AF-Free Policy Control Through PCEF Event Reporting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing policy control systems in 3GPP protocols fail to effectively manage Quality of Service (QoS) and charging for applications like Skype, BT, VoD, online games, and instant messaging without an Application Function (AF) due to the absence of AF involvement, preventing the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) from obtaining necessary application event and service information.
Innovation Solution
The system enables the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) to acquire application event information and send it to the PCRF, allowing the PCRF to generate control policies based on subscriber subscription, operator policy, and access network type, even without an AF, thereby controlling QoS, charging, and gating of service flows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the PCRF generates control policy according to application event and service information from AF, then the policy control accuracy is improved, but the system complexity increases due to requiring AF involvement
Solution Approach 1:
The PCEF acts as an intermediary that collects application event information and service information from the network and forwards it to the PCRF. This mediator role enables the PCRF to obtain necessary information without direct AF involvement, resolving the contradiction between policy control accuracy and system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The PCEF autonomously performs the function of collecting and reporting application event information and service information to the PCRF, eliminating the need for external AF components. This self-service mechanism maintains policy control accuracy while reducing system complexity by removing the AF dependency
2Loss of information
If the PCEF collects and reports application event information to PCRF, then the information availability is improved, but the signaling overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The PCEF reports only essential application event information and service information parameters to the PCRF rather than complete detailed data. This partial action approach ensures sufficient information availability for policy control while minimizing unnecessary signaling overhead
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms application event information into standardized parameters and formats suitable for PCRF processing. By changing the parameter representation to compact, standardized forms, the system achieves complete information availability while reducing signaling message size and overhead
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a system for exercising policy control, a policy and charging enforcement function (PCEF) are provided, which can solve the problem that no policy control can be exercised over application service flows without an application function (AF). In the method, a PCRF receives information about an application event sent by a PCEF after subscribing the application event from the PCEF; and the PCRF generates a control policy for a service flow of the application according to the information about the application event. In the present invention, the PCEF sends the obtained information about the application event to the PCRF, so that even when no AF is involved, the PCRF can still generate a control policy according to policy contexts including the information about the application event and the like.