Identifying Gn/Gp mode at PCRF
View Patent ↗A method, and machine readable storage medium is disclosed for a method performed by policy and charging rules function (PCRF) node (PCRN) in a packet switching network, for identifying a Gn/Gp mode of an adjacent network node, in which the adjacent network node which is connected directly to a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) node via a Gn/Gp interface, from an adjacent network node connected to a Serving Gateway (S-GW) via a S5/S8 interface, wherein the adjacent network node is a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) node or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN). The method comprises receiving at the PCRN from the adjacent network node, a Diameter Credit Control Request (CCR) message requesting a IP-CAN session; determining whether the request message includes a SGSN-Address and does not include an AN-GW-Address.
1. A method performed by a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) in a packet switching network, the method comprising steps of:
receiving at the PCRN from an adjacent network node, a Diameter Credit Control Request (CCR) message;
determining whether the request message does not include an AN-GW-Address;
determining whether the request message includes a SGSN-Address; and
responsive to the request message including an SGSN-Address and the request message not including an AN-GW-Address, storing within the PCRN for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, an indication that said adjacent network node is connected directly to a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) node via a Gn/Gp interface;
wherein said adjacent network node comprises a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) node or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN).
2. The method of claim 1 wherein responsive to the request message including an AN-GW-Address, the method further comprises a step of storing within the PCRN for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, an indication that said adjacent network node is connected to a Serving Gateway (S-GW) via an S5/S8 interface.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising a step of recording at the PCRN, for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, the AN-GW-Address and if present, the SGSN-Address.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining whether the request message includes a SGSN-Address comprises determining whether the request message contains a SGSN-Address AVP with a valid SGSN address.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the CCR message comprises a Credit Control Request type of Initial-request.
6. The method of claim 4 further comprising a step of determining whether the request message contains a RAT-Type AVP containing a GPRS-compatible type, wherein the storing step is further responsive to the request message containing a RAT-Type AVP containing a GPRS-compatible type.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of determining whether the request message contains a RAT-Type AVP comprises determining whether the RAT-Type AVP contains one of the following types: GAN; GERAN; UTRAN; and HSPA_Evolution.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising a step of determining whether the request message contains an IP-CAN-Type AVP containing type EPS, wherein the storing step is further responsive to the request message containing an IP-CAN-Type AVP containing type EPS.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising a step of recording at the PCRN, for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, the SGSN-Address and an AN-GW-Address value of “null”.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the CCR message comprises a Credit Control Request type of Update-request and wherein responsive to the request message not including an SGSN-Address and the request message not including an AN-GW-Address, the method comprises a step of retrieving from the PCRN, a stored indication of the P-GW connection.
11. A tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions thereon for execution by a network element of a telecommunication network, wherein the tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprises:
instructions for receiving at the PCRN an adjacent network node, a Diameter Credit Control Request (CCR) message;
instructions for determining whether the request message does not include an AN-GW-Address;
instructions for determining whether the request message includes a SGSN-Address; and
instructions for, responsive to the request message including an SGSN-Address and the request message not including an AN-GW-Address, storing within the PCRN for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, an indication that said adjacent network node is connected directly to a Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) node via a Gn/Gp interface;
wherein said adjacent network node comprises a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) node or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN).
12. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising instructions for, responsive to the request message including an AN-GW-Address, storing within the PCRN for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, an indication that said adjacent network node is connected to a Serving Gateway (S-GW) via an S5/S8 interface.
13. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising instructions for, recording at the PCRN, for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, the AN-GW-Address and if present, the SGSN-Address.
14. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instruction for determining whether the request message includes a SGSN-Address comprises determining whether the request message contains a SGSN-Address AVP with a valid SGSN address.
15. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the CCR message comprises a Credit Control Request type of Initial-request.
16. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14 , further comprising instructions for determining whether the request message contains a RAT-Type AVP containing a GPRS-compatible type, wherein the instruction for storing is further responsive to the request message containing a RAT-Type AVP containing a GPRS-compatible type.
17. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instruction for determining whether the request message contains a RAT-Type AVP comprises instructions for determining whether the RAT-Type AVP contains one of the following types: GAN; GERAN; UTRAN; and HSPA_Evolution.
18. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17 , further comprising instructions for determining whether the request message contains an IP-CAN-Type AVP containing type EPS, wherein the instructions for storing are further responsive to the request message containing an IP-CAN-Type AVP containing type EPS.
19. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions for recording at the PCRN, for the duration of the associated IP-CAN session, the SGSN-Address and an AN-GW-Address value of “null”.
20. The tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the CCR message comprises a Credit Control Request type of Update-request and wherein responsive to the request message not including an SGSN-Address and the request message not including an AN-GW-Address, the storage medium comprises instructions for retrieving from the PCRN, a stored indication of the P-GW connection.