KR101109504B1 - Mobility aware policy and charging control in a wireless communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for executing in a policy control and charging rule functional entity of a wireless communication system. The method includes receiving information indicating a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to a target access network from at least one source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the source access network or from a target policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the target access network. Steps. The method also includes establishing a first session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. The first session occurs concurrently with the second session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. The second session is preset with a source policy and charging enforcement function entity in the source access network. The method further includes sending at least one policy and charging rule to the target policy and charging enforcement functional entity using the first session.

Online billing system, mobility awareness policy, billing control, final credit report, correlation identifier

Description

MOBILITY AWARE POLICY AND CHARGING CONTROL IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK}

This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 60 / 898,612, filed Jan. 31, 2007, entitled "WiMAX SIMULTANEOUS BINDING OF IP-CAN SESSIONS AND MAKE BEFORE BREAK HANDOVER," the contents of which are incorporated by reference. Hereby incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly to wireless communication systems.

Service providers typically provide multiple voice and / or data services to subscribers using one or more wired and / or wireless communication systems. Example services include cellular telephones, access to the Internet, gaming, broadcasting or broadcasting or multicasting of audio, video and multimedia programming, and the like. Mobile subscriber units such as cell phones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, pagers, text messaging devices, global positioning system (GPS) devices, network interface cards, notebook computers, and desktop computers are one Or access the services provided by the communication systems via a wireless interface with more base stations. Services are provided in accordance with established and / or negotiated policies and service providers typically charge end users for the services provided. For example, the cellular telephone service provider may charge the end user for each minute of broadcast time used during voice communications. The billing rate may be determined based on a negotiated policy indicating the quality of service to be provided to the end user. In another embodiment, end users may be charged for each bit of data transmitted and / or received by a mobile unit operated by the end user. As a result, wireless communication systems implement various charging and policy control architectures.

1A conceptually illustrates a typical policy and charging control architecture 100 as defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.203 in accordance with WiMAX standards. Typical policy and charging control architecture 100 includes one or more application functions (AF) 105 that provide an application that requires dynamic policy and / or charging control. Each application function 105 may communicate with a policy control and charging rule function (PCRF) 110 via an Rx interface. The PCRF 110 provides network control rules regarding service data flow detection, gating, and quality of service and / or flow based charging to the Policy Control and Enforcement Function (PCEF) 115 via the Gx / Ty interface. For example, PCRF 110 may determine various policy and charging control (PCC) rules and send these rules to PCEF 115. In some cases, PCRF 110 determines PCC rules based on subscription information associated with a subscriber and stored in subscription profile repository (SPR) 120.

PCEF 115 resides in gateway 125, which may be part of an access serving network (not shown in FIG. 1) of a wireless communication system. For example, PCEF 115 is located in the GGSN for the GPRS network and the PDG for the WLAN. Optionally, in a system operating in accordance with 3GPP2 standards, PCEF 115 may be deployed in a packet data serving node (PDSN) running as a gateway entity. Gateway 125 communicates with online charging system 130 and / or offline charging system 135 via interfaces Gy and Gz, respectively. The online charging system 130 may include a CAMEL SCP 140 and / or a charging control function 145. The online charging system 130 provides charging control (CC) rules to the PCEF 115. PCEF 115 may be responsible for service data flow detection, policy enforcement, and flow based charging in accordance with PCC / CC rules set by RCFR 110 with respect to online charging system 130 and / or offline charging system 135. Run the functions. For example, the PCEF 115 may execute gate enforcement, quality of service enforcement, and charging control using PCC / CC rules associated with subscribers for various services to ensure proper deployment and quality of service enforcement and accurate charging. have.

1B conceptually illustrates a typical network 150 that supports mobility between the source radio access network 155 (1) and the target radio access network 155 (2). WiMAX standards support the target radio access network 155 (2) from the source radio access network 155 (1), as indicated by arrow 170 with the external agent 165 simultaneously in the PCEF 115 and in some cases. It supports the access serving network and core serving network initiation handovers of the mobile unit 160 to move to. In the illustrated embodiment, mobile unit 160 is registered with home network 175. Handoff processes may be initiated by the mobile unit 160 or an entity in the network, for example, as part of the network resource optimization process. Delays and / or interruptions in communication between the PCRF 110, the PCEF 115, and / or the OCS 130 are necessary for the new serving PCEF 115 to enforce the policies and / or charging rules associated with the subscriber. Prevent receiving PCC and / or CC rules that may be and improperly charging any services received by the subscriber.

The present invention addresses the effects of one or more of the problems described above. The following provides a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention, but rather to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is discussed later.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for executing in a policy control and charging rule functional entity in a wireless communication system. The method includes receiving information indicating a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to a target access network from at least one source policy and charging enforcement function in the source access network or from a target policy and charging enforcement function in the target access network. Steps. The method also includes establishing a first session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. The first session occurs concurrently with the second session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. The second session was pre-set with source policy and billing enforcement functions in the source access network. The method further includes transmitting at least one policy and charging rule to the target policy and charging enforcement function using the first session.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for performing in an online charging system in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes receiving information indicating a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to a target access network from at least one source policy and charging enforcement function of the source access network or from the target policy and charging enforcement function in the first access network. Steps. The method also includes establishing a first session for communicating credit control rules associated with the mobile unit using the first policy and charging enforcement function. The first session occurs concurrently with the second session for communicating credit control rules associated with the mobile unit. The second session is preset with source policy and charging enforcement function in the source access network. The method also includes transmitting at least one credit control rule to the target policy and the charging enforcement function using the first session.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for executing in a policy and charging enforcement functional entity in a target access network of a wireless communication system. The method includes transmitting information indicating a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to a target access network to a policy control and charging rule functional entity in a wireless communication system. The method also includes establishing a first session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit with a policy control and charging rule function. The first session occurs concurrently with the second session for policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. The second session is preset with a source policy and charging enforcement function of the source access network. The method also includes receiving at least one policy and charging rule from the policy control and charging rules function using the first session.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention may be understood with reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify similar elements.

1A conceptually illustrates a typical policy and charging control architecture defined by 3GPP in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.203 in accordance with WiMAX standards.

1B conceptually illustrates a typical network that supports mobility between a source radio access network and a target radio access network.

2 conceptually illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of a wireless communication system in accordance with the present invention;

3 conceptually illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of a wireless communication system supporting roaming according to the present invention;

4 conceptually illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a method for implementing mobility awareness policy and charging control in accordance with the present invention;

5 conceptually illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a double constraint solution in accordance with the present invention;

While the invention is affected by various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail herein. However, the description herein of specific embodiments does not limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, and on the contrary, all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It is to be understood that what is to be covered.

The illustrated embodiments of the present invention are described below. In view of simplicity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. Of course, in the deployment of any of the above practical embodiments, it will be appreciated that a number of execution specific decisions are made to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as in accordance with system related and business related restrictions that will vary from one implementation to another. . In addition, it will be appreciated that while the development effort may be complex and time consuming, it may nevertheless be routinely undertaken for those skilled in the art knowing the advantages of this disclosure.

Portions and corresponding detailed descriptions of the invention are provided in terms of software or algorithms and symbolic representations of data bits in computer memory. These descriptions and representations are the ones by which those of ordinary skill in the art convey their work to others of ordinary skill in the art. The term algorithm, as used herein and generally used, is considered to be a reasonable sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Generally, but not necessarily, these quantities take the form of optical, electrical or magnetic signals that can be stored, transferred, combined, compared and manipulated. It is sometimes proved convenient to refer to these signals, such as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, etc., mainly for reasons of common use.

However, it should be borne in mind that all these and similar terms are associated with appropriate physical quantities and are simply convenient levels applied to these quantities. If not specifically stated otherwise, or "disputed" in the discussion, terms such as "processing" or "computing" or "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or the like refer to computer system memories or registers or other information store, The operation and processing of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical and electronic quantities in computer systems and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities in transmission or display devices.

Note that software execution aspects of the present invention are typically encoded on some form of program storage medium or executed over some type of transmission medium. The program storage medium may be magnetic (eg, floppy disk or hard drive) or optical (eg, compact disc read only memory, or “CD ROM”), and may be read only or random access. Similarly, the transmission medium may be twisted pair pairs, coaxial cable, optical fiber, air interface, or some other suitable transmission medium known in the art. The invention is not limited by these aspects of any given implementation.

The invention will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. Various structures, systems and devices are schematically depicted in the drawings in order to illustrate and not obscure the present invention with details well known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attached drawings are included to describe and explain illustrative embodiments of the present invention. The words and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in the art. Definitions of specific terms or phrases, that is, definitions different from the original conventional meanings understood by those skilled in the art, are implied by the consistent use of the terms or phrases herein. To the extent that a term or phrase has a specific meaning, ie, a meaning different from what a person skilled in the art would understand, the specific definition will appear in the specification in a defined manner providing a direct and unambiguous definition of the term or phrase.

2 conceptually illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of a wireless communication system 200. In the illustrated embodiment, the wireless communication system 200 implements a policy and charging control architecture that performs dynamic policy and / or charging control for one or more application functions (AF) 205. Portions of the wireless communication system 200 may operate in accordance with WiMAX standards set by 3GPP in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.203. Those skilled in the art will recognize that 3GPP does not represent all the requirements for WiMAX systems and that WiMAX standards are defined in WiMAX form. However, the present invention is not limited to wireless communication systems 200 operating in accordance with WiMAX standards. For example, in alternative embodiments, some or all of the wireless communication systems 200 may be a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) of UMTS, and Code Division Multiple Access / Ultra Mobile Broadband (CDMA / UMB) may operate in accordance with one or more other radio access technologies. In addition, the wireless communication system 200 performs functions not shown in 3GPP Technical Specification 23.203. In particular, embodiments of the wireless communication system 200 implement mobility awareness policy and charging control.

In the first exemplary embodiment, the application function 205 is executed in the home network 210, which may include the home agent 215. Each application function 205 may communicate with a policy control and charging rules function (PCRF) 220 via an Rx interface. PCRF 220 provides network control regarding service data flow detection, gating, service billing quality, and / or flow based charging. For example, PCRF 220 may determine various policy and charging control (PCC) rules based on subscription information associated with a subscriber and stored in subscription profile repository (SPR) 225. Home network 210 also includes an online and / or offline billing system (OCS / OFCS) 230 that can set and distribute billing control (CC) rules. Techniques for executing and / or operating application functions 205, home agent 215, PCRF 220, SPR 225, and OCS / OFCS 230 are known in the art and, in a simplified manner, Only aspects that execute and / or operate these related functional entities will be discussed herein.

The wireless communication system 200 also includes one or more base stations 235 that can be used to provide a wireless connection to the mobile units 240. Each base station includes a PCEF that may be associated with a policy control and enforcement function (PCEF) 245 or may receive PCC rules from the PCRF 220 via a Gx interface. Base station 235 and PCEF 245 may reside in a network element, such as a gateway, which may be part of an access serving network (not shown in FIG. 2) of wireless communication system 200. For example, each PCEF 245 may be placed in a GGSN for a GPRS network, a PDG for a WLAN, a PDSN for 3GPP2 networks, or an ASN-GW for WiMAX. Each PCEF 245 communicates with the OCS / OFCS 230 via interfaces Gy and Gz, respectively. OCS 230 provides charging control (CC) rules to PCEF 245. PCEF 245 executes service data flow detection, policy enforcement, and flow based charging functions in accordance with PCC / CC rules set by RCRF 220 with respect to OCS / OFCS 230. For example, the PCEF 245 uses the PCC / CC rules associated with subscribers to various services to ensure gate enforcement, service enforcement quality, and billing control to ensure quality enforcement and accurate charging of appropriate deployment and service policies. You can run

In the illustrated embodiment, mobile unit 240 has an established wireless communication link linked with base station 235 (1) and is therefore associated with source PCEF 245 (1). As a result, source PCEF 245 (1) executes gate enforcement, service enforcement quality, and charging control using PCC / CC rules associated with mobile unit 240. For example, PCC / CC rules may be determined by PCRF 220 and / or OCS / OFCS 230 in response to mobile unit 240 establishing a wireless communication link with base station 235 (1). Mobile unit 240 may handoff to other base stations, such as base station 235 (2) while in an active, sleep, or idle state. Handoff reasons move to different geographic areas served by base station 235 (2), change environmental conditions that improve channel conditions associated with base station 235 (2), and / or base station 235 (1). Degrading the quality of channel conditions associated with)), changing the loading of base stations 235, and the like. In the illustrated embodiment, the base stations 235 operate according to the same wireless communication standards and / or protocols. However, one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure should appreciate that the present invention is not limited to handoffs between base stations 235 that share the same radio access technology. In other embodiments, base stations 235 may operate in accordance with other radio access technologies, in which case the handoff may be an inter-wireless access technology handoff.

The PCRF 220 OCS / OFCS 230 of the home network 210 recognizes mobility and thus the source when the mobile unit 240 hands off to the base station 235 (2) as indicated by arrow 250. Soft handoffs (eg, pre-disconnection connection handoffs) may be executed from the PCEF 245 (1) to the target PCEF 245 (2). For example, PCRF 220 may have an existing IP-CAN session with source PCEF 245 (1) used to install policy and / or per-flow billing rules for source PCEF 245 (1). . The source PCEF 245 (1) and initiating IP-CAN session are not released until policy and / or per flow billing rules are continuously installed in the target PCEF 245 (2). OCS / OFCS 230 may also initiate concurrent sessions with source and target PCEF 245 and use these sessions to install charging control rules in target PCEF 245 (2). Therefore, the communication between the PCRF 220 and the source and target PCEFs 245 is performed during mobile handover from the serving radio access network (RAN, or S-ASN for WiMAX systems) to the target RAN (T-ASN). Uninterrupted, PCEF 245 for mobile unit 240 relocates to a new target serving RAN (new serving WiMAX ASN). Simultaneous constraining of sessions on both the source RAN and the target RAN combined with pre-disconnection connection handover ensures continuous enforcement of QoS policies and charging rules without service interruption. In the illustrated embodiment, both PCRF 220 and OCS / OFCS 230 recognize mobility, but this is not necessary for the practice of the present invention. In other embodiments, only one of the PCRF 220 and the OCS / OFCS 230 may recognize mobility.

3 conceptually illustrates a second exemplary embodiment of a wireless communication system 300. As in the first exemplary embodiment, the second exemplary embodiment of the wireless communication system 300 provides for policy and charging to perform dynamic policy and / or charging control for one or more application functions (AF) 305. Implement the control architecture. Therefore, portions of the wireless communication system 300 may operate in accordance with WiMAX standards established by 3GPP and / or other standards of 3GPP Technical Specification 23.203. However, 3GPP does not represent all requests for WiMAX systems. WiMAX standards are defined in the WiMAX Forum. In contrast to the first exemplary embodiment, the second exemplary embodiment of the wireless communication system 300 supports roaming from the home network 310 to the visited network 315. Although a single visited network 315 is shown in FIG. 3, those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure should appreciate that the wireless communication system 300 may include any number of visited networks 315.

As in the first exemplary embodiment, each application function 305 may communicate with a policy control and charging rules function (H-PCRF) 320 via an Rx interface. H-PCRF 320 provides network control for service data flow detection, gating, service charging quality, and / or flow based charging. For example, H-PCRF 320 may determine various policy and billing control (PCC) rules based on subscription information associated with a subscriber and stored in subscription profile repository (SPR) 325. Home network 310 also includes an online and / or offline billing system (OCS) 330 that can set and distribute billing control (CC) rules. However, in the second exemplary embodiment, the visited network 315 may visit the visited PCRF 340 and visit which may communicate with the home PCRF 320 and the home OCS 330 to set various PCC / CC rules. The executed OCS 345. If present, the home agent may be placed in the home network or assigned to the network visited by the home network (335) as shown. The visited PCRF 340 and the visited OCS 345 are also aware of mobility and thus the mobile unit 355 is discussed in detail herein and the mobile unit 355 is connected to the base station 360 (as indicated by arrow 365). Soft handoffs (e.g., pre-truncate connection) from source PCEF 350 (1) to target PCEF 350 (2) when handing off from base station 360 (2) have.

4 conceptually illustrates one example embodiment of a method 400 of implementing mobility awareness policy and charging control. In the illustrated embodiment, the method 400 uses the policy and billing enforcement function (source PCEF) in the source policy and billing enforcement function (source PCEF) using PCC rules set by the policy and charging rule function (PCRF) and the online billing system (OCS). Describes procedures that can be used to initiate control. The procedure begins in response to a mobile unit or network request requesting a new session. When the source PCEF receives a request for a new session, the communication / negotiation session starts a PCRF as indicated by arrow 405. For example, an IP-CAN session can be established between the source PCEF and the PCRF. The communication / negotiation session may also be initiated at the OCS as indicated by arrow 410. In one embodiment, the communication / negotiation sessions are executed as DIAMETER sessions used to communicate with policy rules associated with mobile units on a paired basis. For example, a DIAMETER session may include a signaling link executed at the data link level used to exchange version information, state information, and / or capability information associated with two mobile units in communication with each other. In another embodiment, radius messages may be used to communicate policy rules associated with a mobile unit.

The PCRF may use the established session to determine and / or negotiate PCC rules associated with the mobile unit and then send the PCC rules to the source PCEF. The OCS sends the CC rules associated with the mobile unit using the established session and then sends the CC rules to the source PCEF. In one embodiment, a new relocation event / trigger may be communicated to the source PCEF of the existing signaling sequence. For example, the PCRF may include in the PCEF a PCEF_RELOC trigger of a CCA message instructing the PCEF to request reauthentication when the PCEF is relocated, for example, in response to a handover of the mobile unit. The relocation trigger may also be included in the CCA message from the OCS. This relocation trigger may instruct the PCEF to request updated CC rules when the PCEF is relocated. PCC / CC rules are installed (at 415) under the control of PCRF and OCS. Once the PCC / CC rules have been installed at the source PCEF (at 415), the initialization is complete and the mobile unit operates under the control of the source PCEF as indicated by dashed line 420.

When the mobile unit is handed off from the source PCEF to the target PCEF, context transfer is performed between the source PCEF and the target PCEF as indicated by arrow 425. In one embodiment, the context uses known context transfer algorithms but incorporates new parameters in context transfer to facilitate the implementation of mobility aware PCRF and OCS. For example, new parameters can be used to verify that the PCC / CC rules associated with the mobile unit are installed in the target PCEF before the PCC / CC rules are removed from the source PCEF. In one embodiment, the modified context transfer includes the IP address of the mobile unit, the IP address of the PCRF and the correlation identifier. The IP address of the PCRF causes the target PCEF to contact the same PCRF, which handles the connection to the source PCEF. The correlation identifier correlates the records generated by the previous PCEF with the records by the OCS. For example, the correlation identifier CORREL_ID may be set to the value of DIAMETER <session-id> that uniquely identifies the mobile unit session between the source PCEF and the OCS.

The target PCEF then starts a communication / negotiation session with the PCRF as indicated by arrow 430. For example, an existing IP-CAN session can be extended or continued to include the target PCEF and PCRF. A new DIAMETER session may also be established (at 430) between the target PCEF and the PCRF. In one embodiment, the communication session between the target PCEF and the PCRF begins when the target PCEF sends an indication of the handoff to the PCRF. Optionally, the source PCEF sends an indication to perform a handoff to the PCRF, so that the PCRF can begin setup of the communication session before receiving the indication from the target PCRF. The PCRF uses the established session to send PCC rules to the target PCEF that may determine and / or negotiate PCC rules associated with the mobile unit and then install (at 435) new PCC rules. For example, the target PCEF may send a CCR message to the PCRF requesting an update of the PCC rules using an event trigger set to "PCEF-RELOC" due to the reason for the reauthentication request. The PCRF responds with new PCC rules due to the CCA message and the new PCC is installed (at 435) in the target PCEF.

The communication / negotiation session may also be initiated between the target PCEF and the OCS, as indicated by arrow 440. For example, PCEF may send a request to the OCS for updated CC rules with 'PCEF_RELOC' as a trigger for reauthentication. In one embodiment, the request includes a CORREL_ID identifying the session between the OCS and the source PCEF. The OCS may use the established session to determine and / or negotiate CC rules associated with the mobile unit and then send CC rules to the target PCEF that may install 445 new CC rules. These sessions work concurrently with previously initiated sessions between the source PCEF and PCRF and / or OCS. As a result, the source PCEF may continue to maintain policy and charging control and the target PCEF is configured and provided to perform policy and charging control for the handoff mobile unit.

Once the handoff of the PCEF is complete, previous sessions between the source PCEF and the PCRF / OCS can be removed as indicated by arrows 450 and 455. For example, the DIAMETER session of the mobile unit between the PCRF and the source ASN can be eliminated. In one embodiment, the final credit report may be passed from the source PCEF to the OCS as part of the session removal process. CORREL_ID causes the OCS to correlate the final credit report with the record generated by the target PCEF. For each mobile unit that is handed off, the PCEF maintains two concurrent sessions for a temporary period before the session with the source PCEF is removed. To handle this condition and correctly send PCC rules updates requested by the application function and / or subscriber policy response (SPR), the PCRF may implement a double constraint (DB) solution.

5 conceptually illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a method 500 of a dual restraint solution. The method 500 may be executed concurrently with the portions of the method 400 shown in FIG. 4. In one embodiment, method 500 may begin concurrently with removal (at 450) of previous sessions between source PCEF and PCRF as shown in FIG. 4. For example, the method 500 may be executed after the CCR is sent to the source PCEF and before the CCA message is received by the target PCEF to indicate that the source PCEF should separate the session associated with the mobile unit. In the illustrated embodiment, a new diameter session is established (at 505) between the target PCEF and the PCRF. A flag indicating that the dual constraint solution is in use is set in the PCRF (at 510) and the profile associated with the user and stored on the SPR is changed (at 515) in response to establishing a new diameter session. For example, the network service provider may change the subscriber's profile to add / remove services that allow the subscriber to be accessed. In another embodiment, the network service provider may change the subscriber's profile to upgrade / downgrade the QoS of the subscriber "granted" to receive.

The PCRF sends a removal PCC rules request message to the source PCEF as indicated by arrow 520, which causes the source PCEF to remove the reference rules used for the policy and charging control associated with the handoff mobile unit. If the application function (AF) or subscriber profile store requests an update of existing rules from the PCRF as indicated by arrows 525 and 530, then the PCRF will determine whether and / or how to modify the PCC and CC rules. (At 535). The PCRF and target PCEF may then modify the session (at 540) according to the modified PCC / CC rules. The target PCEF may also perform a credit request procedure with the OCS based at the modified PCC / CC rules (at 545). The PCRF may identify any changes made to existing rules to the application function and / or subscriber profile repository as represented by arrows 550 and 555. The dual constraint solution procedure shown by steps 525, 530, 535, 540, 545, 550, 555 allows the PCRF to receive confirmation that the PCC / CC rules for the source PCEF are removed and the session with the source PCEF is terminated. May be repeated until (at 560).

After the source PCEF receives the removal rules request message from the PCRF, the source PCEF removes (at 565) the existing PCC / CC rules and terminates (at 570) the associated session. Removal of existing PCC / CC rules (at 565) and termination of the associated session (at 570) may affect the application functionality and other actions of the system, such as variations of profiles stored at the subscriber profile repository (at 515) as discussed herein. In addition to the changes, the steps used to solve double constraint problems can be processed simultaneously. When the source PCEF removes existing PCC / CC rules (at 565) and terminates the associated session (at 560) (at 570), the source PCEF removes the PCC / CC rules for the source PCEF and terminates the session with the source PCEF. A confirmation is sent (at 560). The PCRF may then remove the previous constraint for the source PCEF (at 575), terminate the associated session (at 580), and reset the dual constraint flag to indicate that only a single constraint is present in the associated mobile unit. (At 585).

The specific embodiments described above are for illustration only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but obvious equivalent ways to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the instructions herein. Moreover, no limitations are intended to the items of construction or design herein shown other than as described in the claims below. Therefore, it is apparent that the specific embodiments described above may be altered or modified and the variations are contemplated within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the protection sought here is shown in the following claims.

Claims (10)

A method for executing in a policy control and charging rules function entity in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: Receiving information indicative of a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to a target access network from at least one of a source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the source access network or a target policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the target access network; ; Establishing, with the target policy and charging enforcement functional entity, a first session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit, wherein the first session is for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. Generating a first session substantially simultaneously with a second session, wherein the second session is preset with the source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the source access network; And Transmitting at least one policy and charging rule to the target policy and charging enforcement functional entity using the first session. The method of claim 1, Establishing the first session comprises: determining whether the second session has already been established as the source policy and charging enforcement functional entity in the source access network; and And suspending the second session in response to establishing the first session. The method of claim 1, The mobile unit accesses at least one service provided by at least one application functional entity, Sending at least one event notification to the at least one application functional entity in response to receiving information indicating the mobile unit handed off from the source access network to the target access network. Charging Rules A method for executing on a functional entity. The method of claim 1, Performing at least one credit request procedure in response to transmitting the at least one policy and the charging rule; And Initiating the removal of the second session in response to continuously performing the at least one credit request procedure. A method for executing in an online charging system in a wireless communication system, comprising: Receiving information indicative of a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to a target access network from at least one of a source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the source access network or a target policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the first access network; ; Establishing, with the target policy and charging enforcement functional entity, a first session for communicating credit control rules associated with the mobile unit, wherein the first session is further configured to communicate credit control rules associated with the mobile unit; The first session establishment step occurring concurrently with a session, wherein the second session is preset with the source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the source access network; And Transmitting at least one credit control rule to the target policy and charging enforcement functional entity using the first session. The method of claim 5, Receiving information indicative of the mobile unit comprises receiving a correlation identifier indicative of the second session. The method of claim 6, Receiving a final credit report associated with a source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the mobile unit and the source access network; Receiving information indicative of a credit record formed by the target policy and charging enforcement functional entity in response to receiving the at least one credit control rule; And Correlating the final credit report with the credit record using the correlation identifier representing the second session. A method for executing in a policy and charging enforcement functional entity in a target access network of a wireless communication system, the method comprising: Sending information indicating a mobile unit handed off from a source access network to the target access network to a policy control and charging rules functional entity of the wireless communication system; Establishing, with the policy control and charging rules functional entity, a first session for communicating policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit, wherein the first session communicates policy and charging rules associated with the mobile unit. The first session establishment step, wherein the first session is preset with a source policy and charging enforcement functional entity of the source access network; And Receiving at least one policy and charging rule from the policy control and charging rules functional entity using the first session. The method of claim 8, Receiving a context transfer from the source policy and charging enforcement functional entity in the source access network, Sending information indicative of the mobile unit comprises transmitting information indicative of the mobile unit in response to receiving the context transfer. The method of claim 8, Providing signaling to an online charging system of the wireless communication system, the signaling comprising information indicative of the mobile unit and a correlation identifier indicative of the second session; And Receiving at least one credit control rule associated with the mobile unit from the online charging system in response to providing the signaling to the online charging system.

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