Centralized policy management framework for telecommunication networks

• US 8,131,831 B1
• Filed: 09/19/2006
• Issued: 03/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marlow Technologies, Llc
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hu, Q. James
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Dustin
• Application Number:
  US11/533,302
• Time in Patent Office: 1,995 Days
• Field of Search: 455/410, 455/414.1, 455/343.2, 455/452.2, 707/5, 370/310, 709/225, 709/226, 709/229, 709/231, 709/223, 379/201.03
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/43 Billing software details
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/55 for hybrid networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/66 Policy and charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]

Abstract

A centralized policy management framework, including a centralized policy repository, is provided that can support both services and network management within a wireless network, and supports both Internet Protocol (IP)-based and non IP-based service traffic. Service level agreement (SLA) management and policy exchange is enabled for converged services across network domains. In one non-limiting embodiment, a 3GPP standards-based architecture is integrated into the overall policy management framework.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

storing, in a centralized policy storage abstraction, a first policy relating to an internet protocol flow based services and a second policy relating to a non internet protocol flow based services;

managing the first policy and the second policy via a common management framework;

receiving a request for a service in a communications network;

handling the request for the service based on policy information retrieved from the centralized policy storage abstraction; and

exchanging a portion of the policy information with a disparate communications network for managing a converged service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the managing includes validating the first policy.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving a request for the internet protocol flow based service via a policy control and charging rules function of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 7 Policy and Charging Control Architecture.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving includes receiving a request for the non internet protocol flow based service and further comprising, communicating with a policy enabled policy enforcement point that includes a non internet protocol flow based network element, to facilitate the handling.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, retrieving the policy information referenced by the centralized policy storage abstraction.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the retrieving includes retrieving a third policy pertaining to use of at least one network resource by the service and a fourth policy pertaining to use of the service.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the receiving includes receiving the request from a visited communications network during roaming and the retrieving includes retrieving the policy information from a policy management server of a home communications network for the request by accessing a second central policy repository of the home communications network via a broker mechanism that dynamically maps a policy of the home communications network and the visited communications network information based on a service level agreement.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, dynamically negotiating a service level agreement between the communications network and a disparate communications network.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the dynamically negotiating includes automatically determining, via a broker mechanism, the service level agreement between the communications network and the disparate communications network.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, providing a migration path for converging a localized policy function into the common management framework.

12. A system within a first communication network, comprising:

a centralized policy management server configured to manage policies relating to different classes of services including a first policy for an internet protocol flow based service and a second policy for non internet protocol flow based service a, wherein the centralized policy management sever is further configured to support a converged service across disparate operator domains based on exchange of service policy data with a disparate centralized PMS of a second communications network;

a centralized policy provisioning server configured to provision the policies via a common interface and is communicatively coupled to the centralized PMS; and

a centralized policy data store configured to store the policies, and is communicatively coupled to the centralized policy management server and the centralized policy provisioning server.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the centralized policy management server includes a policy control and charging rules function (PCRF) of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 7 policy and charging control Architecture.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the centralized policy data store includes a subscriber profile repository of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 7 policy and charging control Architecture.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the policies include a third policy pertaining to a network resource.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the centralized policy provisioning server is further configured to resolve a policy conflict.

17. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for a service converged across disparate operator domains;

based on the request, negotiating policy information between a centralized policy management server associated with a first of the disparate operator domains and a disparate centralized policy management server associated with a second of the disparate operator domains;

handling the request for service based on the policy information; and

managing the policy information via a common interface utilized to manage policies relating to disparate classes of services.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising, receiving a disparate request for an internet protocol flow based service via a policy control and charging rules function of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 7 Policy and Charging Control Architecture, and retrieving disparate policy information from a subscriber profile repository of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 7 Policy and Charging Control architecture.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising, dynamically translating a policy associated with the first of the disparate operator domains from the home wireless communication network based on a service level agreement.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising, receiving a disparate request for a non internet protocol flow based service associated with the second of the disparate operator domains and retrieving disparate policy information relating to the non internet protocol flow based service.