Subscriber record context objects

1. A method performed by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the method comprising:

receiving a Diameter message at the DRA from an origin device, wherein the Diameter message is associated with a subscriber;

establishing a subscriber record context object in response to receiving the Diameter message, wherein the subscriber record context object is associated with a subscriber record of the subscriber;

evaluating a rule that includes a context object reference, wherein the evaluation includes accessing the subscriber record context object based on the context object reference; and

transmitting a message based on the evaluation of the rule.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of establishing the subscriber record context object and accessing the subscriber record context object comprises:

determining at least one subscriber identifier associated with the Diameter message; and

retrieving a subscriber record associated with the at least one subscriber identifier.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein retrieving the subscriber record comprises transmitting a message to a subscriber profile repository (SPR).

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein accessing the subscriber record context object comprises reading a field of the subscriber record.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein accessing the subscriber record context object comprises writing a value to the subscriber record, the method further comprising storing the modified subscriber record.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the subscriber record context object comprises invoking an action of the subscriber record context object, and the action of the subscriber record context object invokes a function of the DRA other than a function of a context object.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the function of the DRA retrieves a subscriber record from a subscriber profile repository.

8. A Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the DRA comprising:

a rule storage configured to store a rule that includes a context object reference;

a Diameter stack configured to receive a Diameter message from an origin device, wherein the Diameter message is associated with a subscriber;

a context creator configured to establish a subscriber record context object, wherein the subscriber record context object is associated with a subscriber record of the subscriber;

a rule engine configured to evaluate the rule, wherein the evaluation includes accessing the subscriber record context object based on the context object reference; and

a message handler configured to transmit, via the Diameter stack, a message based on the evaluation of the rule.

9. The DRA of claim 8 , wherein the subscriber record context object is configured to:

determine at least one subscriber identifier associated with the Diameter message; and

retrieve a subscriber record associated with the at least one subscriber identifier.

10. The DRA of claim 9 , wherein the subscriber record is retrieved from a subscriber profile repository (SPR).

11. The DRA of claim 9 , wherein the subscriber record context object is configured to, based on an access by the rule engine, read a field of the subscriber record.

12. The DRA of claim 9 , wherein the subscriber record context object is configured to, based on an access by the rule engine, write a value to the subscriber record.

13. The DRA of claim 8 , wherein the subscriber record context object is configured to invoke a component of the DRA other than a function of a context object.

14. The DRA of claim 13 , wherein the component of the DRA is a subscriber record retriever configured to retrieve a subscriber record from a subscriber profile repository.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for execution by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the method comprising:

instructions for receiving a Diameter message at the DRA from an origin device, wherein the Diameter message is associated with a subscriber;

instructions for establishing a subscriber record context object in response to receiving the Diameter message, wherein the subscriber record context object is associated with a subscriber record of the subscriber;

instructions for evaluating a rule that includes a context object reference, including instructions for accessing the subscriber record context object based on the context object reference; and

instructions for transmitting a message based on the evaluation of the rule.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the instructions for establishing the subscriber record context object and the instructions for accessing the subscriber record context object comprise:

instructions for determining at least one subscriber identifier associated with the Diameter message; and

instructions for retrieving a subscriber record associated with the at least one subscriber identifier.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions for accessing the subscriber record context object comprise instructions for reading a field of the subscriber record.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions for accessing the subscriber record context object comprise instructions for writing a value to the subscriber record.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions for accessing the subscriber record context object comprise instructions for invoking an action of the subscriber record context object, and the action of the subscriber record context object invokes a function of the DRA other than a function of a context object.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the function of the DRA retrieves a subscriber record from a subscriber profile repository.