Charging element capacity control in an IMS network
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are disclosed that allow an equipment vendor to monitor and detect overloads of IMS charging element equipment (e.g., the CCF or CDF) relative to certain vendor-specified thresholds and, responsive to detecting overloads, vendors may take action to exercise capacity control and/or collect revenue for the overload conditions.
1. An IMS network comprising:
a plurality of network nodes adapted to generate charging information including call measurement data associated with one or more calls provided by a service provider;
a charging system operated by a charging element equipment vendor and adapted to receive and process the charging information from the network nodes to derive charging element loading information, the charging system including:
a monitoring element adapted to compare the loading information to one or more charging element loading thresholds specified by thresholds predefined by the vendor;
an alerting element adapted to generate alerts/reports to the equipment vendor upon occurrence of specified overloads relative to the vendor thresholds; and
a capacity control element operated by the vendor and adapted, upon receiving the alerts/reports, exercise control of the one or more charging element associated with the specified overloads or collecting revenue relative thereto; and
wherein the service provider employs one or more charging element from the equipment vendor to provide the one or more IMS calls and the equipment vendor does not provide the one or more IMS calls.
2. The IMS network of claim 1 further comprising a network management system, operated by a service provider, and wherein the charging system is further adapted to report at least a portion of the charging element loading information to the network management system, the information reported to the equipment vendor being reported independently from the information reported to the network management system.
3. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the charging system comprises a 3GPP Charging Data Function (CDF) and a Charging Gateway Function (CGF).
4. The IMS network of claim 3 wherein the CDF and CGF reside in separate physical elements.
5. The IMS network of claim 3 wherein the CDF and CGF are integrated within the same physical element.
6. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the charging system comprises a 3GPP Charging Data Function (CDF) and a Charging Gateway Function (CGF), and wherein the equipment loading thresholds are defined relative to a purchased capacity of the CDF.
7. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the charging system comprises a 3GPP Charging Collection Function (CCF), and wherein the equipment loading thresholds are defined relative to a purchased capacity of the CCF.
8. A method of operating an IMS charging system by a charging element equipment vendor comprising:
receiving charging information including call measurement data associated with one or more IMS calls provided by a service provider, wherein the service provider employs one or more charging element from the equipment vendor to provide the one or more IMS calls and the equipment vendor does not provide the one or more IMS calls;
processing the charging information to derive charging element loading information;
defining vendor thresholds;
comparing the loading information to one or more charging element loading thresholds specified by the vendor thresholds;
generating alerts/reports to the equipment vendor upon occurrence of specified overloads relative to the vendor thresholds; and
upon receiving the alerts/reports, the equipment vendor exercising control of the one or more charging element associated with the specified overloads or collecting revenue relative thereto;
wherein the method is carried out by program code stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage media when executed by a computer.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
comparing the loading information to one or more charging element loading thresholds specified by the service provider thresholds; and
generating alerts/reports to the service provider upon occurrence of specified overloads relative to the service provider thresholds.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the alerts/reports provided to the equipment vendor are reported independently from the alerts/reports provided to the service provider.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of generating alerts/reports to the equipment vendor comprises storing the alerts/reports in a log file accessible to the vendor through a secure interface.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising taking action specified by the equipment vendor upon occurrence of specified overloads relative to the vendor thresholds.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of taking action includes one or more of:
metering excess traffic;
implementing shared revenue collection;
implementing system shut-down upon reaching a designated one of the specified overloads.