Method and Apparatus for Handling Policy and Charging Control Rule or Quality of Service Rule Modification Failures

• US 20110202647A1
• Filed: 08/09/2010
• Published: 08/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Mahendran, Arungundram Chandrasekaran, Jin, Haipeng, Giaretta, Gerardo, Song, Osok
• Granted Patent: US 8,972,553 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses are provided that facilitate handling failures in policy rule installation and/or related bearer modification procedures. A set of modified policy rules can be provided to a gateway for enforcement thereof and/or correlation with a bearer of a device. The gateway can attempt to install the modified rules and can utilize a credit control request (CCR)/credit control answer (CCA) exchange to notify of a status of the modified rule installation and/or related bearer modification. A policy charging and rules function (PCRF) can, thus, determine the status based on the CCR/CCA exchange. If the status indicates failure, the PCRF can revert to previous policy rules. In addition, an application function can be notified of the status.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing one or more modified policy rules to a gateway based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

determining whether the gateway successfully completes the bearer modification procedure installing the one or more modified policy rules; and

utilizing the one or more modified policy rules or one or more previous policy rules based at least in part on the determining whether the gateway successfully completes the bearer modification procedure.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a credit control request (CCR) from the gateway requesting the one or more modified policy rules, wherein the providing the one or more modified policy rules includes communicating the one or more policy rules to the gateway in a credit control answer (CCA).

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving a disparate CCR from the gateway related to installing the one or more modified policy rules at the gateway, wherein the determining is based at least in part on the disparate CCR.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the disparate CCR includes the one or more previous policy rules.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising initializing a timer upon providing the one or more modified policy rules to the gateway, wherein the determining is based at least in part on determining whether a credit control request CCR is received from the gateway in response to receiving the one or more modified policy rules at the gateway before expiration of the timer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving new service information from an application function; and

generating the one or more modified policy rules based at least in part on the new service information.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising notifying the application function that the one or more modified policy rules failed to install at the gateway, wherein the determining includes determining that the gateway did not successfully complete the bearer modification procedure, and the utilizing includes utilizing the one or more previous policy rules.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving a rules behavior indicator from the application function that specifies one or more actions to perform if the bearer modification procedure fails.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing the rules behavior indicator to the gateway.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the rules behavior indicator specifies to revert to a previous version of the modified rules or release the previous version of the modified rules if the bearer modification procedure fails.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the utilizing includes utilizing the one or more previous policy rules, and the determining includes determining that the gateway did not successfully complete the bearer modification procedure.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the one or more previous policy rules wherein the determining includes determining that the gateway successfully completed the bearer modification procedure.

13. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

communicate one or more modified policy rules to a gateway based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

determine whether the gateway successfully installs the one or more modified policy rules and completes the bearer modification procedure; and

utilize the one or more modified policy rules or one or more previous policy rules based at least in part on whether the gateway successfully installs the one or more modified policy rules and completes the bearer modification procedure; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

means for providing one or more modified policy rules to a gateway based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

means for determining whether the gateway successfully completes the bearer modification procedure installing the one or more modified policy rules; and

means for reverting to one or more previous policy rules, wherein the means for determining determines that the gateway did not successfully complete the bearer modification procedure.

15. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to communicate one or more modified policy rules to a gateway based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

code for causing the at least one computer to determine whether the gateway successfully installs the one or more modified policy rules and completes the bearer modification procedure; and

code for causing the at least one computer to utilize the one or more modified policy rules or one or more previous policy rules based at least in part on whether the gateway successfully installs the one or more modified policy rules and completes the bearer modification procedure.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a rules provisioning component that provides one or more modified policy rules to a gateway based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

a modifying status receiving component that determines whether the gateway successfully completes the bearer modification procedure installing the one or more modified policy rules; and

a rules reverting component that reverts to one or more previous policy rules, wherein the modifying status receiving component determines that the gateway did not successfully complete the bearer modification procedure.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the rules provisioning component provides the one or more policy rules to the gateway in a credit control answer (CCA) based at least in part on a credit control request (CCR) received from the gateway as part of the bearer modification procedure.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the modifying status receiving component obtains a disparate CCR from the gateway related to installing the one or more modified policy rules at the gateway and determines whether the gateway successfully completes the bearer modification procedure installing the one or more modified policy rules based at least in part on the disparate CCR.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the disparate CCR includes the one or more previous policy rules.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the modifying status receiving component initializes a timer when the rules updating component provides the one or more modified policy rules to the gateway and determines whether the gateway successfully completes the bearer modification procedure installing the one or more modified policy rules based at least in part on whether a credit control request (CCR) is received before expiration of the timer.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a new service receiving component that obtains new service information from an application function, wherein the rules updating component generates the one or more modified policy rules based at least in part on the new service information.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a modifying status communicating component that notifies the application function when installation of the one or more modified policy rules fails where the modifying status receiving component determines that the gateway did not successfully complete the bearer modification procedure.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a rules behavior receiving component that obtains a rules behavior indicator from the application function that specifies one or more actions to perform where the bearer modification procedure fails.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a rules behavior specifying component that communicates the rules behavior indicator to the gateway.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the rules behavior indicator specifies to revert to a previous version of the modified rules or release the previous version of the modified rules if the bearer modification procedure fails.

26. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the rules reverting component removes the one or more previous policy rules based at least in part on the modifying status receiving component determining that the gateway successfully completed the bearer modification procedure.

27. A method, comprising:

receiving one or more modified policy rules from a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

attempting to install the one or more modified policy rules as part of the bearer modification procedure; and

transmitting a credit control request (CCR) to the PCRF to indicate whether the bearer modification procedure successfully completed.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising transmitting a disparate CCR to the PCRF to request rule modification as part of the bearer modification procedure, wherein the receiving the one or more modified policy rules includes receiving the one or more modified policy rules in a corresponding credit control answer (CCA).

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising generating the CCR to include one or more previous policy rules.

30. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving a rules behavior indicator that specifies one or more actions to perform if the bearer modification procedure fails.

31. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

obtain one or more modified policy rules from a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

install the one or more modified policy rules as part of the bearer modification procedure; and

transmit a credit control request (CCR) to the PCRF to indicate whether the bearer modification procedure successfully completed; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

32. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving one or more modified policy rules from a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

means for attempting to install the one or more modified policy rules as part of the bearer modification procedure; and

means for transmitting a credit control request (CCR) to the PCRF to indicate whether the bearer modification procedure successfully completed.

33. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain one or more modified policy rules from a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

code for causing the at least one computer to install the one or more modified policy rules as part of the bearer modification procedure; and

code for causing the at least one computer to transmit a credit control request (CCR) to the PCRF to indicate whether the bearer modification procedure successfully completed.

34. An apparatus, comprising:

a rules receiving component that obtains one or more modified policy rules from a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a bearer modification procedure;

a rules modifying component that attempts to install the one or more modified policy rules as part of the bearer modification procedure; and

a modifying status communicating component that transmits a credit control request (CCR) to the PCRF to indicate whether the bearer modification procedure successfully completed.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the rules receiving component receives the one or more modified policy rules in a credit control answer (CCA) in response to a disparate CCR requesting rule modification.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the modifying status communicating component generates the CCR to include one or more previous policy rules.

37. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising a rules behavior receiving component that obtains a rules behavior indicator specifying one or more actions to perform where the bearer modification procedure fails.

38. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for additional or modified services from a device;

generating new service information for a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on the request; and

transmitting the new service information to the PCRF along with a rules behavior indicator that specifies one or more actions to take if a bearer modification procedure related to the new service information fails.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the rules behavior indicator specifies to revert to one or more previous policy rules where the bearer modification procedure fails.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the rules behavior indicator specifies to release one or more previous policy rules where the bearer modification procedure fails.

41. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor configured to;

obtain a request for additional or modified services from a device;

generate new service information for a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) to facilitate providing resources related to the request; and

transmit the new service information to the PCRF with a rules behavior indicator that specifies one or more actions to perform where a bearer modification procedure related to the new service information fails; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

42. An apparatus, comprising:

means for transmitting new service information to a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a request for additional or modified services from a device; and

means for transmitting a rules behavior indicator that specifies one or more actions to take if a bearer modification procedure related to the new service information fails to the PCRF.

43. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain a request for additional or modified services from a device;

code for causing the at least one computer to generate new service information for a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) to facilitate providing resources related to the request; and

code for causing the at least one computer to transmit the new service information to the PCRF with a rules behavior indicator that specifies one or more actions to perform where a bearer modification procedure related to the new service information fails.

44. An apparatus, comprising:

a new service provisioning component that transmits new service information to a policy charging and rules function (PCRF) based at least in part on a request for additional or modified services from a device; and

a rules behavior specifying component that transmits a rules behavior indicator that specifies one or more actions to take if a bearer modification procedure related to the new service information fails to the PCRF.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the rules behavior indicator specifies to revert to one or more previous policy rules where the bearer modification procedure fails.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the rules behavior indicator specifies to release one or more previous policy rules where the bearer modification procedure fails.