# Gx Interface Support

This chapter provides information on configuring Gx interface to support policy and charging control for subscribers.

The IMS service provides application support for transport of voice, video, and data independent of access support. Roaming IMS subscribers require apart from other functionality sufficient, uninterrupted, consistent, and seamless user experience during an application session. It is also important that a subscriber gets charged only for the resources consumed by the particular IMS application used.

It is recommended that before using the procedures in this chapter you select the configuration example that best meets your service model, and configure the required elements for that model as described in this Administration Guide.

The following topics are covered in this chapter:

- Rel. 6 Gx Interface
- Rel. 7 Gx Interface
- Rel. 8 Gx Interface
- Rel. 9 Gx Interface

Rel. 6 Gx Interface

Rel. 6 Gx interface support is available on the Cisco ASR chassis running StarOS 8.0 and later releases for the following products:

- GGSN
- IPSG

IMPORTANT:

In 14.0 and later releases, Rel. 6 Gx interface functionality is not supported on the chassis.

This section describes the following topics:

- Introduction
- How it Works
- Configuring Rel. 6 Gx Interface

Introduction

In GPRS/UMTS networks, the client functionality lies with the GGSN/IPSG, therefore in the IMS authorization scenario it is also called Access Gateway (AGW).

The provisioning of charging rules that are based on the dynamic analysis of flows used for the IMS session is carried out over the Gx interface. In 3GPP, Rel. 6 the Gx is an interface between Access Gateway functioning as Traffic Plane Function (TPF) and the Charging Rule Function (CRF). It is based on the Diameter Base Protocol (DIABASE) and the Diameter Credit Control Application (DCCA) standard. The GGSN/TPF acts as the client where as the CRF contains the Diameter server functionality.

The AGW is required to perform query, in reply to which the servers provision certain policy or rules that are enforced at the AGW for that particular subscriber session. The CRF analyzes the IP flow data, which in turn has been retrieved from the Session Description Protocol (SDP) data exchanged during IMS session establishment.

IMPORTANT:

In addition to standard Gx interface functionality, the Gx interface implemented here provides support of SBLP with additional AVPs in custom DPCA dictionaries. For more information on customer-specific support contact your Cisco account representative. In view of required flow bandwidth and QoS, the system provides enhanced support for use of Service Based Local Policy (SBLP) to provision and control the resources used by the IMS subscriber. SBLP is based on the dynamic parameters such as the media/traffic flows for data transport, network conditions and static parameters, such as subscriber configuration and category. It also provides Flow-based Charging (FBC) mechanism to charge the subscriber dynamically based on content usage. With this additional functionality, the Cisco Systems Gateway can act as an Enhanced Policy Decision Function (E-PDF).

Supported Networks and Platforms

This feature is supported on all chassis with StarOS Release 8.0 or later running GGSN service for the core network services.

License Requirements

The Rel. 6 Gx interface support is a licensed Cisco feature. A separate feature license may be required. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements. For information on installing and verifying licenses, refer to the Managing License Keys section of the Software Management Operations chapter in the System Administration Guide.

Supported Standards

The Rel 6. Gx interface support is based on the following standards and request for comments (RFCs):

- 3GPP TS 29.210, Charging rule provisioning over Gx interface

  IMPORTANT:

  Note that Charging rule provisioning over Gx interface functionality is not supported in 14.0 and later releases.
- RFC 3588, Diameter Base Protocol; September 2003
- RFC 4006, Diameter Credit-Control Application; August 2005

In addition to the above RFCs and standards, IMS Authorization partially supports 3GPP TS 29.212 for Policy and Charging Control over Gx reference point functionality.

How it Works

This section describes the IMS authorization and dynamic policy support in GPRS/UMTS networks.

The following figure and table explain the IMS authorization process between a system and IMS components that is initiated by the MN.

In the case of GGSN, the DPCA is the Gx interface to the Control and Charging Rule Function (CRF). In this context CRF will act as Enhanced Policy Decision Function (E-PDF). The CRF may reside in Proxy-Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) or on stand-alone system.

The interface between IMSA with CRF is the Gx interface, and between Session Manager and Online Charging Service (OCS) is the Gy interface.
Note that the IMS Authorization (IMSA) service and Diameter Policy Control Application (DPCA) are part of Session Manager on the system, and separated in the following figure for illustration purpose only.
Figure 1. Rel. 6 Gx IMS Authorization Call Flow
Table 1. Rel. 6 Gx IMS Authorization Call flow Description

Step | Description
--- | ---
1 | IMS subscriber (MN) sends request for primary PDP context activation/creation.
2 | Session manager allocates IP address to MN.
3 | Session manager sends IMS authorization request to IMS Authorization service (IMSA).
4 | IMSA creates a session with the CRF on the basis of CRF configuration.
5 | IMSA sends request to DPCA module to issue the authorization request to selected CRF.
6 | DPCA sends a CCR-initial message to the selected CRF. This message includes the IP address allocated to MN.
7 | CCA message sent to DPCA. If a preconfigured rule set for the PDP context is provided in CRF, it sends that charging rules to DPCA in CCA message.
8 | DPCA module calls the callback function registered with it by IMSA.
9 | After processing the charging rules, IMSA sends Policy Authorization Complete message to session manager.
10 | The rules received in CCA message are used for dynamic rule configuration structure and session manager sends the message to ECS.
11 | ECS installs the rules and performs credit authorization by sending CCR-Initial to Online Charging System (OCS) with CC-Request-Type set to INITIAL_REQUEST to open the credit control session. This request includes the active rule base ID and 3GPP specific attributes (for example, APN, QoS and so on).
12 | OCS returns a CCA-Initial message to activate the statically configured rulebase and includes preemptive credit quotas.
13 | ECS responds to session manager with the response message for dynamic rule configuration.
14 | On the basis of response for the PDP context authorization, Session Manager sends the response to the MN and activates/rejects the call.

### Configuring Rel. 6 Gx Interface

To configure Rel. 6 Gx interface functionality:

1. Configure the IMS Authorization Service at the context level for an IMS subscriber in GPRS/UMTS network as described in the Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level section.
2. Verify your configuration, as described in the Verifying IMS Authorization Service Configuration section.
3. Configure an APN within the same context to use the IMS Authorization service for an IMS subscriber as described in the Applying IMS Authorization Service to an APN section.
4. Verify your configuration as described in the Verifying Subscriber Configuration section.
5. Save your configuration to flash memory, an external memory device, and/or a network location using the Exec mode command save configuration. For additional information on how to verify and save configuration files, refer to the System Administration Guide and the Command Line Interface Reference.

   IMPORTANT:

   Commands used in the configuration examples in this section provide base functionality to the extent that the most common or likely commands and/or keyword options are presented. In many cases, other optional commands and/or keyword options are available. Refer to the Command Line Interface Reference for complete information regarding all commands.

Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level

Use the following example to configure IMS Authorization Service at context level for IMS subscribers in GPRS/UMTS networks:

    configure

       context <context_name>

          ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             p-cscf
    table { 1 | 2 } row-precedence <precedence_value> { address <ip_address> | ipv6-address <ipv6_address> }

             p-cscf
    discovery { table { 1 | 2 } [ algorithm { ip-address-modulus | msisdn-modulus | round-robin } ] | diameter-configured }

             policy-control

                diameter
    origin endpoint <endpoint_name>

                diameter
    dictionary <dictionary>

                failure-handling
    cc-request-type { any-request | initial-request | terminate-request | update-request } { diameter-result-code { any-error | <result_code> [ to <end_result_code> ] } } { continue | retry-and-terminate | terminate }

                diameter
    host-select row-precedence <precedence_value> table { 1 | 2 } host <host_name> [ realm <realm_name> ] [ secondary
    host <host_name> [ realm <realm_name> ] ]

                diameter
    host-select reselect subscriber-limit <subscriber_limit> time-interval <duration>

                diameter
    host-select table { 1 | 2 } algorithm { ip-address-modulus | msisdn-modulus | round-robin }

                end

Notes:

- <context_name> must be the name of the context where you want to enable IMS Authorization Service.
- <imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMS Authorization Service to be configured for the Gx interface authentication.
- A maximum of 16 authorization services can be configured globally in a system. There is also a system limit for maximum number of total configured services.
- Secondary P-CSCF IP address can be configured in the P-CSCF table. Refer to the Command Line Interface Reference for more information on the p-cscf table command.
- To enable Rel. 6 Gx interface support, specific Diameter dictionary must be configured. For information on the Diameter dictionary to use, contact your Cisco account representative.
- Optional: To configure the quality of service (QoS) update timeout for a subscriber, in the IMS Authorization Service Configuration Mode, enter the following command:qos-update-timeout <timeout_duration>

  IMPORTANT:

  This command is obsolete in release 11.0 and later releases.
- Optional: To configure signalling restrictions, in the IMS Authorization Service Configuration Mode, enter the following commands:signaling-flag { deny | permit }signaling-flow permit server-address <ip_address> [ server-port { <port_number> | range <start_number> to <end_number> } ] [ description <string> ]
- Optional: To configure action on packets that do not match any policy gates in the general purpose PDP context, in the IMS Authorization Service Configuration Mode, enter the following command: traffic-policy general-pdp-context no-matching-gates direction { downlink | uplink } { forward | discard }
- Optional: To configure the algorithm to select Diameter host table, in the Policy Control Configuration Mode, enter the following command: diameter host-select table { 1 | 2 } algorithm { ip-address-modulus | msisdn-modulus | round-robin }

#### Verifying IMS Authorization Service Configuration

To verify the IMS Authorization Service configuration:

1. Change to the context where you enabled IMS Authorization Service by entering the following command:

       context <context_name>

2. Verify the IMS Authorization Service’s configurations by entering the following command:

       show ims-authorization
       service name <imsa_service_name>

Applying IMS Authorization Service to an APN

After configuring IMS Authorization service at the context-level, an APN must be configured to use the IMS Authorization service for an IMS subscriber.

Use the following example to apply IMS Authorization service functionality to a previously configured APN within the context configured in the Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level section.

    configure

       context <context_name>

          apn <apn_name>

             ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             end

Notes:

- <context_name> must be the name of the context in which the IMS Authorization service was configured.
- <imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMS Authorization Service configured for IMS authentication in the context.

Verifying Subscriber Configuration

Verify the IMS Authorization Service configuration for subscriber(s) by entering the following command:

show subscribers ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

<imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMS Authorization Service configured for IMS authentication.

Rel. 7 Gx Interface

Rel. 7 Gx interface support is available on the Cisco ASR chassis running StarOS 8.1 or StarOS 9.0 and later releases for the following products:

- GGSN
- IPSG

This section describes the following topics:

- Introduction
- Terminology and Definitions
- How it Works
- Configuring Rel. 7 Gx Interface
- Gathering Statistics

Introduction

For IMS deployment in GPRS/UMTS networks the system uses Rel. 7 Gx interface for policy-based admission control support and flow-based charging. The Rel. 7 Gx interface supports enforcing policy control features like gating, bandwidth limiting, and so on, and also supports flow-based charging. This is accomplished via dynamically provisioned Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rules. These PCC rules are used to identify Service Data Flows (SDF) and do charging. Other parameters associated with the rules are used to enforce policy control.

The PCC architecture allows operators to perform service-based QoS policy, and flow-based charging control. In the PCC architecture, this is accomplished mainly by the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF)/Cisco Systems GGSN and the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF).

In GPRS/UMTS networks, the client functionality lies with the GGSN, therefore in the IMS authorization scenario it is also called the Gateway. In the following figure, Gateway is the Cisco Systems GGSN, and the PCEF function is provided by Enhanced Charging Service (ECS). The Rel 7. Gx interface is implemented as a Diameter connection. The Gx messages mostly involve installing/modifying/removing dynamic rules and activating/deactivating predefined rules.

The Rel. 7 Gx reference point is located between the Gateway and the PCRF. This reference point is used for provisioning and removal of PCC rules from the PCRF to the Gateway, and the transmission of traffic plane events from the Gateway to the PCRF. The Gx reference point can be used for charging control, policy control, or both by applying AVPs relevant to the application. The following figure shows the reference points between various elements involved in the policy and charging architecture.
Figure 2. PCC Logical Architecture

Within the Gateway, the IMSA and DPCA modules handle the Gx protocol related functions (at the SessMgr) and the policy enforcement and charging happens at ECS. The Gy protocol related functions are handled within the DCCA module (at the ECS). The following figure shows the interaction between components within the Gateway.
Figure 3. PCC Architecture within Cisco PCEF

Supported Networks and Platforms

This feature is supported on all chassis with StarOS Release 8.1 and later running GGSN service for the core network services.

License Requirements

The Rel. 7 Gx interface support is a licensed Cisco feature. A separate feature license may be required. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements. For information on installing and verifying licenses, refer to the Managing License Keys section of the Software Management Operations chapter in the System Administration Guide.

Supported Standards

The Rel 7. Gx interface support is based on the following standards and RFCs:

- 3GPP TS 23.203 V7.6.0 (2008-03): 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Policy and charging control architecture (Release 7)
- 3GPP TS 29.212 V7.8.0 (2009-03): 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control over Gx reference point (Release 7)
- 3GPP TS 29.213 V7.4.0 (2008-03): 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control signalling flows and QoS parameter mapping; (Release 7)
- RFC 3588, Diameter Base Protocol; September 2003
- RFC 4006, Diameter Credit-Control Application; August 2005

Terminology and Definitions

This section describes features and terminology pertaining to Rel. 7 Gx functionality.

Policy Control

The process whereby the PCRF indicates to the PCEF how to control the IP-CAN bearer.

Policy control comprises the following functions:

- Binding: Binding is the generation of an association between a Service Data Flow (SDF) and the IP CAN bearer (for GPRS a PDP context) transporting that SDF.The QoS demand in the PCC rule, as well as the SDF template are input for the bearer binding. The selected bearer will have the same QoS Class as the one indicated by the PCC rule.Depending on the type of IP-CAN and bearer control mode, bearer binding can be executed either by the PCRF, or both PCRF and PCEF.
  - For UE-only IP-CAN bearer establishment mode, the PCRF performs bearer binding. When the PCRF performs bearer binding, it indicates the bearer (PDP context) by means of Bearer ID. The Bearer ID uniquely identifies the bearer within the PDP session.
  - For UE/NW IP-CAN bearer establishment mode, the PCRF performs the binding of the PCC rules for user controlled services, while the PCEF performs the binding of the PCC rules for the network-controlled services.
- Gating Control: Gating control is the blocking or allowing of packets, belonging to an SDF, to pass through to the desired endpoint. A gate is described within a PCC rule and gating control is applied on a per SDF basis. The commands to open or close the gate leads to the enabling or disabling of the passage for corresponding IP packets. If the gate is closed, all packets of the related IP flows are dropped. If the gate is opened, the packets of the related IP flows are allowed to be forwarded.
- Event Reporting: Event reporting is the notification of and reaction to application events to trigger new behavior in the user plane as well as the reporting of events related to the resources in the Gateway (PCEF).
  - Event triggers may be used to determine which IP-CAN session modification or specific event causes the PCEF to re-request PCC rules. Although event trigger reporting from PCEF to PCRF can apply for an IP CAN session or bearer depending on the particular event, provisioning of event triggers will be done at session level.Note that in 11.0 and later releases, RAR with unknown event triggers are silently ignored and responded with DIAMETER_SUCCESS. In earlier releases, when unknown event triggers were received in the RAR command from PCRF, invalid AVP result code was set in the RAA command.
  - The Event Reporting Function (ERF) receives event triggers from PCRF during the Provision of PCC Rules procedure and performs event trigger detection. When an event matching the received event trigger occurs, the ERF reports the occurred event to the PCRF. If the provided event triggers are associated with certain parameter values then the ERF includes those values in the response back to the PCRF. The Event Reporting Function is located in the PCEF.In StarOS releases prior to 14.0, SUCCESSFUL_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION ( 22 ) event trigger was sent for rules irrespective of successful installation. In 14.0 and later releases, SUCCESSFUL_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION ( 22 ) event trigger will be sent under the following conditions:
    - When a rule is installed successfully (and the event trigger is armed by PCRF and resource-allocation-notification is enabled).
    - On partial failure, i.e. , when two or more rules are installed and at least one of the rules were successfully installed. (and the event trigger is armed by PCRF and resource-allocation-notification is enabled).
    On complete failure, i.e., none of the rules were installed, the event-trigger SUCCESSFUL_RESOURCE_ALLOCATION ( 22 ) will not be sent.

    IMPORTANT:

    In this release, event triggers “IP-CAN_CHANGE” and “MAX_NR_BEARERS_REACHED” are not supported.
- QoS Control: QoS control is the authorization and enforcement of the maximum QoS that is authorized for a SDF or an IP-CAN bearer or a QoS Class Identifier (QCI). In case of an aggregation of multiple SDFs (for GPRS a PDP context), the combination of the authorized QoS information of the individual SDFs is provided as the authorized QoS for this aggregate.
  - QoS control per SDF allows the PCC architecture to provide the PCEF with the authorized QoS to be enforced for each specific SDF.
  - The enforcement of the authorized QoS of the IP-CAN bearer may lead to a downgrading or upgrading of the requested bearer QoS by the Gateway (PCEF) as part of a UE-initiated IP-CAN bearer establishment or modification. Alternatively, the enforcement of the authorized QoS may, depending on operator policy and network capabilities, lead to network-initiated IP-CAN bearer establishment or modification. If the PCRF provides authorized QoS for both, the IP-CAN bearer and PCC rule(s), the enforcement of authorized QoS of the individual PCC rules takes place first.
  - QoS authorization information may be dynamically provisioned by the PCRF, or it can be a predefined PCC rule in the PCEF. In case the PCRF provides PCC rules dynamically, authorized QoS information for the IP-CAN bearer (combined QoS) may be provided. For a predefined PCC rule within the PCEF, the authorized QoS information takes affect when the PCC rule is activated. The PCEF combines the different sets of authorized QoS information, that is the information received from the PCRF and the information corresponding to the predefined PCC rules. The PCRF knows the authorized QoS information of the predefined PCC rules and takes this information into account when activating them. This ensures that the combined authorized QoS of a set of PCC rules that are activated by the PCRF is within the limitations given by the subscription and operator policies regardless of whether these PCC rules are dynamically provided, predefined, or both.

    IMPORTANT:

    In this release, QoS Resource Reservation is not supported.

Supported Features:

- Provisioning and Policy Enforcement of Authorized QoS: The PCRF may provide authorized QoS to the PCEF. The authorized QoS provides appropriate values for resources to be enforced.
- Provisioning of “Authorized QoS” Per IP CAN Bearer: The authorized QoS per IP-CAN bearer is used if the bearer binding is performed by the PCRF.
- Policy Enforcement for “Authorized QoS” per IP CAN Bearer: The PCEF is responsible for enforcing the policy-based authorization, that is to ensure that the requested QoS is in-line with the “Authorized QoS” per IP CAN Bearer.
- Policy Provisioning for Authorized QoS Per SDF: The provisioning of authorized QoS per SDF is a part of PCC rule provisioning procedure.
  - Policy Enforcement for Authorized QoS Per SDF: If an authorized QoS is defined for a PCC rule, the PCEF limits the data rate of the SDF corresponding to that PCC rule not to exceed the maximum authorized bandwidth for the PCC rule by discarding packets exceeding the limit.
  - Upon deactivation or removal of a PCC rule, the PCEF frees the resources reserved for that PCC rule. If the PCRF provides authorized QoS for both the IP-CAN bearer and PCC rule(s), the enforcement of authorized QoS of the individual PCC rules takes place first.

IMPORTANT:

In this release, coordination of authorized QoS scopes in mixed mode (BCM = UE_NW) is not supported.

- - Provisioning of Authorized QoS Per QCI: If the PCEF performs the bearer binding, the PCRF may provision an authorized QoS per QCI for non-GBR bearer QCI values. If the PCRF performs the bearer binding the PCRF does not provision an authorized QoS per QCI. The PCRF does not provision an authorized QoS per QCI for GBR bearer QCI values.
  - Policy Enforcement for Authorized QoS per QCI: The PCEF can receive an authorized QoS per QCI for non GBR-bearer QCI values.

- Other Features:
  - Bearer Control Mode Selection: The PCEF may indicate, via the Gx reference point, a request for Bearer Control Mode (BCM) selection at IP-CAN session establishment or IP-CAN session modification (as a consequence of an SGSN change). It will be done using the “PCC Rule Request” procedure. If the Bearer-Control-Mode AVP is not received from PCRF, the IP-CAN session is not terminated. The value negotiated between UE/SGSN/GGSN is considered as the BCM. The following values are considered for each of the service types:
    - GGSN: The negotiated value between UE/SGSN/GGSN is considered.In the following scenarios UE_ONLY is chosen as the BCM:Scenario 1:
      - UE-> UE_ONLY
      - SGSN-> UE_ONLY
      - GGSN-> UE_ONLY
      - PCRF-> NO BCM
      Scenario 2:
      - UE-> UE_ONLY
      - SGSN-> UE_ONLY
      - GGSN-> Mixed
      - PCRF-> NO BCM
    - GTP-PGW: BCM of UE_NW is considered.
    - IPSG: BCM of UE_ONLY is considered.
    - HSGW/SGW/PDIF/FA/PDSN/HA/MIPV6HA: BCM of NONE is considered.
  - PCC Rule Error Handling: If the installation/activation of one or more PCC rules fails, the PCEF includes one or more Charging-Rule-Report AVP(s) in either a CCR or an RAA command for the affected PCC rules. Within each Charging-Rule-Report AVP, the PCEF identifies the failed PCC rule(s) by including the Charging-Rule-Name AVP(s) or Charging-Rule-Base-Name AVP(s), identifies the failed reason code by including a Rule-Failure-Code AVP, and includes the PCC-Rule-Status AVP.If the installation/activation of one or more new PCC rules (that is, rules that were not previously successfully installed) fails, the PCEF sets the PCC-Rule-Status to INACTIVE for both the PUSH and the PULL modes.If a PCC rule was successfully installed/activated, but can no longer be enforced by the PCEF, the PCEF shall send the PCRF a new CCR command and include a Charging-Rule-Report AVP. The PCEF shall include the Rule-Failure-Code AVP within the Charging-Rule-Report AVP and shall set the PCC-Rule-Status to INACTIVE.
  - Time of the Day Procedures: PCEF performs PCC rule request as instructed by the PCRF. Revalidation-Time when set by the PCRF, causes the PCEF to trigger a PCRF interaction to request PCC rules from the PCRF for an established IP CAN session. The PCEF stops the timer once the PCEF triggers a REVALIDATION_TIMEOUT event.

IMPORTANT:

In 11.0 and later releases, Rule-Activation-Time / Rule-Deactivation-Time / Revalidation-Time AVP is successfully parsed only if its value corresponds to current time or a later time than the current IPSG time, else the AVP and entire message is rejected. In earlier releases the AVP is successfully parsed only if its value corresponds to a later time than the current IPSG time, else the AVP and entire message is rejected.

Charging Control

Charging Control is the process of associating packets belonging to a SDF to a charging key, and applying online charging and/or offline charging, as appropriate. Flow-based charging handles differentiated charging of the bearer usage based on real time analysis of the SDFs. In order to allow for charging control, the information in the PCC rule identifies the SDF and specifies the parameters for charging control. The PCC rule information may depend on subscription data.

In the case of online charging, it is possible to apply an online charging action upon PCEF events (for example, re-authorization upon QoS change).

It is possible to indicate to the PCEF that interactions with the charging systems are not required for a PCC rule, that is to perform neither accounting nor credit control for this SDF, and then no offline charging information is generated.

Supported Features:

- Provisioning of Charging-related Information for the IP-CAN Session.
- Provisioning of Charging Addresses: Primary or secondary event charging function name (Online Charging Server (OCS) addresses or the peer names).

  IMPORTANT:

  In this release, provisioning of primary or secondary charging collection function name (Offline Charging Server (OFCS) addresses) over Gx is not supported.
- Provisioning of Default Charging Method: In this release, the default charging method is sent in CCR-I message. For this, new AVPs Online/Offline are sent in CCR-I message based on the configuration.

Charging Correlation

For the purpose of charging correlation between SDF level and application level (for example, IMS) as well as on-line charging support at the application level, applicable charging identifiers and IP-CAN type identifiers are passed from the PCRF to the AF, if such identifiers are available.

For IMS bearer charging, the IP Multimedia Core Network (IM CN) subsystem and the Packet Switched (PS) domain entities are required to generate correlated charging data.

In order to achieve this, the Gateway provides the GGSN Charging Identifier (GCID) associated with the PDP context along with its address to the PCRF. The PCRF in turn sends the IMS Charging Identifier (ICID), which is provided by the P-CSCF, to the Gateway. The Gateway generates the charging records including the GCID as well as the ICID if received from PCRF, so that the correlation of charging data can be done with the billing system.

PCRF also provides the flow identifier, which uniquely identifies an IP flow in an IMS session.

Policy and Charging Control (PCC) Rules

A PCC rule enables the detection of an SDF and provides parameters for policy control and/or charging control. The purpose of the PCC rule is to:

- Detect a packet belonging to an SDF.
  - Select downlink IP CAN bearers based on SDF filters in the PCC rule.
  - Enforce uplink IP flows are transported in the correct IP CAN bearer using the SDF filters within the PCC rule.
- Identify the service that the SDF contributes to.
- Provide applicable charging parameters for an SDF.
- Provide policy control for an SDF.

The PCEF selects a PCC rule for each packet received by evaluating received packets against SDF filters of PCC rules in the order of precedence of the PCC rules. When a packet matches a SDF filter, the packet matching process for that packet is completed, and the PCC rule for that filter is applied.

There are two types of PCC rules:

- Dynamic PCC Rules: Rules dynamically provisioned by the PCRF to the PCEF via the Gx interface. These PCC rules may be either predefined or dynamically generated in the PCRF. Dynamic PCC rules can be installed, modified, and removed at any time.
- Predefined PCC Rule: Rules preconfigured in the PCEF by the operators. Predefined PCC rules can be activated or deactivated by the PCRF at any time. Predefined PCC rules within the PCEF may be grouped allowing the PCRF to dynamically activate a set of PCC rules over the Gx reference point.

IMPORTANT:

A third type of rule, the static PCC rule can be preconfigured in the chassis by the operators. Static PCC rules are not explicitly known in the PCRF, and are not under control of the PCRF. Static PCC rules are bound to general purpose bearer with no Gx control.

A PCC rule consists of:

- Rule Name: The rule name is used to reference a PCC rule in the communication between the PCEF and PCRF.
- Service Identifier: The service identifier is used to identify the service or the service component the SDF relates to.
- Service Data Flow Filter(s): The service flow filter(s) is used to select the traffic for which the rule applies.
- Precedence: For different PCC rules with overlapping SDF filter, the precedence of the rule determines which of these rules is applicable. When a dynamic PCC rule and a predefined PCC rule have the same priority, the dynamic PCC rule takes precedence.
- Gate Status: The gate status indicates whether the SDF, detected by the SDF filter(s), may pass (gate is open) or will be discarded (gate is closed) in uplink and/or in downlink direction.
- QoS Parameters: The QoS information includes the QoS class identifier (authorized QoS class for the SDF), the Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), and authorized bitrates for uplink and downlink.

  IMPORTANT:

  In earlier releases, ECS used only the Priority-Level part of ARP byte for bearer binding, (along with QCI). Now the entire ARP byte is used for bearer binding (along with QCI). Since the capability and vulnerability bits are optional in a dynamic rule, if a dynamic rule is received without these flags, it is assumed that the capability bit is set to 1 (disabled) and vulnerability bit is set to 0 (enabled). For predefined rules, currently configuring these two flags is not supported, so as of now all predefined rules are assumed to have capability bit set to 1 (disabled) and vulnerability bit set to 0 (enabled).
- Charging key (rating group)
- Other charging parameters: The charging parameters define whether online and offline charging interfaces are used, what is to be metered in offline charging, on what level the PCEF will report the usage related to the rule, and so on.

IMPORTANT:

In this release, configuring the Metering Method and Reporting Level for dynamic PCC rules is not supported.

PCC rules also include Application Function (AF) record information for enabling charging correlation between the application and bearer layer if the AF has provided this information via the Rx interface. For IMS, this includes the IMS Charging Identifier (ICID) and flow identifiers.

PCC Procedures over Gx Reference Point

Request for PCC rules

The PCEF, via the Gx reference point, requests for PCC rules in the following instances:

- At IP-CAN session establishment.
- At IP-CAN session modification.

PCC rules can also be requested as a consequence of a failure in the PCC rule installation/activation or enforcement without requiring an event trigger.

Provisioning of PCC rules

The PCRF indicates, via the Rel. 7 Gx reference point, the PCC rules to be applied at the PCEF. This may be using one of the following procedures:

- PULL (provisioning solicited by the PCEF): In response to a request for PCC rules being made by the PCEF, the PCRF provisions PCC rules in the CC-Answer.
- PUSH (unsolicited provisioning): The PCRF may decide to provision PCC rules without obtaining a request from the PCEF. For example, in response to information provided to the PCRF via the Rx reference point, or in response to an internal trigger within the PCRF. To provision PCC rules without a request from the PCEF, the PCRF includes these PCC rules in an RA-Request message. No CCR/CCA messages are triggered by this RA-Request.

For each request from the PCEF or upon unsolicited provision the PCRF provisions zero or more PCC rules. The PCRF may perform an operation on a single PCC rule by one of the following means:

- To activate or deactivate a PCC rule that is predefined at the PCEF, the PCRF provisions a reference to this PCC rule within a Charging-Rule-Name AVP and indicates the required action by choosing either the Charging-Rule-Install AVP or the Charging-Rule-Remove AVP.
- To install or modify a PCRF-provisioned PCC rule, the PCRF provisions a corresponding Charging-Rule-Definition AVP within a Charging-Rule-Install AVP.
- To remove a PCC rule which has previously been provisioned by the PCRF, the PCRF provisions the name of this rule as value of a Charging-Rule-Name AVP within a Charging-Rule-Remove AVP.
- If the PCRF performs the bearer binding, the PCRF may move previously installed or activated PCC rules from one IP CAN bearer to another IP CAN bearer.

IMPORTANT:

In 11.0 and later releases, the maximum valid length for a charging rule name is 63 bytes. When the length of the charging rule name is greater than 63 bytes, a charging rule report with RESOURCES_LIMITATION as Rule-Failure-Code is sent. This charging rule report is sent only when the length of the rule name is lesser than 128 characters. When the charging rule name length is greater than or equal to 128 characters no charging rule report will be sent. In earlier releases, the length of the charging rule name constructed by PCRF was limited to 32 bytes.

Selecting a PCC Rule for Uplink IP Packets

If PCC is enabled, the PCEF selects the applicable PCC rule for each received uplink IP packet within an IP CAN bearer by evaluating the packet against uplink SDF filters of PCRF-provided or predefined active PCC rules of this IP CAN bearer in the order of the precedence of the PCC rules.

IMPORTANT:

When a PCRF-provided PCC rule and a predefined PCC rule have the same precedence, the uplink SDF filters of the PCRF-provided PCC rule is applied first.

IMPORTANT:

In 11.0 and later releases, IMSA and ECS allow the PCRF to install two (or more) dynamic rules with the same precedence value. In earlier releases, for two distinct dynamic rules having the same precedence the second rule used to be rejected.

When a packet matches an SDF filter, the packet matching process for that packet is completed, and the PCC rule for that filter is applied. Uplink IP packets which do not match any PCC rule of the corresponding IP CAN bearer are discarded.

Selecting a PCC Rule and IP CAN Bearer for Downlink IP Packets

If PCC is enabled, the PCEF selects a PCC rule for each received downlink IP packet within an IP CAN session by evaluating the packet against downlink SDF filters of PCRF-provided or predefined active PCC rules of all IP CAN bearers of the IP CAN session in the order of the precedence of the PCC rules.

IMPORTANT:

When a PCRF-provided PCC rule and a predefined PCC rule have the same precedence, the downlink SDF filters of the PCRF-provided PCC rule are applied first.

When a packet matches a SDF filter, the packet matching process for that packet is completed, and the PCC rule for that filter is applied. The Downlink IP Packet is transported within the IP CAN bearer where the selected PCC rule is mapped. Downlink IP packets that do not match any PCC rule of the IP CAN session are discarded.

The following procedures are also supported:

- Indication of IP-CAN Bearer Termination Implications
- Indication of IP-CAN Session Termination: When the IP-CAN session is being terminated (for example, for GPRS when the last PDP Context within the IP-CAN session is being terminated) the PCEF contacts the PCRF.
- Request of IP-CAN Bearer Termination: If the termination of the last IP CAN bearer within an IP CAN session is requested, the PCRF and PCEF apply the “Request of IP-CAN Session Termination” procedure.
- Request of IP-CAN Session Termination: If the PCRF decides to terminate an IP CAN session due to an internal trigger or trigger from the SPR, the PCRF informs the PCEF. The PCEF acknowledges to the PCRF and instantly removes/deactivates all the PCC rules that have been previously installed or activated on that IP-CAN session.

The PCEF applies IP CAN specific procedures to terminate the IP CAN session. For GPRS, the GGSN send a PDP context deactivation request with the teardown indicator set to indicate that the termination of the entire IP-CAN session is requested. Furthermore, the PCEF applies the “Indication of IP CAN Session Termination” procedure.

In 12.0 and later releases, volume or rule information obtained from PCRF is discarded if the subscriber is going down.

Volume Reporting Over Gx

This section describes the 3GPP Rel. 9 Volume Reporting over Gx feature, which is supported by all products supporting Rel. 7 Gx interface.

License Requirements

The Volume Reporting over Gx is a licensed Cisco feature. A separate feature license may be required. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements. For information on installing and verifying licenses, refer to the Managing License Keys section of the Software Management Operations chapter in the System Administration Guide.

IMPORTANT:

In 12.0 and later releases, no separate license is required for Charging over Gx / Volume Reporting over Gx feature. This feature can be enabled as part of "Policy Interface" license.

Supported Standards

The Volume Reporting over Gx feature is based on the following standard:

3GPP TS 29.212 V9.5.0 (2010-06): 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control over Gx reference point (Release 9).

Feature Overview

The Volume Reporting over Gx feature provides PCRF the capability to make real-time decisions based on the data usage by subscribers.

IMPORTANT:

Volume Reporting over Gx is applicable only for volume quota.

IMPORTANT:

In release 10.0, only total data usage reporting is supported, uplink/downlink level reporting is not supported. In 10.2 and later releases, it is supported.

IMPORTANT:

The PCEF only reports the accumulated usage since the last report for usage monitoring and not from the beginning.

IMPORTANT:

If the usage threshold is set to zero (infinite threshold), no further threshold events will be generated by PCEF, but monitoring of usage will continue and be reported at the end of the session.

IMPORTANT:

In 12.2 and later releases, usage reporting on bearer termination is supported.

The following steps explain how Volume Reporting over Gx works:

1. PCEF after receiving the message from PCRF parses the usage monitoring related AVPs, and sends the information to IMSA.
2. IMSA updates the information to ECS.
3. Once the ECS is updated with the usage monitoring information from PCRF, the PCEF (ECS) starts tracking the data usage.
4. For session-level monitoring, the ECS maintains the amount of data usage.
5. For PCC rule monitoring, usage is monitored with the monitoring key as the unique identifier. Each node maintains the usage information per monitoring key. When the data traffic is passed, the usage is checked against the usage threshold values and reported as described in the Usage Reporting section.
6. The PCEF continues to track data usage after the threshold is reached and before a new threshold is provided by the PCRF. If a new usage threshold is not provided by the PCRF in the acknowledgement of an IP-CAN Session modification where its usage was reported, then usage monitoring does not continue in the PCEF for that IP CAN session.

Usage Monitoring

- Usage Monitoring at Session Level: PCRF subscribes to the session-level volume reporting over Gx by sending the Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP with the usage threshold level set in Granted-Service-Unit AVP and Usage-Monitoring-Level AVP set to SESSION_LEVEL(0). After the AVPs are parsed by DPCA, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present. In 11.0 and later releases, Monitoring Key at session level is supported. In 12.0 and later releases, enabling and disabling session usage in a single message from PCRF is supported. This is supported only if the monitoring key is associated at session level.In 12.0 and later releases, monitoring of usage based on input/output octet threshold levels is supported. Usage is reported based on the enabled threshold level. If multiple levels are enabled, usage will be reported on all the enabled levels even if only one of the levels is breached. Monitoring will be stopped on the missing threshold levels in the response for the usage report from PCRF (expected to provide the complete set again if PCRF wants to continue monitoring on the multiple levels enabled earlier). Total threshold level along with UL/DL threshold level in the GSU AVP is treated as an error and only total threshold level is accepted.
- Usage Monitoring at Flow Level: PCRF subscribes to the flow-level volume reporting over Gx by sending the Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP with the usage threshold level set in Granted-Service-Unit AVP and Usage-Monitoring-Level AVP set to PCC_RULE_LEVEL(1). Monitoring Key is mandatory in case of a flow-level monitoring since the rules are associated with the monitoring key and enabling/disabling of usage monitoring at flow level can be controlled by PCRF using it. After the AVPs are parsed by DPCA, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present.Usage monitoring is supported for static, predefined rules, and dynamic rule definitions.
  - Usage Monitoring for Static Rules: In the case of static rules, the usage reporting on last rule removal associated with the monitoring key is not applicable. In this case only the usage monitoring information is received from the PCRF.
  - Usage Monitoring for Predefined Rules: If the usage monitoring needs to be enabled for the predefined rules, PCRF sends the rule and the usage monitoring information containing the monitoring key and the usage threshold. The Monitoring key should be same as the one pre-configured in PCEF for that predefined rule. There can be multiple rules associated with the same monitoring key. Hence enabling a particular monitoring key would result in the data being tracked for multiple rules having the same monitoring key. After DPCA parses the AVPs IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present.
  - Usage Monitoring for Dynamic Rules: If the usage monitoring needs to be enabled for dynamic ruledefs, PCRF provides the monitoring key along with a charging rule definition and the usage monitoring information containing the monitoring key and the usage threshold. This would result in the usage monitoring being done for all the rules associated with that monitoring key. After DPCA parses the AVPs, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated, the usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present. Monitoring key for dynamic ruledef is dynamically assigned by PCRF which is the only difference with predefined rules in case of usage monitoring.

Usage Reporting

Usage at subscriber/flow level is reported to PCRF under the following conditions:

- Usage Threshold Reached: PCEF records the subscriber data usage and checks if the usage threshold provided by PCRF is reached. This is done for both session and rule level reporting.For session-level reporting, the actual usage volume is compared with the usage volume threshold.For rule-level reporting the rule that hits the data traffic is used to find out if the monitoring key is associated with it, and based on the monitoring key the data usage is checked. Once the condition is met, it reports the usage information to IMSA and continues monitoring. IMSA then triggers the CCR-U if “USAGE_REPORT” trigger is enabled by the PCRF. The Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP is sent in this CCR with the “Used-Service-Unit” set to the amount of data usage by subscriber.If PCRF does not provide a new usage threshold in the usage monitoring information as a result of CCR from PCEF when the usage threshold is reached, the usage monitoring is stopped at PCEF and no usage status is reported.In the non-standard Volume Reporting over Gx implementation, usage monitoring will be stopped once the threshold is breached, else the monitoring will continue. There will be no further usage reporting until the CCA is received.
- Usage Monitoring Disabled: If the PCRF explicitly disables the usage monitoring with Usage-Monitoring-Support AVP set to USAGE_MONITORING_DISABLED, the PCEF stops monitoring and reports the usage information (when the monitoring was enabled) to PCRF if the usage monitoring is disabled by PCRF as a result of CCR from PCEF which is not related to reporting usage, other external triggers, or a PCRF internal trigger. If the PCRF does not provide a new usage threshold as a result of CCR from PCEF when the usage threshold is reached, the usage monitoring is stopped at PCEF and no further usage status is reported.
- IP CAN Session Termination: When the IP CAN session is terminated, the accumulated subscriber usage information is reported to PCRF in the CCR-T from PCEF. If PCC usage level information is enabled by PCRF, the PCC usage will also be reported.
- PCC Rule Removal: When the PCRF deactivates the last PCC rule associated with a usage monitoring key, the PCEF sends a CCR with the data usage for that monitoring key. If the PCEF reports the last PCC rule associated with a usage monitoring key is inactive, the PCEF reports the accumulated usage for that monitoring key within the same CCR command if the Charging-Rule-Report AVP was included in a CCR command; otherwise, if the Charging-Rule-Report AVP was included in an RAA command, the PCEF sends a new CCR command to report accumulated usage for the usage monitoring key. In 12.0 and later releases, usage reporting on last rule deactivation using rule deactivation time set by PCRF is supported.
- PCRF Requested Usage Report: In 10.2 and later releases, the accumulated usage since the last report is sent even in case of immediate reporting, the usage is reset after immediate reporting and usage monitoring continued so that the subsequent usage report will have the usage since the current report. In earlier releases the behavior was to accumulate the so far usage in the next report.
- Release 12.2 onwards, usage reporting on bearer termination can be added. When a bearer is deleted due to some reason, the rules associated with the bearer will also be removed. So, the usage will be reported on the monitoring key(s) whose associated rule is the last one that is removed because of bearer termination.
- Revalidation Timeout: In the non-standard implementation, if usage monitoring and reporting is enabled and a revalidation timeout occurs, the PCEF sends a CCR to request PCC rules and reports all accumulated usage for all enabled monitoring keys since the last report (or since usage reporting was enabled if the usage was not yet reported) with the accumulated usage at IP-CAN session level (if enabled) and at service data flow level (if enabled) This is the default behavior.In the case of standard implementation, this must be enabled by CLI configuration.

IMPORTANT:

The Usage Reporting on Revalidation Timeout feature is available by default in non-standard implementation of Volume Reporting over Gx. In 10.2 and later releases, this is configurable in the standard implementation. This is not supported in 10.0 release for standard based volume reporting.

Once the usage is reported, the usage counter is reset to zero. The PCEF continues to track data usage from the zero value after the threshold is reached and before a new threshold is provided by the PCRF. If a new usage threshold is not provided by the PCRF in the acknowledgement of an IP-CAN Session modification where its usage was reported, then usage monitoring does not continue in the PCEF for that IP CAN session and and the usage accumulated between the CCR-CCA will be discarded.

For information on how to configure the Volume Reporting over Gx feature, see the Configuring Volume Reporting over Gx section.

How Rel. 7 Gx Works

This section describes how dynamic policy and charging control for subscribers works with Rel. 7 Gx interface support in GPRS/UMTS networks.

The following figure and table explain the IMSA process between a system and IMS components that is initiated by the UE.

In this example, the Diameter Policy Control Application (DPCA) is the Gx interface to the PCRF. The interface between IMSA with PCRF is the Gx interface, and the interface between Session Manager (SessMgr) and Online Charging Service (OCS) is the Gy interface. Note that the IMSA service and DPCA are part of SessMgr on the system and separated in the figure for illustration purpose only.

IMPORTANT:

In 14.0 and later releases, the DPCA and the IMSA will be acting as one module within the Policy Server interface application.
Figure 4. Rel. 7 Gx IMS Authorization Call Flow
Table 2. Rel. 7 Gx IMS Authorization Call flow Description

Step | Description
--- | ---
1 | UE (IMS subscriber) requests for primary PDP context activation/creation.
2 | SessMgr allocates an IP address to the UE.
3 | SessMgr requests IMS Authorization, if IMSA is enabled for the APN.
4 | IMSA allocates resources for the IP CAN session and the bearer, and selects the PCRF to contact based on the user's selection key (for example, msisdn).
5 | IMSA requests the DPCA module to issue an auth request to the PCRF.
6 | DPCA sends a CCR initial message to the selected PCRF. This message includes the Context-Type AVP set to PRIMARY and the IP address allocated to the UE. The message may include the Bearer-Usage AVP set to GENERAL. The Bearer-Operation is set to Establishment. The Bearer ID is included if the PCRF does the bearer binding.
7 | PCRF may send preconfigured charging rules in CCA, if a preconfigured rule set for general purpose PDP context is provided in PCRF. The dynamic rules and the authorized QoS parameters could also be included by the PCRF.
8 | DPCA passes the charging rule definition, charging rule install, QoS information received from the PCRF, event triggers, and so on, along with the Bearer ID that corresponds to the rules received from the PCRF to IMSA. IMSA stores the information. If the Bearer ID is absent, and PCRF does the bearer binding, the rule is skipped. Whereas, if the Bearer ID is absent and the PCEF does the bearer binding, the rule is passed onto the ECS to perform bearer binding.
9 | DPCA calls the callback function registered with it by IMSA.
10 | IMSA stores the bearer authorized QoS information and notifies the SessMgr. Other PCRF provided information common to the entire PDP session (event trigger, primary/secondary OCS address, and so on) is stored within the IMSA. After processing the information, IMSA notifies the SessMgr about the policy authorization complete.
11 | If the validation of the rules fails in IMSA/DPCA, a failure is notified to PCRF containing the Charging-Rule-Report AVP. Else, IMSA initiates creation of ECS session. The APN name, primary/secondary OCS server address, and so on are sent to the ECS from the SessMgr.
12 | ECS performs credit authorization by sending CCR(I) to OCS with CC-Request-Type set to INITIAL_REQUEST to open the credit control session. This request includes the active Rulebase-Id (default rulebase ID from the APN/AAA) and GPRS specific attributes (for example, APN, UMTS QoS, and so on).
13 | OCS returns a CCA initial message that may activate a statically configured Rulebase and may include preemptive quotas.
14 | ECS responds to SessMgr with the response message.
15 | SessMgr requests IMSA for the dynamic rules.
16 | IMSA sends the dynamic rules to SessMgr. Note that until the primary PDP context is established, all RAR messages from the PCRF are rejected. In 14.0 and later releases, the RAR messages are allowed before the session is established.
17 | SessMgr sends the dynamic rule information to the ECS. The gate flow status information and the QoS per flow (charging rule) information are also sent in the message.
18 | ECS activates the predefined rules received, and installs the dynamic rules received. Also, the gate flow status and the QoS parameters are updated by ECS as per the dynamic charging rules. The Gx rulebase is treated as an ECS group-of-ruledefs. The response message contains the Charging Rule Report conveying the status of the rule provisioning at the ECS. ECS performs PCEF bearer binding for rules without bearer ID.
19 | If the provisioning of rules fails partially, the context setup is accepted, and a new CCR-U is sent to the PCRF with the Charging-Rule-Report containing the PCC rule status for the failed rules. If the provisioning of rules fails completely, the context setup is rejected.
20 | Depending on the response for the PDP Context Authorization, SessMgr sends the response to the UE and activates/rejects the call. If the Charging-Rule-Report contains partial failure for any of the rules, the PCRF is notified, and the call is activated. If the Charging-Rule-Report contains complete failure, the call is rejected.
21 | Based on the PCEF bearer binding for the PCC rules at Step 18, the outcome could be one or more network-initiated PDP context procedures with the UE (Network Requested Update PDP Context (NRUPC) / Network Requested Secondary PDP Context Activation (NRSPCA)).

### Configuring Rel. 7 Gx Interface

To configure Rel. 7 Gx interface functionality, the IMS Authorization service must be configured at the context level, and then the APN configured to use the IMS Authorization service.

To configure Rel. 7 Gx interface functionality:

1. Configure IMS Authorization service at the context level for IMS subscriber in GPRS/UMTS network as described in the Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level section.
2. Verify your configuration as described in the Verifying the Configuration section.
3. Configure an APN within the same context to use the IMS Authorization service for IMS subscriber as described in the Applying IMS Authorization Service to an APN section.
4. Verify your configuration as described in the Verifying Subscriber Configuration section.
5. Optional: Configure the Volume Reporting over Gx feature as described in the Configuring Volume Reporting over Gx section.
6. Save your configuration to flash memory, an external memory device, and/or a network location using the Exec mode command save configuration. For additional information on how to verify and save configuration files, refer to the System Administration Guide and the Command Line Interface Reference.

   IMPORTANT:

   Commands used in the configuration examples in this section provide base functionality to the extent that the most common or likely commands and/or keyword options are presented. In many cases, other optional commands and/or keyword options are available. Refer to the Command Line Interface Reference for complete information regarding all commands.

Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level

Use the following example to configure IMS Authorization service at context level for IMS subscribers in GPRS/UMTS networks:

    configure

       context <context_name>

          ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             p-cscf
    discovery table { 1 | 2 } algorithm { ip-address-modulus | msisdn-modulus | round-robin }

             p-cscf
    table { 1 | 2 } row-precedence <precedence_value> { address <ip_address> | ipv6-address <ipv6_address> } [ secondary { address <ip_address> | ipv6-address <ipv6_address> } ]

             policy-control

                diameter
    origin endpoint <endpoint_name>

                diameter
    dictionary <dictionary>

                diameter
    request-timeout <timeout_duration>

                diameter
    host-select table { { { 1 | 2 } algorithm { ip-address-modulus | msisdn-modulus | round-robin } } | prefix-table { 1 | 2 } }

                diameter
    host-select row-precedence <precedence_value> table { { { 1 | 2 } host <host_name> [ realm <realm_id> ] [ secondary
    host <host_name> [ realm <realm_id> ] ] } | { prefix-table { 1 | 2 } msisdn-prefix-from <msisdn_prefix_from> msisdn-prefix-to <msisdn_prefix_to> host <host_name> [ realm <realm_id> ] [ secondary
    host <sec_host_name> [ realm <sec_realm_id> ] algorithm { active-standby | round-robin } ] } } [ -noconfirm ]

                diameter
    host-select reselect subscriber-limit <subscriber_limit> time-interval <duration>

                failure-handling
    cc-request-type { any-request | initial-request | terminate-request | update-request } { diameter-result-code { any-error | <result_code> [ to <end_result_code> ] } } { continue | retry-and-terminate | terminate }

                end

Notes:

- <context_name> must be the name of the context where you want to enable IMS Authorization service.
- <imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMS Authorization service to be configured for Rel. 7 Gx interface authentication.
- A maximum of 16 authorization services can be configured globally in a system. There is also a system limit for the maximum number of total configured services.
- To enable Rel. 7 Gx interface support, pertinent Diameter dictionary must be configured. For information on the specific Diameter dictionary to use, contact your Cisco account representative.
- When configuring the MSISDN prefix range based PCRF selection mechanism:To enable the Gx interface to connect to a specific PCRF for a range of subscribers configure msisdn-prefix-from <msisdn_prefix_from> and msisdn-prefix-to <msisdn_prefix_to> with the starting and ending MSISDNs respectively.To enable the Gx interface to connect to a specific PCRF for a specific subscriber, configure both msisdn-prefix-from <msisdn_prefix_from> and msisdn-prefix-to <msisdn_prefix_to> with the same MSISDN.In StarOS 8.1 and later releases, per MSISDN prefix range table a maximum of 128 rows can be added. In StarOS 8.0 and earlier releases, a maximum of 100 rows can be added.The MSISDN ranges must not overlap between rows.
- The Round Robin algorithm for PCRF selection is effective only over a large number of PCRF selections, and not at a granular level.
- Optional: To configure the Quality of Service (QoS) update timeout for a subscriber, in the IMS Authorization Service Configuration Mode, enter the following command: qos-update-timeout <timeout_duration>

  IMPORTANT:

  This command is obsolete in release 11.0 and later releases.
- Optional: To configure signalling restrictions, in the IMS Authorization Service Configuration Mode, enter the following commands:signaling-flag { deny | permit }signaling-flow permit server-address <ip_address> [ server-port { <port_number> | range <start_number> to <end_number> } ] [ description <string> ]
- Optional: To configure action on packets that do not match any policy gates in the general purpose PDP context, in the IMS Authorization Service Configuration Mode, enter the following command:traffic-policy general-pdp-context no-matching-gates direction { downlink | uplink } { forward | discard }
- To configure the PCRF host destinations configured in the GGSN/PCEF, use the diameter host-select CLI commands.
- To configure the GGSN/PCEF to use a pre-defined rule when the Gx fails, set the failure-handling cc-request-type CLI to continue. Policies available/in use will continue to be used and there will be no further interaction with the PCRF.
- For provisioning of default charging method, use the following configurations. For this, the AVPs Online and Offline will be sent in CCR-I message based on the configuration.
  - To send Enable Online:configure active-charging service <ecs_service_name> charging-action <charging_action_name> cca charging credit exit
  - To send Enable Offline:configure active-charging service <ecs_service_name> rulebase <rulebase_name> billing-records rf exit

##### Verifying the Configuration

To verify the IMS Authorization service configuration:

1. Change to the context where you enabled IMS Authorization service by entering the following command:

       context <context_name>

2. Verify the IMS Authorization service’s configurations by entering the following command:

       show ims-authorization
       service name <imsa_service_name>

Applying IMS Authorization Service to an APN

After configuring IMS Authorization service at the context-level, an APN must be configured to use the IMS Authorization service for an IMS subscriber.

Use the following example to apply IMS Authorization service functionality to a previously configured APN within the context configured in the Configuring Rel. 7 Gx Interface section.

    configure

       context <context_name>

          apn <apn_name>

             ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             active-charging
    rulebase <rulebase_name>

             end

Notes:

- <context_name> must be the name of the context in which the IMS Authorization service was configured.
- <imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMS Authorization service configured for IMS authentication in the context.
- For Rel. 7 Gx, the ECS rulebase must be configured in the APN.
- ECS allows change of rulebase via Gx for PCEF binding scenarios. When the old rulebase goes away, all the rules that were installed from that rulebase are removed. This may lead to termination of a few bearers (PDP contexts) if they are left without any rules. If there is a Gx message that changes the rulebase, and also activates some predefined rules, the rulebase change is made first, and the rules are activated from the new rulebase. Also, the rulebase applies to the entire call. All PDP contexts (bearers) in one call use the same ECS rulebase.
- For predefined rules configured in the ECS, MBR/GBR of a dynamic/predefined rule is checked before it is used for PCEF binding. All rules (dynamic as well as predefined) have to have an MBR associated with them and all rules with GBR QCI should have GBR also configured. So for predefined rules, one needs to configure appropriate peak-data-rate, committed-data-rate as per the QCI being GBR QCI or non-GBR QCI. For more information, in the ACS Charging Action Configuration Mode, see the flow limit-for-bandwidth CLI command.
- Provided interpretation of the Gx rulebase is chosen to be ECS group-of-ruledefs, in the Active Charging Service Configuration Mode configure the following command:policy-control charging-rule-base-name active-charging-group-of-ruledefs

Verifying Subscriber Configuration

Verify the IMS Authorization service configuration for subscriber(s) by entering the following command:

show subscribers ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

<imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMS Authorization service configured for IMS authentication.

Configuring Volume Reporting over Gx

This section describes the configuration required to enable Volume Reporting over Gx.

To enable Volume Reporting over Gx, use the following configuration:

    configure

       active-charging
    service <ecs_service_name>

          rulebase <rulebase_name>

             action
    priority <priority> dynamic-only ruledef <ruledef_name> charging-action <charging_action_name> monitoring-key <monitoring_key>

             exit

          exit

       context <context_name>

          ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             policy-control

                event-update
    send-usage-report [ reset-usage ]

                end

Notes:

- The maximum accepted monitoring key value by the PCEF is 4294967295. If the PCEF sends a greater value, the value is converted to an Unsigned Integer value.
- The event-update CLI which enables volume usage report to be sent in event updates is available only in 10.2 and later releases. The optional keyword reset-usage enables to support delta reporting wherein the usage is reported and reset at PCEF. If this option is not configured, the behavior is to send the usage information as part of event update but not reset at PCEF.

Gathering Statistics

This section explains how to gather Rel. 7 Gx statistics and configuration information.
In the following table, the first column lists what statistics to gather, and the second column lists the action to perform.
Table 3. Gathering Rel. 7 Gx Statistics and Information

Statistics/Information | Action to perform
--- | ---
Information and statistics specific to policy control in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization policy-control statistics
Information and statistics specific to the authorization servers used for IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization servers ims-auth-service
Information of all IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization service all
Statistics of IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization service statistics
Information, configuration, and statistics of sessions active in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization sessions all
Complete information, configuration, and statistics of sessions active in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization sessions full
Summarized information of sessions active in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization sessions summary
Complete statistics for active charging service sessions. | show active-charging sessions full
Information for all rule definitions configured in the service. | show active-charging ruledef all
Information for all rulebases configured in the system. | show active-charging rulebase all
Information on all group of ruledefs configured in the system. | show active-charging group-of-ruledefs all
Information on policy gate counters and status. | show ims-authorization policy-gate { counters | status } This command is no longer an option in StarOS release 11.0 and beyond.

Rel. 8 Gx Interface

Rel. 8 Gx interface support is available on the Cisco ASR chassis running StarOS 10.0 or StarOS 11.0 and later releases.

This section describes the following topics:

- HA/PSDSN Rel. 8 Gx Interface Support
- P-GW Rel. 8 Gx Interface Support

HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx Interface Support

This section provides information on configuring Rel. 8 Gx interface for HA and PDSN to support policy and charging control for subscribers in CDMA networks.

The IMS service provides application support for transport of voice, video, and data independent of access support. Roaming IMS subscribers in CDMA networks require apart from other functionality sufficient, uninterrupted, consistent, and seamless user experience during an application session. It is also important that a subscriber gets charged only for the resources consumed by the particular IMS application used.

It is recommended that before using the procedures in this section you select the configuration example that best meets your service model, and configure the required elements for that model as described in this Administration Guide.

This section describes the following topics:

- Introduction
- Terminology and Definitions
- How it Works
- Configuring HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx Interface Support
- Gathering Statistics

Introduction

For IMS deployment in CDMA networks the system uses Rel. 8 Gx interface for policy-based admission control support and flow-based charging (FBC). The Rel. 8 Gx interface supports enforcing policy control features like gating, bandwidth limiting, and so on, and also supports FBC. This is accomplished via dynamically provisioned Policy Control and Charging (PCC) rules. These PCC rules are used to identify Service Data Flows (SDF) and to do charging. Other parameters associated with the rules are used to enforce policy control.

The PCC architecture allows operators to perform service-based QoS policy and FBC control. In the PCC architecture, this is accomplished mainly by the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF)/HA/PDSN and the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF). The client functionality lies with the HA/PDSN, therefore in the IMS Authorization (IMSA) scenario it is also called the Gateway. The PCEF function is provided by the Enhanced Charging Service (ECS). The Gx interface is implemented as a Diameter connection. The Gx messaging mostly involves installing/modifying/removing dynamic rules and activating/deactivating predefined rules.

The Gx reference point is located between the Gateway/PCEF and the PCRF. This reference point is used for provisioning and removal of PCC rules from the PCRF to the Gateway/PCEF, and the transmission of traffic plane events from the Gateway/PCEF to the PCRF. The Gx reference point can be used for charging control, policy control, or both by applying AVPs relevant to the application.

The following figure shows the reference points between elements involved in the policy and charging architecture.
Figure 5. HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx PCC Logical Architecture

Within the Gateway, the IMSA and DPCA modules handle the Gx protocol related functions (at the SessMgr) and the policy enforcement and charging happens at ECS. The Gy protocol related functions are handled within the DCCA module (at the ECS).

The following figure shows the interaction between components within the Gateway.
Figure 6. HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx PCC Architecture within PCEF

License Requirements

The HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx interface support is a licensed Cisco feature. A separate feature license may be required. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements. For information on installing and verifying licenses, refer to the Managing License Keys section of the Software Management Operations chapter in the System Administration Guide.

Supported Standards

HA/PDSN Rel 8. Gx interface support is based on the following standards and RFCs:

- 3GPP TS 23.203 V8.3.0 (2008-09) 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Policy and charging control architecture (Release 8)
- 3GPP TS 29.212 V8.6.0 (2009-12) 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control over Gx reference point (Release 8)
- 3GPP TS 29.213 V8.1.1 (2008-10) 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control signalling flows and QoS parameter mapping; (Release 8)
- RFC 3588, Diameter Base Protocol; September 2003
- RFC 4006, Diameter Credit-Control Application; August 2005

Terminology and Definitions

This section describes features and terminology pertaining to HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx functionality.

Policy Control

The process whereby the PCRF indicates to the PCEF how to control the IP-CAN session.

Policy control comprises the following functions:

- Binding
- Gating Control
- Event Reporting
- QoS Control
- Other Features

Binding

In the HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx implementation, since there are no bearers within a MIP session the IP-CAN Bearer concept does not apply. Only authorized IP-CAN session is applicable.

Gating Control

Gating control is the blocking or allowing of packets belonging to an SDF, to pass through to the desired endpoint. A gate is described within a PCC rule and gating control is applied on a per SDF basis. The commands to open or close the gate leads to the enabling or disabling of the passage for corresponding IP packets. If the gate is closed, all packets of the related IP flows are dropped. If the gate is open, the packets of the related IP flows are allowed to be forwarded.

Event Reporting

IMPORTANT:

Unconditional reporting of event triggers from PCRF to PCEF when PCEF has not requested for is not supported.

IMPORTANT:

In the HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx implementation, only the AN_GW_CHANGE (21) event trigger is supported.

Event reporting is the notification of and reaction to application events to trigger new behavior in the user plane as well as the reporting of events related to the resources in the Gateway (PCEF). Event triggers may be used to determine which IP-CAN session modification or specific event causes the PCEF to re-request PCC rules. Event trigger reporting from PCEF to PCRF, and provisioning of event triggers happens at IP-CAN session level.

The Event Reporting Function (ERF) located in the PCEF, receives event triggers from PCRF during the Provision of PCC Rules procedure and performs event trigger detection. When an event matching the received event trigger occurs, the ERF reports the occurred event to the PCRF. If the provided event triggers are associated with certain parameter values then the ERF includes those values in the response to the PCRF.

QoS Control

IMPORTANT:

In the HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx implementation, only authorized IP-CAN Session is supported. Provisioning of authorized QoS per IP-CAN bearer, policy enforcement for authorized QoS per QCI, and coordination of authorized QoS scopes in mixed mode are not applicable.

QoS control is the authorization and enforcement of the maximum QoS that is authorized for an SDF. In case of an aggregation of multiple SDFs, the combination of the authorized QoS information of the individual SDFs is provided as the authorized QoS for this aggregate. QoS control per SDF allows the PCC architecture to provide the PCEF with the authorized QoS to be enforced for each specific SDF.

QoS authorization information may be dynamically provisioned by the PCRF, or it can be a predefined PCC rule in the PCEF. For a predefined PCC rule within the PCEF, the authorized QoS information takes affect when the PCC rule is activated. The PCEF combines the different sets of authorized QoS information, that is the information received from the PCRF and the information corresponding to the predefined PCC rules. The PCRF knows the authorized QoS information of the predefined PCC rules and takes this information into account when activating them. This ensures that the combined authorized QoS of a set of PCC rules that are activated by the PCRF is within the limitations given by the subscription and operator policies regardless of whether these PCC rules are dynamically provided, predefined, or both.

Supported features include:

- Provisioning and Policy Enforcement of Authorized QoS: The PCRF may provide authorized QoS to the PCEF. The authorized QoS provides appropriate values for resources to be enforced.
- Policy Provisioning for Authorized QoS Per SDF: The provisioning of authorized QoS per SDF is a part of PCC rule provisioning procedure.
- Policy Enforcement for Authorized QoS Per SDF: If an authorized QoS is defined for a PCC rule, the PCEF limits the data rate of the SDF corresponding to that PCC rule not to exceed the maximum authorized bandwidth for the PCC rule by discarding packets exceeding the limit.
- Upon deactivation or removal of a PCC rule, the PCEF frees the resources reserved for that PCC rule.

Other Features

This section describes some of the other features.

PCC Rule Error Handling

If the installation/activation of one or more PCC rules fails, the PCEF communicates the failure to the PCRF by including one or more Charging-Rule-Report AVP(s) in either a CCR or an RAA command for the affected PCC rules. Within each Charging-Rule-Report AVP, the PCEF identifies the failed PCC rule(s) by including the Charging-Rule-Name AVP(s) or Charging-Rule-Base-Name AVP(s), identifies the failed reason code by including a Rule-Failure-Code AVP, and includes the PCC-Rule-Status AVP.

If the installation/activation of one or more new PCC rules (that is, rules that were not previously successfully installed) fail, the PCEF sets the PCC-Rule-Status to INACTIVE for both the PUSH and the PULL modes.

If a PCC rule was successfully installed/activated, but can no longer be enforced by the PCEF, the PCEF sends the PCRF a new CCR command and includes the Charging-Rule-Report AVP. The PCEF includes the Rule-Failure-Code AVP within the Charging-Rule-Report AVP and sets the PCC-Rule-Status to INACTIVE.

In the HA/PDSN Gx implementation, the following rule failure codes are supported:

- RATING_GROUP_ERROR (2)
- SERVICE_IDENTIFIER_ERROR (3)
- GW/PCEF_MALFUNCTION (4)
- RESOURCES_LIMITATION (5)

If the installation/activation of one or more PCC rules fails during RAR procedure, the RAA command is sent with the Experimental-Result-Code AVP set to DIAMETER_PCC_RULE_EVENT (5142).

Time of the Day Procedures

PCEF performs PCC rule request as instructed by the PCRF. Revalidation-Time when set by the PCRF, causes the PCEF to trigger a PCRF interaction to request PCC rules from the PCRF for an established IP-CAN session. The PCEF stops the timer once the PCEF triggers a REVALIDATION_TIMEOUT event.

When installed, the PCC rule is inactive. If Rule-Activation-Time / Rule-Deactivation-Time is specified, then the PCEF sets the rule active / inactive after that time.

Charging Control

IMPORTANT:

In the HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx implementation, offline charging is not supported.

Charging Control is the process of associating packets belonging to an SDF to a charging key, and applying online charging as appropriate. FBC handles differentiated charging of the bearer usage based on real-time analysis of the SDFs. In order to allow for charging control, the information in the PCC rule identifies the SDF and specifies the parameters for charging control. The PCC rule information may depend on subscription data.

Online charging is supported via the Gy interface. In the case of online charging, it is possible to apply an online charging action upon PCEF events (for example, re-authorization upon QoS change).

It is possible to indicate to the PCEF that interactions with the charging systems are not required for a PCC rule, that is to perform neither accounting nor credit control for this SDF, then neither online nor offline charging is performed.

Supported Features:

- Provisioning of charging-related information for the IP-CAN Session
- Provisioning of charging addresses: Primary or secondary event charging function name (Online Charging Server (OCS) addresses)

  IMPORTANT:

  In the HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx implementation, provisioning of primary or secondary charging collection function name (Offline Charging Server (OFCS) addresses) over Gx is not supported.
- Provisioning of Default Charging Method

Charging Correlation

In the HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx implementation, Charging Correlation is not supported. PCRF provides the flow identifier, which uniquely identifies an IP flow in an IMS session.

Policy and Charging Control (PCC) Rules

A PCC rule enables the detection of an SDF and provides parameters for policy control and/or charging control. The purpose of the PCC rule is to:

- Detect a packet belonging to an SDF in case of both uplink and downlink IP flows based on SDF filters in the PCC rule (packet rule matching). If no PCC rule matches the packet, the packet is dropped.
- Identify the service that the SDF contributes to.
- Provide applicable charging parameters for an SDF.
- Provide policy control for an SDF.

The PCEF selects a PCC rule for each packet received by evaluating received packets against SDF filters of PCC rules in the order of precedence of the PCC rules. When a packet matches an SDF filter, the packet matching process for that packet is completed, and the PCC rule for that filter is applied.

There are two types of PCC rules:

- Dynamic PCC Rules: Rules dynamically provisioned by the PCRF to the PCEF via the Gx interface. These PCC rules may be either predefined or dynamically generated in the PCRF. Dynamic PCC rules can be activated, modified, and deactivated at any time.
- Predefined PCC Rule: Rules preconfigured in the PCEF by the operators. Predefined PCC rules can be activated or deactivated by the PCRF at any time. Predefined PCC rules within the PCEF may be grouped allowing the PCRF to dynamically activate a set of PCC rules over the Gx reference point.

IMPORTANT:

A third kind of rule, the static PCC rule can be preconfigured in the chassis by the operators. Static PCC rules are not explicitly known in the PCRF, and are not under control of the PCRF. Static PCC rules are bound to general purpose bearer with no Gx control.

A PCC rule consists of:

- Rule Name: The rule name is used to reference a PCC rule in the communication between the PCEF and PCRF.
- Service Identifier: The service identifier is used to identify the service or the service component the SDF relates to.
- Service Data Flow Filter(s): The service flow filter(s) is used to select the traffic for which the rule applies.
- Precedence: For different PCC rules with overlapping SDF filter, the precedence of the rule determines which of these rules is applicable. When a dynamic PCC rule and a predefined PCC rule have the same priority, the dynamic PCC rule takes precedence.
- Gate Status: The gate status indicates whether the SDF, detected by the SDF filter(s), may pass (gate is open) or will be discarded (gate is closed) in uplink and/or in downlink direction.
- QoS Parameters: The QoS information includes the QoS class identifier (authorized QoS class for the SDF), and authorized bitrates for uplink and downlink.
- Charging Key (rating group)
- Other charging parameters: The charging parameters define whether online charging interfaces are used, on what level the PCEF will report the usage related to the rule, etc.

IMPORTANT:

Configuring the Metering Method and Reporting Level for dynamic PCC rules is not supported.

PCC rules also include Application Function (AF) record information for enabling charging correlation between the application and bearer layer if the AF has provided this information via the Rx interface. For IMS, this includes the IMS Charging Identifier (ICID) and flow identifiers.

PCC Procedures over Gx Reference Point

Request for PCC Rules

The PCEF, via the Gx reference point, requests for PCC rules in the following instances:

- At IP-CAN session establishment
- At IP-CAN session modification

PCC rules can also be requested as a consequence of a failure in the PCC rule installation/activation or enforcement without requiring an event trigger.

Provisioning of PCC Rules

The PCRF indicates, via the Rel. 8 Gx reference point, the PCC rules to be applied at the PCEF. This may be using one of the following procedures:

- PULL (provisioning solicited by the PCEF): In response to a request for PCC rules being made by the PCEF, the PCRF provisions PCC rules in the CC-Answer.
- PUSH (unsolicited provisioning): The PCRF may decide to provision PCC rules without obtaining a request from the PCEF. For example, in response to information provided to the PCRF via the Rx reference point, or in response to an internal trigger within the PCRF. To provision PCC rules without a request from the PCEF, the PCRF includes these PCC rules in an RA-Request message. No CCR/CCA messages are triggered by this RA-Request.

For each request from the PCEF or upon unsolicited provisioning, the PCRF provisions zero or more PCC rules. The PCRF may perform an operation on a single PCC rule by one of the following means:

- To activate or deactivate a PCC rule that is predefined at the PCEF, the PCRF provisions a reference to this PCC rule within a Charging-Rule-Name AVP and indicates the required action by choosing either the Charging-Rule-Install AVP or the Charging-Rule-Remove AVP.
- To install or modify a PCRF-provisioned PCC rule, the PCRF provisions a corresponding Charging-Rule-Definition AVP within a Charging-Rule-Install AVP.
- To remove a PCC rule which has previously been provisioned by the PCRF, the PCRF provisions the name of this rule as value of a Charging-Rule-Name AVP within a Charging-Rule-Remove AVP.

Selecting a PCC Rule for Uplink IP Packets

If PCC is enabled, the PCEF selects the applicable PCC rule for each received uplink IP packet within an IP-CAN session by evaluating the packet against uplink SDF filters of PCRF-provided or predefined active PCC rules of this IP-CAN session in the order of the precedence of the PCC rules.

IMPORTANT:

When a PCRF-provided PCC rule and a predefined PCC rule have the same precedence, the uplink SDF filters of the PCRF-provided PCC rule is applied first.

When a packet matches an SDF filter, the packet matching process for that packet is completed, and the PCC rule for that filter is applied. Uplink IP packets which do not match any PCC rule of the corresponding IP-CAN session are discarded.

Selecting a PCC Rule for Downlink IP Packets

If PCC is enabled, the PCEF selects a PCC rule for each received downlink IP packet within an IP-CAN session by evaluating the packet against downlink SDF filters of PCRF-provided or predefined active PCC rules of the IP-CAN session in the order of precedence of the PCC rules.

IMPORTANT:

When a PCRF-provided PCC rule and a predefined PCC rule have the same precedence, the downlink SDF filters of the PCRF-provided PCC rule are applied first.

When a packet matches an SDF filter, the packet matching process for that packet is completed, and the PCC rule for that filter is applied. Downlink IP packets that do not match any PCC rule of the IP-CAN session are discarded.

The following procedures are also supported:

- Indication of IP-CAN Session Termination: When the IP-CAN session is being terminated the PCEF contacts the PCRF.
- Request of IP-CAN Session Termination: If the PCRF decides to terminate an IP-CAN session due to an internal trigger or trigger from the SPR, the PCRF informs the PCEF. The PCEF acknowledges to the PCRF and instantly removes/deactivates all the PCC rules that have been previously installed or activated on that IP-CAN session.The PCEF applies IP-CAN specific procedures to terminate the IP-CAN session. The HA/PDSN sends a MIP Revocation Request with the teardown indicator set to indicate that the termination of the entire IP-CAN session is requested. Furthermore, the PCEF applies the “Indication of IP-CAN Session Termination” procedure.
- Use of the Supported-Features AVP during session establishment to inform the destination host about the required and optional features that the origin host supports.

How it Works

This section describes how HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx Interface support works.

The following figure and table explain the IMS Authorization process between a system and IMS components that is initiated by the UE.

In this example, the Diameter Policy Control Application (DPCA) is the Gx interface to the PCRF. The interface between IMSA with PCRF is the Gx interface, and the interface between Session Manager (SessMgr) and Online Charging Service (OCS) is the Gy interface. Note that the IMSA service and DPCA are part of SessMgr on the system and separated in the figure for illustration purpose only.

IMPORTANT:

In 14.0 and later releases, the DPCA and the IMSA will be acting as one module within the Policy Server interface application.
Figure 7. HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx IMS Authorization Call Flow
Table 4. HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx IMS Authorization Call flow Description

Step | Description
--- | ---
1 | UE (IMS subscriber) requests for MIP Registration Request.
2 | SessMgr allocates an IP address to the UE.
3 | SessMgr requests IMS Authorization, if IMSA is enabled for the subscriber. IMSA service can either be configured in the subscriber template, or can be received from the AAA.
4 | IMSA allocates resources for the IP-CAN session, and selects the PCRF to contact based on the user's selection key (for example, round-robin).
5 | IMSA requests the DPCA module to issue an auth request to the PCRF.
6 | DPCA sends a CCR initial message to the selected PCRF.
7 | PCRF may send preconfigured charging rules in CCA. The dynamic rules and the authorized QoS parameters could also be included by the PCRF.
8 | DPCA passes the charging rule definition, charging rule install, QoS information received from the PCRF, event triggers, etc. IMSA stores the information.
9 | DPCA calls the callback function registered with it by IMSA.
10 | PCRF-provided information common to the entire IP-CAN session (event trigger, primary/secondary OCS address, etc.) is stored within the IMSA. After processing the information, IMSA notifies the SessMgr about the policy authorization complete.
11 | If the validation of the rules fails in IMSA/DPCA, a failure is notified to PCRF containing the Charging-Rule-Report AVP. Else, IMSA initiates creation of ECS session. The primary/secondary OCS server address, etc. are sent to the ECS from the SessMgr.
12 | ECS performs credit authorization by sending CCR(I) to OCS with CC-Request-Type set to INITIAL_REQUEST to open the credit control session. This request includes the active Rulebase-Id (default rulebase ID from the AAA).
13 | OCS returns a CCA initial message that may activate a statically configured Rulebase and may include preemptive quotas.
14 | ECS responds to SessMgr with the response message.
15 | SessMgr requests IMSA for the dynamic rules.
16 | IMSA sends the dynamic rules to SessMgr. Note that until the MIP session is established, all RAR messages from the PCRF are rejected.
17 | SessMgr sends the dynamic rule information to the ECS. The gate flow status information and the QoS per flow (charging rule) information are also sent in the message.
18 | ECS activates the predefined rules received, and installs the dynamic rules received. Also, the gate flow status and the QoS parameters are updated by ECS as per the dynamic charging rules. The Gx rulebase is treated as an ECS group-of-ruledefs. The response message contains the Charging Rule Report conveying the status of the rule provisioning at the ECS.
19 | If the provisioning of rules fails partially, the context setup is accepted, and a new CCR-U is sent to the PCRF with the Charging-Rule-Report containing the PCC rule status for the failed rules. If the provisioning of rules fails completely, the context setup is rejected.
20 | Depending on the response for the MIP Session Authorization, SessMgr sends the response to the UE and activates/rejects the call. If the Charging-Rule-Report contains partial failure for any of the rules, the PCRF is notified, and the call is activated. If the Charging-Rule-Report contains complete failure, the call is rejected.

Configuring HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx Interface Support

To configure HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx Interface functionality:

1. At the context level, configure IMSA service for IMS subscribers as described in the Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level section.
2. Within the same context, configure the subscriber template to use the IMSA service as described in the Applying IMS Authorization Service to Subscriber Template section.
3. Save your configuration to flash memory, an external memory device, and/or a network location using the Exec mode command save configuration. For additional information on how to verify and save configuration files, refer to the System Administration Guide and the Command Line Interface Reference.

IMPORTANT:

Commands used in the configuration examples in this section provide base functionality to the extent that the most common or likely commands and/or keyword options are presented. In many cases, other optional commands and/or keyword options are available. Refer to the Command Line Interface Reference for complete information regarding all commands.

Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level

Use the following example to configure IMSA service at context level for IMS subscribers:

    configure

       context <context_name>

          ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             policy-control

                diameter
    origin endpoint <endpoint_name>

                diameter
    dictionary <dictionary>

                diameter
    request-timeout <timeout_duration>

                diameter
    host-select table { 1 | 2 } algorithm
    round-robin

                diameter
    host-select row-precedence <precedence_value> table { 1 | 2 } host <primary_host_name> [ realm <primary_realm_id> ] [ secondary host <secondary_host_name> [ realm <secondary_realm_id> ] ] [ -noconfirm ]

                failure-handling
    cc-request-type { any-request | initial-request | terminate-request | update-request } { diameter-result-code { any-error | <result_code> [ to <end_result_code> ] } } { continue | retry-and-terminate | terminate }

                exit

             exit

          diameter
    endpoint <endpoint_name> [ -noconfirm ]

             origin
    realm <realm_name>

             use-proxy

             origin
    host <host_name> address <ip_address>

             no
    watchdog-timeout

             response-timeout <timeout_duration>

             connection
    timeout <timeout_duration>

             connection
    retry-timeout <timeout_duration>

             peer <primary_peer_name> [ realm <primary_realm_name> ] address <ip_address> [ port <port_number> ]

             peer <secondary_peer_name> [ realm <secondary_realm_name> ] address <ip_address> [ port <port_number> ]

             end

Notes:

- <context_name> must be the name of the context where you want to enable IMSA service.
- <imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMSA service to be configured for Rel. 8 Gx interface authentication.
- A maximum of 16 authorization services can be configured globally in a system. There is also a system limit for the maximum number of total configured services.
- To enable Rel. 8 Gx interface support, pertinent Diameter dictionary must be configured. For information on the specific Diameter dictionary to use, contact your Cisco account representative.
- The Round Robin algorithm for PCRF selection is effective only over a large number of PCRF selections, and not at a granular level.
- To configure the PCRF host destinations configured in the PCEF, use the diameter host-select CLI commands.
- To configure the PCEF to use a pre-defined rule when the Gx fails, set the failure-handling cc-request-type CLI to continue. Policies available/in use will continue to be used and there will be no further interaction with the PCRF.

Verifying the IMSA Service Configuration

To verify the IMSA service configuration:

- Change to the context where you enabled IMSA service by entering the following command:context <context_name>
- Verify the IMSA service’s configuration by entering the following command:show ims-authorization service name <imsa_service_name>

Applying IMS Authorization Service to Subscriber Template

After configuring IMSA service at the context-level, within the same context subscriber template must be configured to use the IMSA service for IMS subscribers.

Use the following example to apply IMSA service functionality to subscriber template within the context previously configured in the Configuring IMS Authorization Service at Context Level section.

    configure

       context <context_name>

          subscriber default

             encrypted
    password <encrypted_password>

             ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

             ip
    access-group <access_group_name> in

             ip
    access-group <access_group_name> out

             ip
    context-name <context_name>

             mobile-ip
    home-agent <ip_address>

             active-charging
    rulebase <rulebase_name>

             end

Notes:

- <context_name> must be the name of the context in which the IMSA service was configured.
- <imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMSA service configured for IMS authentication in the context.
- The ECS rulebase must be configured in the subscriber template.
- Provided interpretation of the Gx rulebase (Charging-Rule-Base-Name AVP) from PCRF is chosen to be ECS group-of-ruledefs, configure the following command in the Active Charging Service Configuration Mode:policy-control charging-rule-base-name active-charging-group-of- ruledefs

Verifying the Subscriber Configuration

Verify the IMSA service configuration for subscriber(s) by entering the following command in the Exec CLI configuration mode:

show subscribers ims-auth-service <imsa_service_name>

Notes:

<imsa_service_name> must be the name of the IMSA service configured for IMS authentication.

Gathering Statistics

This section explains how to gather Rel. 8 Gx statistics and configuration information.

In the following table, the first column lists what statistics to gather, and the second column lists the action to perform.
Table 5. Gathering HA/PDSN Rel. 8 Gx Statistics and Information

Statistics/Information | Action to perform
--- | ---
Information and statistics specific to policy control in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization policy-control statistics
Information and statistics specific to the authorization servers used for IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization servers ims-auth-service
Information of all IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization service all
Statistics of IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization service statistics
Information, configuration, and statistics of sessions active in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization sessions all
Complete information, configuration, and statistics of sessions active in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization sessions full
Summarized information of sessions active in IMS Authorization service. | show ims-authorization sessions summary
Complete statistics for active charging service sessions. | show active-charging sessions full
Information for all rule definitions configured in the service. | show active-charging ruledef all
Information for all rulebases configured in the system. | show active-charging rulebase all
Information on all group of ruledefs configured in the system. | show active-charging group-of-ruledefs all
Information on policy gate counters and status. | show ims-authorization policy-gate { counters | status } This command is no longer an option in StarOS release 11.0 and beyond.

P-GW Rel. 8 Gx Interface Support

Introduction

The Gx reference point is located between the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) on the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW). The Gx reference point is used for provisioning and removal of PCC rules from the PCRF to the PCEF and the transmission of traffic plane events from the PCEF to the PCRF. The Gx reference point can be used for charging control, policy control, or both, by applying AVPs relevant to the application.
The PCEF is the functional element that encompasses policy enforcement and flow based charging functionality. This functional entity is located at the P-GW. The main functions include:

- Control over the user plane traffic handling at the gateway and its QoS.
- Service data flow detection and counting, as well as online and offline charging interactions.
- For a service data flow that is under policy control, the PCEF shall allow the service data flow to pass through the gateway if and only if the corresponding gate is open.
- For a service data flow that is under charging control, the PCEF shall allow the service data flow to pass through the gateway if and only if there is a corresponding active PCC rule and, for online charging, the OCS has authorized the applicable credit with that charging key.
- If requested by the PCRF, the PCEF shall report to the PCRF when the status of the related service data flow changes.
- In case the SDF is tunnelled at the BBERF, the PCEF shall inform the PCRF about the mobility protocol tunnelling header of the service data flows at IP-CAN session establishment.

Terminology and Definitions

This section describes features and terminology pertaining to Rel. 8 Gx functionality.

Volume Reporting Over Gx

This section describes the 3GPP Rel. 9 Volume Reporting over Gx feature.

License Requirements

The Volume Reporting over Gx is a licensed Cisco feature. A separate feature license may be required. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements. For information on installing and verifying licenses, refer to the Managing License Keys section of the Software Management Operations chapter in the System Administration Guide.

IMPORTANT:

In 12.0 and later releases, no separate license is required for Charging over Gx / Volume Reporting over Gx feature. This feature can be enabled as part of "Policy Interface" license.

Supported Standards

The Volume Reporting over Gx feature is based on the following standard:

3GPP TS 29.212 V9.5.0 (2010-06): 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control over Gx reference point (Release 9).

Feature Overview

The Volume Reporting over Gx feature provides PCRF the capability to make real-time decisions based on the data usage by subscribers.

IMPORTANT:

Volume Reporting over Gx is applicable only for volume quota.

IMPORTANT:

In release 10.0, only total data usage reporting is supported, uplink/downlink level reporting is not supported. In 10.2 and later releases, it is supported.

IMPORTANT:

The PCEF only reports the accumulated usage since the last report for usage monitoring and not from the beginning.

IMPORTANT:

If the usage threshold is set to zero (infinite threshold), no further threshold events will be generated by PCEF, but monitoring of usage will continue and be reported at the end of the session.

IMPORTANT:

In 12.2 and later releases, usage reporting on bearer termination is supported.

The following steps explain how Volume Reporting over Gx works:

1. PCEF after receiving the message from PCRF parses the usage monitoring related AVPs, and sends the information to IMSA.
2. IMSA updates the information to ECS.
3. Once the ECS is updated with the usage monitoring information from PCRF, the PCEF (ECS) starts tracking the data usage.
4. For session-level monitoring, the ECS maintains the amount of data usage.
5. For PCC rule monitoring, usage is monitored with the monitoring key as the unique identifier. Each node maintains the usage information per monitoring key. When the data traffic is passed, the usage is checked against the usage threshold values and reported as described in the Usage Reporting section.
6. The PCEF continues to track data usage after the threshold is reached and before a new threshold is provided by the PCRF. If a new usage threshold is not provided by the PCRF in the acknowledgement of an IP-CAN Session modification where its usage was reported, then usage monitoring does not continue in the PCEF for that IP CAN session.

Usage Monitoring

- Usage Monitoring at Session Level: PCRF subscribes to the session-level volume reporting over Gx by sending the Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP with the usage threshold level set in Granted-Service-Unit AVP and Usage-Monitoring-Level AVP set to SESSION_LEVEL(0). After the AVPs are parsed by DPCA, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present. In 11.0 and later releases, Monitoring Key at session level is supported. In 12.0 and later releases, enabling and disabling session usage in a single message from PCRF is supported. This is supported only if the monitoring key is associated at session level.In 12.0 and later releases, monitoring of usage based on input/output octet threshold levels is supported. Usage is reported based on the enabled threshold level. If multiple levels are enabled, usage will be reported on all the enabled levels even if only one of the levels is breached. Monitoring will be stopped on the missing threshold levels in the response for the usage report from PCRF (expected to provide the complete set again if PCRF wants to continue monitoring on the multiple levels enabled earlier). Total threshold level along with UL/DL threshold level in the GSU AVP is treated as an error and only total threshold level is accepted.
- Usage Monitoring at Flow Level: PCRF subscribes to the flow-level volume reporting over Gx by sending the Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP with the usage threshold level set in Granted-Service-Unit AVP and Usage-Monitoring-Level AVP set to PCC_RULE_LEVEL(1). Monitoring Key is mandatory in case of a flow-level monitoring since the rules are associated with the monitoring key and enabling/disabling of usage monitoring at flow level can be controlled by PCRF using it. After the AVPs are parsed by DPCA, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present.Usage monitoring is supported for static, predefined rules, and dynamic rule definitions.
  - Usage Monitoring for Static Rules: In the case of static rules, the usage reporting on last rule removal associated with the monitoring key is not applicable. In this case only the usage monitoring information is received from the PCRF.
  - Usage Monitoring for Predefined Rules: If the usage monitoring needs to be enabled for the predefined rules, PCRF sends the rule and the usage monitoring information containing the monitoring key and the usage threshold. The Monitoring key should be same as the one pre-configured in PCEF for that predefined rule. There can be multiple rules associated with the same monitoring key. Hence enabling a particular monitoring key would result in the data being tracked for multiple rules having the same monitoring key. After DPCA parses the AVPs IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present.
  - Usage Monitoring for Dynamic Rules: If the usage monitoring needs to be enabled for dynamic ruledefs, PCRF provides the monitoring key along with a charging rule definition and the usage monitoring information containing the monitoring key and the usage threshold. This would result in the usage monitoring being done for all the rules associated with that monitoring key. After DPCA parses the AVPs, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated, the usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present. Monitoring key for dynamic ruledef is dynamically assigned by PCRF which is the only difference with predefined rules in case of usage monitoring.

Usage Reporting

Usage at subscriber/flow level is reported to PCRF under the following conditions:

- Usage Threshold Reached: PCEF records the subscriber data usage and checks if the usage threshold provided by PCRF is reached. This is done for both session and rule level reporting.For session-level reporting, the actual usage volume is compared with the usage volume threshold.For rule-level reporting the rule that hits the data traffic is used to find out if the monitoring key is associated with it, and based on the monitoring key the data usage is checked. Once the condition is met, it reports the usage information to IMSA and continues monitoring. IMSA then triggers the CCR-U if “USAGE_REPORT” trigger is enabled by the PCRF. The Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP is sent in this CCR with the “Used-Service-Unit” set to the amount of data usage by subscriber.If PCRF does not provide a new usage threshold in the usage monitoring information as a result of CCR from PCEF when the usage threshold is reached, the usage monitoring is stopped at PCEF and no usage status is reported.In the non-standard Volume Reporting over Gx implementation, usage monitoring will be stopped once the threshold is breached, else the monitoring will continue. There will be no further usage reporting until the CCA is received.
- Usage Monitoring Disabled: If the PCRF explicitly disables the usage monitoring with Usage-Monitoring-Support AVP set to USAGE_MONITORING_DISABLED, the PCEF stops monitoring and reports the usage information (when the monitoring was enabled) to PCRF if the usage monitoring is disabled by PCRF as a result of CCR from PCEF which is not related to reporting usage, other external triggers, or a PCRF internal trigger. If the PCRF does not provide a new usage threshold as a result of CCR from PCEF when the usage threshold is reached, the usage monitoring is stopped at PCEF and no further usage status is reported.
- IP CAN Session Termination: When the IP CAN session is terminated, the accumulated subscriber usage information is reported to PCRF in the CCR-T from PCEF. If PCC usage level information is enabled by PCRF, the PCC usage will also be reported.
- PCC Rule Removal: When the PCRF deactivates the last PCC rule associated with a usage monitoring key, the PCEF sends a CCR with the data usage for that monitoring key. If the PCEF reports the last PCC rule associated with a usage monitoring key is inactive, the PCEF reports the accumulated usage for that monitoring key within the same CCR command if the Charging-Rule-Report AVP was included in a CCR command; otherwise, if the Charging-Rule-Report AVP was included in an RAA command, the PCEF sends a new CCR command to report accumulated usage for the usage monitoring key. In 12.0 and later releases, usage reporting on last rule deactivation using rule deactivation time set by PCRF is supported.
- PCRF Requested Usage Report: In 10.2 and later releases, the accumulated usage since the last report is sent even in case of immediate reporting, the usage is reset after immediate reporting and usage monitoring continued so that the subsequent usage report will have the usage since the current report. In earlier releases the behavior was to accumulate the so far usage in the next report.
- Release 12.2 onwards, usage reporting on bearer termination can be added. When a bearer is deleted due to some reason, the rules associated with the bearer will also be removed. So, the usage will be reported on the monitoring key(s) whose associated rule is the last one that is removed because of bearer termination.
- Revalidation Timeout: In the non-standard implementation, if usage monitoring and reporting is enabled and a revalidation timeout occurs, the PCEF sends a CCR to request PCC rules and reports all accumulated usage for all enabled monitoring keys since the last report (or since usage reporting was enabled if the usage was not yet reported) with the accumulated usage at IP-CAN session level (if enabled) and at service data flow level (if enabled) This is the default behavior.In the case of standard implementation, this must be enabled by CLI configuration.

IMPORTANT:

The Usage Reporting on Revalidation Timeout feature is available by default in non-standard implementation of Volume Reporting over Gx. In 10.2 and later releases, this is configurable in the standard implementation. This is not supported in 10.0 release for standard based volume reporting.

Once the usage is reported, the usage counter is reset to zero. The PCEF continues to track data usage from the zero value after the threshold is reached and before a new threshold is provided by the PCRF. If a new usage threshold is not provided by the PCRF in the acknowledgement of an IP-CAN Session modification where its usage was reported, then usage monitoring does not continue in the PCEF for that IP CAN session and and the usage accumulated between the CCR-CCA will be discarded.

For information on how to configure the Volume Reporting over Gx feature, see the Configuring Volume Reporting over Gx section.

Rel. 9 Gx Interface

Rel. 9 Gx interface support is available on the Cisco ASR chassis running StarOS 12.2 and later releases.

P-GW Rel. 9 Gx Interface Support

Introduction

The Gx reference point is located between the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) on the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW). The Gx reference point is used for provisioning and removal of PCC rules from the PCRF to the PCEF and the transmission of traffic plane events from the PCEF to the PCRF. The Gx reference point can be used for charging control, policy control, or both, by applying AVPs relevant to the application.
The PCEF is the functional element that encompasses policy enforcement and flow based charging functionality. This functional entity is located at the P-GW. The main functions include:

- Control over the user plane traffic handling at the gateway and its QoS.
- Service data flow detection and counting, as well as online and offline charging interactions.
- For a service data flow that is under policy control, the PCEF shall allow the service data flow to pass through the gateway if and only if the corresponding gate is open.
- For a service data flow that is under charging control, the PCEF shall allow the service data flow to pass through the gateway if and only if there is a corresponding active PCC rule and, for online charging, the OCS has authorized the applicable credit with that charging key.
- If requested by the PCRF, the PCEF shall report to the PCRF when the status of the related service data flow changes.
- In case the SDF is tunnelled at the BBERF, the PCEF shall inform the PCRF about the mobility protocol tunnelling header of the service data flows at IP-CAN session establishment.

Terminology and Definitions

This section describes features and terminology pertaining to Rel. 9 Gx functionality.

Volume Reporting Over Gx

This section describes the 3GPP Rel. 9 Volume Reporting over Gx feature.

License Requirements

The Volume Reporting over Gx is a licensed Cisco feature. A separate feature license may be required. Contact your Cisco account representative for detailed information on specific licensing requirements. For information on installing and verifying licenses, refer to the Managing License Keys section of the Software Management Operations chapter in the System Administration Guide.

IMPORTANT:

In 12.0 and later releases, no separate license is required for Charging over Gx / Volume Reporting over Gx feature. This feature can be enabled as part of "Policy Interface" license.

Supported Standards

The Volume Reporting over Gx feature is based on the following standard:

3GPP TS 29.212 V9.5.0 (2010-06): 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Core Network and Terminals; Policy and Charging Control over Gx reference point (Release 9).

Feature Overview

The Volume Reporting over Gx feature provides PCRF the capability to make real-time decisions based on the data usage by subscribers.

IMPORTANT:

Volume Reporting over Gx is applicable only for volume quota.

IMPORTANT:

In release 10.0, only total data usage reporting is supported, uplink/downlink level reporting is not supported. In 10.2 and later releases, it is supported.

IMPORTANT:

The PCEF only reports the accumulated usage since the last report for usage monitoring and not from the beginning.

IMPORTANT:

If the usage threshold is set to zero (infinite threshold), no further threshold events will be generated by PCEF, but monitoring of usage will continue and be reported at the end of the session.

IMPORTANT:

In 12.2 and later releases, usage reporting on bearer termination is supported.

The following steps explain how Volume Reporting over Gx works:

1. PCEF after receiving the message from PCRF parses the usage monitoring related AVPs, and sends the information to IMSA.
2. IMSA updates the information to ECS.
3. Once the ECS is updated with the usage monitoring information from PCRF, the PCEF (ECS) starts tracking the data usage.
4. For session-level monitoring, the ECS maintains the amount of data usage.
5. For PCC rule monitoring, usage is monitored with the monitoring key as the unique identifier. Each node maintains the usage information per monitoring key. When the data traffic is passed, the usage is checked against the usage threshold values and reported as described in the Usage Reporting section.
6. The PCEF continues to track data usage after the threshold is reached and before a new threshold is provided by the PCRF. If a new usage threshold is not provided by the PCRF in the acknowledgement of an IP-CAN Session modification where its usage was reported, then usage monitoring does not continue in the PCEF for that IP CAN session.

Usage Monitoring

- Usage Monitoring at Session Level: PCRF subscribes to the session-level volume reporting over Gx by sending the Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP with the usage threshold level set in Granted-Service-Unit AVP and Usage-Monitoring-Level AVP set to SESSION_LEVEL(0). After the AVPs are parsed by DPCA, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present. In 11.0 and later releases, Monitoring Key at session level is supported. In 12.0 and later releases, enabling and disabling session usage in a single message from PCRF is supported. This is supported only if the monitoring key is associated at session level.In 12.0 and later releases, monitoring of usage based on input/output octet threshold levels is supported. Usage is reported based on the enabled threshold level. If multiple levels are enabled, usage will be reported on all the enabled levels even if only one of the levels is breached. Monitoring will be stopped on the missing threshold levels in the response for the usage report from PCRF (expected to provide the complete set again if PCRF wants to continue monitoring on the multiple levels enabled earlier). Total threshold level along with UL/DL threshold level in the GSU AVP is treated as an error and only total threshold level is accepted.
- Usage Monitoring at Flow Level: PCRF subscribes to the flow-level volume reporting over Gx by sending the Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP with the usage threshold level set in Granted-Service-Unit AVP and Usage-Monitoring-Level AVP set to PCC_RULE_LEVEL(1). Monitoring Key is mandatory in case of a flow-level monitoring since the rules are associated with the monitoring key and enabling/disabling of usage monitoring at flow level can be controlled by PCRF using it. After the AVPs are parsed by DPCA, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present.Usage monitoring is supported for static, predefined rules, and dynamic rule definitions.
  - Usage Monitoring for Static Rules: In the case of static rules, the usage reporting on last rule removal associated with the monitoring key is not applicable. In this case only the usage monitoring information is received from the PCRF.
  - Usage Monitoring for Predefined Rules: If the usage monitoring needs to be enabled for the predefined rules, PCRF sends the rule and the usage monitoring information containing the monitoring key and the usage threshold. The Monitoring key should be same as the one pre-configured in PCEF for that predefined rule. There can be multiple rules associated with the same monitoring key. Hence enabling a particular monitoring key would result in the data being tracked for multiple rules having the same monitoring key. After DPCA parses the AVPs IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present.
  - Usage Monitoring for Dynamic Rules: If the usage monitoring needs to be enabled for dynamic ruledefs, PCRF provides the monitoring key along with a charging rule definition and the usage monitoring information containing the monitoring key and the usage threshold. This would result in the usage monitoring being done for all the rules associated with that monitoring key. After DPCA parses the AVPs, IMSA updates the information to ECS. Once ECS is updated, the usage monitoring is started and constantly checked with the usage threshold whenever the data traffic is present. Monitoring key for dynamic ruledef is dynamically assigned by PCRF which is the only difference with predefined rules in case of usage monitoring.

Usage Reporting

Usage at subscriber/flow level is reported to PCRF under the following conditions:

- Usage Threshold Reached: PCEF records the subscriber data usage and checks if the usage threshold provided by PCRF is reached. This is done for both session and rule level reporting.For session-level reporting, the actual usage volume is compared with the usage volume threshold.For rule-level reporting the rule that hits the data traffic is used to find out if the monitoring key is associated with it, and based on the monitoring key the data usage is checked. Once the condition is met, it reports the usage information to IMSA and continues monitoring. IMSA then triggers the CCR-U if “USAGE_REPORT” trigger is enabled by the PCRF. The Usage-Monitoring-Information AVP is sent in this CCR with the “Used-Service-Unit” set to the amount of data usage by subscriber.If PCRF does not provide a new usage threshold in the usage monitoring information as a result of CCR from PCEF when the usage threshold is reached, the usage monitoring is stopped at PCEF and no usage status is reported.In the non-standard Volume Reporting over Gx implementation, usage monitoring will be stopped once the threshold is breached, else the monitoring will continue. There will be no further usage reporting until the CCA is received.
- Usage Monitoring Disabled: If the PCRF explicitly disables the usage monitoring with Usage-Monitoring-Support AVP set to USAGE_MONITORING_DISABLED, the PCEF stops monitoring and reports the usage information (when the monitoring was enabled) to PCRF if the usage monitoring is disabled by PCRF as a result of CCR from PCEF which is not related to reporting usage, other external triggers, or a PCRF internal trigger. If the PCRF does not provide a new usage threshold as a result of CCR from PCEF when the usage threshold is reached, the usage monitoring is stopped at PCEF and no further usage status is reported.
- IP CAN Session Termination: When the IP CAN session is terminated, the accumulated subscriber usage information is reported to PCRF in the CCR-T from PCEF. If PCC usage level information is enabled by PCRF, the PCC usage will also be reported.
- PCC Rule Removal: When the PCRF deactivates the last PCC rule associated with a usage monitoring key, the PCEF sends a CCR with the data usage for that monitoring key. If the PCEF reports the last PCC rule associated with a usage monitoring key is inactive, the PCEF reports the accumulated usage for that monitoring key within the same CCR command if the Charging-Rule-Report AVP was included in a CCR command; otherwise, if the Charging-Rule-Report AVP was included in an RAA command, the PCEF sends a new CCR command to report accumulated usage for the usage monitoring key. In 12.0 and later releases, usage reporting on last rule deactivation using rule deactivation time set by PCRF is supported.
- PCRF Requested Usage Report: In 10.2 and later releases, the accumulated usage since the last report is sent even in case of immediate reporting, the usage is reset after immediate reporting and usage monitoring continued so that the subsequent usage report will have the usage since the current report. In earlier releases the behavior was to accumulate the so far usage in the next report.
- Release 12.2 onwards, usage reporting on bearer termination can be added. When a bearer is deleted due to some reason, the rules associated with the bearer will also be removed. So, the usage will be reported on the monitoring key(s) whose associated rule is the last one that is removed because of bearer termination.
- Revalidation Timeout: In the non-standard implementation, if usage monitoring and reporting is enabled and a revalidation timeout occurs, the PCEF sends a CCR to request PCC rules and reports all accumulated usage for all enabled monitoring keys since the last report (or since usage reporting was enabled if the usage was not yet reported) with the accumulated usage at IP-CAN session level (if enabled) and at service data flow level (if enabled) This is the default behavior.In the case of standard implementation, this must be enabled by CLI configuration.

IMPORTANT:

The Usage Reporting on Revalidation Timeout feature is available by default in non-standard implementation of Volume Reporting over Gx. In 10.2 and later releases, this is configurable in the standard implementation. This is not supported in 10.0 release for standard based volume reporting.

Once the usage is reported, the usage counter is reset to zero. The PCEF continues to track data usage from the zero value after the threshold is reached and before a new threshold is provided by the PCRF. If a new usage threshold is not provided by the PCRF in the acknowledgement of an IP-CAN Session modification where its usage was reported, then usage monitoring does not continue in the PCEF for that IP CAN session and and the usage accumulated between the CCR-CCA will be discarded.

For information on how to configure the Volume Reporting over Gx feature, see the Configuring Volume Reporting over Gx section.