Table Of Contents

Configuring BMA Support

Configuring the BMA Local Port

Configuring a BMA

Configuring the BMA Keepalive Time

Configuring the BMA GTP' Message Buffer

Configuring the BMA Retransmit Time

Configuring the BMA Retry Number

Configuring the BMA Window Size

Configuring BMA Load Sharing

Reporting the Billing Plan ID to the BMA

Configuring BMA Support

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The CSG2 monitors data flows and generates accounting records that can be used to bill customers at a content level. The CSG2 sends the accounting records to a Billing Mediation Agent (BMA), which formats the records as required by the customer's billing system. At the end of each transaction, a billing record indicating the content accessed and the amount deducted is sent to the BMA, so that it can be logged in the subscriber's bill.

The CSG2 provides the following features for the BMA:

•Configuring the BMA Local Port

•Configuring a BMA

•Configuring the BMA Keepalive Time

•Configuring the BMA GTP' Message Buffer

•Configuring the BMA Retransmit Time

•Configuring the BMA Retry Number

•Configuring the BMA Window Size

•Configuring BMA Load Sharing

•Reporting the Billing Plan ID to the BMA

Configuring the BMA Local Port

The first step when configuring CSG2 support for the BMA is to configure the local port on which the CSG2 is to communicate with the BMA.

To activate one or more BMAs, you must configure a local port, the local port on which the CSG2 is to communicate with the BMA. The local port must be unique with respect to all other configured local ports, such as the quota server local port.

The CSG2 allows you to configure a port number that is not the general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol (GTP) prime (GTP') default port (3386).

To configure a local port for the BMA, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma local-port port-number	Configures the local port on which the CSG2 communicates with the BMA. The BMA local port number must be different from the PSD local port number and from the quota server local port number (configured with the ip csg psd local-port command and the ip csg quota-server local-port command, respectively).

Configuring a BMA

You must configure the BMA to which you want the CSG2 to send accounting records. You can configure only one BMA.

Accounting records are sent only to the configured BMA. This provides a measure of security to ensure that records are not sent to unauthorized systems.

The CSG2 differentiates BMAs on the basis of their IP addresses and port numbers. When you configure a BMA, make sure that its IP address and port number match on both the active CSG2 and the standby CSG2.

If you have enabled interface awareness, you can also associate a VLAN's Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) table name with the BMA.

To configure a BMA, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma [vrf vrf-name] ip-address port-number priority	Configures the BMA to which the CSG2 is to send billing records.

Configuring the BMA Keepalive Time

By default, the CSG2 sends keepalive messages to the BMA once every 60 seconds. That setting is sufficient in most environments, but the CSG2 also allows you to change the time between keepalive messages, if necessary.

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Note We recommend that you change the keepalive time interval only when directed to do so by Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers. In most environments, the default value is the most appropriate setting.

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To change the keepalive timer for the BMA, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma keepalive number-of-seconds	(Optional) Defines the BMA keepalive time interval for the CSG2.

Configuring the BMA GTP' Message Buffer

By default, the CSG2 can buffer up to 10,000 general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol prime (GTP') messages for all BMAs. That setting is sufficient in most environments, but the CSG2 also allows you to change the BMA GTP' message buffer, if necessary.

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Note We recommend that you change the number of GTP' messages that can be buffered only when directed to do so by Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers. In most environments, the default value is the most appropriate setting.

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To change the maximum number of GTP' messages, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma messages number	(Optional) Specifies the maximum number of GTP' messages that the CSG2 can buffer for the BMA.

Configuring the BMA Retransmit Time

By default, the CSG2 retransmits packets to a BMA once every four seconds. That setting is sufficient in most environments, but the CSG2 also allows you to change the time between retransmits, if necessary.

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Note We recommend that you change the retransmit time interval only when directed to do so by Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers. In most environments, the default value is the most appropriate setting.

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To change the BMA retransmit time interval for the CSG2, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma retransmit number-of-seconds	(Optional) Defines the BMA retransmit time interval for the CSG2.

Configuring the BMA Retry Number

By default, the CSG2 retries communication with a BMA three times before determining that the link has failed. That setting is sufficient in most environments, but the CSG2 also allows you to change the number of retries, if necessary.

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Note We recommend that you change the number of retries allowed only when directed to do so by Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers. In most environments, the default value is the most appropriate setting.

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To change the maximum number of BMA retries allowed before the CSG2 determines that the link has failed, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma retries number-of-retries	(Optional) Defines the maximum number of BMA retries allowed before the CSG2 determines that the link has failed.

Configuring the BMA Window Size

By default, the CSG2 sets the maximum BMA transmit window size to 128 packets, and sets the minimum BMA transmit window size automatically. Those settings are sufficient in most environments, but the CSG2 also allows you to change the maximum and minimum BMA transmit window sizes, if necessary.

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Note We recommend that you change the transmit window size only when directed to do so by Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) engineers. In most environments, the default value is the most appropriate setting.

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To define the BMA transmit window size for the CSG2, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma window {max window-size | min window-size | min auto}	(Optional) Defines the BMA transmit window size for the CSG2.

Configuring BMA Load Sharing

The CSG2 allows load sharing among BMAs. This support is useful in environments in which the number of billing records sent by the CSG2 could overwhelm a single BMA. Multiple BMAs can be simultaneously active, and the CSG2 assigns a BMA to each subscriber. All billing records for the subscriber are sent to the same BMA.

If a BMA fails, all subscribers associated with that BMA are distributed among the other active other BMAs.

The CSG2 maintains GTP' sequence numbers for each BMA.

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Note Multiple BMAs cannot have the same IP address.

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The CSG2 creates a sticky object to ensure that all the billing records for a subscriber are sent to the same BMA. If the user ID is not available (for example, if the internal table is too small to hold all user ID entries, or if the CSG2 cannot access the user ID database), the CSG2 creates a sticky object for the subscriber IP address. In addition to activating multiple BMAs, the CSG2 allows you to specify the time to wait before it deletes inactive sticky objects.

To configure BMA load sharing, enter the following command in global configuration mode:

Command	Purpose
csg2(config)# ip csg bma activate [number [sticky seconds]]	Activates one or more BMAs.

Reporting the Billing Plan ID to the BMA

The CSG2 reports the billing plan identifier in BMA records. The CSG2 also reports the billing plan ID in messages to the quota server.

There are no commands required to enable billing plan ID reporting.