Alcatel Lucent

Alcatel-lucent USA Inc.

Kalyan Premchand Siddam

Haiqing H Ma

Fernando Cuervo

Kevin Scott Cutler

Sachin J Lalseta

Mira Vrbaski

Susan Patricia Ackerman

Robert Alexander Mann

Lui Chu Yeung

Partoo Mohebi-Sarmadi

Felix Katz

Steve Rock

Xiong Xue

Katha Kulasingam

Stephen Edgar Ellis

Kugendran Sabaratnam

Nadia Spido

David Huynh

Haqing Ma

Xu Chen

Basil Paalarjee

Jun Sun

Lui Yeung

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method of determining by a network node whether a session establishment request is for a subscriber of a home network. The method may include: defining a home network identity including a network identifier and an emergency access point name (APN); receiving a session establishment request; comparing a called station ID of the session establishment request with the emergency APN; comparing a subscription ID of the session establishment request with the network identifier; and if either the called station ID matches an emergency APN or the subscription ID matches a network identifier: determining that the subscriber is a subscriber of the home network, and fulfilling the session establishment request. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a system for determining the home network of a subscriber. The system may include a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) configured to process a session establishment request.

PCRN home network identity

Various methods and apparatuses are provided to address the need for reduced UE location reporting. In one method, an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) server receives () location information for a UE from a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved Packet Core (EPC) function. The location information is received from the LTE EPC function instead of being received from the UE. The ANDSF server then generates () a policy based on the location information received for the UE and sends () the policy to the UE via a first access network. The policy includes an identification of an access point for use by the UE to access an access network different than the first access network.

Network assisted ANDSF policy updating

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method, network node, and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including one or more of the following: identifying a location associated with a user equipment device (UE) in communication with an ANDSF server via an S14 session established over a first access network; retrieving a policy rule that includes a first portion and a second portion; determining, based on evaluating the first portion using the location associated with the UE, that the policy rule is applicable to the S14 session; generating, in response to determining that the policy rule is applicable to the S14 session, a policy based on the second portion, wherein the policy includes an identification of an access point for use by the UE to access a second access network; and transmitting the policy including the identification of the access point to the UE via the S14 session over the first access network.

Rule-driven policy creation by an ANDSF server

Various embodiments relate to a Policy Charging and Rules Node (PCRN) and a related method and machine-readable medium for retrieving multiple results in response to a message. The PCRN may receive a message and, through handling the received message, may make a policy decision. The policy decision may require the PCRN to retrieve multiple related results. The PCRN may thereafter refer to a data arrangement that includes a rule set with at least one rule with multiple values. Based on the policy decision, the PCRN may retrieve the at least one rule. The PCRN may compile the rule from the rule set and may generate an answer message including at least one of these values included in the rule.

Return of multiple results in rule generation

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving, at a policy and charging rules node from a first requesting device, a first message including a first set of information regarding an application request; generating a set of PCC rules for fulfilling the application request based on the first set of information; determining whether the PCRN should wait for a period of time for at least one PCC rule to receive a second message including a second set of information regarding the application request; and if the PCRN should wait for the period of time: waiting for the period of time to receive a second message including a second set of information regarding the application request, determining, after the time has elapsed, whether the second message has arrived, and if the second message has not arrived, initiating a cleanup procedure.

Method and system for determining a PCC rule waiting for further action

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving, at the session management node, an initial request message, the initial request message including at least one subscription identifier; determining that the session management node does not have access to a subscription record associated with the at least one subscription identifier; generating a transient subscription record based on the initial request message; and processing the initial request message based on the initial request message and the transient subscription record.

Transient subscription records

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving, at a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) from a requesting entity, a message including a request associated with at least one service data flow (SDF); extracting a subscriber identifier and a first identifier from the message; retrieving a subscription record associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein the subscription record is associated with a first plurality of subrecords; identifying an first subrecord from the plurality of subrecords based on the first identifier; and conditionally fulfilling the request based on a first value stored in the first subrecord.

Method and system for authorizing sessions using subscriber database

The invention is directed to providing a method and apparatus for managing and tracking default bearers in an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network while observing the requirements of the GPRS specifications.

GPRS default bearer tracking

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and related network node including one or more of the following: receiving, at the network device, a message; determining, in response to receiving the message, that a set of supported features should be transmitted to a partner device; determining, based on the partner device, whether a default set of features should be overridden; if the default set of supported features should be overridden, transmitting an alternative set of features to the partner device; and if the default set of supported features should not be overridden, transmitting a standard set of features based on the default set of features to the partner device.

Supported feature override

The invention is directed to providing a method and apparatus for authorizing Quality of Service (QoS) at a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) node in response to receiving a service request for a subscriber having a requested QoS, a QoS Negotiation Attribute Value Pair (AVP) and a QoS Upgrade AVP such that the QoS Negotiation AVP takes precedence over the QoS Upgrade AVP.

Method for QoS authorization

Various exemplary embodiments relate to method of generating PCC rules for managing packet traffic across a network. The method may include: receiving a request message for PCC rules from a requesting network component, authorizing the first requested bandwidth for a first traffic mapping; authorizing a third bandwidth for at least a second traffic mapping wherein the third authorized bandwidth is less than or equal to a second requested bandwidth minus the first requested bandwidth; generating a first PCC rule comprising: a service flow corresponding to the first traffic mapping and the first authorized bandwidth; and generating a second PCC rule comprising: a service flow corresponding to the second traffic mapping and the third authorized bandwidth. Various exemplary embodiments relate to a Policy and Control Rules Node (PCRN) for generating PCC rules. The PCRN may include an interface, service flow extractor, policy engine, rule generator, rules storage and rules manager.

System and method for generating and updating PCC rules based on service requests

The invention is directed to 3GPP-compliant networks wherein a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) node provides a subscriber's maximum allowed Authorized Quality-of-Service (QoS) per QoS Class Identifier (QCI) to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) as the authorized QoS per QCI, such that the PCEF node can then allocate resources and bandwidth over one or more Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) bearers with the same QCI.

Authorizing QoS per QCI

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method and system for distributing policy and charging control (PCC) rules among a plurality of IP-Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) bearers. The method may include one or more of the following: receiving, at a PCRN, an UE request (CCR) message, processing the UE message to generate one or more PCC rules, determining one or more requested service data flows (SDFs) from the UE message, and for each requested SDF, generating a new PCC rule based on the UE message. The method may further include, providing each new PCC rule to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Node (PCEN), controlling distribution of the generated PCC rules among a plurality of IP-CAN bearers, and binding each requested service data flow to select ones of IP-CAN bearers of the plurality of IP-CAN bearers.

Method of distributing PCC rules among IP-connectivity access network (IP-CAN) bearers

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) for managing a session for a roaming subscriber. The method may include: defining a roaming agreement associated with at least one roaming partner and including at least one limitation; receiving a session establishment request; extracting a subscription identifier; determining an active roaming partner by comparing the subscription identifier to the roaming partner profile; selecting the roaming agreement including the active roaming partner; and enforcing the at least one limitation when processing the session establishment request. The PCRN may include: a roaming agreement storage; a first interface configured to receive a session establishment request for a roaming subscriber; a roaming manager configured to identify a roaming partner associated with the roaming subscriber and a roaming agreement associated with the roaming partner; and a second interface configured to communicate session information with a roaming partner PCRN.

PCRN roaming agreement

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method of generating a Policy and Control Charging (PCC) rule for managing packet traffic across a network. The method may include: receiving a request message for PCC rules from a requesting network component; authorizing a set of QoS information based on the requested set of QoS information; generating a PCC rule; and transmitting the PCC rule to an enforcing network component. The request message may include a requested set of QoS information and multiple traffic mappings each describing a flow of packets transmitted across the network. The PCC rule may include the authorized set of QoS information and multiple flow descriptions corresponding to each traffic mapping. The PCRN may include: a first interface that receives a request message, a policy engine, a rule generator, and a second interface that transmits the PCC rule to an enforcing network component.

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Nepean, Canada

Kalyan Premchand Siddam