PCRN Roaming Realm Segmentation for S9 Session Routing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current telecommunications networks face challenges in providing seamless network services to roaming subscribers due to limited geographical coverage and complexities in negotiating service costs between home and visited networks, especially with multiple Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) combinations and incompatibilities with non-3GPP nodes.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) that organizes roaming partner realms into primary and secondary realms, allowing for simplified configuration and negotiation of network services by limiting outgoing S9 requests to a single primary destination realm, while recognizing incoming requests from any realm used by the roaming partner, enabling flexible configuration and updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple MCC and MNC combinations are supported for roaming partners, then the system can accommodate diverse network infrastructures, but the configuration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the roaming partner's realm into a primary realm and multiple secondary realms. The PCRN is configured with a single primary destination realm for each roaming partner, while maintaining associations with multiple secondary realms through the subscription identifier. This segmentation allows the system to support diverse MCC/MNC combinations without increasing configuration complexity, as the PCRN automatically routes requests to the appropriate secondary realm based on the subscriber's identity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the PCRN is configured with multiple destination realms for different MCC/MNC combinations, then compatibility with various network infrastructures is improved, but the number of configuration parameters increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the MCC/MNC combination information from the session establishment request and uses it to dynamically determine the appropriate secondary realm. Instead of configuring multiple destination realms for different MCC/MNC combinations, the system extracts the relevant identifier from the request and maps it to the corresponding secondary realm through the subscription identifier. This reduces the number of configuration parameters while maintaining compatibility with various network infrastructures.
3Reliability
If outgoing S9 requests are sent to multiple realms, then service negotiation with all possible roaming partners is enabled, but the negotiation process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-configuring the PCRN with a single primary destination realm for each roaming partner and establishing associations between secondary realms and subscription identifiers. When a session establishment request arrives, the PCRN has already prepared the routing logic to automatically select the appropriate secondary realm based on the extracted subscription identifier. This preliminary configuration simplifies the negotiation process while ensuring service negotiation coverage with all possible roaming partners.
Data Source
AI summary
Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) of communicating with a roaming partner. The method may include: defining a roaming partner profile including a network identifier and a primary realm; receiving a session establishment request at the PCRN; extracting a subscription identifier from the session establishment request; determining an active roaming partner by comparing the subscription identifier to the network identifier; and establishing an S9 session with the primary realm of the active roaming partner. Another method may include: defining a roaming partner profile including a primary realm and at least one secondary realm; receiving an S9 session establishment request; extracting an origin realm from the S9 session establishment request; determining an active roaming partner by comparing the origin realm to the primary realm and the secondary realms of the roaming partner profile; and responding to the S9 session establishment request.