© Telexir 2014

Telexir PCRF

Quick Start Guide

Product version: 3.7.1

Document version: 1.1

© Telexir 2014 2

Revision History

Date Version Author Revision

03.06.2013 1.0 Evgenia Martynyuk Document created

15.09.2014 1.1 Evgenia Martynyuk Minor corrections

© Telexir 2014 3

Table of Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4

Related Materials ................................................................................................... 4

Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ 4

Policies Configuration Task Example .......................................................................... 5

Basic Task Description................................................................................................ 5

Network Architecture ................................................................................................. 5

Information Flow ................................................................................................... 6

Required Configuration ............................................................................................... 6

Network Components Interaction ............................................................................. 6

Policies Configuration Steps ................................................................................... 10

DPI/P-GW Static Rules Configuration ....................................................................... 12

Result ..................................................................................................................... 13

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 4

Introduction

Telexir PCRF is a standard compliant policy management solution that enables operator to

dynamically control network elements with real-time policies based on service, subscriber or

usage control.

This step-by-step guide will help you to understand the essential principle of policy logic configuration of Telexir PCRF system.

Related Materials

1. Installation Guide (Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Installation Guide.docx)

2. Administrator's Guide (Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Administrator's Guide.docx)

3. SPR Configuration Interface description (Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 SPR Configuration

Interface.docx)

4. Subscriber Management Interface description (Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Subscriber Management

Interface.docx)

5. Policy Engine description (Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Policy Engine.docx)

6. Policy Library description (Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Policy Library.docx)

7. Standards:

a) IETF RFC 3588 Diameter Base Protocol

b) IETF RFC 4006 Diameter Credit Control Application

c) 3GPP TS 29.212 Policy and Charging Control over Gx Reference Point. Rel. 9

d) 3GPP TS 29.210 Charging Rule Provisioning over Gx Interface. Rel. 9

Abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning

AAA Authentication Authorization Accounting

ACR Access Control Router

BSS Business Support System

CRM Customer Relationship Management

DDF Data Distribution Function

DPI Deep Packet Inspection

O&M Operations and Maintenance

SPR Subscriber Profile Repository

Basic Task Description

© Telexir 2014 5

Policies Configuration Task

Example

Telexir PCRF is able to work with many BSS tariffs, subscriber ID types (IMSI, MSISDN),

different DPI/P-GW. Also can perform congestion management, traffic accumulation, and other

operations. Telexir PCRF can be geographically distributed or be installed as a stand-alone cluster/node.

This document covers only basic task of Telexir PCRF, where:

PCRF clusters are installed only in two regions: Region_1 and Region_2. And the subscriber

doesn’t change the location (no moving from one region to another in this case).

Only two BSS tariffs are used.

Simple policy selection configuration is performed.

Basic Task Description

It is required to configure network core in such a way that the subscriber could have an access

to network recourse according to the tariff which was chosen by the subscriber in the Self-Care portal.

Available for the subscriber tariffs: Internet_unlim and Internet_512

Subscriber’s ID (IMSI) is 250110000100005. The subscriber is located in region Region_1.

Network Architecture

The following network architecture is used for the task:

Figure 1. Example Network Architecture

DDF

PCRFPCRF

BSS

(Self-Care Portal)

HTTP

DDF

PCRF

DPI/P-GWTrafficRAN Internet

Region_1

DPI/

P-GW

HTTP

PCRF

HTTP

GxGx

Region_2

test.ugw01.g4lab.rutest.ugw02.g4lab.ru

msk-pcrf1.scartel.dc

msk-pcrf2.scartel.dc

smile.ddf1.comsmile.ddf2.com

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 6

In the figure above (Figure 1) we can see Telexir PCRF system that contains DDF cluster and

two PCRF clusters in two regions.

Two regions are taken to show that Telexir PCRF system can be geographically distributed. In

case if only one PCRF cluster is required the DDF component is not need. All management command from BSS will be sent directly to PCRF cluster.

All further actions will be performed with DDF and regional PCRF in Region_1.

Information Flow

When the subscriber chooses an Internet tariff the following information flow will be generated:

Figure 2. Information Flow

Subscriber

BSS

tariff

DDF

service

PCRF

service/policy

DPI/P-GW

rule

1. When the subscriber chooses a specified tariff the BSS sends management command to

DDF to assign a specified service to the subscriber.

2. When the management command from BSS is received then DDF resend this command to

regional PCRF, where the subscriber is attached to the network.

3. When the specified service is assigned to the subscriber, PCRF selects a policy according to

the service information. When the policy is chosen then a corresponding rule is sent to

DPI/P-GW.

4. DPI/P-GW gives access to the network resources according to a received rule.

Required Configuration

To complete the task configuration of the following must be performed:

Network components interaction

Policies on PCRF

Static Rules on DPI/P-GW

Network Components Interaction

It is needed to configure the network component interaction. The configuration is performed in O&M Console:

Connectivity information of DDF with all PCRF clusters must be set in DDF O&M Console.

Connectivity information of PCRF and DPI/P-GW must be set in PCRF O&M Console of

regional PCRF cluster where this DPI/P-GW is used.

Important to understand:

BSS operates with tariffs.

DDF operates with services.

PCRF operates with services and policies.

DPI/P-GW operates with rules.

Required Configuration

© Telexir 2014 7

When PCRF and DPI/P-GW connectivity information is set then CER/CEA, DWR/DWA messages

exchange is possible.

DDF O&M Console Configuration

DDF O&M is available at:

http://<ddf_host>:[80]

Specify information about all system clusters and nodes by doing the following steps:

1. Open DDF O&M console in a browser tab and choose the primary DDF node in the Server

List.

2. Choose Configuration -> Network Topology -> Clusters in the Operations block. Only

DDF cluster information will be displayed.

3. Click Add button in appeared Clusters table and set required parameters for all PCRF

clusters.

Region_1 PCRF cluster information example:

Parameter Description

Cluster ID 2

Cluster Role 3

Cluster SSR Subscription 0

Cluster Name First Regional PCRF

Description Cluster in Region 1

4. Go to Configuration -> Network Topology -> Peers. Click Add button in appeared

Peers table and set required parameters for all PCRF nodes.

Region_1 nodes information example:

Primary Region_1 node Secondary Region_1 nodes

Peer ID 21 Peer ID 22

Cluster ID 2 Cluster ID 2

Dialect 0 (Default) Dialect 0 (Default)

Host msk-pcrf1.scartel.dc Host msk-pcrf2.scartel.dc

Realm scartel.dc Realm scartel.dc

Address msk-pcrf1.scartel.dc Address msk-pcrf2.scartel.dc

Port 3868 Port 3868

Protocol 6 (TCP) Protocol 6 (TCP)

Auto Connect 1 Auto Connect 0

Mandatory 1 Mandatory 1

Priority 0 Priority 1

Important

Make sure that ID of each cluster of the Telexir PCRF system in unique within the whole system configuration.

Important

Secondary node priority must be set lower than primary node priority for each PCRF

cluster (0 is the highest priority). For example, set Priority=1 for secondary and Priority=0 for the primary node.

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 8

Figure 3. DDF O&M Console Peers Information Configuration Example

5. Go to Configuration -> Network Topology ->HTTP Peers. Click Add button in

appeared HTTP Peers table and set required parameters for all PCRF nodes.

Information example:

Primary Region_1 node Secondary Region_1 nodes

Cluster ID 2 Cluster ID 2

Peer ID 21 Peer ID 22

HTTP address msk-pcrf1.scartel.dc HTTP address msk-pcrf2.scartel.dc

HTTP port 80 HTTP port 80

This table is used by DDF to send management HTTP requests to PCRF nodes.

PCRF O&M Console Configuration

PCRF O&M is available at:

http://<pcrf_host>:[80]

Specify information about all clusters and nodes this cluster interacts with via Diameter protocol by doing the following steps:

1. Open PCRF O&M console in a browser tab.

2. Choose Configuration -> Network Topology -> Clusters in the Operations block. Click

Add button to add information about all PCEF clusters this cluster interact with.

DPI/P-GW cluster information example:

Parameter Description

Cluster ID 7

Role PCEF

Cluster SSR Subscription 0 (Cluster SSR NONE)

Name Huawei UGW

Description Huawei UGW

3. Choose Configuration -> Network Topology -> Peers.

Check if Peer IDs of this PCRF cluster nodes are the same as were set in DDF O&M Console

Peers table.

Click Add button to add information about all cluster nodes this cluster interact with via

Diameter interface (PCEF clusters and DDF cluster).

Important

Make sure that ID of each cluster of the Telexir PCRF system in unique within the whole system configuration.

Required Configuration

© Telexir 2014 9

DPI/P-GW nodes information example:

Primary DPI/P-GW node Secondary DPI/P-GW node

Peer ID 78 Peer ID 79

Cluster ID 7 Cluster ID 7

Dialect 0 (Default) Dialect 0 (Default)

Host test.ugw01.g4lab.ru Host test.ugw02.g4lab.ru

Realm g4lab.ru Realm g4lab.ru

Address test.ugw01.g4lab.ru Address test.ugw02.g4lab.ru

Port 3868 Port 3868

Protocol 6 (TCP) Protocol 6 (TCP)

Priority 0 Priority 1

Mandatory 1 (Enabled) Mandatory 1 (Enabled)

Enabled 1 (Enabled) Enabled 1 (Enabled)

Figure 4. PCRF O&M Console DPI/P-GW Information Configuration Example

4. Go to Configuration -> Server Settings and set default_region parameter value for

this PCRF cluster. For example, default_region=Region_1.

Important

Secondary node priority must be set lower than primary node priority for each PCRF

cluster (0 is the highest priority). For example, set Priority=1 for secondary and

Priority=0 for the primary node.

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 10

Policies Configuration Steps

When required information is set in the O&M console of DDF and PCRF clusters the policies configuration can be performed.

Figure 5. Policies Configuration

DDF

DPI

P-GW

PCRF

BSS

(Self-Care Portal)

HTTP

DDF

PCRF

Policies

DPI Rules

engine.lua

rules.xml

DPI/P-GWTrafficRAN Internet

Region_1

HTTP

3

1

4

2

Gx

msk-pcrf1.scartel.dc

msk-pcrf2.scartel.dc

smile.ddf1.comsmile.ddf2.com

test.ugw01.g4lab.rutest.ugw02.g4lab.ru

1. On DDF (or on PCRF if DDF is not used) provide services information to the Service

Dictionary by SPR Configuration Interface method addServiceInfo.

For Internet_unlim tariff the following information will be provided (Full_Access_Unlim

service:

http://smile.ddf1.com/spr/conf/addServiceInfo?id=Full_Access_Unlim&name=Full_Access_

Unlim&description=full access internet connection with unlimited speed

For Internet_512 tariff the following information will be provided (Full_Access_512

service):

http://smile.ddf1.com/spr/conf/addServiceInfo?id=Full_Access_512&name=Full_Access_51

2&description=full access internet connection with 512kbps speed

Required Configuration

© Telexir 2014 11

2. On DDF (or on PCRF if DDF is not used) provide information about the subscriber profile,

which the services will be applied to, by Subscriber Management Interface method

addSubscriber.

Request example:

http://smile.ddf1.com/spr/sm/addSubscriber?id=250110000100005&description=Region_1

_subscriber

When the subscriber profile is created now it is possible to assign BSS services to this

subscriber.

3. On regional PCRF add policy selection algorithm for new services in engine.lua.

In our case the following script will be created:

--require("etc/pcrf/config/lua/pcrf_module")

function GxSelectPolicy()

if (is_service_active("Full_Access_Unlim")) then

set_policy("policy_full_access_unlim")

log_write(string.format("Policy: '%s' selected for %s", get_policy(0),

get_subscriber_id()))

return 0

end

if (is_service_active("Full_Access_512")) then

Important

The method addServiceInfo adds information only to the Service Dictionary. It doesn’t

assign a service to a subscriber and serves only for validation purposes of new BSS services.

Information

For more information about the SPR Configuration Interface, refer to "Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 SPR Configuration Interface.docx".

Important

When subscriber chooses a tariff in the Self-Care Portal then the BSS automatically

assigns an appropriate service to this subscriber by sending Subscriber Management

Interface method addService to DDF.

Request example:

http://smile.ddf1.com/spr/sm/addService?subscriber_id=250110000100005&service_id=Full_Access_Unlim

Information

For more information about the Subscriber Management Interface, refer to "Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Subscriber Management Interface.docx".

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 12

set_policy("policy_full_access_512")

log_write(string.format("Policy: '%s' selected for %s", get_policy(0),

get_subscriber_id()))

return 0

end

end

Policy selection algorithm (engine.lua) is launched when the subscriber attaches to the

network, or when updated information is provisioned from BSS. When engine.lua is

launched subscriber services are analyzed (is_service_active() function) and based on

the result policies are chosen (set_policy() function).

4. On regional PCRF configure mapping of PCRF policies and DPI/P-GW rules in rules.xml file.

In our case the following description will be added:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<PolicyDef xmlns="http://www.Telexir.ru/shemes/rules" version="1">

<Policy Name="policy_full_access_unlim">

<Huawei>

<Rules>

<Charging-Rule-Base-Name Value="npUnlim_up"/>

</Rules>

</Huawei>

</Policy>

<Policy Name="policy_full_access_512">

<Huawei>

<Rules>

<Charging-Rule-Base-Name Value="np512_up"/>

</Rules>

</Huawei>

</Policy>

</PolicyDef>

An appropriate rule will be applied on subscriber session on DPI/P-GW when a PCRF policy

is chosen for the subscriber. Rules describe specified AVPs (bearer configuration, QCI,

bandwidth) that will be sent to DPI/P-GW.

DPI/P-GW Static Rules Configuration

Static rules configuration on DPI/P-GW must be performed by the network specialist according

to desired traffic management.

In our case, it is required to have two static rules. For example:

Information

For more information about policy selection algorithm configuration, refer to "Telexir

PCRF 3.7.1 Policy Engine.docx"

Information

For more information about static DPI/P-GW rules configuration on PCRF, refer to

"Telexir PCRF 3.7.1 Policy Libpary.docx".

Result

© Telexir 2014 13

npUnlim_up. Static rule that shapes traffic according to Internet_unlim tariff in BSS

np512_up. Static rule that shapes traffic according to Internet_512 tariff in BSS

Result

When all required configuration is performed the tariffs become available for the subscriber.

Let’s see the following example scenario:

1. Subscriber chooses Internet_unlim tariff before starting his Internet session.

2. Subscriber starts the Internet session.

3. Subscriber chooses Internet_512 tariff in real time.

Figure 6. Example Scenario

PCRFDPI/P-GW BSS

Attach

Gx CCR-I

addService=Full_

Access_Unlim

Subscriber-id: 250110000100005

Framed-IP-Address:10.88.0.52

1

3Gx CCA-I

Charging-Rule-Install:

Charging-Rule-Name: "npUnlim_up"

UE

addService=Full_

Access_512 4

Gx RAR

Charging-Rule-Remove:

Charging-Rule-Name: "npUnlim_up"

Charging-Rule-Install:

Charging-Rule-Name: "np512_up"Modify bearer

6

Policy Selection

Policy: policy_full_access_Unlim

2

Policy Selection

Policy: policy_full_access_512

5

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 14

1. When subscriber chooses Internet_unlim tariff before starting his Internet session the

following command is sent to DDF

http://smile.ddf1.com/spr/sm/addService?subscriber_id=250110000100005&service_id=F

ull_Access_Unlim

2. After subscriber device attach the following policy is chosen by PCRF:

policy_full_access_unlim

3. the following rule is sent to DPI/P-GW in AVP Charging-Rule-Install:

npUnlim_up

The following information is displayed in the log in CCA-I message:

Figure 7. Log Message Example (CCA-I)

4. When subscriber chooses Internet_512 tariff in real time the following command is sent to

DDF

http://smile.ddf1.com/spr/sm/addService?subscriber_id=250110000100005&service_id=F

ull_Access_512

5. the following policy is chosen by PCRF:

policy_full_access_512

6. the following rule is sent to DPI/P-GW in AVP Charging-Rule-Install:

np512_up

The following information will be displayed in the log in the RAR message:

Information

To see log messages in real time execute command in the command line:

lv

Result

© Telexir 2014 15

Figure 8. Log Message Example (RAR)

Figure 9. Traces Example

Information

It also possible to see Diameter traces, which are available at:

http://<pcrf_host>/trace/

Telexir PCRF 3.7.1

Quick Start Guide

© Telexir 2014 16

Figure 10. Trace Message Example