CN102215469B

CN102215469B - Policy and charging control (PCC) method and system based on network load

Info

Publication number: CN102215469B
Application number: CN201010518622.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周晓云; 宗在峰; 刘霖
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2010-04-09
Filing date: 2010-10-12
Publication date: 2015-01-28
Anticipated expiration: 2030-10-12
Also published as: CN102215469A; WO2011124106A1

Abstract

The invention provides a policy and charging control (PCC) method and a system based on the network load. The method comprises the following steps: when a policy and charging rule function (PCRF) makes a policy decision, according to whether a wireless base station accessed currently to a user equipment (UE) supports an explicit congestion notification (ECN) and the UE and the correspondent node of the UE support the ECN, the Maximum BitRate (MBR) in the Quality of Service (QoS) information of the policy is set to be greater than a Guarantee BitRate (GBR), or the MBR in the QoS information of the policy is set to be equal to the GBR; the PCRF sends the policy to a policy implementation function, and the policy implementation function implements the policy. The invention also provides a PCC system based on the network load.

Description

Policy charging control method and system based on network load

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a policy and charging control method and system based on network load.

Background

Since the third generation partnership project phase 7(3GPP Release7) standards architecture, the Policy and Charging functions are implemented by a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) framework. The PCC architecture is a functional framework applicable to multiple access technologies, for example, the PCC architecture may be applied to a Terrestrial Radio access network (UTRAN) of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)/GSM enhanced data evolution (EDGE) Radio access network, an interworking wireless local area network (I-WLAN), an Evolved Packet System (EPS), and the like.

The PCC mainly implements two functions of policy control and charging. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional PCC composition architecture, and various logical functional entities and interface functions thereof in the PCC architecture shown in fig. 1 are described below. As shown in fig. 1:

an Application Function (AF) is used to provide access points for service applications, and network resources used by the service applications need to be dynamically policy-controlled. When the service plane performs parameter negotiation, the AF transfers relevant service information to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF). If the service information is consistent with the policy of the PCRF, the PCRF accepts the negotiation; otherwise, the PCRF refuses the negotiation and gives out service parameters acceptable by the PCRF during feedback. The AF may then return these parameters to the User Equipment (UE). Wherein, the interface between the AF and the PCRF is an Rx interface. A Proxy call session Control Function (P-CSCF) in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) may be considered as an AF.

The PCRF is the core of the PCC and is responsible for policy decision and charging rule making. The PCRF provides traffic data flow-based network Control rules including detection, Gating Control, Quality of Service (QoS) Control, and data flow-based charging rules, among others. The PCRF sends the Policy and charging rules formulated by the PCRF to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) entity for Enforcement; meanwhile, the PCRF needs to ensure that the rules are consistent with the subscription information of the user. The basis for formulating the policy and charging rules by the PCRF comprises the following steps: service-related information obtained from the AF, policy control and charging-related user policy charging control Subscription information obtained from a Subscription database (SPR), and bearer-related network information obtained from the PCEF over the Gx interface.

The PCEF is typically located within a Gateway (GW), and enforces policy and charging rules formulated by the PCRF at the bearer plane. The PCEF detects the service data flows according to service data flow filters in rules sent by the PCRF, and then executes policy and charging rules formulated by the PCRF on the service data flows; when the load is established, the PCEF carries out QoS authorization according to the rule sent by the PCRF, and carries out gating control according to the execution of AF; meanwhile, the PCEF triggers and reports events occurring on the bearing network according to the events subscribed by the PCRF; according to the charging rules sent by the PCRF, the PCEF performs a corresponding service data flow charging operation, and the charging may be either online charging or offline charging. If the Charging is Online, the PCEF needs to perform credit management together with an Online Charging System (OCS); when Offline charging, relevant charging information is exchanged between the PCEF and an Offline charging system (OFCS). The interface between the PCEF and the PCRF is a Gx interface, the interface between the PCEF and the OCS is a Gy interface, and the interface between the PCEF and the OFCS is a Gz interface. The PCEF is generally located on a Gateway of a network, such as a Packet Data network Gateway (PDN-GW) of an EPS, a GPRS Gateway Support Node (GGSN) in a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and a Packet Data Gateway (PDG) in an inter-wireless local area network (I-WLAN), etc.

The Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function (BBERF) entity is typically located in an Access Network Gateway (Access Network Gateway). For example, when the user equipment accesses the EPS through the E-UTRAN and a Proxy Mobile Internet Protocol version 6(PMIPv 6) Protocol is adopted between the S-GW and the P-GW, the BBERF exists in the S-GW. When the user equipment accesses through the trusted non-3 GPP access network, the BBERF also exists in the trusted non-3 GPP access network.

And a user subscription database (SPR) for storing user strategy charging control subscription information related to strategy control and charging. The interface between the SPR and the PCRF is an Sp interface.

The OCS and the PCEF together complete the control and management of the user credit in an online charging mode.

The OFCS and the PCEF together complete the charging operation in the offline charging mode.

A UE (User Equipment) establishes a PDN connection through a wireless communication system (such as GRPS, UMTS, EPS), also called an IP-CAN (IP-Connectivity Access Network) session, to Access an IP service provided by an operator or a third party. The PCRF makes a policy decision according to the QoS requirement of the service accessed by the user, and initiates a resource reservation process in the wireless communication system to provide QoS guarantee of service access.

For some services, the wireless communication system provides guaranteed rate (GBR) for transmission of the service, so as to satisfy the minimum bandwidth required for transmitting the service data stream. Meanwhile, a Maximum rate (Maximum BitRate, MBR for short) is also set to limit the Maximum rate of transmission of the service data stream. For simple implementation of the QoS securing mechanism, the value of GBR is usually set to be the same as the value of MBR. The disadvantage of this solution is that when the actual transmission rate of the service is less than MBR, the resource allocated to the service by the network is still MBR, which is disadvantageous for saving network resources and reducing the operation cost of the operator.

Currently, the industry is studying how to implement the QoS securing mechanism for MBR > GBR. The guaranteed bandwidth provided by the network for service transmission is less than the maximum transmission rate of the service. When the network load is light, the network can provide MBR rate transmission for the service to provide better user experience, and when the network load is heavy, especially congestion occurs (mainly referring to congestion on the wireless side), the rate of service transmission is reduced, and only GBR bandwidth guarantee is provided. And the smooth service access is ensured by reducing the bandwidth. By dynamically adjusting the transmission rate, network resources can be saved, and the operation cost of operators can be reduced.

In order to implement the above mechanism, first, the UE and the radio base station must support an ECN (explicit congestion Notification) mechanism. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of ECN detection of downlink data. UE B sends data to UE a at the rate of MBR with its IP header ECN marked as ECT (0) (i.e. not congested), and when the data packet passes through radio base station a, radio base station a sets the ECN bit of the data packet to ECN-CE (indicating congestion). When UE A detects ECN-CE value, it judges that congestion occurs on its downlink path, UE A sends request message of reducing speed to UE B. After receiving the request message, UE B transmits data at GBR rate. Therefore, the data packet can not be lost due to the congestion of the wireless base station, and the normal access of the service can be ensured. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of ECN detection of uplink data. UE a sends data to UE B at MBR with its IP header ECN marked as ECT (0) (i.e. not congested), and when the data packet passes through radio base station a, radio base station a sets the ECN bit of the data packet to ECN-CE. When UE B detects ECN-CE value, it judges that congestion occurs on its up-link path, UE B sends request message of reducing speed to UE A. After receiving the request message, UE a transmits data at the GBR rate. Since the interaction of the rate adjustment between the two communicating parties (i.e., UE a and UE B) requires a certain time, in order to ensure that the two communicating parties can have enough time to perform the rate adjustment when congestion occurs, the radio base station needs to ensure that no packet is lost within a default graceful period (e.g., at least 300 ms or at least 500 ms) after the congestion indication bit (i.e., ECN-CE) is set. During this graceful period, the radio base station needs to meet other QoS requirements (such as QoS Class Identifier (QCI) characteristics) of the current packet. At present, no complete solution exists how to implement policy control on the scenario that MBR is greater than GBR when the service data flow is transmitted by using PCC, and finally implement policy and charging control based on network load.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide a policy control method and system based on network load.

In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a policy charging control method based on network load, which includes:

when a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) makes a policy decision, setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate or setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to the guaranteed rate according to whether a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) and whether the user equipment and a communication opposite terminal thereof support ECN;

and the PCRF sends the policy to a policy enforcement entity, and the policy enforcement entity enforces the policy.

Further, the method may further have a characteristic that if the wireless base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports the ECN and the user equipment and the communication opposite terminal thereof support the ECN, the PCRF sets that a maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is greater than a guaranteed rate.

Further, the method may further have a characteristic that if the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed does not support ECN, or the user equipment or a communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, the PCRF sets a maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to a guaranteed rate.

Further, the method may further have the following characteristics that the PCRF acquires from an application function entity (AF) whether the user equipment and a communication peer thereof support ECN; when the PCRF receives an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN; and when the PCRF does not receive an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof do not support ECN.

Further, the method may further have the following characteristics that the PCRF obtains, from a policy and charging enforcement function entity (PCEF) or a bearer binding and event reporting function entity (BBERF), whether the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports the ECN; when the PCRF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCEF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN; or, the PCRF judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN according to the configuration information.

Further, the foregoing method may further have the following feature, where the PCEF obtains the indication whether the radio base station accessed by the ue supports the ECN according to the following manner:

and a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a serving GPRS Support Gateway (SGSN) receives an indication whether the wireless base station supports ECN from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME or the SGSN judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN capability according to configuration information, the MME or the SGSN sends the indication whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN to the gateway where the PCEF is located.

Further, the method may further have the following characteristic that the BBERF obtains the indication whether the radio base station accessed by the ue supports the ECN by:

the MME receives an indication whether the wireless base station supports the ECN from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN capability according to the configuration information, the MME sends the indication whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN to the gateway where the BBERF is located.

The invention provides a policy charging control method based on network load, which comprises the following steps:

when a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) makes a policy decision, setting a maximum rate in service quality information of a policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate, or setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to the guaranteed rate, according to whether a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports congestion control based on Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) and whether the user equipment and a communication opposite terminal thereof support ECN;

Further, the method may further have a characteristic that if the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports ECN-based congestion control and the user equipment and its opposite communication terminal support ECN, the PCRF sets that a maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is greater than a guaranteed rate.

Further, the method may further have a characteristic that if the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed does not support ECN-based congestion control, or the user equipment or a communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, the PCRF sets a maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to a guaranteed rate.

Further, the method may further have the following characteristics that the PCRF obtains, from a policy and charging enforcement function entity (PCEF) or a bearer binding and event reporting function entity (BBERF), whether a radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing supports ECN-based congestion control; when the PCRF receives an indication that a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control; when the PCRF does not receive an ECN-based congestion control indication supported by a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an ECN-based congestion control indication not supported by the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the ECN-based congestion control is not supported by the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment; or, the PCRF acquires whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control according to configuration information.

Further, the method may further include that the step of the radio base station currently accessed by the ue supporting ECN-based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and ensures that no packet is lost and/or quality of service class identifier (QCI) characteristics are satisfied within a graceful time period after congestion is indicated to occur using the ECN.

Further, the foregoing method may further have the following feature, where the PCEF obtains the indication whether the radio base station accessed by the ue supports ECN-based congestion control according to the following manner:

and a Mobile Management Entity (MME) or a serving GPRS Support Gateway (SGSN) receives an indication of whether the wireless base station supports ECN-based congestion control from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME or the SGSN judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control capability according to configuration information, the MME or the SGSN sends the indication of whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control to a gateway where the PCEF is located.

Further, the method may further have the following feature that the BBERF obtains an indication whether the radio base station accessed by the ue supports ECN-based congestion control by:

the MME receives an indication whether the radio base station supports ECN-based congestion control from the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME judges whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN-based congestion control capability according to configuration information, the MME sends the indication whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN-based congestion control to a gateway where the BBERF is located.

The invention also provides a policy and charging control system based on network load, which comprises a PCRF and a policy enforcement entity:

the PCRF is used for issuing the policy to a policy enforcement entity according to whether a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN and whether the user equipment and a communication opposite terminal thereof support ECN when making policy decision, wherein the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is set to be greater than a guaranteed rate, or the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is set to be equal to the guaranteed rate;

and the policy executing entity is used for receiving the policy from the PCRF and executing the policy.

Further, the system may further have a feature that the PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the qos information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate when the radio base station to which the ue is currently connected supports the ECN and the ue and the correspondent node thereof support the ECN.

Further, the system may further have a feature that the PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the qos information of the policy equal to a guaranteed rate when the radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing does not support the ECN, or when the ue or its communication peer does not support the ECN.

Further, the system may further have the following characteristics that the PCRF is configured to obtain, from the AF, whether the user equipment and the correspondent node thereof support the ECN; when the PCRF receives an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN; and when the PCRF does not receive an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof do not support ECN.

Further, the above system may further have the following features, the system further comprising a PCEF or BBERF, wherein:

the PCRF is used for acquiring whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCEF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN; or,

and the PCRF is used for judging whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not according to the configuration information. .

Further, the above system may further have the following features, and the system further includes an MME or an SGSN, wherein:

the MME or SGSN is configured to receive, from the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment, an indication whether the radio base station supports ECN, or send, after determining whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN capability according to the configuration information, the indication whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN to the gateway where the PCEF is located.

Further, the above system may further have the following features, the system further comprising an MME, wherein:

the MME is configured to receive, from the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment, an indication whether the radio base station supports the ECN, or, after determining whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN capability according to configuration information, send, to the gateway where the BBERF is located, the indication whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN.

the PCRF is used for issuing the policy to a policy enforcement entity according to whether a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control and whether the user equipment and a communication opposite terminal thereof support ECN or not when making policy decision, wherein the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is set to be greater than a guaranteed rate or the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is set to be equal to the guaranteed rate;

Further, the system may further have a feature that the PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the qos information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate when the radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing supports ECN-based congestion control and the ue and its corresponding peer support ECN.

Further, the system may further have a feature that the PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the qos information of the policy equal to a guaranteed rate when a radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing does not support ECN-based congestion control, or when the ue or a communication peer thereof does not support ECN-based congestion control.

the PCRF is used for acquiring whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support ECN-based congestion control from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support ECN-based congestion control; or

And the PCRF is used for judging whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not according to the configuration information.

Further, the above system may further have a feature that the radio base station currently accessed by the ue supporting ECN-based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and ensures that no packet is lost and/or quality of service class identifier QCI characteristics are satisfied for a graceful period after congestion is indicated to occur using the ECN.

the MME or SGSN is configured to receive, from the radio base station to which the user equipment currently accesses, an indication whether the radio base station supports ECN-based congestion control, or send, after determining, according to the configuration information, whether the radio base station to which the user equipment currently accesses supports ECN-based congestion control capability, an indication whether the radio base station to which the user equipment currently accesses supports ECN-based congestion control to the gateway where the PCEF is located.

Further, the system may further have a feature that the MME is configured to receive, from the radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing, an indication of whether the radio base station supports ECN-based congestion control, or send, after determining, according to configuration information, whether the radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing supports ECN-based congestion control capability, the indication of whether the radio base station to which the ue is currently accessing supports ECN-based congestion control to the gateway where the BBERF is located.

The invention can realize the policy charging control based on the network load, when the load is light, the transmission rate of the service is allowed to reach MBR, and when the load is heavy, the transmission rate of the service is GBR.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a PCC architecture diagram;

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of uplink data rate adjustment by an ECN base station in the prior art;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of downlink data rate adjustment by using an ECN base station in the prior art;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

when PCRF makes policy decision, according to whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN and whether the user equipment and the communication opposite terminal thereof support ECN, setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be greater than the guaranteed rate, or setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to the guaranteed rate;

If the wireless base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports ECN and the user equipment and the communication opposite terminal thereof support ECN, the PCRF sets that the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy is greater than the guaranteed rate; and if the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN, or the user equipment or the communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, the PCRF sets the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to the guaranteed rate.

The PCRF acquires whether the user equipment and a communication opposite end thereof support ECN or not from AF; when the PCRF receives an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN; and when the PCRF does not receive an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof do not support ECN. (Note: obtaining from AF whether both parties support ECN)

The PCRF acquires whether a wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN; or,

and the PCRF judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not according to the configuration information.

The PCEF obtains an indication of whether the radio base station accessed by the ue supports the ECN according to the following manner:

and the MME or the SGSN receives an indication whether the wireless base station supports the ECN or not from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME or the SGSN judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN capability or not according to the configuration information, the MME or the SGSN sends the indication whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN or not to the gateway where the PCEF is positioned.

The BBERF obtains an indication whether a radio base station accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not through the following modes:

The policy enforcement entity is a PCEF, or a PCEF and a BBERF, and the PCRF sends the policy to the PCEF, or issues the policy to the PCEF and the BBERF; the PCEF or the BBERF executes the policy.

when PCRF makes policy decision, according to whether the current accessed wireless base station of user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control and whether the user equipment and its communication opposite terminal support ECN, setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be greater than the guaranteed rate, or setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to the guaranteed rate;

And if the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control and the user equipment and the communication opposite end thereof support ECN, the PCRF sets that the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy is greater than the guaranteed rate.

And if the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support ECN-based congestion control, or the user equipment or a communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, the PCRF sets the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to the guaranteed rate.

The PCRF acquires whether the user equipment and a communication opposite end thereof support ECN or not from AF; when the PCRF receives an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN; and when the PCRF does not receive an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof do not support ECN.

The PCRF acquires whether a wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control; when the PCRF does not receive an ECN-based congestion control indication supported by a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an ECN-based congestion control indication not supported by the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the ECN-based congestion control is not supported by the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment; or

And the PCRF acquires whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not according to the configuration information.

Wherein, the fact that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and ensures that no packet is lost and/or the quality of service class identifier (QCI) characteristics are met in a graceful time period after the ECN is used for indicating congestion occurrence.

The PCEF obtains an indication of whether the radio base station accessed by the ue supports ECN-based congestion control according to the following manner:

and the MME or the SGSN receives an indication whether the wireless base station supports the congestion control based on the ECN from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME or the SGSN judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the congestion control capability based on the ECN according to the configuration information, the MME or the SGSN sends the indication whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the congestion control based on the ECN to the gateway where the PCEF is positioned.

The BBERF obtains an indication whether a wireless base station accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not through the following modes:

Example 1

This embodiment describes that, after a user establishes an IP-CAN (IP-Connectivity Access Network) session, and a UE initiates a service Access, a PCRF makes a policy decision. Wherein no BBERF exists for the IP-CAN session established by the UE. The specific process is shown in fig. 4, and comprises the following steps:

step 401: in the process that the UE requests to establish an IP-CAN session, the PCEF receives a message requesting to establish the IP-CAN session, where the message carries a user identifier of a user and a PDN identifier of a PDN network requesting to access, and in this embodiment, the PCEF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by the UE supports an ECN from a lower network element (e.g., an S-GW in an EPS system or an SGSN in a UMTS system);

in the EPS system, the specific process that the PCEF receives the indication that the radio base station accessed by the UE supports the ECN from the lower network element is as follows:

in an attach process of the UE, the UE sends an attach request message to an eNodeB (Evolved Node B), and the eNodeB sends the attach request message to an MME (Mobility Management Entity), and the attach request message carries an indication that the eNodeB supports ECN; then MME sends a session creating request message to S-GW (Serving Gateway), the session creating request message carries the ECN supporting indication of eNodeB, S-GW sends a session creating request message to P-GW (PDN Gateway), the session creating request message carries the ECN supporting indication of eNodeB, thus PCEF located in P-GW obtains the ECN supporting indication of eNodeB accessed by UE currently;

or, in the process of establishing another PDN connection by the UE (i.e. after the UE is attached, another PDN connection is also established, where the selected P-GW may be different from the P-GW selected during the attachment), the UE sends a PDN connection request to the MME, and then the MME sends a connection request message to the S-GW, where the connection request message carries an indication that the eNodeB to which the UE is currently attached supports the ECN, and the S-GW sends a create session request message to the P-GW, where the create session request message carries an indication that the eNodeB to which the UE is attached supports the ECN, so that the PCEF located in the P-GW obtains an indication that the eNodeB to which the UE is attached supports the ECN.

In the above two processes, the eNodeB may not report the indication that the eNodeB supports the ECN capability, but the MME determines that the eNodeB supports the ECN capability according to the configuration information, and reports the indication that the eNodeB supports the ECN capability to the S-GW.

In the UMTS system, the process that the PCEF receives the indication that the currently accessed NodeB of the UE supports the ECN from the lower network element is similar to that of the EPS system, the ECN capability indication of the currently accessed NodeB of the UE is sent to the RNC by the NodeB, then sent to the SGSN by the RNC or judged that the NodeB supports the ECN by the SGSN according to the configuration information, and then sent to the GGSN by the SGSN, so that the PCEF positioned at the GGSN can obtain the indication that the currently accessed NodeB of the UE supports the ECN capability.

Step 402: the PCEF sends an IP-CAN session establishment indication message to the PCRF, wherein the IP-CAN session establishment indication message carries a user identifier, a PDN identifier, an IP address (IPAddress) allocated to the UE and an indication that the ECN is supported by a wireless base station currently accessed by the UE and received by the PCEF;

step 403: after receiving the IP-CAN session establishment indication message, the PCRF sends a signing document request message to the SPR, wherein the signing document request message carries a user identifier and a PDN identifier;

step 404: after receiving the signing document request message, the SPR returns the signing information of the user to the PCRF according to the user identifier and the PDN identifier in the signing document request message;

step 405: and the PCRF receives the subscription information, formulates a policy according to the returned subscription data and issues the policy to the PCEF, wherein the formulated policy comprises a PCC rule and an event trigger. Optionally, the event trigger value includes ECN _ CAPABILITY _ CHANGE;

step 406: the PCEF returns a response to the UE to establish an IP-CAN session message, and the response message carries the IP Address of the UE;

through the steps, the UE initiates service access after establishing the IP-CAN session. The UE will interact with the AF (e.g., interactive Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling) to negotiate service information, such as media type, QoS parameters, coding type, etc., that determines service access. In this process, the UE informs the AF that it supports ECN capability, and the peer (e.g. another UE or AS (Application Server)) that the UE communicates also informs the AF that it supports ECN capability.

Step 407: after the negotiation is completed, the AF sends a service/application information message to the PCRF, where the message carries the IP Address of the UE and the negotiated service information, such as the media type, the QoS parameter, and the coding type. The AF also carries an indication that both communication sides support ECN;

when any one of two communication parties (namely the user equipment and the opposite communication party thereof) does not support the ECN, the AF does not send an indication that the two communication parties support the ECN to the PCRF.

Step 408: the PCRF returns a confirmation message to the AF after storing the service information;

step 409: the PCRF makes policy decision, and formulates a PCC rule according to subscription information, service information provided by AF, network policy and the like, and sets MBR > GBR in QoS of the PCC rule according to ECN supporting indication of a wireless base station and ECN supporting indication of both communication sides sent by the PCEF;

step 410: the PCRF sends a policy and charging rule providing message to the PCEF, and carries the PCC rule formulated in the step 409;

step 411: the PCEF installs PCC rules and returns a strategy and charging rules to provide confirmation information to the PCRF;

step 412: the PCEF executes the strategy and initiates a resource reservation process, wherein the resources are allocated according to the GBR, and the PCEF establishes a bearer for the service with MBR > GBR separately to transmit the service.

In the EPS system, the process of initiating resource reservation by the PCEF to the lower network element is as follows: and the P-GW where the PCEF is located sends a bearer establishing request to the S-GW, carries QoS information (including GBR and MBR) in the PCC rule, the S-GW sends the bearer establishing request to the MME, the MME further sends the bearer establishing request to the eNodeB, carries the QoS information, and the eNodeB allocates resources for the bearer according to the GBR, so that guaranteed bandwidth is provided. Meanwhile, when the load is light, the eNodeB allows the transmission rate of the traffic to reach MBR.

In the UMTS system, the sending of the resource reservation initiation procedure by the PCEF to the lower network element is: the GGSN where the PCEF is located sends an initial PDP context activation request message to the SGSN, which carries QoS information (including GBR and MBR) in the PCC rules, and the SGSN further sends a request to the UE for second PDP context activation. Subsequently, the UE will initiate a second PDP context activation procedure, NodeB, RNC, SGSN, GGSN to allocate resources for the bearer. And the NodeB GBR allocates resources for the bearer and provides guaranteed bandwidth. Meanwhile, when the load is light, the NodeB allows the transmission rate of the traffic to reach MBR.

Example 2

In this embodiment, after the user establishes an IP-CAN session, the UE initiates service access, and the PCRF makes a policy decision. Wherein the BBERF exists in the IP-CAN session established by the UE. The specific process is shown in fig. 5, and comprises the following steps:

step 501: in the process that UE requests to establish an IP-CAN session, a gateway where a BBERF resides receives a message requesting to establish the IP-CAN session, wherein the message carries a user identifier of a user and a PDN identifier of a PDN network requesting to access, and the BBERF receives an indication that a current wireless base station of the UE supports ECN from a lower network element (such as S-GW in an EPS system);

in the EPS system, the specific process that the BBERF receives the indication that the UE supports the ECN from the lower network element is as follows:

in the attach process of the UE, the UE sends an attach request message to the eNodeB, and the eNodeB sends the attach request message to the MME, and the attach request message carries an indication that the current wireless base station of the UE supports ECN. Then MME sends a session creating request message to S-GW, the session creating request message carries the ECN supporting indication of the current wireless base station of UE, thus the BBERF located in S-GW obtains the ECN supporting indication of the current wireless base station of UE;

or, in the process of establishing another PDN connection by the UE (i.e. after the UE is attached, another PDN connection is also established, where the selected P-GW may be different from the P-GW selected during the attachment), the UE sends a PDN connection request to the MME, and then the MME sends a connection request message to the S-GW, where the connection request message carries an indication that the current radio base station of the UE supports the ECN, so that the BBERF located in the S-GW obtains an indication that the radio base station to which the UE is currently attached supports the ECN.

Step 502: the BBERF sends a gateway control session establishment message to the PCRF, wherein the gateway control session establishment message carries a user identifier, a PDN identifier and an indication that the UE currently accesses the wireless base station to support ECN;

step 503: the PCRF receives the gateway control session establishment message and sends a signing document request message to the SPR, wherein the signing document request message carries a user identifier and a PDN identifier;

step 504: the SPR receives the signing document request message and returns the signing information of the user to the PCRF according to the user identification and the PDN identification;

step 505: and the PCRF formulates a strategy according to the returned subscription data, wherein the strategy formulated by the PCRF comprises a PCC rule, a corresponding QoS rule and an event trigger, and the value of the event trigger comprises cell change. The PCRF returns a gateway session establishment confirmation message to the BBERF, wherein the gateway session establishment confirmation message comprises a formulated QoS rule and an event trigger, and the BBERF receives the QoS rule and the event trigger, installs and executes the QoS rule and the event trigger;

step 506: a gateway where the BBERF resides sends a request for establishing an IP-CAN session message to a gateway where the PCEF resides, wherein the request for establishing the IP-CAN session message carries a user identifier and a PDN identifier;

step 507: after receiving the message requesting to establish the IP-CAN session, the PCEF sends an IP-CAN session establishment indication message to the PCRF, wherein the IP-CAN session establishment indication message carries a user identifier, a PDN identifier and an IP Address distributed by the gateway for the UE;

step 508: after receiving the IP-CAN session establishment indication message, the PCRF associates the gateway control session established in step 502 with the IP-CAN session established in step 507 according to the user identifier and the PDN identifier, and returns an IP-CAN session establishment confirmation message to the PCEF, where the IP-CAN session establishment confirmation message carries the PCC rule and the event trigger established in step 505, and the PCEF performs installation and execution after receiving the PCC rule and the event trigger;

step 509: the PCEF resident gateway returns a response IP-CAN session establishment message to the BBERF resident gateway, and the response IP-CAN session establishment message carries an IP Address;

step 510: the BBERF resident gateway receives the response IP-CAN session establishment message and returns a response IP-CAN session establishment message to the UE, wherein the response IP-CAN session establishment message carries the IPAddress;

through the steps, the UE initiates service access after establishing the IP-CAN session. The UE will interact with the AF (e.g., SIP signaling) to determine service information, such as media type, QoS parameters, coding type, etc., for service access. In this process, the UE informs the AF that it supports ECN capability, and the peer (e.g. another UE or AS (Application Server)) that the UE communicates also informs the AF that it supports ECN capability.

Step 511: after the negotiation is completed, the AF sends a service/application information message to the PCRF, where the message carries the IP Address of the UE and the negotiated service information, such as media type, QoS parameter, coding type, and the like, and the AF also carries an indication that both communication parties support the ECN;

step 512: the PCRF returns a confirmation message to the AF after storing the service information;

step 513: and the PCRF makes policy decision and makes PCC and corresponding QoS rules according to subscription information, service information provided by the AF, network policies and the like. And according to the ECN support indication of the wireless base station sent by the BBERF and the ECN support indication of both communication sides sent by the AF, setting the QoS MBR > GBR of the PCC rule and the QoS rule;

step 514: the PCRF sends a policy and charging rule providing message to the PCEF, and carries the PCC rule formulated in the step 513;

step 515: the PCEF installs PCC rules and returns a strategy and charging rules to provide confirmation information to the PCRF;

step 516: the PCRF sends a gateway control and QoS rule providing message to the BBERF, wherein the message carries the QoS rule formulated by the PCRF in the step 513;

517: the BBERF returns a gateway control and QoS rule and provides a confirmation message to the PCRF;

step 518: BBERF executes strategy, initiates resource reservation process, wherein resources are allocated according to GBR, BBERF establishes a bearer for MBR > GBR service to transmit the service.

In the EPS system, the process of initiating resource reservation to the lower network element by the BBERF is as follows: the S-GW where the BBERF is located sends a bearer establishing request to the MME, the bearer establishing request carries QoS information (including GBR and MBR) in the PCC rule, the MME further sends a bearer establishing request to the eNodeB, the eNodeB carries the QoS information, and the eNodeB allocates resources for the bearer according to the GBR, so that guaranteed bandwidth is provided. Meanwhile, when the load is light, the eNodeB allows the transmission rate of the traffic to reach MBR.

Example 3

This embodiment describes a procedure of updating policy by PCRF, which is caused by UE establishing an IP-CAN session and accessing a service as in embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, and switching to a wireless base station that does not support ECN due to the movement of the UE. Where no BBERF exists for the IP-CAN session of the UE. The specific process is shown in fig. 6, and comprises the following steps:

step 601: and accessing to another wireless base station due to the movement of the UE. In this process, the PCEF receives a request to modify the IP-CAN session message, where the message carries an indication that the radio base station does not support ECN, and in this embodiment, the PCEF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN from a lower network element (e.g., an S-GW in an EPS system or an SGSN in a UMTS system);

in the EPS system, the specific process that the PCEF receives the indication that the radio base station support which the UE accesses does not support the ECN from the lower network element is as follows:

in the switching process of the UE, the request message sent by the target eNodeB to the MME does not carry an ECN supporting indication, so the MME judges that the eNodeB does not support ECN, the request message sent by the MME to the S-GW carries an ECN supporting indication of a wireless base station, and the request message sent by the S-GW carries an ECN supporting indication of the wireless base station. Thus, the PCEF located in the P-GW obtains the indication that the eNodeB currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN;

in the UMTS system, the specific process that the PCEF receives the indication that the radio base station that the UE accesses does not support the ECN from the lower network element is as follows:

in the switching process of the UE, the target NodeB does not carry the ECN supporting indication in the request message sent to the SGSN by the RNC, so the SGSN judges that the NodeB does not support the ECN, and the SGSN carries the ECN supporting indication of the wireless base station in the request message sent to the GGSN. Thus, the PCEF located in the GGSN obtains the indication that the eNodeB currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN;

in other embodiments, the MME/SGSN may also determine, according to the configuration, that the target eNodeB/NodeB does not support ECN, so that the SGSN carries an indication that the wireless base station does not support ECN in the request message sent to the GGSN, so that the PCEF located in the GGSN obtains an indication that the eNodeB to which the UE is currently accessed does not support ECN;

in other embodiments, the MME/SGSN may not carry any indication that the radio base station supports ECN, so that finally, the PCEF determines that the base station currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN according to the indication that no radio base station supports ECN.

Step 602: the PCEF sends an IP-CAN session modification indication message to the PCRF, wherein the IP-CAN session modification indication message carries an indication that the wireless base station currently accessed by the UE does not support the ECN or does not carry an indication that the wireless base station currently accessed by the UE supports the ECN;

step 603: and the PCRF receives the IP-CAN session modification indication message and updates the strategy according to the fact that the wireless base station does not support ECN indication. Wherein the QoS part of the PCC rule sets the GBR value as an MBR value;

step 604: the PCRF sends the updated PCC rules to the PCEF;

step 605: the PCEF enforces the policy, initiating a resource reservation procedure.

In the EPS system, the process of initiating resource reservation by the PCEF to the lower network element is as follows: and the P-GW where the PCEF is located sends a bearer modification request to the S-GW, carries QoS information (including GBR and MBR) in the PCC rule, the S-GW sends the bearer modification request to the MME, the MME further sends the bearer modification request to the eNodeB, carries the QoS information, and the eNodeB allocates resources for the bearer according to the GBR, so that guaranteed bandwidth is provided. But GBR and MBR are now equal.

In the UMTS system, the sending of the resource reservation initiation procedure by the PCEF to the lower network element is: and the GGSN where the PCEF is located sends an initial PDP context modification request message to the SGSN, wherein the initial PDP context modification request message carries QoS information (including GBR and MBR) in the PCC rules, and the SGSN further sends a request for second PDP context modification to the UE. Subsequently, the UE will initiate a second PDP context modification procedure, NodeB, SGSN, GGSN, to reallocate resources for the bearer. And the NodeB allocates resources for the bearer according to the GBR, and provides guaranteed bandwidth. But GBR and MBR are now equal.

Example 4

This embodiment describes a procedure of updating policy by PCRF, which is caused by UE establishing an IP-CAN session and accessing a service as in embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, and switching to a wireless base station that does not support ECN due to the movement of the UE. Wherein BBERF exists in the IP-CAN session after UE switching. The specific process is shown in fig. 7, and comprises the following steps:

step 701: and accessing to another wireless base station due to the movement of the UE. In this process, the destination BBERF receives a message requesting to modify the IP-CAN session, where the message carries an indication that the radio base station does not support ECN, and in this embodiment, the destination BBERF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN from a lower network element (e.g., an S-GW in an EPS system);

in the EPS system, the specific process that the target BBERF receives the indication that the radio base station support which the UE accesses does not support the ECN from the lower network element is as follows:

in the switching process of the UE, the request message sent by the target eNodeB to the MME does not carry an ECN supporting indication, so the MME judges that the eNodeB does not support ECN, and the request message sent by the MME to the S-GW carries an ECN supporting indication of the wireless base station. Thus, the BBERF located in the S-GW obtains the indication that the eNodeB currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN;

in other embodiments, the MME may also determine that the target eNodeB does not support ECN according to the configuration. And the request message sent by the MME to the S-GW carries an ECN (radio base station) non-support indication. Thus, the BBERF located in the S-GW obtains the indication that the eNodeB currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN;

in other embodiments, the request message sent by the MME to the BBERF may not carry any indication that the radio base station supports the ECN, so that finally, the BBERF determines that the base station currently accessed by the UE does not support the ECN according to the indication that no radio base station supports the ECN.

Step 702: the target BBERF sends a gateway control session establishment indication message to the PCRF, wherein the message carries a user identifier, a PDN identifier and an indication that the wireless base station currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN, or carries the user identifier and the PDN identifier and does not carry an indication that the wireless base station currently accessed by the UE supports ECN;

step 703: and the PCRF associates the gateway control session with the IP-CAN session established in the embodiment 1 and the embodiment 2 according to the user identifier and the PDN identifier. And the PCRF updates the policy according to the fact that the wireless base station does not support the ECN indication. And updating the QoS part of the PCC rule, setting the GBR value as an MBR value, and formulating the QoS rule according to the updated PCC rule. The PCRF sends the QoS rule to a destination BBERF;

step 704: the destination BBERF enforcement policy.

In the EPS system, the process of initiating resource reservation to the lower network element by the target BBERF is as follows: the S-GW where the target BBERF is located sends a bearer modification request to the MME, the bearer modification request carries QoS information (including GBR and MBR) in the QoS rule, the MME further sends the bearer modification request to the eNodeB, the eNodeB carries the QoS information, and the eNodeB allocates resources for the bearer according to the GBR, so that guaranteed bandwidth is provided. But GBR and MBR are now equal.

Step 705: a gateway where a target BBERF is located sends a message for requesting to modify an IP-CAN session to a gateway where a PCEF is located, wherein the message carries a user identifier and a PDN identifier;

step 706: the PCEF sends an IP-CAN session modification indication message to the PCRF;

step 707: the PCRF returns the PCC rules updated in the step 704 to the PCEF;

step 708: the gateway where the PCEF is located returns the IP address before switching to the gateway where the target BBERF is located;

step 709: and the gateway where the target BBERF is located returns a response to modify the IP-CAN session message, and carries the IP address.

If the radio base station accessed by the UE when establishing the PDN connection does not support the ECN, in the invention, the BBERF/PCEF receives an indication that the radio base station does not support the ECN or does not receive an indication that the radio base station supports the ECN, and at the moment, the BBERF/PCEF does not carry the indication that the radio base station supports the ECN or carries the indication that the radio base station does not support the ECN in the message sent to the PCRF, so that the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user does not support the ECN, and at the moment, even if the AF service information received by the PCRF carries the indication that both communication parties support the ECN, in the QoS authorized by the PCRF, the value of GBR is the.

At this time, if the UE moves and the destination radio base station supports the ECN, the BBERF/PCEF will receive an indication that the radio base station supports the ECN, and at this time, the BBERF/PCEF carries the indication that the radio base station supports the ECN in a message sent to the PCRF, so that the PCRF determines that the radio base station currently accessed by the user supports the ECN. At this time, if the AF service information received by the PCRF carries an indication that both communication parties support the ECN, the PCRF will re-authorize the QoS with the GBR value smaller than the MBR value.

In all the above implementations, the indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE supports ECN may also be an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE supports ECN-based congestion control, which indicates that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE supports ECN-based congestion control functions. The function includes at least setting a congestion indication bit to indicate congestion occurrence when congestion occurs (i.e. to support the ECN mechanism defined in RFC 3168). The functions may also include ensuring that no packets are dropped and/or other QoS requirements (e.g., QCI characteristics) are met for a grace period (gram period) after congestion is indicated using the ECN mechanism. Similarly, the indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN may also be an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the UE does not support ECN-based congestion control. And the PCRF judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the UE supports ECN-based congestion control or not according to the indication.

In other embodiments, the PCRF determines whether the radio base station to which the UE currently accesses supports ECN or ECN-based congestion control according to configuration information thereon. For example:

1) if all radio base stations in a PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) support or do not support ECN or ECN-based congestion control (i.e. there is no partial support). And configuring a corresponding relation between the PLMN and whether ECN is supported or not or whether ECN-based congestion control is supported on the PCRF. Then when the PCRF acquires the PLMN where the UE is currently located (which can be obtained according to the prior art), it can be determined whether the radio base station to which the UE is currently accessing supports ECN or ECN-based congestion control.

2) If all radio base stations in a tracking Area ta (track Area) or Routing Area (Routing Area) support or do not support ECN or ECN-based congestion control (i.e. there is no partial support). And the PCRF is configured with a corresponding relation between the TA or the RA and whether ECN is supported or whether ECN-based congestion control is supported. Then when the PCRF acquires the TA or RA where the UE is currently located, it can be determined whether the wireless base station to which the UE is currently accessing supports ECN or ECN-based congestion control.

3) The PCRF is configured with a corresponding relation whether a cell (cell) and a radio base station to which the cell belongs support ECN or support ECN-based congestion control. When the PCRF acquires the cell in which the UE is currently located, whether the wireless base station to which the UE is currently accessed supports ECN or whether the ECN-based congestion control is supported can be judged.

The PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the qos information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate when the radio base station to which the ue is currently connected supports the ECN and the ue and its corresponding communication peer support the ECN; and when the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN, or the user equipment or a communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to a guaranteed rate.

The PCRF is used for acquiring whether the user equipment and a communication opposite end thereof support ECN or not from AF; when the PCRF receives an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN; and when the PCRF does not receive an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof do not support ECN.

Wherein the system further comprises a PCEF or BBERF, wherein:

the PCRF is used for acquiring whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN from the PECF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN; or,

The system further includes an MME or an SGSN, where the MME or the SGSN is configured to receive, from the radio base station to which the user equipment currently accesses, an indication of whether the radio base station supports the ECN, or send, after determining, according to configuration information, whether the radio base station to which the user equipment currently accesses supports the ECN capability, the indication of whether the radio base station to which the user equipment currently accesses supports the ECN to the gateway where the PCEF is located.

The system further includes an MME, where the MME is configured to receive, from the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed, an indication of whether the radio base station supports the ECN, or, after determining, according to configuration information, whether the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports the ECN capability, send, to a gateway where the BBERF is located, the indication of whether the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports the ECN.

The policy enforcement entity is a PCEF, or a PCEF and a BBERF, and the PCRF sends the policy to the PCEF, or sends the policy to the PCEF and the BBERF, and the PCEF, or the PCEF and the BBERF enforce the policy.

The PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate when the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports ECN-based congestion control and the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN.

The PCRF is configured to set a maximum rate in the qos information of the policy equal to a guaranteed rate when a radio base station to which the ue is currently connected does not support ECN-based congestion control, or when the ue or its correspondent node does not support ECN-based congestion control.

Wherein the system further comprises a PCEF or BBERF, wherein:

Wherein the system further comprises an MME or an SGSN, wherein:

Wherein the system further comprises an MME, wherein:

the MME is configured to receive, from the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment, an indication whether the radio base station supports ECN-based congestion control, or after determining, according to configuration information, whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control capability, send, to the gateway where the BBERF is located, an indication whether the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control.

Claims

1. A policy charging control method based on network load is characterized by comprising the following steps:

when a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) entity makes a policy decision, according to whether a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) and whether the user equipment and a communication opposite end thereof support ECN, setting the maximum rate in service quality information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate, or setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to the guaranteed rate;

the PCRF sends the policy to a policy enforcement entity, and the policy enforcement entity enforces the policy;

the PCRF acquires whether the user equipment and a communication opposite end thereof support ECN or not from an application function entity (AF); when the PCRF receives an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof support ECN; and when the PCRF does not receive an indication that both communication parties support ECN from the AF, the PCRF judges that the user equipment and the opposite communication terminal thereof do not support ECN.

2. The method of claim 1,

and if the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports the ECN and the user equipment and the communication opposite end thereof support the ECN, the PCRF sets that the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy is greater than the guaranteed rate.

3. The method of claim 1,

and if the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN, or the user equipment or the communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, the PCRF sets the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to the guaranteed rate.

4. The method of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the method further comprises:

the PCRF acquires whether a wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not from a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) entity or a Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function (BBERF) entity; when the PCRF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN; or

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the PCEF obtains the indication of whether the radio base station accessed by the UE supports ECN according to:

and a mobile management entity MME or a serving GPRS supporting gateway SGSN receives an indication whether the wireless base station supports ECN from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME or the SGSN judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN capability according to configuration information, the MME or the SGSN sends the indication whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN to a gateway where the PCEF is located.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the BBERF obtains an indication of whether a radio base station accessed by a user equipment supports ECN by:

7. A policy charging control method based on network load is characterized by comprising the following steps:

when a Policy and Charging Rule Function (PCRF) entity makes a policy decision, setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be greater than a guaranteed rate or setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the policy to be equal to the guaranteed rate according to whether a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports congestion control based on Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) and whether the user equipment and a communication opposite terminal thereof support the ECN;

8. The method of claim 7,

9. The method of claim 7,

and if the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support ECN-based congestion control, or the user equipment or the communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN, the PCRF sets the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to the guaranteed rate.

10. The method of claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein the method further comprises:

the PCRF acquires whether a wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not from a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) entity or a Bearer Binding and Event Reporting Function (BBERF) entity; when the PCRF receives an indication that a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control; when the PCRF does not receive an ECN-based congestion control indication supported by a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an ECN-based congestion control indication not supported by the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the ECN-based congestion control is not supported by the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment; or

11. The method according to claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supporting ECN based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and after indicating congestion occurrence using the ECN, ensures that no packet is lost and/or quality of service class identity, QCI, characteristics are met for a graceful period of time.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the PCEF obtains the indication of whether the radio base station accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control according to:

and a mobile management entity MME or a serving GPRS supporting gateway SGSN receives an indication whether the wireless base station supports ECN-based congestion control from the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment, or after the MME or the SGSN judges whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control capability according to configuration information, the MME or the SGSN sends the indication whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control to a gateway where the PCEF is located.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the BBERF obtains an indication of whether a radio base station accessed by a user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control by:

14. A policy charging control system based on network load is characterized in that the system comprises a PCRF and a policy enforcement entity:

the policy enforcement entity is used for receiving the policy from the PCRF and enforcing the policy;

the system further comprises a PCEF or BBERF, wherein:

the PCRF is used for acquiring whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that a radio base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN; or

And the PCRF is used for judging whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN or not according to the configuration information.

15. The system of claim 14,

and the PCRF is used for setting that the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy is greater than the guaranteed rate when the wireless base station to which the user equipment is currently accessed supports the ECN and the user equipment and the communication opposite end thereof support the ECN.

16. The system of claim 14,

and the PCRF is used for setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to a guaranteed rate when the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment does not support ECN or the user equipment or a communication opposite end thereof does not support ECN.

17. The system of claim 14, 15 or 16,

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the system further comprises an MME or SGSN, wherein:

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the system further comprises an MME, wherein:

20. A policy charging control system based on network load is characterized in that the system comprises a PCRF and a policy enforcement entity:

21. The system of claim 20,

and the PCRF is used for setting that the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy is greater than the guaranteed rate when the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control and the user equipment and the communication opposite end thereof support ECN.

22. The system of claim 20,

and the PCRF is used for setting the maximum rate in the service quality information of the strategy to be equal to the guaranteed rate when the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support the congestion control based on the ECN or the user equipment or the communication opposite end thereof does not support the congestion control based on the ECN.

23. The system of claim 20, 21 or 22, further comprising a PCEF or BBERF, wherein:

the PCRF is used for acquiring whether the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control or not from a PCEF or a BBERF; when the PCRF receives an indication that a wireless base station currently accessed by user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the wireless base station currently accessed by the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control; when the PCRF does not receive an indication that the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment supports ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, or the PCRF receives an indication that the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support ECN-based congestion control from the PCEF or the BBERF, the PCRF judges that the current accessed wireless base station of the user equipment does not support ECN-based congestion control; or

24. The system according to claim 20, 21 or 22, wherein the radio base station currently accessed by the user equipment supporting ECN based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and after indicating congestion occurrence using the ECN, ensures that no packet is dropped and/or quality of service class identity, QCI, characteristics are met for a graceful period of time.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the system further comprises an MME or SGSN, wherein:

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the system further comprises an MME, wherein:

27. The method of claim 10, wherein the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessing supports ECN-based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and ensures that no packet is dropped and/or quality of service class identity, QCI, characteristics are met for a graceful period of time after indicating congestion occurrence using the ECN.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the radio base station to which the user equipment is currently accessing supports ECN-based congestion control means that the radio base station supports ECN and ensures that no packet is dropped and/or quality of service class identity, QCI, characteristics are met for a graceful period of time after indicating congestion occurrence using the ECN.