A Sandvine Technology Showcase

Contents

Executive Summary ................................... 1

Introduction to Universal Policy Control .......... 2

Sandvine’s Service Delivery Engine ................ 3

Interface Support .................................. 3

Universal Policy Control........................... 3

Example Use Cases .................................... 5

Universal Policy Control for VoLTE/VoIP ....... 5

OneNumber Seamless Handoff ................... 5

Universal Usage Quotas ........................... 6

Service Delivery with Seamless Wi-Fi Offload . 6

Universal Bill Shock Protection .................. 7

Universal Fair Use and Congestion Management8

Conclusion .............................................. 8

Related Resources ................................. 8

Invitation to Provide Feedback .................. 8

Executive Summary As fixed and mobile networks converge, the ability to manage the speed, quality, volume and signaling requirements of both on-deck and off-deck services is more critical than ever. Sandvine offers service providers the opportunity to consolidate their control plane architecture into a single point of unified policy control.

The SDE is a universal policy controller that simplifies end-to-end QoS control in converged networks, while enabling a range of cost-saving and revenue-generating use cases.

This paper presents the unique features and advantages of Sandvine’s universal policy controller, the SDE, for the delivery and verification of network-wide QoS.

Universal Policy Control and the Service Delivery Engine

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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Introduction to Universal Policy Control Converged network operators (i.e., those with multiple access technologies) face a number of challenges relating to implementing network-wide policy control. It is not uncommon for these operators to have a different policy control solution in each access type: mobile networks have a PCRF; cable networks have supported signaled QoS since 20071

In addition to an onerous training and maintenance overhead that comes with a fractured approach to policy control, in which different systems are used on different networks, it impacts the CSP’s ability to introduce network-wide subscriber services. For instance, to enable quotas across multiple access types, or to zero-rate sponsored data, then functionally identical policies must be defined in many different locations – a process that is both operationally intensive and prone to error.

; and traffic prioritization in DSL networks is now an established practice.

So, given the complications and limitations of fractured policy control, why is that the route many CSPs take? The simple answer is that until now, there has never been a single system that can ‘speak the language’ of every access technology.

1 PacketCable version 1.0 first defined QoS in cable networks in 2007.

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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Sandvine’s Service Delivery Engine The Service Delivery Engine (SDE), Sandvine’s standards-compliant PCRF, brings universal policy control and the power of the Sandvine Policy Engine to the control plane of any fixed, mobile, or converged network, and in doing so uniquely enables a wide range of valuable use cases.

The subsections below explain particular aspects of the SDE that make it the world’s first universal policy controller.

Interface Support Through extensive interface support, the SDE allows CSPs to signal end-to-end QoS and policy enforcement to any and every network type, whether alone or as part of a complex, converged network.

Figure 1 maps some of the SDE’s interfaces to particular access technologies. While the list below omits some access types for brevity (for instance, Satellite networks), it nevertheless shows how the SDE enables universal communication within a converged network.

Figure 1 – The Service Delivery Engine’s policy control interfaces, mapped to access technologies

Universal Policy Control Communicating with policy enforcement and network measurement devices (e.g., those with some deep packet inspection, or DPI, capabilities) is a necessary, but insufficient, piece of the puzzle. To truly enable universal policy control, a PCRF must bridge the gap between the data plane and the B/OSS plane.

With extensive standards support and proven interoperability with B/OSS solutions, the SDE meets this requirement.

Figure 2 shows how a wide range of interfaces allows the SDE to exchange information with the network’s B/OSS layer, and also illustrates that the SDE can enforce policies on third-party network

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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elements as well as on Sandvine’s own Policy Traffic Switch (PTS). For simplicity, the figure collapses the entire network edge into a single “PCEF”, but each access technology could easily have a distinct PCEF or gateway, and the SDE would simply use the appropriate policy enforcement interface for each enforcement location.

Figure 2 - The Service Delivery Engine’s place in a converged network

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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Example Use Cases The following are some of the use cases that can be driven from the SDE as a single point of policy control. This list is by no means exhaustive – the primary benefit of a universal policy controller is that it gives CSPs a single point of coordination of policy control for the entire network, for any policy control use case – but is meant to highlight some use cases that would be difficult or impossible with the traditional, fractured approach.

Universal Policy Control for VoLTE/VoIP Different implementations of the VOIP application can lead to specific needs including the ability to seamlessly handoff a call from/to LTE to Cable/Wifi, making the Sandvine Universal PCRF a great resource for coordinating QoS. In other cases, when only hard handoffs are possible, the PCRF can still guarantee the orchestration of the necessary QoS parameters according to user’s profile and location.

Figure 3 – Universal policy control: a single PCRF coordinates policy for every access technology

OneNumber Seamless Handoff With Sandvine’s universal policy controller that’s enabled for VoLTE environments, LTE operators can offer their VoLTE subscribers innovative services such as OneNumber with guaranteed QoS across multiple access technologies. The SDE maintains state, service delivery and measurement accuracy through handoffs between 3G and LTE, mobile and cable or DSL, and for Wi-Fi offload. And if the subscriber happens to be using a 3rd party network not managed by the operator on a WebRTC call for example, Sandvine can still report on the achieved QoE levels.

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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Figure 4 - Would your subscribers like this service?

Universal Usage Quotas The SDE allows Sandvine’s Quota Manager product to enable shared usage plans that ensure subscribers have one account covering all of their network usage, regardless of access type. As one example, a North American LTE provider leveraged the SDE to implement group plans that allow for the sharing of mobile data usage between subscribers, devices, and access technologies. With the ability to share usage across multiple devices and members, this mobile operator provided an incentive to subscribers to increase the number of devices and members being served for a low incremental cost. With more members being served by the same data plan, subscriber loyalty was increased as multiple members are required to make a churn decision.

Figure 5 – Shared Usage across network access types charged to one account

Service Delivery with Seamless Wi-Fi Offload Building on the previous example, the same LTE operator used the SDE to enable a zero-rating promotion for Wi-Fi offload. Individual subscribers, including subscribers joining a shared plan, were not charged for data when connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots for an initial time period, after which the Wi-Fi data was no longer zero-rated. Sandvine’s SDE provisions the plans across access technologies (i.e., LTE, Cable, and Wi-Fi) and ensures the PTS zero-rates the Wi-Fi data when managing the data quotas.

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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Figure 6 – Shared Usage across network access types charged to one account

Universal Bill Shock Protection Again building on the previous two examples, the SDE enables bill shock prevention across access types by giving subscribers timely notification of their data usagae. Quota Manager measures and reports subscriber usage in real-time via the PTS. This information is presented to the end consumer through a smartphone application developed by the communications service provider and made available in the smartphone application marketplace. The usage app delivers onscreen updates to the mobile devices in real-time, and provides subscribers with complete visibility into fixed usage, roaming usage, postpaid and even prepaid mobile data usage.

Figure 7 – Universal Bill Shock prevention across access types, shared plans

Universal Policy Control and the SDE

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Universal Fair Use and Congestion Management For CSPs that manage multiple types of access, Sandvine’s SDE can manage the fair use policy or policies for each subscriber from a single policy control point. The SDE also ensures that location-specific congestion management policies are applied from a single policy control point for multiple network access types.2

Figure 8 – Universal Fair Use and Congestion Management

Conclusion As fixed and mobile networks converge, the ability to manage the speed, quality, volume and signaling requirements of both on-deck and off-deck services more critical than ever. Sandvine offers service providers the opportunity to consolidate their control plane architecture into a single point of unified policy control. The SDE is a universal policy controller that simplifies end-to-end QoS control in converged networks, while enabling a range of cost-saving and revenue-generating use cases.

Related Resources For a detailed examination of the issues surrounding VoLTE and network policy control, see the Sandvine whitepaper VoLTE: Challenges and Opportunities. For more about Sandvine’s VoLTE PCRF added value and use cases, see the Sandvine technology showcase VoLTE and the SDE.

Invitation to Provide Feedback Thank you for taking the time to read this technology showcase. We hope that you found it useful, and that it helped you understand how the Service Delivery Engine enables innovative, standards-based use cases from a single point of policy control for any network type.

If you have any feedback or have questions that have gone unanswered, then please send a note to whitepapers@sandvine.com. 2 For information about QualityGuard and congestion management, please see the technology showcase The QualityGuard Congestion Responses System.

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