Systems and methods for regional segmentation and selection of charging function
Systems and methods described herein enable distribution of a Charging Function group identifier (“CHF-Group-ID”) and other CHF selection data to CHF consumers during Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session establishment in a 5G network. A Unified Data Repository (UDR) is provisioned with CHF-Group-ID details for each subscriber of the network. In one aspect, during PDU session establishment, CHF consumers obtain CHF-Group-ID information as part of a subscriber profile that is provided to all CHF consumers. No additional step or hop is needed for the CHF consumers to obtain the CHF-Group-ID. Thus, regionally segmented CHFs can be implemented without replication of data between CHFs in different regional segments and without additional signaling between network functions.
1. A method, comprising:
registering multiple Charging Function (CHF) instances, where the registering associates each CHF instance, of the multiple CHF instances, with one of multiple CHF group identifiers;
storing, by a first network device, CHF selection data that includes a CHF group identifier (CHF-Group-ID) associated with a subscriber;
obtaining, by a second network device that functions as a CHF consumer, the CHF-Group-ID from the first network device; and
sending, by the second network device and based on the obtaining, charging data to a CHF instance associated with the CHF-Group-ID,
wherein subscriber data stored in a CHF instance associated with the CHF-Group-ID is not replicated to another CHF instance with a different CHF group identifier of the multiple CHF group identifiers.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CHF-Group-ID is included within a subscriber profile.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second network device is part of a 5G core network.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second network device includes:
a Policy Control Function (PCF),
a Session Management Function (SMF),
an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or
a Short Message Service Function (SMSF).
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining is performed as part of a protocol data unit session establishment procedure.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network device includes one of a Unified Data Repository or a Unified Data Management function.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CHF selection data further identifies:
types of services supported by the CHF instance, or
types of subscribers hosted by the CHF instance.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the CHF-Group-ID includes:
sending, by the second network device and to the first network device, a subscription request for the CHF selection data; and
receiving, by the second network device and from the first network device, updated CHF selection data based on the subscription request.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein registering the multiple CHF instances includes registering the multiple CHF instances with a Network Repository Function (NRF), the method further comprising:
initiating, by the second network device and using the CHF-Group-ID, CHF discovery with the NRF.
10. A system comprising:
a first network device configured to register multiple Charging Function (CHF) instances, where the registering associates each CHF instance, of the multiple CHF instances, with one of multiple CHF group identifiers;
a second network device configured to store CHF selection data that includes a CHF group identifier (CHF-Group-ID) associated with a subscriber; and
a third network device, acting as a CHF consumer, configured to:
obtain the CHF-Group-ID from the second network device, and
send, based on the obtaining, charging data to a CHF instance associated with the CHF-Group-ID; and
the multiple CHF instances, wherein subscriber data stored in a CHF instance, of the multiple CHF instances, associated with the CHF-Group-ID is not replicated to another CHF instance, of the multiple CHF instances, with a different CHF group identifier of the multiple CHF group identifiers.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the CHF-Group-ID is included within a subscriber profile.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first network device, the second network device, and the third network device are part of a 5G core network.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the third network device includes:
a Policy Control Function (PCF),
a Session Management Function (SMF),
an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or
a Short Message Service Function (SMSF).
14. The system of claim 10 ,
wherein, when obtaining the CHF-Group-ID, the third network device is configured to obtain the CHF-Group-ID as part of a protocol data unit session establishment procedure.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second network device includes one of a Unified Data Repository or a Unified Data Management function.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein, when obtaining the CHF-Group-ID from the second network device, the third network device is further configured to:
send, to the second network device, a subscription request for CHF selection data; and
receive, from the second network device, updated CHF selection data based on the subscription request.
17. The system of claim 10 , wherein, when obtaining the CHF-Group-ID from the second network device, the third network device is further configured to:
send a request to the second network device to retrieve subscriber policy data, wherein the request includes a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI).
18. The system of claim 10 , wherein obtaining the CHF-Group-ID from the second network device includes obtaining at least one of:
access management (AM) subscription data,
session management function (SMF) subscription data, or
short message service (SMS) subscription data.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions executable by at least one processor of a charging function (CHF) consumer device, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions for:
sending, from a first network device, a request for subscriber policy data, wherein the request includes a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI);
obtaining, from the subscriber policy data, a CHF group identifier (CHF-Group-ID); and
sending, based on the obtaining, charging data to a CHF instance associated with the CHF-Group-ID,
wherein subscriber policy data stored in the CHF instance associated with the CHF-Group-ID is not replicated to another CHF instance with a different CHF group identifier.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the CHF consumer device includes one of:
a Policy Control Function (PCF),
a Session Management Function (SMF),
an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or
a Short Message Service Function (SMSF), and
wherein the first network device includes one of a Unified Data Repository function or a Unified Data Management function.