Policy Enforcement Point Default Rule Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
In telecommunication systems, excessive usage by client devices can lead to network congestion and prevent network operators from billing subscribers, as existing systems may fail to timely detect and mitigate excessive usage due to delays or failures in policy directive communication between Policy Decision Points (PDP) and Policy Enforcement Points (PEP).
Innovation Solution
A PEP in the access network is configured to monitor client device usage and, if excessive, request a policy directive from a PDP. If no directive is received, it applies a default policy rule to limit usage, ensuring that excessive usage is prevented and network resources are protected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the PEP waits for a policy directive from the PDP before applying usage restrictions, then the system maintains centralized policy control, but excessive usage may occur during the delay period causing network congestion
Solution Approach 1:
The PEP is pre-configured with default policy rules that can be immediately applied when excessive usage is detected. These preliminary rules allow the PEP to take immediate action without waiting for PDP confirmation, preventing network congestion while maintaining the ability to apply centralized policies when received.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares default policy rules in advance as a cushion against potential PDP communication failures or delays. These pre-prepared rules ensure that the PEP can immediately restrict excessive usage if needed, protecting the network from congestion while the centralized policy control mechanism remains intact.
2Reliability
If the PEP applies default policy rules when no directive is received, then excessive usage is prevented, but the system complexity increases due to local policy enforcement capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The PEP is empowered to independently apply default policy rules when excessive usage is detected and no directive is received from the PDP. This self-service capability allows the PEP to make local decisions without constant PDP intervention, preventing excessive usage while reducing the complexity of continuous centralized communication.
Solution Approach 2:
Default policy rules are pre-configured in the PEP, allowing it to immediately apply restrictions without complex real-time decision-making. This preliminary configuration simplifies the enforcement process by providing ready-to-use rules that the PEP can apply autonomously when needed.
3Loss of time
If the PEP monitors and detects excessive usage in real-time, then timely notification and billing are enabled, but the monitoring system complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The PEP continuously monitors usage and provides feedback when thresholds are exceeded. This feedback mechanism enables timely detection and notification while keeping the monitoring system relatively simple by focusing only on threshold-based detection rather than complex real-time analysis of all usage patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses configurable usage thresholds as parameters to trigger detection and enforcement actions. By monitoring against simple threshold parameters rather than complex patterns, the system achieves timely detection with minimal complexity and resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a method and system of imposing a policy rule for excessive usage in an access network. According to the disclosure, a policy enforcement point (PEP) may detect that usage by a given client device is threshold high and responsively request, from a policy decision point (PDP), a policy directive that specifies a policy rule to apply to the given client device. However, thereafter, the PEP may determine that the requested policy directive has not been received from the PDP and then responsively apply, to the given client device, a default policy rule for threshold-high usage.