Policy and charging control methods for handling multiple-user subscriptions of a telecommunication network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9608830-B2
Application number	US-201214410494-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2012
Priority date	Jul 5, 2012
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

A policy and charging control method enables a privileged user of a multiple-user subscription of a telecommunication network to cause a change to a policy or charging applicable to a non-privileged user of the subscription. The method comprises: (i) accessing (s 10 ), by a communication terminal of the non-privileged user, an authorization control manager (ACM) function, to request a change of policy or charging applicable to the non-privileged user; (ii) transmitting (s 20 ), by the ACM function to a PCRF, the requested change; (iii) notifying (s 30 ) a communication terminal of the privileged user, by the PCRF, of the requested change; and (iv) indicating (s 40 ), by the communication terminal of the privileged user, to the ACM function, at least one of: (a) whether the requested change is approved, and (b) to which extent the requested change is approved. The invention also relates to network nodes, computer programs, and computer program products.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Policy and charging control method for enabling a privileged user of a multiple-user subscription of a telecommunication network to cause a change to a policy or charging applicable to a non-privileged user of the multiple-user subscription, the method comprising:
accessing, by a communication terminal of the non-privileged user, an authorization control manager function, to request a change of policy or charging applicable to the non-privileged user;
transmitting, by the authorization control manager function to a policy and charging rules function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCRF”, the requested change;
notifying a communication terminal of the privileged user, by the PCRF, of the requested change; and
indicating, by the communication terminal of the privileged user, to the authorization control manager function, at least one of:
whether the requested change is to be granted, and
to which extent the requested change is to be granted.

2. Method of claim 1 , further comprising, before the step of accessing:
determining, by a policy and charging enforcement function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCEF”, that the communication terminal of the non-privileged user is attempting to access a service or content which, if provided, would violate the policy or charging applicable to the non-privileged user.

3. Method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining comprises:
determining that the communication terminal of the non-privileged user is attempting to access web content or service which the non-privileged user is not allowed to access according to the policy applicable to the non-privileged user.

4. Method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining comprises:
determining that the non-privileged user has insufficient credit to access the service or content.

5. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the step of determining comprises inspecting at least one of
layer n control information of received packets, wherein n is an integer equal to or larger than 3; and
received packets' payload encapsulated by layer 7 control information;
wherein the layer level is understood in the sense of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model.

6. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the step of accessing is triggered by the PCEF redirecting the browser of the communication terminal of the non-privileged user to a uniform resource locator (URL) address of the authorization control manager function.

7. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of accessing is followed by the authorization control manager function identifying the privileged user who should handle the requested change.

8. Method according to claim 1 , wherein
the step of accessing comprises selecting, by the communication terminal of the non-privileged user, the privileged user who should handle the requested change; and
the step of accessing is followed by the authorization control manager function identifying the privileged user who should handle the requested change depending on which privileged user has been selected by the communication terminal of the non-privileged user.

9. Method of claim 1 , further comprising, before the step of accessing:
generating, by the PCRF, first policy and charging control, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCC”, rules based on session information negotiated between the non-privileged user's communication terminal and an application function, hereinafter abbreviated as “AF”, the PCC rules indicating that they apply to a non-privileged user of the multiple-user subscription;
installing, at establishment or modification of a user plane session associated with the non-privileged user's communication terminal, the first PCC rules at a policy and charging enforcement function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCEF”; and
initiating a service associated with the non-privileged user's communication terminal in accordance with the first PCC rules.

10. Method of claim 9 , further comprising, after the step of indicating:
generating, by the PCRF, second PCC rules based on the indication received by the authorization control manager function from the communication terminal of the privileged user;
installing, at the PCEF, the second PCC rules by replacing the first PCC rules by the second PCC rules; and
resuming the service associated with the non-privileged user's communication terminal in accordance with the second PCC rules.

11. Method of claim 10 , wherein the steps of accessing, transmitting, notifying, indicating, generating, installing, and resuming take place during the lifetime of the user plane session.

12. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the authorization control manager function is hosted on a network node hosting a subscriber profile repository, hereinafter abbreviated as “SPR”.

13. Method of claim 12 , wherein the SPR stores information on whether a user of the multiple-user subscription is a privileged or non-privileged user of the multiple-user subscription.

14. Network node hosting an authorization control manager function for participating in enabling a privileged user of a multiple-user subscription of a telecommunication network to cause a change to a policy or charging applicable to a non-privileged user of the multiple-user subscription, wherein the network node comprises one or more processors operable to:
enable a communication terminal of the non-privileged user to access the authorization control manager function to request a change of policy or charging applicable to the non-privileged user;
send to a policy and charging rules function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCRF”, the requested change; and
enable a communication terminal of the privileged user to indicate to the authorization control manager function, at least one of:
whether the requested change is to be granted, and
to which extent the requested change is to be granted.

15. Network node of claim 14 , further hosting a subscriber profile repository, hereinafter abbreviated as “SPR”.

16. Network node hosting a policy and charging rules function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCRF”, for participating in enabling a privileged user of a multiple-user subscription of a telecommunication network to cause a change to a policy or charging applicable to a non-privileged user of the multiple-user subscription, wherein the network node comprises:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory that stores processor executable instructions, wherein the at least one processor interfaces with the at least one memory to execute the processor-executable instructions, whereby said network node is operable to:
transmit, towards a network node hosting a policy and charging enforcement function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCEF”, first Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules applicable to the non-privileged user of the multiple-user subscription;
receive, from an authorization control manager function, a requested change of policy or charging applicable to the non-privileged user;
notify a communication terminal of the privileged user of the requested change;
receive, from the authorization control manager function, an indication indicating whether the privileged user has approved the requested change and to what extent;
generate second PCC rules based on the received indication; and
transmit, towards the network node hosting the PCEF, the second PCC rules to replace the first PCC rules for the non-privileged user.

17. Network node hosting a policy and charging enforcement function, hereinafter abbreviated as “PCEF”, for participating in enabling a privileged use

Assignees

• Perez Martinez Alfonso De Jesus
• Alvarez Dominguez Rodrigo
• Perez Andres Juan Ignacio
• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Perez Martinez Alfonso De Jesus
• Alvarez Dominguez Rodrigo
• Perez Andres Juan Ignacio

Classifications

• H04M15/66

  Policy and charging system · CPC title

• G06F2221/2141

  Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices · CPC title

• G06F2221/2149

  Restricted operating environment · CPC title

• G06F2221/2117

  User registration · CPC title

• G06F21/604

  Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems · CPC title