Policy Node Spending Limit Control via Filtered Status Notifications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current interfaces between policy nodes and charging nodes in telecommunication networks require subscribers to receive notifications for all policy counter statuses, leading to inefficient resource usage and unnecessary signaling, as they often subscribe to changes for all counters even when only specific status changes are of interest.
Innovation Solution
The method involves a policy node requesting specific policy counter statuses from a charging node, allowing for filtered notifications based on condition, where the charging node only reports changes matching or no longer matching the specified statuses, reducing unnecessary signaling and processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the policy node subscribes to notification of changes for all policy counters, then the node receives complete information about all counter status changes, but this leads to unnecessary signaling and increased resource usage when only specific status changes are of interest
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different parts of the notification system to have different properties. Specifically, the policy node can specify particular policy counter statuses it is interested in (e.g., only 'matched' or only 'no longer matched' conditions) rather than receiving all status changes uniformly. This selective subscription mechanism enables the system to receive only the specific information needed at each node, reducing unnecessary signaling while maintaining information completeness for relevant events.
2Loss of information
If the policy node receives notifications for all policy counter status changes, then all possible status information is available, but the processing load and resource usage increase unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by separating the notification mechanism into two parts: the charging node continues to track all policy counter statuses comprehensively, but the notification function extracts and sends only the specific status changes that match the subscriber's criteria. The policy node specifies which statuses it cares about (e.g., only 'matched' conditions), and the charging node extracts only those relevant notifications, filtering out the rest. This maintains full information availability at the charging node while improving processing efficiency by reducing the volume of notifications that need to be handled.
3Loss of energy
If the system implements filtering of policy counter status notifications based on specific conditions, then resource usage and signaling are reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the policy node pre-specify its subscription criteria before receiving notifications. The policy node sends a subscription request that includes the specific policy counter statuses it is interested in (e.g., only 'matched' or only 'no longer matched' conditions). This preliminary configuration allows the charging node to filter notifications in advance based on these criteria, rather than sending all status changes and requiring the policy node to filter them later. The filtering logic is established upfront, reducing the complexity of real-time processing while maintaining efficient resource usage.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, a policy node and a charging node for enabling spending limit control for a user equipment in a telecommunication network. The policy node obtains an identifier related to the user equipment, an identifier of a policy counter and a set of policy counter statuses to be monitored by the policy node. The set of policy counter statuses are related to the identifier of the policy counter. The policy node sends, a request for reporting of policy counter statuses related to the user equipment for the policy counter. The request includes the identifier related to the user equipment, the identifier of the policy counter and the set of policy counter statuses. A policy counter status of the set of policy counter statuses is determined. The policy counter status has changed as determined by the charging node. A response to the request is sent and includes the policy counter status that has changed.