, including the authorised Quality of Service. The Policy and Charging Rules Function may also notify an Application Function associated with the or each of the additional sessions for which the Quality of Service has been downgraded, of the downgraded Quality of Service.
If the Policy and Charging Rules Function determines that the session cannot be maintained then it may notify the Application Function and the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function that the session is to be terminated.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function to facilitate a communication session over an IP Connectivity Access Network between a user terminal and an Application Function. The method comprises installing in the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function one or more Policy and Charging Control rules for the session received from a Policy and Charging Rules Function, the Policy and Charging Control rules including a Quality of Service authorised for the session. If it is determined by the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function that the authorised Quality of Service cannot be achieved due to a limitation on a Quality of Service available in the Access Network, then reporting this to the Policy and Charging Rules Function and including the available Quality of Service.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a Policy and Charging Rules Function to facilitate a communication session over an IP Connectivity Access Network between a user terminal and an Application Function. The method comprises receiving information relating to the session from the Application Function, determining one or more Policy and Charging Control rules for the session, including deriving a Quality of Service authorised for the session, sending the Policy and Charging Control rules, including the authorised Quality of Service, to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function. Receiving a report from the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function that the authorised Quality of Service cannot be achieved due to a limitation on a Quality of Service available in the Access Network, the report including the available Quality of Service, and using the available Quality of Service to determine whether and/or how to maintain the session.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus configured to operate as a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function to facilitate a communication session over an IP Connectivity Access Network between a user terminal and an Application Function. The apparatus comprises:
The processing unit may be further arranged to indicate the Policy and Charging Control rules for which the Quality of Service cannot be achieved in the report to be sent to the Policy and Charging Rules Function.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus configured to operate as a Policy and Charging Rules Function to facilitate a communication session over an IP Connectivity Access Network between a user terminal and an Application Function. The apparatus comprises:
In order to determine whether and/or how to maintain the session, the processing unit may be arranged to perform one or more of:
The processing unit may be further arranged to modify the authorised Quality of Service, if the authorised Quality of Service for the session can be modified to achieve the available Quality of Service.
The apparatus may further comprise a transmitter for sending the Policy and Charging Control rules to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function including the modified authorised Quality of Service, and a transmitter for notifying the Application Function of the modified authorised Quality of Service.
The processing unit may be further arranged to downgrade the Quality of Service of one or more of the additional sessions, if the user terminal is participating in one or more additional sessions concurrently and the Quality of Service of one or more of the additional sessions can be downgraded to increase the Quality of Service available for the session. The apparatus may then further comprise a transmitter for sending additional Policy and Charging Control rules for the or each of the additional sessions to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, including the downgraded Quality of Service, and for sending the Policy and Charging Control rules for the first mentioned session to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, including the authorised Quality of Service. The apparatus may also further comprise a transmitter for notifying an Application Function associated with the or each of the additional sessions for which the Quality of Service has been downgraded of the downgraded Quality of Service.
If it is determined that the session cannot be maintained, the processing unit may be further arranged to notify the Application Function and the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function that the session is to be terminated.
Current 3GPP specifications define certain errors that are to be reported (e.g. when the PCC rules cannot be installed or enforced, or when the resources could not be allocated) such that the PCRF can be informed of a possible error situation. However, it has been recognized here that the PCRF still has no information about the QoS limitations, such that the PCRF cannot act to allow the continuity of the service according to its policies, or to allocate the available QoS resources according to service and user priorities. Furthermore, since the PCRF is not aware of the available QoS, the PCRF can only terminate the session towards the Application Function or accept the modification of the service in spite of the QoS downgrading. This leads to a deteriorated experience for the user experience and can deprive the operator of the opportunity to charge the user for the service usage.
In order to overcome, or at least mitigate the problems identified above, there will now be described a method of reporting, from the access network to the PCRF, that there is a QoS limitation in the network and therefore that the QoS required by the PCRF cannot be accepted. The method provides that the PCEF can inform the PCRF of the QoS that is both acceptable to the network for the associated service, and that does not require the network to degrade or reject the service(s).
The method further provides that, upon receipt of this information, the PCRF will, determine the actions to be performed based on the user profile, service priority and available QoS. For example these actions can include:
maintaining the overall QoS initially provided to the user by decrementing the QoS provided to those services with a lower priority);
The PCRF will then also take any further action required. For example, the PCRF may then terminate the AF session or inform the AF about the degradation of the QoS of the service, adapt the charging control to take account of the QoS finally accepted for the service and/or the notify the UE regarding any degradation of the QoS.
According to this method, when a UE establishes an AF session, the AF sends an AAR request to the PCRF in order to provide the service information. The PCRF then uses the service information received from the AF (e.g. SDP information or other available application information) and/or the subscription information received from the SPR to determine the PCC rules to be installed in the PCEF, along with the authorised QoS for each PCC rule. If the PCEF cannot enforce the QoS for any reason (e.g. the access network does not currently have enough resources, or the SGSN does not have the capacity to initiate PDP context establishment, etc), then the PCEF sends a CCR update, including a Charging-Rule-Report parameter that informs the PCRF of an error due to the QoS limitation and includes the QoS supported for the relevant PCC rules. When the PCRF receives this information it performs policy evaluation and again determines the authorised QoS for each PCC rule, taking into account the QoS information received from the PCEF.
In order to implement this method, the Gx interface between the PCEF and the PCRF will require extension to provide the notification of the QoS limitation and the information relating to the QoS available for each PCC rule. The Rx reference point also requires extension in order to permit the PCRF to inform the AF of the available QoS information as part of a notification procedure.
This method of notifying the PCRF of QoS limitations in the access network is equally applicable when, for example, the QoS limitation occurs during the use of the service by the user (e.g. when the UE roams to a SGSN that has bandwidth limitations or that does not support the NW initiated procedures). In this case, the PCEF notifies the PCRF of the QoS limitations and the available resources for each group of PCC rules. The PCRF can then perform policy evaluation taking into account the information received from the PCEF regarding the QoS limitations. Depending on the kind of service, the PCRF may accept degradation of the QoS for the session, redistribute the available QoS between the impacted PCC rules or may terminate the AF session. The PCRF may then notify an AF of any QoS limitations or degradation that relate to a relevant session.
As noted above, in order to implement this method the Gx interface between the PCEF and the PCRF will require extension to provide the notification of the QoS limitation and information regarding the QoS available for each PCC rule. This may be achieved by the addition of one or more instances of the Charging-Rule-Report AVP, depending on the number of impacted bearers, each with the following modifications:
As such, the proposed Charging-Rule-Report AVP may take the format:
If the processing unit 9 determines that the QoS authorised for the session can be modified to within the QoS available in the access network then the processing unit 9 may modify the authorised QoS accordingly. The transmitter 8 can then be used to send the PCC rules to the PCEF, the PCC rules including the modified QoS that has now been authorised for the session. In addition, the transmitter 8 can also be used to notify the AF of the modified QoS.
If the processing unit 9 determines that the user terminal is participating in one or more additional sessions concurrently, and that the QoS of one or more of the additional sessions can be downgraded to increase the QoS available for the session, then the processing unit 9 may downgrade the QoS of one or more of the additional sessions. The transmitter 8 can then be used to send PCC rules to the PCEF for the additional sessions for which the QoS has been downgraded, these PCC rules including the downgraded QoS, and for sending the PCC rules for this foremost session to the PCEF, including the authorised QoS. In addition, the transmitter 8 can also be used to notify those AFs associated with the additional sessions for which the QoS has been downgraded of the downgraded QoS.
The methods described above provide that the PCRF can be informed about QoS limitations of the access network, such that the policy decisions made the PCRF can take into account the QoS currently available in the access network. The PCRF can therefore provide for the continuity of services according to its policies. For example, the PCRF can allocate the available QoS resources according to service and user priorities in order to continue the services under different conditions, or can continue with high priority services but terminate other services of a lower priority. Furthermore, the PCRF can adapt the charging information to the QoS that has been delivered and can notify the application layer of the QoS that is provided in the access network. This also provides for improved user perception of the service delivery, and ensures that the operator can charge the user for the service usage.
It will be appreciated by the person of skill in the art that various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2009/057701 | 6/19/2009 | WO | 00 | 11/7/2011 |
