System to monitor and control data in a network
This disclosure is directed to system to monitor and control data flow in a network. At least one device in a core network may be responsible for charging functions related to the data requests. During certain high usage scenarios (e.g., emergencies, special events, etc.), it may be possible for the charging system to be overwhelmed. For example, a policing system may be implemented in the core network to at least manage the flow of requests to the charging system. The policing system may monitor and control request flow to the charging system based on at least one policy. When a request is determined to violate a policy, the policing system may take corrective action to prevent the charging system from being overwhelmed. For example, the policing system may block the request, divert the request to another charging system that may have available capacity, etc.
1. At least one device for network traffic control, comprising:
communication circuitry to interact with other devices in a core network; and
policing circuitry to:
analyze a request received from user equipment (UE) intended for a credit control system in the core network, wherein the credit control system includes:
an offline charging system to retain data representative of resource usage by the UE; and
an online charging system to perform real-time billing of resource usage by the UE;
determine whether the request received from the UE exceeds a request capacity of the credit control system:
responsive to a determination that the request received from the UE exceeds the request capacity of the credit control system:
block the request received from the UE;
request a reconfiguration of an operation of at least one of the other devices in the core network to support the request received from the UE; and
responsive to the reconfiguring of the operation of the at least one of the other devices to support the request received from the UE, unblock the request received from the UE; and
responsive to a determination the request received from the UE does not exceed the request capacity of the credit control system:
compare the request with a policy controlling data flow to the credit control system; and
control whether the request is allowed to proceed on either the offline charging system or the online charging system based on the policy controlling the data flow to the credit control system.
2. The at least one device of claim 1 , wherein the core network is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved packet core (EPC) network.
3. The at least one device of claim 2 , wherein the request is received from at least one wireless device via a base station coupled to the EPC network.
4. The at least one device of claim 1 , wherein the policing circuitry comprises at least processing circuitry to execute instructions to cause the processing circuitry to at least perform policing operations.
5. The at least one device of claim 1 , wherein the devices in the core network are linked via interfaces with which the policing circuitry is to interact to control which requests are allowed to proceed to the credit control system.
6. The at least one device of claim 5 , wherein the interfaces are based on the Diameter protocol.
7. The at least one device of claim 6 , wherein a Diameter protocol stack comprises a new policing agent at the application level to at least identify request traffic routed to the credit control system and identify at least one type of request making up the request traffic.
8. The at least one device of claim 1 , wherein responsive to a determination that the request received from the UE exceeds the request capacity of the credit control system, the credit control system is further to:
redirect the request to another credit control system having available capacity.
9. The at least one device of claim 1 , wherein the policing circuitry is further to receive configuration data for configuring at least the policy.
10. A method for network traffic control, comprising:
analyzing, using policing circuitry in a core network, a request intended for a credit control system in the core network, wherein the credit control system includes:
an offline charging system to retain data representative of resource usage by a user equipment (UE); and
an online charging system to perform real-time billing of resource usage by a UE;
determining whether the request received from the UE exceeds a request capacity of the credit control system:
responsive to a determination that the request received from the UE exceeds the request capacity of the credit control system:
blocking the request received from the UE;
requesting a reconfiguration of an operation of at least one of the other devices in the core network to support the request received from the UE; and
responsive to the reconfiguring of the operation of the at least one of the other devices to support the request received from the UE, unblocking the request received from the UE; and
responsive to a determination the request received from the UE does not exceed the request capacity of the credit control system:
comparing, using the policing circuitry, the request with a policy controlling data flow to the credit control system; and
allowing, using the policing circuitry, the request to proceed on either the offline charging system or the online charging system based on the policy controlling the data flow to the credit control system.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
using the policing circuitry to interact with interfaces coupling devices in the core network to control which requests are allowed to proceed to the credit control system.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the interfaces are based on the Diameter protocol.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein a Diameter protocol stack comprises a new policing agent at the application level to at least identify request traffic routed to the credit control system and identify at least one type of request making up the request traffic.
14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving configuration data for configuring at least the policy.
15. At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon, individually or in combination, instructions for network traffic control that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
analyze, using policing circuitry in a core network, a request intended for a credit control system in the core network, wherein the credit control system includes:
an offline charging system to retain data representative of resource usage by a user equipment (UE); and
an online charging system to perform real-time billing of resource usage by a UE;
responsive to receipt of a request generated by the UE:
determine, using the policing circuitry, whether the request received from the UE exceeds a request capacity of the credit control system;
responsive to a determination that the request received from the UE exceeds the request capacity of the credit control system:
block the request received from the UE;
request a reconfiguration of an operation of at least one of the other devices in the core network to support the request received from the UE, and
responsive to the reconfiguring of the operation of the at least one of the other devices to support the request received from the UE, unblock the request received from the UE; and
responsive to a determination the request received from the UE does not exceed the request capacity of the credit control system:
compare the request with a policy controlling data flow to the credit control system; and
allow, using the policing circuitry, the request to proceed on either the offline charging system or the online charging system based on the policy controlling the data flow to the credit control system.
16. The storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
use the policing circuitry to interact with interfaces coupling devices in the core network to control which requests are allowed to proceed to the credit control system.
17. The storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the interfaces are based on the Diameter protocol.
18. The storage medium of claim 17 , wherein a Diameter protocol stack comprises a new policing agent at the application level to at least identify request traffic routed to the credit control system and identify at least one type of request making up the request traffic.
19. The storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive configuration data for configuring at least the policy.