Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (publ)

Yuxi Shen

Xuejun Cai

Xiuyong Zhang

A method for controlling, by a policy and charging enforcement unit, an access procedure of a mobile entity to a packet switched network via a cellular network, the mobile entity belonging to a group of mobile entities having common policy and charging rules. The method comprises the steps of receiving an attach request message to establish a group session for one of the mobile entities belonging to group, and checking whether a group subscription profile with policy and charging rules is provided in the policy and charging enforcement unit for the group, wherein if the policy and charging rules are provided in the policy and charging enforcement unit, the provided policy and charging rules are applied to the one mobile entity for which the attach request message has been received.

Policy control for a machine-to-machine group

The invention relates to a method for controlling the maximum bit rate for a bearer used for data transmission over a packet-switched network using a specified access point for a group of mobile entities. A PDN gateway enforces the maximum bit rate for the group, the APN group AMBR. This is possible as all mobile entities belonging to said group are connected to the same PDN gateway for a certain access point name APN. This is obtained by providing a PDN gateway information into an update location acknowledgement message sent from the HSS to the MME.

Common quality of service enforcement for a group of mobile entities

Method and network nodes for adapting policy control function, wherein a load of a first network entity on which a policy execution function like a policy and charging enforcement function (PCEF) or a bearer binding and event reporting function (BBERF) is located is monitored (S) and policy decisions are adapted based on said load. Particularly, the load may be reported to (N) or determined by a second network entity on which a policy supervision function like a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) is located, and said second network entity adapts policy decisions based on said load. When making policy decisions, the load status of a network entity like a gateway may thus be taken into account in addition to other factors.

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Beijing, China

Yuxi Shen