CN107135084B

CN107135084B - Policy configuration method and device

Info

Publication number: CN107135084B
Application number: CN201610113651.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许曦; 马春燕; 杨敏昌; 于彬; 徐斌; 杨明
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-02-29
Filing date: 2016-02-29
Publication date: 2020-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 2036-02-29
Also published as: CN107135084A

Abstract

A policy configuration method and device can improve policy configuration efficiency for a PCEF and a PCRF and reduce error rate. The method can be used for a PCC system, wherein the PCC system comprises a PCRF, a PCEF and a policy configuration device; the method can comprise the following steps: the policy configuration device acquires a PCC policy; generating a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the PCC policy; and respectively issuing the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCRF and the PCEF.

Description

Policy configuration method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a policy configuration method and apparatus.

Background

With the abundance of Policy Control and Charging (PCC), more and more PCC policies are deployed in the operator's network.

At present, the PCC architecture mainly comprises a Policy and Charging Rules Function entity (PCRF, full english name), a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function entity (PCEF, full english name), an Application Function entity (AF, short english name), and the like.

Most PCC policies are deployed, which need to be configured on both PCEF and PCRF, and must be consistent, such as listening Key (Monitoring-Key), Predefined-Rule-Name (Predefined-Rule-Name), Application-Id (Application-Id), etc.

Practice shows that the configuration of the PCEF and the PCRF in the current policy deployment process is completed manually, the consistency is ensured manually, errors are easy to occur, and the policy deployment process is complex and the policy deployment efficiency is not high.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a policy configuration method and a policy configuration device, which are used for improving the policy configuration efficiency of a PCEF (policy and charging rules function) and a PCRF (policy and charging rules function) and reducing the error rate.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a policy configuration method, which may be used in a policy control and charging PCC system, where the PCC system includes a policy and charging rules function entity PCRF, a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF, and a policy configuration device; the method comprises the following steps: the policy configuration device obtains a PCC policy, where the PCC policy may be a policy described by a service language and input to the policy configuration device by a user; the policy configuration device can perform conversion and decomposition from a policy to a configuration script according to the PCC policy to generate a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script; and respectively issuing the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCRF and the PCEF, realizing the unified configuration of the PCRF and the PCEF, and ensuring the consistency of the PCRF and the PCEF policy configuration.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a policy configuration apparatus, which may be used in a policy control and charging PCC system, where the PCC system includes a policy and charging rules function entity PCRF, a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF, and the policy configuration apparatus; the policy configuration may include: an obtaining unit, configured to obtain a PCC policy; the processing unit is used for generating a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the PCC policy; and the sending unit is used for respectively issuing the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCRF and the PCEF.

Combining the above two aspects:

optionally, the policy configuration device may convert the PCC policy into a configuration script according to a configuration template; and decomposing the configuration script into a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to a policy disassembly model.

Optionally, the policy configuration device may provide a configuration interface; and receiving the PCC strategy input in the configuration interface.

Optionally, the PCC policy is a policy described by a service language.

Optionally, the PCC policy includes a fair use policy, FUP, service policy.

As can be seen from the above, in some feasible embodiments of the present invention, the new functional entity, namely the policy configuration device, converts and decomposes the PCC policy into the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script, which are respectively issued to the PCRF and the PCEF, so as to implement unified automatic configuration of the PCEF and the PCRF.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the embodiments and the drawings used in the description of the prior art, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a signaling flow diagram of a scenario in which a PCRF cooperates with a PCEF to complete an FUP service;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a PCC architecture in an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a policy configuration method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

figure 4a is a policy model of current PCRF;

figure 4b is a policy model of the current PCEF;

FIG. 4c is a unified policy model in an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of policy configuration performed by the policy configuration apparatus on the PCEF and the PCRF;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy configuration apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions of the present invention better understood, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terms "first," "second," "third," and the like in the description and in the claims, and in the above-described drawings, are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

As described in the background, in the third Generation partnership project (3 rd Generation partnership project, 3GPP), the PCC architecture mainly comprises PCRF, PCEF, AF, and the like. The PCC architecture works on a Service Data Flow (SDF) level, provides functions such as policy control, charging control, and event reporting of the Service Data Flow, and aims to provide differentiated services for users, and provide user Service Flow bearer resource guarantees and Flow charging policies.

The PCRF comprises a policy control decision and a flow charging control based function, receives input from the PCEF and the AF and the like, and provides network control functions related to service data flow detection, gate control, Quality of service (QoS) and flow charging to the PCEF. The PCRF may make PCC decisions in conjunction with the custom information of the PCRF.

The PCEF mainly includes detection of service data flows, policy enforcement, and flow-based charging functions, and the functional entity is generally located in a gateway or may be deployed independently.

Most PCC policy deployments require configuration on both PCEF and PCRF and must be consistent. Some policy parameters that need to configure PCRF and PCRF at the same time are as follows.

Layer one, 7 service resolution (predefined rules):

the PCEF needs to configure: Predefined-Rule-Name and corresponding service analysis Rule, such as Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address;

the PCRF needs to configure: Predefined-Rule-Name;

the above information needs to be kept consistent.

Secondly, a fair use strategy (FUP) scene based on predefined rules:

the PCEF needs to configure: Predefined-Rule-Name and corresponding service analysis rules, such as URL address, etc., Monitoring-Key;

the PCRF needs to configure: Predefined-Rule-Name, associated quota, Monitoring-Key, etc.;

the above information needs to be kept consistent.

Third, ADC (Application Detection and Control) scenario:

the PCEF needs to configure: TDF (Traffic Detection Function) -Application-Id and corresponding Traffic resolution rules, such as URL address, etc.;

the PCRF needs to configure: TDF-Application-Id;

the above information needs to be kept consistent.

As shown in fig. 1, it is a signaling flow diagram of a scenario in which the PCRF and the PCEF cooperate to complete the FUP service, and it can be seen that a predefined rule and a Monitoring-Key need to be configured on the PCRF and the PCEF, respectively, and the two parameters are used in a subsequent message processing process.

In the current policy deployment process, the configuration of the PCEF and the PCRF is manually ensured to be consistent, which is not only prone to errors, but also reduces the policy deployment efficiency.

Therefore, the invention can provide a policy configuration method and a corresponding device, so that the PCC policy on the service level is decomposed into the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script through one functional entity, and the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script are respectively issued to the PCEF and the PCRF, thereby realizing the unified and automatic policy configuration.

The following are detailed descriptions of the respective embodiments.

Please refer to fig. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a PCC architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen from fig. 2, the PCC system further includes a new functional entity, i.e. a policy configuration device, in addition to the two functional entities, namely the PCRF and the PCEF. The policy configuration means is also referred to herein as a unified policy configuration function entity. The policy configuration device is respectively connected with the PCRF and the PCEF.

The policy configuration device mainly has two functions, namely, presenting a PCC policy described by a service language to a service department, converting the PCC policy described by the service language into a network script, completing configuration decomposition between a PCEF and a PCRF, and respectively issuing respective policy configuration scripts to the PCEF and the PCRF on a network side.

Referring to fig. 3, some embodiments of the present invention provide a policy configuration method, where the method is used in the PCC system shown in fig. 2, where the PCC system includes a PCRF, a PCEF, and a policy configuration device; the method may include:

301. the policy configuration device acquires a PCC policy.

The PCC policy refers to a network management and control policy generated by making a decision according to one or more of user subscription information, service information, user state information, QoS index information, and the like.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the policy configuration device performs policy configuration in some ways or as a PCC policy: providing a configuration interface, and receiving the PCC strategy input in the configuration interface. Specifically, the configuration interface may be presented to the business department, and the content presented in the configuration interface may be described in a business language, or the PCC policy is a policy described in the business language, so as to be understood or used by business personnel in the business department. After the business personnel fill in the configuration interface, the configuration interface is submitted to the strategy configuration device.

302. And generating a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the PCC policy.

The policy configuration device may convert the obtained PCC policy into a configuration script according to preset information, such as a configuration template, and disassemble the configuration script into a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the policy disassembly model.

In some embodiments, the policy configuration device may obtain a policy model of the current PCRF and a policy model of the PCEF, and combine parameters of the policy models correspondingly, for example, add a new model parameter based on the PCRF policy model, and combine the two policy models to form a unified policy model. Then, the policy configuration device may describe the PCC policy of the service plane based on the unified policy model. And after the service policy configuration is completed, completing policy configuration decomposition to the PCRF and the PCEF through the unified policy model, and disassembling to obtain a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script.

As shown in fig. 4a, it is a policy model of the current PCRF; as shown in fig. 4b, is a policy model of the current PCEF; as shown in fig. 4c, is the unified policy model obtained in connection with fig. 4a and 4 b. The unified policy model may be understood as the policy disassembly model described above.

303. And respectively issuing the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCRF and the PCEF.

The policy configuration device may issue the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCEF, and configure the PCEF; and issuing the PCRF policy configuration script to the PCRF, and configuring the PCRF.

The PCC policy may be various policies such as FUP service policy. The following describes a process of performing policy configuration and service completion on the PCEF and the PCRF by the unified policy configuration functional entity, taking the FUP service as an example. Referring to fig. 5, the specific process may include:

s1, the service personnel configures the FUP service.

For example, the service language for FUP services may be described as follows: the user can use a certain amount of traffic for a certain service, and when the traffic is exhausted, the speed limit is 128K. The service personnel do not need to pay attention to parameters such as Monitoring-Key, predefined rules and the like in the strategy and realized by a specific network, so the service personnel only need to configure three parameters of 'service type', 'flow packet size' and 'speed limit bandwidth after flow exhaustion'.

S2, the unified strategy configuration functional entity receives the configuration parameters of the service personnel, obtains the FUP service strategy, then converts the FUP service strategy description described by the service language into a network configuration script according to the preset information such as a configuration template and a strategy disassembly model, and decomposes the network configuration script into a PCRF strategy configuration script and a PCEF strategy configuration script which are respectively sent to the PCRF and the PCEF, and configures the PCRF and the PCEF.

S3, PCRF executes the script and configures the strategy containing Monitoring-Key and predefined rule after receiving the strategy configuration script.

And S4, executing the script after the PCEF receives the strategy configuration script, and configuring the strategy configuration including Monitoring-Key, predefined rule and the like.

S5, the FUP service can be carried out after the terminal user is activated online. The method specifically comprises the following steps:

the UE activates to the PCEF, and the PCEF sends a CCR (Credit Control Request ) -I (Initial) message to the PCRF;

the PCRF issues a predefined rule and fragments according to a signed calculation strategy, wherein the fragments contain a Monitoring-Key, and then sends CCA (Credit Control Answer, Credit Control response) -I information to the PCEF;

the PCEF retrieves local configuration according to the issued predefined rule, acquires a data flow analysis rule and a Monitoring-Key, associates fragmentation based on the Monitoring-Key, thereby performing traffic accumulation, reports the usage amount when the traffic exceeds a fragmentation threshold value, and then sends a CCR-U (Update) message to the PCRF;

and the PCRF retrieves an index (Quota) according to the MK (Monitoring-Key) in the reported Usage Monitoring information (Usage-Monitoring-Info), then deducts the index and recalculates the strategy.

As described above, the embodiment of the present invention provides a policy abstraction model, which can decompose a PCC policy from a service model into policy configuration scripts of a PCRF and a PCEF, and complete the decomposition through a functional entity, and issue the decomposition to the PCRF and the PCEF, respectively, so as to achieve the purpose of unifying policy configuration. The PCEF and the PCRF are respectively configured by executing the configuration work procedure of the PCC policy, and the consistency of the policy configuration on a plurality of devices is ensured by automatic operation, so that the manual work can be reduced, the policy deployment efficiency is improved, and errors are reduced.

In order to better implement the above-mentioned aspects of the embodiments of the present invention, the following also provides related devices for implementing the above-mentioned aspects cooperatively.

Referring to fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides a policy configuration apparatus 600, configured to be used in the PCC system shown in fig. 2, where the PCC system includes a PCRF, a PCEF, and the policy configuration apparatus; the policy configuration 600 may include:

an obtaining unit 610, configured to obtain a PCC policy;

a processing unit 620, configured to generate a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the PCC policy;

a sending unit 630, configured to issue the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCRF and the PCEF, respectively.

In some embodiments, the processing unit 620 may include:

the conversion module is used for converting the PCC strategy into a configuration script according to a configuration template;

and the decomposition module is used for decomposing the configuration script into a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the policy disassembly model.

In some embodiments, the obtaining unit 610 may include:

a providing module for providing a configuration interface;

and the receiving module is used for receiving the PCC strategy input in the configuration interface.

In some embodiments, the PCC policy is a business language description policy.

In some embodiments, the PCC policy comprises a FUP traffic policy.

The policy configuration apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may be, for example, a computer device such as a server.

It can be understood that the functions of each functional module of the policy configuration apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may be specifically implemented according to the method in the foregoing method embodiment, and the specific implementation process may refer to the related description in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer apparatus 700, which may include:

processor 710, memory 720, communication interface 730, bus 740,

the memory 720 is used for storing a program 750, the processor 710 is connected to the memory 720 through the bus 740, and when the computer device 700 runs, the processor 710 executes the program 750 stored in the memory 720, so as to make the computer device 700 execute the policy configuration method according to the above method embodiment.

Specifically, the communication interface 730 obtains a PCC policy; the processor 710 generates a PCRF policy configuration script and a PCEF policy configuration script according to the PCC policy; and respectively issuing the PCRF policy configuration script and the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCRF and the PCEF.

The bus 740 may be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended ISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA) bus, or the like. The bus may be divided into one or more of an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

The memory 720 may comprise a high-speed ram (ramdom Access memory) memory. Optionally, the memory 720 may further include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory). For example, the memory 720 may include disk storage.

The processor 710 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or the processor 710 may be an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the processor 710 may be one or more Integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of the present invention.

It can be understood that the functions of the computer device according to the embodiments of the present invention may be specifically implemented according to the method in the foregoing method embodiments, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant description in the foregoing method embodiments, and may obtain the technical effects that can be obtained by the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computer device comprising one or more processors, cause the computer device to perform a policy configuration method as described above in the method embodiments.

In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to the related descriptions of other embodiments.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the above-mentioned method embodiments are described as a series of acts or combination of acts, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited by the order of acts, as some steps may occur in other orders or concurrently in accordance with the invention. Further, those skilled in the art should also appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments and that the acts and modules referred to are not necessarily required by the invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, a division of a unit is merely a logical division, and an actual implementation may have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

The policy configuration method and apparatus provided by the embodiment of the present invention are described in detail above, and a specific example is applied in the description to explain the principle and the implementation of the present invention, and the description of the above embodiment is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A policy configuration method is used for a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) system, wherein the PCC system comprises a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) and a policy configuration device; the method comprises the following steps:

the policy configuration device acquires a PCC policy;

converting the PCC strategy into a configuration script according to a configuration template, and decomposing the configuration script into a PCRF strategy configuration script and a PCEF strategy configuration script according to a strategy disassembling model;

and issuing the PCRF policy configuration script to the PCRF, and issuing the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCEF.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy configuration device obtaining the PCC policy comprises:

the policy configuration device provides a configuration interface;

and receiving the PCC strategy input in the configuration interface.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,

the PCC strategy is a strategy described by a service language.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2,

the PCC strategy comprises a fair use strategy (FUP) business strategy.

5. A policy configuration device, configured to be used in a policy control and charging PCC system, where the PCC system includes a policy and charging rules function entity PCRF, a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF, and the policy configuration device; the policy configuration device comprises:

an obtaining unit, configured to obtain a PCC policy;

the processing unit is used for converting the PCC strategy into a configuration script according to a configuration template and decomposing the configuration script into a PCRF strategy configuration script and a PCEF strategy configuration script according to a strategy disassembling model;

and the sending unit is used for issuing the PCRF policy configuration script to the PCRF and issuing the PCEF policy configuration script to the PCEF.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the obtaining unit comprises:

a providing module for providing a configuration interface;

7. The apparatus of claim 5 or 6,

the PCC strategy is a strategy described by a service language.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 or 6,

the PCC strategy comprises a fair use strategy (FUP) business strategy.