Group Session Management for Policy Control in Telecommunications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architectures face challenges in efficiently managing network resources and providing customizable services for multiple users, particularly in situations where network congestion is anticipated, as they require individual policy control for each user, leading to higher signaling and processing loads.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of simpler network nodes with reduced functionality that can monitor and control multiple users dynamically, allowing for the creation of group sessions based on various criteria such as subscription type, location, and service usage, enabling aggregated reporting and policy control rule management at a group level, thereby reducing the need for individual user-level control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If individual policy control is implemented for each user session, then customized user services and quality of service can be provided, but signaling load and processing complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual user sessions into a single group session when users share common characteristics (location area, service type, QoS requirements). The PCRF creates one group session with a group session ID instead of managing separate sessions for each user, thereby reducing signaling load and processing complexity while still providing policy control for multiple users simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The group session mechanism provides universal policy control that can handle multiple user sessions with similar characteristics through a single control instance. The same group session can serve multiple users dynamically added or removed based on matching criteria, making the system more efficient for handling bulk users with common service requirements
2Reliability
If individual policy control is implemented for each user session, then precise quality of service management is achieved, but network signaling load increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple individual policy control operations are merged into a single group session management operation. When users in the same location area require the same service type with identical QoS parameters, the system creates one group session that collectively manages all matching users, dramatically reducing the number of signaling messages between PCRF and PCEF
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary grouping of users based on their characteristics (location area, service type, QoS requirements) before establishing individual sessions. By pre-organizing users into groups with common attributes, the system reduces subsequent signaling overhead when managing policy controls for these users
3Productivity
If group sessions are created to reduce overhead, then signaling load decreases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The session management functionality is segmented into two distinct levels: individual user sessions and group sessions. Each level has its own management rules and characteristics, allowing the system to handle simple cases with individual sessions while using group sessions for bulk users with common characteristics, thereby managing complexity through structured segmentation
4Reliability
If downgrading quality of service for every user is implemented to control aggregated load, then network congestion is avoided, but user satisfaction decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of individually downgrading QoS for each user, the system merges multiple users into a group session and applies collective policy control. This allows the network to manage aggregated load efficiently while maintaining appropriate QoS levels for the group as a whole, avoiding unnecessary individual QoS downgrades and preserving user satisfaction
Data Source
AI summary
At present some situations occur where a policy control at individual user level is not enough. For example, where a plurality of users surpasses a load limit in a certain location area, which could imply a risk of network congestion, policy control decisions in conventional architectures have to be made by submitting corresponding orders for each user affected by the decision, thus resulting in a higher signalling and processing load. To overcome these drawbacks, the present specification provides for new network entities and method to monitor and control a plurality of users, as dynamically determined according to different selection criteria, in order to compile users-related aggregated reports, to establish dynamic group of users whom specific policy control rules can be applied, and to map orders and information between group and user level.