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Table Of Contents
Service Creation Integration Model
Real Time Subscriber Provisioning and Monitoring
Service Creation Integration Model
This module describes the model used for service creation integration solution creation.
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Service Creation Integration
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Service Creation Integration
In a Service Creation environment, SCA BB would typically integrate with a Policy Server (PS) system, which would be a part of the provider's OSS. This system would manage subscriber policies in real time, provision usage quotas for a subscriber (as well as monitor subscriber usage), and handle billing for the solution.
The system can be either an internal system that is closed to the subscriber or an open system. The internal system has no subscriber facing interfaces (assigning subscribers with their predefined service-levels and quotas, as purchased offline). The open system allows subscribers to purchase and provision their own usage policies and quotas (based on the provider definitions) through a self care portal.
The full solution depends on the functionality and capabilities of the Policy Server, with the Cisco SCA BB solution providing the network enforcement and accounting platform within the full solution.
To keep the solution synchronized with the dynamic network mappings of the subscribers, it is necessary to integrate the solution with the provider's backend systems that are responsible for IP mapping (such as DHCP, AAA).
The main aspects of the solution that concern a Policy Server vendor or developer are:
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Subscriber IP mapping is also a requirement and in many cases the policy server is also responsible for subscriber IP mapping. However, it is not a mandatory functionality for the server since the mapping may also be done by integration with the backend system responsible for IP mapping (e.g. DHCP server) rather than through the policy server itself, or as mentioned previously, by intercepting data from RADIUS/DHCP traffic.
Reporting in the SCA BB solution is less relevant to the real-time-integration process - it is relevant only if postpaid billing is to be provided through RDR based interfaces. Further details on integration over the reporting plane can be found in the Cisco SCMS Collection Manager User Guide (for integration using the Cisco Collection Manager software), or in the RDR-Toolkit and the Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband Reference Guide for direct integration using RDRs.
Service Configuration
The Service Configuration is static and defines the various policy profiles available as plans, products, or packages for the service providers' customers. Defining the business logic according to the service provider's policy definitions allows the provider to assign a predefined policy to subscribers according to their subscription type. A policy profile defines:
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Service configuration is described in detail in the Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband User Guide and in the Cisco SCA BB Service Configuration API Programmer Guide .
Real Time Subscriber Provisioning and Monitoring
The SCA BB solution provides a number of APIs and interfaces that support real-time subscriber provisioning and monitoring.
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SM-API
The SM-API is used for various subscriber management aspects throughout the SCA BB solution in deployments that use SM rather than direct integration. In such deployments, this API will be used by the Policy Server for defining the policy to apply to a subscriber. The policy is identified by the policy profile (the package) ID, as defined in the service configuration. There are various use cases for the use of this API including: static introduction of a subscriber, self-provisioning, and turbo-button activation.
The SM-API is provided as a client API (both non-blocking and blocking implementations) and is available in Java and C/C++ (Windows, Sparc-Solaris platform, and Red Hat Linux).
The SM-API is provided as a part of the Cisco Service Control Management Suite Subscriber Manager suite. Further details can be found in the Cisco SCMS SM Java API Programmer Guide and in the Cisco SCMS SM C/C++ API Programmer' Guide .
SCE Subscriber API
The SCE Subscriber API is used by the Policy Server for direct integration with the SCE without involving the SM component. The API supports a variety of functions such as:
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Network ID Association
The subscriber mapping API functionality includes the login operation to create the subscriber and, if the subscriber already exists, the modification of the subscriber attributes. The Policy Server invokes this operation when it needs to provision the subscriber identity and other information to the SCE. This occurs, for example, upon notification that the subscriber logged in to the network, or when the Policy Server responds to the pull request.
The login operation includes a number of parameters such as:
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The login operation can be reused in order to update (add or set) the subscriber network ID when the subscriber network ID is modified (e.g. when the DHCP server assigns a different IP address), or when adding IP address instances for a subscriber with multiple IP addresses, or when modifying the subscriber policy after the subscriber is created.
Policy Provisioning
The policy profile can be assigned to a subscriber using the login operation during the initial creation of the subscriber, or when the subscriber is upgraded or downgraded and requires the enforcement of a different policy.
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Quota Provisioning
The quota provisioning mechanism is based on the ability to assign a quota to a subscriber for consuming a specific service and to later manage it. The SCE Subscriber API supports quota provisioning events such as:
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The quota may be provisioned along with subscriber login (see Network ID Association ). This can be used, for example, in cases where the Policy Server also supports quota provisioning. When the network operator's ecosystem includes a separate Quota Provisioning system, the quota may be set after and independently of the login operation.
The quota is provisioned in small portions depending on the business logic of the service provider. When the current quota of a certain service/bucket in the SCE falls below a configured threshold (due to consumption of the service by the subscriber), or becomes depleted, the SCE sends a notification event to the Quota Provisioning system. This event may be interpreted as a quota replenishment request from the subscriber. The Quota Provisioning system may respond with a quota setting or adding operation.
The changes in quota reflecting consumption of the service by the subscriber may be reported using periodical or on demand notifications of the value of the remaining quota. It may be used, for example, to show the subscriber the current status of their quota via the portal. Subscribers can optionally be notified when they breach their quota.
The remaining quota is reported to the Quota Provisioning system upon subscriber logout.
In order to improve the user-experience for a subscriber accessing a service for the first time (with no quota in place), a grace period can be configured using SCA BB during which time the subscriber will be allowed to access the service until the initial quota provisioning stage is complete.
Further details on quota provisioning can be found in the Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband User Guide .
The SCE Subscriber API is currently implemented in Java.
Further details on the SCE Subscriber API can be found in the Cisco SCMS SCE Subscriber API Programmer Guide .
Posted: Thu Jun 7 07:24:13 PDT 2007
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