Online Charging System Policy Evaluation for Temporary Products
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Policy management is not well integrated into the provisioning process for temporary products in telecommunications networks, leading to consumption being governed by default values rather than specific policy-related parameters, resulting in inappropriate policy settings being applied.
Innovation Solution
An Online Charging System (OCS) node is introduced that triggers policy evaluation during temporary product provisioning, providing specific policy-related information to govern consumption, ensuring that product-specific values are used instead of default values for policy-related parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If temporary products are provisioned speculatively in response to charging triggers, then product provisioning flexibility and speed are improved, but policy management integration deteriorates causing default values to be applied instead of product-specific policy settings
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary policy evaluation during the temporary product provisioning process. The Online Charging System triggers policy evaluation before the product is fully provisioned, ensuring that product-specific policy settings are determined and applied in advance, rather than relying on default values after provisioning occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the Online Charging System continuously monitors and adjusts policy settings based on the temporary product provisioning status. This ensures that policy-related parameters are continuously updated with product-specific values throughout the product lifecycle, maintaining accurate policy application from provisioning through consumption.
2Reliability
If policy evaluation is triggered during temporary product provisioning, then policy settings accuracy is improved, but system complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the policy evaluation process with the existing temporary product provisioning workflow. Instead of implementing a separate, standalone policy evaluation system, the Online Charging System integrates policy evaluation into the provisioning flow, combining multiple functions into a unified process that reduces overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The Online Charging System performs multiple functions including temporary product provisioning, policy evaluation, and policy setting application through a single integrated platform. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated systems for each function, reducing complexity while maintaining accurate product-specific policy settings.
3Device complexity
If default policy values are used for temporary products, then system simplicity is maintained, but inappropriate policy settings are applied leading to network resource management issues
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes policy-related parameters from default values to product-specific values during the provisioning process. The Online Charging System modifies parameters such as QoS settings, charging rates, and resource allocation based on the specific temporary product being provisioned, ensuring appropriate policy application without requiring complex pre-configuration of every possible scenario.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
A method (300) and apparatus (40) according to this disclosure integrate policy evaluation into the process of provisioning temporary products (52) in a telecommunications network (10), in a manner that results in consumption of a temporary product (52) being governed by values of one or more policy-related parameters that are specific to the temporary product (52), rather than being governed by default values for such parameters. Accordingly, an Online Charging System, OCS, (26) includes or is associated with a network node (40) that triggers policy evaluation in conjunction with authorizing charging and policy sessions in the context of temporary product provisioning, to thereby provide the involved policy node (24) with policy-related information that is specific to the temporary product.