Flexi Network Gateway Rel. 2.

1
3.0, Operating Documentation,
v2

Diameter Credit-Control Application

Interface Description
DN0822736
Issue 2-13

Nokia Siemens Networks is continually striving to reduce the adverse environmental effects of
its products and services. We would like to encourage you as our customers and users to join
us in working towards a cleaner, safer environment. Please recycle product packaging and
follow the recommendations for power use and proper disposal of our products and their components.
If you should have questions regarding our Environmental Policy or any of the environmental
services we offer, please contact us at Nokia Siemens Networks for any additional information.

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and describes only the
product defined in the introduction of this documentation. This documentation is intended for the
use of Nokia Siemens Networks customers only for the purposes of the agreement under which
the document is submitted, and no part of it may be used, reproduced, modified or transmitted
in any form or means without the prior written permission of Nokia Siemens Networks. The
documentation has been prepared to be used by professional and properly trained personnel,
and the customer assumes full responsibility when using it. Nokia Siemens Networks welcomes
customer comments as part of the process of continuous development and improvement of the
documentation.
The information or statements given in this documentation concerning the suitability, capacity,
or performance of the mentioned hardware or software products are given "as is" and all liability
arising in connection with such hardware or software products shall be defined conclusively and
finally in a separate agreement between Nokia Siemens Networks and the customer. However,
Nokia Siemens Networks has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the instructions
contained in the document are adequate and free of material errors and omissions. Nokia
Siemens Networks will, if deemed necessary by Nokia Siemens Networks, explain issues which
may not be covered by the document.
Nokia Siemens Networks will correct errors in this documentation as soon as possible. IN NO
EVENT WILL Nokia Siemens Networks BE LIABLE FOR ERRORS IN THIS DOCUMENTATION OR FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL OR ANY LOSSES, SUCH AS BUT NOT LIMITED
TO LOSS OF PROFIT, REVENUE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
OR DATA,THAT MAY ARISE FROM THE USE OF THIS DOCUMENT OR THE INFORMATION
IN IT.
This documentation and the product it describes are considered protected by copyrights and
other intellectual property rights according to the applicable laws.
The wave logo is a trademark of Nokia Siemens Networks Oy. Nokia is a registered trademark
of Nokia Corporation. Siemens is a registered trademark of Siemens AG.
Other product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of their respective
owners, and they are mentioned for identification purposes only.
Copyright Nokia Siemens Networks 2013/11/5. All rights reserved

Important Notice on Product Safety

This product may present safety risks due to laser, electricity, heat, and other sources
of danger.
Only trained and qualified personnel may install, operate, maintain or otherwise handle
this product and only after having carefully read the safety information applicable to this
product.
The safety information is provided in the Safety Information section in the Legal, Safety
and Environmental Information part of this document or documentation set.

The same text in German:

Wichtiger Hinweis zur Produktsicherheit

Von diesem Produkt knnen Gefahren durch Laser, Elektrizitt, Hitzeentwicklung oder
andere Gefahrenquellen ausgehen.
Installation, Betrieb, Wartung und sonstige Handhabung des Produktes darf nur durch
geschultes und qualifiziertes Personal unter Beachtung der anwendbaren Sicherheitsanforderungen erfolgen.
Die Sicherheitsanforderungen finden Sie unter Sicherheitshinweise im Teil Legal,
Safety and Environmental Information dieses Dokuments oder dieses Dokumentationssatzes.

Id:0900d80580a38766
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Table of Contents
This document has 69 pages.
1
1.1
1.2
1.3

Changes in Diameter Credit-Control Application . . . . . . . . . .

Changes between release 2.1 2.0 and release 2.1 3.0 . . . . .
Changes between release 2.1 1.3 and release 2.1 2.0 . . . . .
Changes between release 2.1 1.0 and release 2.1 1.3 . . . . .

2
2.1
2.2

About this document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Scope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Overview of Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG . . . . . . . . .
Configurable DCCA modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quota granularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gx parameters over Gy interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10
10
10
10
12

4
4.1
4.1.1
4.1.2
4.2
4.2.1
4.2.2
4.2.3
4.2.3.1
4.2.3.2
4.2.4
4.2.5
4.2.6
4.2.7
4.2.8
4.2.9
4.2.10
4.2.11
4.3
4.3.1
4.3.2
4.3.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12

Online charging in Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Traffic redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dynamic redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Static redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configurable parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Limiting the amount of MSCCs for each CCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring triggers according to change in charging conditions . . . . .
Default quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Local default quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Default quota granted by OCS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Non-permission timer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quota consumption timer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quota holding timer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quota threshold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Volume quota reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Service context identifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OCS selection by IMSI and MSISDN prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Always-on mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Session failover handling with Gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OCS failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Secondary error handling mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flexi NG failures (high availability). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Charging of service aware transactions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Multi-dimensional quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On-demand quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In-advance quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Graceful termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bearer metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Time tariff changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mass termination queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16
16
16
17
18
18
18
19
19
19
20
21
21
22
22
22
23
23
24
24
27
28
28
29
29
30
31
31
31
31
33

Id:0900d80580a38766
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

.......
.......
.......
.......

..
..
..
..

7
7
7
8

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

4.13
4.14
4.15

Correlation with offline charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Furnish charging information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Secondary PDP contexts and dedicated bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

5
5.1
5.2
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.3
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.8.1
5.8.2
5.8.3
5.9

Gy application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Commands with Gy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
CCR / CCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
RAR / RAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
ASR / ASA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
AVPs with Gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Credit-Control-Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Credit-Control-Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Re-Auth-Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Re-Auth-Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Abort-Session-Request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Abort-Session-Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Result codes with Gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Result codes sent by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Result codes received by Flexi NG at command level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Result codes received by Flexi NG at MSCC level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Termination cause codes with Gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Id:0900d80580a38766
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

List of Figures
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

Policy control (for QoS, Rulebase) by OCS during PDP context establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Policy control (for QoS, Rulebase) upon PDP context update procedure initiated by SGSN (event trigger condition is met). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PDP context update procedure towards SGSN for QoS change, all MSCCs
reported to OCS for QoS change event trigger set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Session failover handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Example: Time tariff change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CCR and CCA command flow with Gy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Id:0900d80580a38766
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

List of Tables
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6
Table 7
Table 8
Table 9
Table 10
Table 11
Table 12
Table 13
Table 14

Flexi NG behavior with the supported quota granularity configuration

options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Message headers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Description of columns in AVP tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Re-Auth-Request received by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Re-Auth-Answer sent by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Abort-Session-Request received by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Abort-Session-Answer sent by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Result codes sent by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Result codes received by Flexi NG at command level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Result codes received by Flexi NG at MSCC level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Termination cause codes sent by Flexi NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Terms and definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Id:0900d80580a38766
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Changes in Diameter Credit-Control Application

1 Changes in Diameter Credit-Control Application

Changes between document issues are cumulative. Therefore, the latest document
issue contains all changes made to previous issues.

1.1

Changes between release 2.1 2.0 and release 2.1 3.0

Chapter Local default quota: Updated volume default quota example.
Chapter Multi-dimensional quota: Added clarifications on the use of multiple UsedService-Unit AVP per MSCC instance.
Chapter On-demand quota: Added clarifications on Flexi NG behavior for requesting
quota on demand.
Chapter Furnish charging information: Added information about the effects of the fcibehavior parameter.
Chapter Secondary PDP contexts and dedicated bearers: Noted that Rulebase-ID is
supported only in certain DCCA modes.
Chapter RAR/RAA: Added note at the end of the chapter.
Chapter AVPs with Gy: Updated Mode in table Description of columns in AVP tables.
Chapter Credit-Control-Request:
Updated Used-Service-Units sub AVPs CC-Input-Octets, CC-Output-Octets and
CC-Total-Octets.
Updated SGSN-Address description.
Updated User-Equipment-Info-Value description.
QoS-Information AVP is supported in 3GPP-R8 mode.
Credit-Control-Answer: Updated Granted-Service-Units sub AVPs CC-Input-Octets,
CC-Output-Octets and CC-Total-Octets.
Chapter Termination cause codes with Gy: Added two new conditions for the ADMINISTRATIVE (4) termination cause code in table Termination cause codes sent by Flexi
NG.

1.2

Changes between release 2.1 1.3 and release 2.1 2.0

Chapter Dynamic redirection: Updated information on redirection with statically configured redirection URI.
Chapter Credit-Control-Request:

The Charging-Rule-Base-Name AVP is not present in the CCR-Terminate

message.
Updated 3GPP-GPRS-Negotiated-QoS-Profile description.
Updated the Qos-Information AVP mode.

Chapter Credit-Control-Answer: Added the Qos-Information AVP for ISN and 3GPP - R7
modes.

Id:0900d80580a3876c
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Changes in Diameter Credit-Control Application

1.3

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Changes between release 2.1 1.0 and release 2.1 1.3

Chapter Credit-Control-Request: The mandatory flag is not set for 3GPP-GPRS-Negotiated-QoS-Profile in 3GPP -R8 mode.

Id:0900d80580a3876c
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

About this document

2 About this document

This document contains information on the Diameter online charging interface between
an online charging system (OCS) and Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Network Gateway
(Flexi NG). Gy interface is an application based on Diameter base protocol. Diameter
base protocol is described in document Diameter Base Protocol [1].
Flexi NGs Gy interface is mostly based on RFC 3588 [5], RFC 4006 [9], TS 32.251 [11],
TS 32.299 [8], and TS 32.240 [7].

2.1

Scope
This document includes the online charging functionalities supported by Flexi NG,
description of supported messages and detailed lists of AVPs in each message.
Supported features that are not defined in standards are explained in detail. It is not in
the scope of this document to describe functionalities that are defined in 3GPP technical
specifications.

2.2

Audience
This document is aimed at operators and administrators working with the Diameter
online charging interface of Flexi NG. The reader should have a basic knowledge of the
following:

Flexi NG product
Internet network
Diameter protocol
Online charging
Principles of flow-based charging

Id:0900d8058095f64c
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

3 Diameter credit-control application in Flexi

NG
3.1

Overview of Diameter credit-control application in Flexi

NG
Flexi NG supports session charging with unit reservation (SCUR), with centralized unit
determination, and centralized rating as defined in 3GPP specification TS 32.299 [8].
More than one quota may be multiplexed independently within a single session using
the multiple services credit-control (MSCC) feature offered by Diameter credit-control
application (DCCA). A subscriber can generate traffic that belongs to different rating
groups, and each traffic type is handled independently within the DCCA session. Different quotas can be requested, metered and reported independently based on their rating
group.

Within this document the term bearer refers to 3GPP Release 8 IP CAN bearer and to
3GPP Release 7 PDP context.

3.2

Configurable DCCA modes

Flexi NG supports the following different DCCA modes:

ISN
3GPP R7
3GPP R8

For more information on DCCA modess, see chapter AVPs with Gy.
The DCCA mode can be selected through local configuration. For more information, see
chapter Configuring the DCCA mode in User Guide [2].
In the current release, Flexi NG supports only one DCCA mode for all connected OCSs.
Therefore, the Supported-Vendor-Id AVP in Capabilities-Exchange message is ignored.

3.3

Quota granularity
Since some flows usually share similar rating characteristics, it is not worthwhile to
define individual rates for each flow. For this reason, quota can be granted for a group
of flows.
Quota can be granted for two kinds of groups of flows:

Flows sharing the same rating group.

If quota is being granted for a rating group, it applies to the group of flows belonging
to that rating group.
Flows sharing the same rating group and service.
Used when more detail is intended.
If quota is being granted for a rating group and service, it applies to the group of
flows belonging to the rating group and service.

Granting of granularity is determined by the presence of the Service-Identifier AVP in

the Multiple-Services-Credit-Control (MSCC) attribute-value pair (AVP) in the CreditControl-Answer (CCA).

10

Id:0900d80580a12479
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG

The granted quota automatically applies to all current and upcoming flows. OCS is not
notified of new flows that belong to a group for which a quota has already been granted.
Instead, these flows share the existing quota.
The reporting granularity can differ from the granting granularity. The configured reporting granularity determines the presence of the service identifier in the Credit-ControlRequest message (CCR). When quota has been granted at rating group granularity
level, Flexi NG can be configured to omit the service identifier from the CCRs.
The table below describes Flexi NG behavior with the supported configuration options:
Parameter

Description

ocs-granularity Selects whether low granularity

<low/high>
or high granularity is used for
online charging.

ocs-reportinggranularity
<low/high>

Enables OCS to grant a low

quota at the rating group level
meaning the quota is shared
among all flows belonging to
that rating group, but Flexi NG
reports at a high granularity
level in CCR messages.

Flexi NG behavior with

configuration option low

Flexi NG behavior with

configuration option
high

Flexi NG requests,
accepts, and reports
quota for each rating
group. If OCS grants a
quota to a rating group
and service identifier, the
service identifier is
ignored. If OCS changes
the granularity on the fly,
Flexi NG does not delete
the bearer, as it always
ignores the Service Identifier from CCA-U

Flexi NG requests quota

for each rating group and
service identifier. Flexi NG
can accept one quota per
rating group, or per combination of rating group and
service identifier. This
means that within a DCCA
session, OCS is allowed to
grant a quota in high granularity (for example: Rating
Group 1 + Service ID 5) for
some service data flows,
and grant a quota in low
granularity for other
service data flows (for
example: Rating Group 2)

Reporting granularity
depends on the parameter
ocs-granularity
value together with the
quota granularity granted
by OCS.

Flexi NG reports the quota

in high granularity, including cases when OCS
grants the quota to a rating
group.

Effective only when ocsgranularity is set to high,

and OCS grants a quota at the
rating group level. If ocsgranularity is set to low,
this parameter is ignored.
Table 1

g If quota is not used in

in-advance quota
management, Flexi
NG reports in low
granularity.

Flexi NG behavior with the supported quota granularity configuration options

Note that in the current release, when a subscriber is subject to both online and offline
charging, the granularity used for reporting to OCS is also included in CDRs. OCS is not
allowed to change quota granularity on the fly for an active MSCC, meaning that once
OCS has granted a first quota for a service data flow, the granularity cannot be changed

Id:0900d80580a12479
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

11

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

during the DCCA session. OCS attempts to change quota granularity within a DCCA
session triggers the release of the bearer. DCCA session termination cause is set as
BAD ANSWER. This same behavior applies whether OCS attempts to downgrade or
upgrade quota granularity.

3.4

Gx parameters over Gy interface

The quality of service (QoS) information support on Gy (the Gx over Gy solution) is applicable for the ISN mode and for 3GPP modes (from release 7 onwards) in GGSN deployments, and is controlled with the gx-over-gy parameter on the session profile level.
When the gx-over-gy parameter is set to enable:

No Gx profile is applicable for that session profile.

The QoS-information AVP received from OCS is handled by Flexi NG.
The Gx over Gy solution supports the QoS-Information AVP at command level for
all CCA-I and CCA-U messages.
The 3GPP R7 mode supports the Rulebase-ID AVP in CCR/CCA and in the PDP
session.
In such a case the Rulebase-ID AVP coexists in CCR with the 3GPP Charging-RuleBase-Name AVP.

For more information on the gx-over-gy parameter, see chapter Configuring session
profiles in User Guide [2].
The QoS provided on Gy applies on the PDP context level.
Flexi NG does not support dynamic PCC rules for (Gx over) Gy, which is why the locally
configured QoS profiles apply for the (predefined) PCC rules.
Note that the Gx over Gy configuration flag in the session profile does not affect the non3GPP case Gy mode ISN where the Rulebase-ID AVP is already supported.
The Bearer-Identifier AVP (under the QoS-Information AVP) is not used/needed on (Gx
over) Gy because 1 Gy session controls only 1 PDP context.
The figure below illustrates PDP context creation for the Gx over Gy solution when a
new QoS is received from OCS.

12

Id:0900d80580a12479
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Figure 1

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG

Policy control (for QoS, Rulebase) by OCS during PDP context establishment

In the message scheme above, the QoS-Information AVP provided by OCS is negotiated with the QoS profile derived from GTP and reported to the RADIUS Accounting
server (note that the QoS-Information AVP negotiation is supported for primary and secondary PDP contexts). The original QoS profile from GTP is reported towards the
RADIUS Authentication server within the initial Access-Request message. The CCR-I
contains the 3GPP-GPRS-Negotiated-QoS-Profile AVP (with UMTS GTP QoS profile)
under the PS-Information AVP (which in turn is under the Service-Information AVP). The
3GPP-GPRS-Negotiated-QoS-Profile AVP is also included in the Access-Request and
in the Accounting-START-Request. In the latter case (accounting) the reported QoS is
the QoS negotiated with OCS.
With Gx over Gy, OCS can provide QoS-information and Rulebase-ID also with CCA-U
(for any CCR-U). In the example below, CCR-U is triggered because a RAT change condition is met (and the relevant event triggered is locally set). The newly negotiated QoS
is included in the Update PDP context response message.

Id:0900d80580a12479
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

13

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG

Figure 2

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Policy control (for QoS, Rulebase) upon PDP context update procedure initiated by SGSN (event trigger condition is met)

In another case shown in the figure below (no ongoing PDP context update procedure
initiated by SGSN), the changed QoS provided by OCS triggers an Update PDP context
request towards SGSN for the new QoS. The first CCR-U update is sent to report used
service units (consumed quota). OCS provides a new QoS-Information AVP and this is
applied in Flexi NG after the following PDP context update procedure is completed successfully.
In addition, if the event trigger QoS change is enabled in Flexi NG (locally for Gy, or
enabled by OCS), another CCR-U, containing all MSCCs / Used-Service-Units which
include the indication QoS change, is sent towards OCS.

14

Id:0900d80580a12479
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Figure 3

Diameter credit-control application in Flexi NG

PDP context update procedure towards SGSN for QoS change, all MSCCs
reported to OCS for QoS change event trigger set

OCS can also use RAR messages to trigger a CCR-U, which then allows OCS to
provide new QoS or Rulebase-ID in CCA-U (like in previous examples).
Flexi NGs Gy interface does not support the 3GPP-GPRS-Neg-QoS-Profile and QoSUpgrade AVPs; the 3GPP-GPRS-Neg-QoS-Profile AVP is always enabled in Flexi NG,
while the QoS-Upgrade AVP is disabled or enabled depending on the value received
from GTP (by default it is disabled).
Note that in the Gx over Gy solution, when both Rulebase-ID and QoS-Information AVPs
are provided with CCA or RAR, and Flexi NG triggers PDP context update procedure
towards SGSN for QoS change, the new QoS-Information applies (in Flexi NG) after
successful completion of the update procedure, while the new Rulebase-ID applies
immediately after it is provided.

Id:0900d80580a12479
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

15

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

4 Online charging in Flexi NG

4.1

Traffic redirection
The service awareness capabilities of Flexi NG allow redirecting traffic by modifying the
user data stream. The following types of redirection are supported:

Dynamic redirection
Static redirection

Do not configure the system to use both dynamic and static redirection at the same time.
If both are in use, and OCS sends only the result code CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHED
(4012) at the multiple services credit control (MSCC) level as a response, the static redirection overwrites the dynamic redirection.
By default, when redirection starts, Flexi NG sends in redirected MSCC the ReportingReason AVP with value QUOTA_EXHAUSTED. When a DCCA session is terminated,
and there are one or several MSCCs in redirect state, the CCR-Terminate reports the
redirected MSCCs by including the Reporting-Reason AVP with value FINAL and no
Used-Service-Unit (as MSCC has no granted quota to report).
This behavior is configurable with parameter ocs-redirection-send-rr-final.
For more information, see chapter Configuring reporting reason for traffic redirection in
Flexi NG User Guide [2].

g
4.1.1

In the current release, the redirect server URL can contain up to 256 characters.
It is recommended that you allow a maximum of 10 MSCCs in a simultaneous redirect
state. Exceeding this limit can lead to bearer deletion.

Dynamic redirection
OCS can trigger traffic redirection by sending Final-Unit-Indication AVP Redirect, which
includes a URL for traffic redirection (Redirect-Server). Through the use of RedirectServer, traffic matching different rating groups can be redirected to different Advice-OfCharge servers.
Flexi NG supports HTTP and WAP 2.0 traffic redirection when DPI is used. If the defined
action in the Final-Unit-Action AVP is REDIRECT, and the Redirect-Address-Type is a
URL, all HTTP and WAP 2.0 traffic types of the related MSCC instance are redirected
to the URL defined by the Redirect-Server AVP (see RFC 2865 [14]). For the RedirectServer AVP, Flexi NG ignores the REDIRECT action, and interprets it as TERMINATE
when the Redirect-Server AVP:

Is not provided by OCS, and it is not locally configured.

Contains invalid data (meaning the AVP is empty).

The Restriction-Filter-Rule and Filter-Id AVPs are not supported and are ignored if
received.
It is possible to send the Final-Unit-Indication AVP with no granted quota (meaning the
granted quota is zero). In this case, redirection is applied immediately for all new and
future traffic flows associated with the related MSCC instance. Ongoing traffic flows,
which cannot be redirected, are blocked.

16

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Online charging in Flexi NG

OCS sends redirect Final-Unit-Indication AVPs only in the initial or in the updated CCA
messages. Redirect AVPs are not sent in the final CCA message.
If a CCA includes at the command level <Result Code = 1xxx or 2xxx>, and
MSCC includes <FUA = Terminate> and <Result Code = 1xxx, 2xxx, 4012>,
a graceful service termination is performed. This means that Flexi NG treats the CCA as
a successful message, uses the last granted units (if any), shuts down the MSCC, and
keeps it blocked for a time interval specified by non-permission timer (NPT).
If the operator has statically configured a redirection URI and the result code is 4012,
the subscriber is redirected immediately for a time specified (in seconds) with the
Validity-Time.This proprietary trigger for static redirection fires when Final-Unit-Indication (FUI) / Final-Unit-Action (FUA) = Terminate is not present. For information on Flexi
NG behavior in response to result codes at the command level or at the MSCC level,
see chapter Result codes with Gy.
If a CCA includes at the command level <Result Code = 1xxx or 2xxx>, and
MSCC includes <FUA = Redirect> and <Result Code = 1xxx, 2xxx, 4012>,
traffic redirection is performed as explained in this chapter. For information on Flexi NG
behavior in response to result codes at the command level or at the MSCC level, see
chapter Result codes with Gy.
Redirection is canceled when one of the following conditions is met:

Validity-Time expires.
In-advance quota is granted for the corresponding MSCC instance.
OCS reauthorizes the MSCC.

For more information, see chapter RAR / RAA.

Alternatively, redirection can be cancelled with NPT. Note that when this functionality is
enabled, redirection is cancelled only when NPT expires.
When redirection cancellation with NPT is enabled, NPT starts, and once expired, the
next packet triggers a new CCR quota request. When the functionality is disabled, NPT
does not start when redirection occurs. For more information on enabling and disabling
redirection cancellation with NPT, see ocs-redirection-cancellation-withnpt parameter description in chapter Configuring charging profiles in Flexi NG User
Guide [2]. Note that in this case, when redirection occurs, the ocs-block-npt-forsuccess parameter is ignored.

4.1.2

Static redirection
Static redirection is triggered when OCS sends CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHED (4012) at
the MSCC level, SUCCESS at the command level, and a static redirect server is configured.
If OCS sends a different result code at the command level, the result code is handled as
described in chapter Result codes with Gy.
Static redirection can also be triggered if OCS sends a Final-Unit-Indication AVP
Redirect but it does not include the Redirect-Server AVP, and a local redirect server is
configured.
The URI used for static redirection depends on the charging profile configuration. For
more information, see Configuring static redirect server and Configuring charging
profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2].
Redirection is canceled when one of the following conditions is met:

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

17

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Validity-Time expires.
The operator triggers the RAR command from OCS.

Alternatively, redirection can be cancelled with NPT. Note that when this functionality is
enabled, redirection is cancelled only when NPT expires.
When redirection cancellation with NPT is enabled, NPT starts, and once expired, the
next packet triggers a new CCR quota request. When the functionality is disabled, NPT
does not start when redirection occurs. For more information on enabling and disabling
redirection cancellation with NPT, see ocs-redirection-cancellation-withnpt parameter description in chapter Configuring charging profiles in Flexi NG User
Guide [2]. Note that in this case, when redirection occurs, the ocs-block-npt-forsuccess parameter is ignored.

4.2

Configurable parameters
This section describes the configurable parameters that are not covered elsewhere in
this document.

4.2.1

Limiting the amount of MSCCs for each CCR

The operator can enable or disable this functionality through local configuration. For
more information, see chapter Configuring multiple MSCC instances in Flexi NG User
Guide [2].
When multiple services credit control (MSCC) is in use, more than one MSCC can be
included in CCRs. The used units can be reported and more quotas requested for two
or more flow groups at once. Combining records for multiple flow groups in one message
is more efficient than sending a separate message for each one. Some legacy systems,
however, may have difficulty in handling two or more MSCC instances for each transaction. To ease the integration work, the operator can configure Flexi NG to send only one
MSCC in each CCR. Flexi NG implements this by dividing the MSCCs of the current
event internally between multiple CCRs. For example, if two MSCC instances are active
and the user equipment moves from one SGSN to another, two update CCRs are generated; one for each MSCC instance. However, when the session is terminated, three
CCRs are generated: one update CCR for each MSCC instance and one terminate CCR
for closing the session.

4.2.2

Configuring triggers according to change in charging conditions

Flexi NG allows OCS to define triggers for CCR messages within Trigger AVP. If OCS
sends the Trigger AVP with the Trigger-Type AVP, the OCS triggers are used. If OCS
does not send the Trigger AVP, the local configuration is used. Local configuration
allows the following triggers:

CHANGE IN QOS any

CHANGE IN SERVING NODE
In 3GPP Release 7, serving node means SGSN.
In 3GPP Release 8, serving node means S-GW.
CHANGE IN RAT

For more information, see chapter Configuring event profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2].

18

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

4.2.3
4.2.3.1

Online charging in Flexi NG

Default quota
Local default quota
The local default quota is used when OCS has not yet granted quota (through the
Granted-Service-Unit AVP) for a subscriber. When a CCR message containing a quota
request for an MSCC instance has been sent, the default quota for that MSCC instance
may be used until an answer is received. When the given default quota is consumed,
the flows affected by the MSCC instance are blocked until more quota is granted. The
default quota is not used if the OCS indicates the current granted units as final units.
The default quota contains quota for each unit that the user can consume while waiting
for OCS to grant quota. For example, if the default quota is set to 1000, the end user can
send up to 1000 bytes of data while waiting for the granted quota. The default quota
does not belong to any service container (MSCC) and so, the given value specifies the
absolute amount of units that are allowed to be consumed.
If there is no default quota, the flows are blocked and the packets are dropped when
granted quota runs out. Flexi NG does not buffer the user data.
Note that granting small quotas should be avoided as the signaling between the OCS
and Flexi NG grows inversely to the size of the granted quota.
When the OCS grants quota, Flexi NG subtracts the used default quota from the granted
quota. If the OCS does not grant enough quota to cover the used default quota, Flexi
NG immediately triggers a new quota request (note that in this case the use of default
quota can lead to overcharging the subscriber). If the OCS no longer grants quota, Flexi
NG reports the consumed default quota in CDRs.
If the OCS replies to a quota request with result code 5003
(DIAMETER_AUTHENTICATION_REJECTED) or 5031
(DIAMETER_RATING_FAILED) at MSCC level, the consumption of the default quota
can be reported to CDRs, depending on the configuration:
The reporting of default quota affects service aware containers in CDRs, but has no
effect on the RG0 container (bearer level data). For example, if RG 1 consumes 1.1 GB
(1.0 GB of remaining volume quota and 0.1 GB of volume default quota) while waiting
for a new quota after reporting THRESHOLD, and the OCS denies volume quota for
RG1 by sending either result code 5003 or result code 5031 at MSCC level, then CDRs
report 1.0 GB on the RG1 container (default quota is not reported), and RG0 reports 1.1
GB (or more, as RG0 meters all bearer traffic).
For more information on volume default quota reporting in CDRs, see chapter Configuring default quota reporting in CDRs in Flexi NG User Guide [2].

4.2.3.2

Default quota granted by OCS

OCS can control the size of the default quota dynamically for each MSCC by sending
the Default-Quota AVP in the Credit-Control-Answer message (CCA). The default quota
granted by OCS is prioritized over the locally configured default quota.
Note that the provided Default-Quota AVP values are retained for the duration of the
MSCC instance.
If OCS grants the CC-Total-Octets AVP within the Default-Quota AVP together with any
other Default-Quota AVP, only the CC-Total-Octets AVP is processed (the other AVPs
are ignored). The CC-Total-Octets AVP can have values from 0 to 1 000 000 000 octets.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

19

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

If the default quota granted by OCS exceeds this limit, Flexi NG sets the default quota
to its maximum value. Note that default quota is configurable. For more information, see
chapter Configuring a default quota in Flexi NG User Guide [2].
If OCS grants time quota and includes default quota (in the CC-Total-Octets AVP), Flexi
NG accepts the default quota and converts it into a time equivalent. For example, if
Default-Quota = 10KB and all the default quota is consumed in 2 seconds, before a CCA
message (with the new time quota) arrives, Flexi NG subtracts 2 seconds of consumed
quota from the granted quota.
The default quota is not used if OCS has indicated that the currently granted units are
the final units (after the NPT timer expires, the first default quota has the value 0).
Note that default quotas are deducted from granted quotas. If there is not enough
granted quota, a new CCR is generated.

4.2.4

Non-permission timer
The non-permission timer is an MSCC-instance-specific timer. When OCS terminates
an MSCC instance, Flexi NG starts the non-permission timer (NPT). The purpose of this
timer is to prevent usage of the associated flows and thus prevent new quota requests
from being sent to OCS while the timer is running. If Flexi NG receives new traffic
matching the blocked MSCC instance while the NPT is running, the traffic is silently discarded without signaling the OCS. After the NPT expires (or if the NPT is not enabled),
the next service request causes Flexi NG to request new quota.
The value of the NPT is configurable. For more information, see ocs-nonpermission-timer parameter description in chapter Configuring charging profiles in
Flexi NG User Guide [2].

In the current release, Flexi NG starts the Non-Permission-Timer at the time the CCR is
generated (either a CCR reporting the final used units or a CCR requesting for quota
after NPT expiration) instead of the time when CCA arrives.
Note, that in case the non-permission timer (NPT) runs for a specific MSCC instance, it
is recommended that the flow inactivity timer is configured to a value greater than that
of the NPT. Otherwise, the relative flow are deleted as soon as the flow inactivity timer
expires, that is, before the NPT expires. For flow inactivity timer configuration instructions, see flow-inactivity-time parameter descirption in Adding filters in a PCC
rule in Flexi NG User Guide [2].
The result codes that start NPT are configurable. By default, NPT starts every time OCS
terminates an MSCC instance. Alternatively, NPT can be configured to start only with
unsuccessful MSCC result codes (meaning result codes 1xxx and 2xxx do not start
NPT). For more information, see ocs-block-npt-for-success parameter description in chapter Configuring charging profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2].
When the system requests quota for a certain rating group (or service ID and rating
group), a CCR update message is sent to OCS. If result code success (1xxx, 2xxx) is
received at MSCC level and either the Granted-Service-Unit AVP does not contain valid
quota (meaning GSU=0) or the GSU AVP is not received at all, NPT behaves according
to the value configured in ocs-block-npt-for-success parameter.
Note that Flexi NG does not report with a final CCR when all of the following conditions
are met:

20

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Online charging in Flexi NG

1. OCS responds to the above-mentioned quota request with a missing GSU (note that
when GSU=0, it is not considered to be missing).
2. The Final-Unit-Indication AVP is not present.
3. The ocs-block-npt-for-success parameter is set to enabled.
In all other conditions Flexi NG reports with the final CCR according to the standards
(this means that if FUI is present, the final CCR is always sent).
Note that if OCS continuously replies with result code success, and ocs-block-nptfor-success is set to enable, continuous subscriber traffic can end up in a loop of
CCR/CCA exchange with OCS (no NPT waiting time).
Furthermore, if Default-Quota is configured, subscriber traffic is allowed to pass for
every CCR/CCA exchange. If the operator OCS presents such behavior, it is recommended that the ocs-block-npt-for-success parameter is set to disable.

If, in response to the CCR update message reporting the final units, OCS returns result
codes 4011, 5003, or 5031 at MSCC level, the rating group is handled according to the
received result codes.
The NPT can be used to cancel redirection if a local timer is preferred. For more information, see chapter Traffic redirection.

4.2.5

Quota consumption timer

If time-based metering is enabled, the quota consumption timer (QCT) (also called the
silence period) defines a time span, after which the time-based metering for the traffic
stops. If the value of the QCT is t and there is no traffic for t seconds, the metering
stops. Metering restarts when new traffic is detected.
The QCT is configured for each charging profile. If OCS sends QCT AVP, that value
overwrites local configuration.
For more information on quota consumption timer, see chapter Time-based metering in
document Service Awareness [3].

4.2.6

Quota holding timer

The quota holding timer (QHT) defines when the dynamic flow is released and when the
unused quota related to the dynamic flow is no longer used in Flexi NG. If new traffic
using the released quota is detected, Flexi NG must request quota from OCS.
Flexi NG informs OCS about QHT expiration.
The QHT is a general configuration parameter for Flexi NG (not for each charging profile). If OCS sends QHT AVP, that value overwrites local configuration.
In the current release, if PCRF removes all PCC rules that define a rating group and a
service ID, no traffic matches again to that rating group and service and the quota is not
released (If ocs-quota-granularity is set to low, all MSCCs that use the affected rating
group also remains silent). Because of this, it is recommended including expiration times
(QHT) for all quotas.
Note that signaling towards OCS increases with smaller values of QHT. Therefore,
setting this value to less than 10 seconds is not recommended.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

21

Online charging in Flexi NG

4.2.7

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Quota threshold
If OCS grants a quota, but does not include thresholds for that quota, Flexi NG uses a
locally configured default threshold, which is configurable for charging profile.
If OCS grants both time quota and volume quota for a subscriber, CCR reporting is triggered with THRESHOLD, and the subscriber generates data traffic before the new
quota is received, the following rules for quota checks are used:

g
4.2.8

The first remaining quota is checked for the quota type which triggered the CCR
reporting with THRESHOLD.
If the subscriber does not have enough quota, the default quota is checked.
If the subscriber has enough quota, the remaining quota for the other quota type is
checked: If the subscriber has enough quota for this quota type, the packet is
allowed to pass. If not, the default quota is checked. Note that traffic is allowed to
pass only if both quota types have enough quota (granted quota or default quota).

If OCS sends Final-Unit-Indication AVP with the granted quota, the Final-Unit-Action
AVP is executed when the entire quota is consumed and not when the quota threshold
has been reached.

Volume quota reporting

By default, Flexi NG always uses the CC-Input-Octets and CC-Output-Octets AVPs in
reporting volume quota. Volume quota reporting can be configured to use one of the following AVP options:

CC-Input-Octets and CC-Output-Octets (default option)

CC-Total-Octets
CC-Input-Octets, CC-Output-Octets, and CC-Total-Octets

This configuration has higher precedence than the granted quota. If the granted quota
is of a different type (for example total octets), the quota is reported according to the
defined configuration (for example CC-Input-Octets and CC-Output-Octets).
Note that when Flexi NG detects that the quota has been consumed, it allows one
ongoing packet to pass and adds that to the reported quota. This might lead to overcharging.
For more information on configuring volume quota reporting, see Configuring static
redirect server and Configuring charging profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2].

4.2.9

Service context identifier

The service context identifier is a character string that defines the value of the ServiceContext-Id AVP in the CCRs. Flexi NG does not use this string for other purposes.
If this parameter is not configured, Flexi NG selects the service context identifier according to the DCCA mode.
The service context identifier is a general configuration parameter. For more information, see chapter Configuring a service context ID in Flexi NG User Guide [2]. For default
values of Service-Context-Id, see the AVP description tables for the corresponding
DCCA mode.

22

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

4.2.10

Online charging in Flexi NG

OCS selection by IMSI and MSISDN prefix

OCS selection pattern first checks the IMSI prefix, and then, if the subscriber IMSI does
not match, checks the MSISDN prefix.
For more information on OCS selection by MSISDN and IMSI prefix, see chapter Configuring Diameter profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2].

4.2.11

Always-on mode
The always-on mode allows online-charged EPS bearer / PDP contexts to either be activated or remain active without unnecessary signaling sent towards OCS. Using the
always-on mode saves Gy interface resources in case EPS bearer / PDP context is
either active but no chargeable traffic takes place for certain periods of time, or needs
to be activated but without chargeable traffic necessarily taking place. In this way, the
DCCA session that would have otherwise remained constantly active, is instead initiated
only when needed.
The always-on mode exists in the charging profile. If enabled, then whenever a new EPS
bearer / PDP context is activated, Flexi NG immediately accepts the context/bearer
without triggering an initial Credit-Control Request (CCR-I) message towards OCS. The
CCR-I message is only sent when the subscriber uses a chargeable service for the first
time.
When a DCCA session is already active, an inactivity timer (if enabled) controls the
session expiration and the termination of the signaling towards OCS. This timer starts
at DCCA session start, expires after a configurable period of time and restarts for every
incoming chargeable service request.
If the operator chooses to enable this feature, with the inactivity timer enabled as well,
the functional steps are as follows:
1. EPS bearer / PDP context is activated.
2. Flexi NG accepts the EPS bearer / PDP context without triggering a CCR-I message
towards OCS.
3. If there is no chargeable service request, the EPS bearer / PDP context remains
active without signaling towards OCS until at least one chargeable service request
emerges.
4. Upon a chargeable service request, a CCR-I message (that includes the request for
quota for the used MSCC) is sent towards OCS and a DCCA session is initiated. At
this point the inactivity timer starts counting and the DCCA session remains active
until its expiration.
Note that if there is a new chargeable service request that is received before the
timer expiration, then the inactivity timer restarts. Several DCCA sessions can be
activated during the lifespan of one EPS bearer / PDP context. Each session has a
separate and unique session identifier.
5. After the inactivity timer expiration, a terminate credit-control request (CCR-T)
message is sent towards OCS and the DCCA session is terminated. The EPS
bearer / PDP context remains active and no signaling is sent towards OCS until the
next chargeable service request emerges.
If the operator chooses to enable this feature, with the inactivity timer disabled, the functional steps are as follows:
1. An EPS bearer / PDP context is activated.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

23

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

2. Flexi NG accepts the EPS bearer / PDP context without triggering a CCR-I message
towards OCS.
3. If there is no chargeable service request, the EPS bearer / PDP context remains
active without signaling towards OCS until at least one chargeable service request
emerges.
4. Upon a chargeable service request, a CCR-I message (that includes the request for
quota for the used MSCC) is sent towards OCS and a DCCA session is initiated. The
DCCA session remains active until the EPS bearer / PDP context becomes inactive.
The always-on mode and the inactivity timer can also be activated on-the-fly but note
that they take effect only on all upcoming EPS bearer / PDP context activations.
In always-on mode, CCR-I is sent when a subscriber sends chargeable traffic. Because
of this, if OCS rejects the activation of DCCA session (by sending an error result code
in command level), Flexi NG does not report the used default quota to OCS. Instead, the
used traffic is reported in CDRs.
For information on enabling/disabling the always-on mode, see chapter Configuring the
always-on mode in Flexi NG User Guide [2].

4.3
4.3.1

Session failover handling with Gy

OCS failures
When server connection goes down, that is, it cannot be recovered with SCTP multihoming (see chapter SCTP multihoming in Diameter Base Protocol [1]), or a server is
removed, failover indication is sent to core functionality. All diameter sessions are
checked, and those sessions, whose primary server malfunctioned, mark a secondary
server as primary, if possible. If a secondary server cannot be marked as primary, the
session is deleted.
Flexi NG fully supports the failure handling mechanism described in RFC 4006 [9]. In
addition, Flexi NG provides an additional functionality that can be helpful in failure recovery.
The following faults initiate the failure handling procedure:

24

A CCR is due but no transport connections are available.If no DCCA Server is configured, the failure handling mechanism is not used. In this case, all requests initiated by a prepaid user are rejected.
A CCR is waiting in the transport sending queue or is pending for an answer while
the designated transport connection is closed.
The Tx timer expires once in succession indicating that the server has not
responded in time.
The Tx timer monitors CCR/CCA transactions. The timer is set whenever a new
CCR is sent. For more information on Tx timer, see parameter apps-tx-timer in
chapter Configuring Diameter server profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2].
A Credit-Control-Answer (CCA) contains a result code indicating a specified error.
Note: a failover is not attempted if the configured failure handling option is Retry and
Terminate and the result code 3xxx or 4xxx is received. For more information on
result codes, see chapter Result codes received by Flexi NG at command level.).
For instructions on configuring failover options, see Configuring charging profiles in
Flexi NG User Guide [2].

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Online charging in Flexi NG

As part of failure handling, Flexi NG can perform session failover to a secondary server.
The default behavior is specified in the local configuration, but OCS can override it by
including the CC-Session-Failover AVP in the CCA. If session failovers are enabled,
Flexi NG tries to redirect the online charging traffic for a session to a secondary server
when a failure occurs. Flexi NG performs only one failover for each failure condition. If
the secondary server fails, Flexi NG does not attempt a third server. If the redirection to
the secondary server succeeds, the secondary server becomes the new primary server
and the failed server becomes the secondary server. The configuration does not
change, so the show ng diameter-profile command still shows the original
primary and secondary servers. You can check the server functioning as the primary
server from the logs.
Flexi NG sets the T-bit in the Diameter header of messages that are resent during the
failover.
Note that during the failover the destination host and realm for the session are not
changed. Their values remain as they were before the failover. The secondary server is
expected to be able to route or process messages that are addressed to the primary
server.
RFC 4006 [9] allows the following actions for failure handling:

TERMINATE
RETRY AND TERMINATE
CONTINUE

All of these are supported in Flexi NG. The default value can be configured in the local
configuration. OCS can override the local configuration by including the Credit-ControlFailure-Handling AVP in the CCA.
In those failure cases where the failure handling mode is set to CONTINUE, the state
machine in DCCA indicates that access is to be granted to the end user while the
session itself is closed without further communication to OCS. As the standard does not
specify detailed behavior for the bearer for this case, Flexi NG offers the following
options:

Block
All online-charged flows are blocked and packets are dropped for the duration of the
bearer.
Allow
The user can access all online-charged flows that have not been explicitly blocked
or denied by OCS, for the duration of the Continue Timeout timer.
Postpaid
The session is converted to normal postpaid session and CDRs are created. The
duration of this option is irrelevant to Continue Timeout timer.

After one of these options has been applied, the non-permission timer (NPT) stops. The
status of the existing services does not change during the lifetime of the bearer. Blocked
services are blocked and free services are free until the very end of the bearer. Services
that are taken into use after the failure handling action has been applied remain in their
initial state (blocked/free) for the duration of the bearer.
It is possible to set an expiration timer for the block and allow actions. This timer is set
when the block or allow action starts. When it expires, the bearer is closed.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

25

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

The default failure handling mode, the RETRY AND TERMINATE action, and the
continue timeout are configured separately for each charging type (prepaid, postpaid,
postpaid with credit control, prepaid with credit card, roaming).
For subscribers that are subject to offline charging only (CDRs), quota consumption
timer (QCT) used in measuring active time is given by local configuration. For subscribers that are subject to online charging and offline charging simultaneously, QCT
provided by OCS is used for reporting usage in both online charging (OCS) and offline
charging (CDRs). If the DCCA session is moved to postpaid because of failure handling
action CONTINUE, offline charging uses value 0 for QCT.
For information on Flexi NG behavior in offline charging when switching from online
charging to offline charging, see chapter OCS result code reporting in CDRs in Flexi NG
User Guide [2].
Note that the amount of DCCA sessions moved to postpaid because of failure handling
action CONTINUE is available as counters for each session profile.
Session failure handling procedure is illustrated in the figure below.

26

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Figure 4

4.3.2

Online charging in Flexi NG

Session failover handling

Secondary error handling mechanism

In addition to the default error handling mechanism, Flexi NG optionally supports a secondary error handling mechanism. This mechanism is more in line with the Diameter
application and transport mechanisms but reacts more slowly to OCS problems. The

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

27

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

basic assumption with this mechanism is that OCS always responds to the Flexi NG
requests. If it is likely that the OCS in question discards some of the requests without
responding, then this mechanism should not be selected.
The secondary mechanism is controlled with a configuration parameter called ocsfailover-tx-expiration-behavior. This parameter defines how the Flexi NG
behaves when no reply to a CCR is received from OCS when failover procedures have
been started, and the Failure handling is set to Continue.
The secondary error handling mechanism is enabled with the value Failover-orwait. If this value is selected and a failover to the secondary server is not possible or
has already been attempted, Flexi NG simply continues waiting for the answer until the
transport connection is closed (Tw or Safety timer expires), trusting that OCS eventually
responds. This is the standard DCCA behavior defined in the RFC, but, it should not be
used if it is not rare that OCS discards CCRs without answering. When the Tw or Safety
timer expires, Flexi NG executes the continue action.
The default error handling mechanism is enabled with the value Failover-or-wait.
If this value is selected and a failover to the secondary server is not possible or has
already been attempted, Flexi NG starts the continue action at Tx expiration without
waiting for the Tw or Safety timer expiration. This option is more reactive to server
problems if it is likely that OCS discards CCRs due to excessive load or other errors.

4.3.3

Flexi NG failures (high availability)

In Flexi NG multi-blade environment, each bearer is assigned an A node (active node;
primary node), and a B node (standby node; backup). If node A fails, node B takes over
its tasks while Flexi NG assigns it to be the new primary node. When node A recovers,
node B does not transfer its tasks back to node A. For more information on high availability, see High Availability Solutions Reference Guide [4].
When node A is active, it synchronizes its state with node B to ensure that node B is
ready when node A fails. For the DCCA interface, this state includes the following items:

4.4

DCCA session state

Quotas received from OCS
Charging information that is not yet delivered (quota not exhausted).
Due to performance reasons, the synchronization of charging information of ongoing
flows is performed with 2 separate methods.
a) Charging information is collected according to several internal and external triggers.
For example: update bearer, tariff change (online or offline), offline time and
volume limit (offline charging profile).This collection is done in bearer and rating
group level.Charging information collected through this method is synchronized
periodically with node B.
b) Charging information that has not yet been collected (no trigger has occurred) is
synchronized only during switchover (controlled or uncontrolled switchover).

Charging of service aware transactions

When a new transaction begins, Flexi NG matches the traffic to a rating group according
to configured PCC rules. Flexi NG then verifies that there is quota available for the associated traffic. This is done by requesting quota from OCS through a CCR/CCA message
exchange.

28

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Online charging in Flexi NG

While waiting for the first quota for the requested traffic, in order to not impact customer
experience, Flexi NG allows a configurable default quota. Traffic is allowed to pass until
the default quota is exhausted. When quota is granted, consumed quota is substracted
from the granted quota. If the configurable default quota is set to 0, no traffic is allowed
to pass until quota is granted (Fraud window is 0 but there is a negative impact on
customer experience).
When OCS grants quota (volume or active time quota), it also grants the threshold that
triggers the request for additional quota. Flexi NG supports Volume-Quota-Threshold
and Time-Quota-Threshold AVPs. The traffic generated while waiting for the first quota
is subtracted when the first quota arrives.
If OCS grants quota but does not include thresholds for that quota, Flexi NG uses a
locally configured default threshold, which is configurable for charging profile. For more
information, see chapter Configuring charging profiles in Flexi NG User Guide [2]. If the
traffic flow was previously blocked by OCS, or because of a failure to contact the OCS,
the initial quota verification fails immediately and the transaction is not allowed.
Note that Flexi NG meters up to 50 different traffic flows (rating group or rating group
service identifier) for each subscriber simultaneously. This means that a DCCA session
can handle up to 50 active MSCC instances (Active MSCC is an MSCC with valid quota
or in redirect state). For more information on the limitation on maximum simultaneous
MSCCs in redirect state, see chapter Traffic redirection.

4.5

Multi-dimensional quota
Flexi NG supports multi-dimensional quota by allowing time and volume quota within the
Granted-Service-Unit AVP.
When both time and volume quota are granted, Flexi NG reports 2 Used-Service-Unit
(USU) AVPs in an MSCC instance, regardless of the reporting reason. There is no
scenario where Flexi NG can report time usage and volume usage within the same
Used-Service-Unit (USU) AVP.
If the reason for reporting is that either one of the quotas is exhausted, the reporting
reason for the first USU is QUOTA_EXHAUSTED, and, for the second USU,
OTHER_QUOTA_TYPE.
If tariff time is used, Flexi NG reports 4 USUs in an MSCC instance. 2 USUs before TTS
(the reporting reason for both USUs is QUOTA_EXPIRED) and 2 USUs after TTS (the
reporting reason for the first USU is QUOTA_EXHAUSTED, and, for the second USU,
OTHER_QUOTA_TYPE).
Note that Volume Quota includes 3 sub-AVPs: CC-Total-Octets, CC-Input-Octets and
CC-Output-Octets. Volume Quota is reported within one USU. For more information on
configuration options on how to report Volume Quota, see chapter Volume Quota
Reporting.

4.6

On-demand quota
As mandated by 3GPP 32.299 [8], Flexi NG uses an on-demand method for retrieving
quota from OCS. Flexi NG requests quota when subscriber uses a service data flow for
a first time, and when a charging trigger for that service data flow is due. Flexi NG is fully
compliant with 32.299 quota management.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

29

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

If pcc-rule-action (for example charge-t) configuration does not match to the

granted quota type (for example CC-Total-Octets AVP), then OCS overwrites this quota
type. For more information, see chapter Online usage reporting and charging in the
Service Awareness document.
The term MSCC instance is used to denote a group of flows. The content of the flow
group is defined by the configured PCC rules that are active in the MSCC. An MSCC
has a finite lifespan, which is independent of other MSCC instances. An MSCC is
created when the first service request is received. While the MSCC exists, Flexi NG
holds a quota for the flows and meters their usage.
An MSCC can be terminated either by OCS or by Flexi NG. After the termination of the
MSCC, Flexi NG maintains no quota or other record of the MSCC. The following events
cause the MSCC to be terminated:

The quota holding timer (QHT) expires. If the user does not generate service
requests for a certain time, the MSCC is closed.
OCS terminates the MSCC. OCS can terminate the MSCC by sending an appropriate result code in the Credit-Control-Answer.
The bearer is deleted. All existing MSCCs are closed.

Note that Flexi NG supports only the 3GPP behavior for requesting quota on demand.
Other proprietary behaviors are not supported (for example Flexi ISN On-demand Quota
option).

4.7

In-advance quota
In addition to on-demand quota management, Flexi NG supports in-advance quota management. In-advance quota management is the case when OCS grants quota in the
Granted-Service-Unit AVP (GSU) of the MSCC instance before Flexi NG has even
requested it. In-advance quota can be granted for any MSCC instance.
Flexi NG supports up to 50 MSCC instances, including active quotas and in-advance
quotas. If OCS sends more than 50 MSCC instances in a CCA message, Flexi NG processes only the first 50. If these MSCC instances do not match the locally configured
MSCC instances, the data in the locally configured MSCC instances is dropped.
Unlike in on-demand quota handing, when in-advance quota is used, there is no need
to request quota for the first detected packet (because the quota has been granted in
advance).
The Validity-Time and the quota holding timer function in the same way with both quota
management types.
When the CCR is sent, previously granted in-advance quota is cleared the same way as
with on-demand quota. If the in-advance quota has not been used by the time the CCR
is sent, Flexi NG reports USU zero for the MSCC of the in-advance quota.
If OCS grants QHT (which is greater than 0), Flexi NG starts the timer at the moment
the QHT is given (note that this not necessarily the moment when the bearer is established). Because of this feature, rating groups that are granted in-advance quota but are
not used expire after a time interval in seconds specified by QHT (Flexi NG reports 0
USU).
Flexi NG accepts in-advance quota also for rating groups that are active in the DCCA
session. This is needed, for example, to unblock a redirected rating group.

30

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Online charging in Flexi NG

Whenever OCS sends a transient error code at the MSCC level to Flexi NG, in-advance
quota for the affected rating group is not accepted until Flexi NG explicitly requests
quota for the rating group. This allows handling the case when non-permission timer is
set in Flexi NG to start after receiving a transient error code at the MSCC level. Also,
whenever OCS sends a permanent error code at the MSCC level to Flexi NG, any
granted in-advance quota for the affected rating group is not taken into account for the
remaining life of the DCCA session.
Flexi NG supports in-advance quota from OCS only in the initial, or in the update CCA
messages. Thus, in-advance quota is not supported in the final CCA message.
OCS gets information on the PCC rules available for a subscriber within the PCC rule
bases. Flexi NG informs OCS about the PCC rule bases that are active for the subscriber in the following AVP:

4.8

Rulebase-ID AVP
In ISN mode and in 3GPP R7 mode (Only when the gx-over-gy parameter is
set to enable. For more information, see chapter Gx parameters over Gy interface.)
Charging-Rule-Base-Name AVP
In 3GPP modes.

Graceful termination
Flexi NG supports graceful service termination by handling of Final-Unit-Indication AVP
as described in chapter Termination action in 3GPP TS 32.299 [8].

4.9

Metering
For information on metering, see document Service Awareness [3].

4.10

Bearer metering
In the current release, Flexi NG does not support online bearer metering through the
default rating group (rating group 0). Offline charging supports bearer metering through
the use of rating group 0 containers.
For layer 4 (L4) metering, it is preferred to create a PCC rule that matches all L4 traffic.

4.11

Time tariff changes

Tariff changes are supported according to the basic mechanism described in chapter
Basic Tariff-Time Change Support in RFC 4006 [9].
In this mechanism, OCS allocates granted units based on the most expensive scenario
in case of forthcoming tariff change, so that the overall reported used units cannot
exceed the credit reservation. A single reservation is made to cover the periods before
and after the tariff change. As described in RFC 4006 [9], a tariff change does not induce
an immediate CCR. When the CCR is finally sent, Flexi NG indicates in it separately the
amount of units used before and after the tariff change. OCS sets the tariff time with the
Tariff-Time-Change AVP. Flexi NG reports the used quota by including the TariffChange-Usage AVP in the Used-Service-Units AVP. The following example demonstrates the time tariff functionality in practice:

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

31

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Example: At 15:30 Flexi NG requests quota for rating group 1. OCS grants 1000 kB,
specifies the next tariff change to be at 16:00, and sets a validity time. At 15:45 the user
consumes 400 kB. At 16:10 the user consumes 200 kB. At 16:20 the validity time
expires. Flexi NG requests more quota and reports 400 kB of pre-tariff usage and 200
kB of post-tariff usage.

Figure 5

Example: Time tariff change

The dual quota tariff mechanism is not supported. Flexi NG is not prepared to accept
two quotas for a single MSCC instance. Therefore, it is not possible to grant quotas separately for pre-tariff and post-tariff usage.
If OCS sets a tariff time for a rating group, locally configured tariff is not applied. If configured, the locally configured tariff applies for rating groups that have no active online
tariff time.
If offline tariff times are not used (no configuration available for the subscriber), a tariff
time change set by OCS is not visible in CDRs.
Note that the offline tariff time and the online tariff time should not be active at the same
period of time in a single rating group. If both tariff times are present for a given rating
group, the online tariff time overrides the offline tariff time. If the operator configures an
online tariff for a certain bearer, which is within one hour (before or after) of an existing
offline tariff, the results in the offline charging interface may differ from the expected
values (the reported volumes may be wrongly divided, and the reported times may be
wrong).
According to 3GPP, tariff time is not a reason for triggering CCR-U, therefore Flexi NG
does not report immediately when tariff time changes. Instead, the system opens a new
entry in database for storing the user plane traffic that is generated after the tariff
changes. During reporting, the traffic generated before and after the tariff time change
are reported separately, which means that a rating group uses 2 database entries. For
this reason, when tariff times are used, Flexi NG supports 25 rating groups (or combinations of rating group / service ID, according to chosen granularity), including active
quotas and in-advance quotas, instead of the 50 supported rating groups when no tariff
times are used by operators.

32

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

4.12

Online charging in Flexi NG

Mass termination queue

Not supported in the current release.

4.13

Correlation with offline charging

When bearer has enabled online charging and offline charging, Flexi NG supports independent interworking as explained in 3GPP TS 32.251 [11].
Result-Code in CDR appears only when bearer has online charging and offline charging
active.

4.14

Furnish charging information

In some cases the OCS may need to propagate certain session-specific charging information through the online charging interface (CCA) towards the offline charging interface (CDRs). This information can contain, for example, details about the used services
or about the end user. This information is transparent to Flexi NG and is intended to be
interpreted only by the OCS and by the operator's charging gateway or billing system.
The PS-Furnish-Charging-Information (FCI) AVP in the Credit-Control-Answer (CCA)
message carries this information. The OCS can send this AVP in any CCA-I/CCA-U
message. Flexi NG ignores this AVP if it is contained in the termination CCA message
as the session is already closed and the system sends no more CDRs that could carry
the received charging data.
Flexi NG supports the FCI AVP in the CCA message within the Multiple-Services-CreditControl (MSCC) AVP and in command level. At command level the FCI AVP is copied
transparently to CDRs with CDR field name psFurnishChargingInformation. At
MSCC level, the FCI AVP is copied transparently to CDRs inside the corresponding
service aware container.
The FCI AVP is neither a trigger for CDR closure nor a trigger for closure of CDR containers. When a CDR is closed (by a CDR closure trigger), the currently available FCI
AVP is copied into CDRs.
In the current release, Flexi NG writes the FCI AVP (both in command and in container
level) only when the CDR is closed. This means that CDR containers include the MSCC
level FCI from the time the CDR is closed and not from the time when the container is
closed.
Flexi NG allows, in one CCA message, up to 10 FCI AVPs of up to 160 octets each, or
the equivalent of a maximum of 1600 octets distributed among several FCI AVPs.
To reduce performance impact due to the internal handling of FCI strings, it is recommended that the operator sends the FCI AVP for as few subscribers as possible.

When the fci-behavior parameter has been set to standard, Flexi NG limits the
amount of memory used for the FCI functionality. Note that Flexi NG allocates 160 octets
for each FCI AVP either at command (CDR) or MSCC (container) level.
When the fci-behavior parameter has been set to command-level-shortstrings, Flexi NG allocates 15 octets for each FCI AVP. Note that this only applies to
command level FCI AVPs. The MSCC level FCI AVPs are ignored in this configuration.
For more information on memory allocation and FCI AVP length, see Furnish charging
information for offline charging in Flexi NG User Guide.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

33

Online charging in Flexi NG

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

For information on enabling the furnish charging information functionality, see Configuring furnish charging information handling in Flexi NG User Guide.
Supported use case in the current release
Time
[in seconds]

Action

A Bearer is created.

10

The subscriber generates traffic (Quota is requested from Gy. CCAU includes quota and FCI string1 with option APPEND).

30

Quota is consumed, then new quota is requested (CCA-U includes

quota and FCI string2 with option APPEND).

50

CDR1 is generated.

70

Quota is consumed, then new quota is requested (CCA-U includes

quota and FCI string3 with option APPEND).

90

CDR2 is generated.

110

Quota is consumed, then new quota is requested (CCA-U includes

quota and FCI string4 with option OVERWRITE).

130

Quota is consumed, then new quota is requested (CCA-U includes

quota and FCI string5 with option OVERWRITE).

150

CDR3 is generated.

Expected results
File

g
4.15

Result

CDR1

FCI = string1string2

CDR2

FCI = string1string2string3 (when fci-behavior is set to

standard)

CDR2

FCI = string1string2s (when fci-behavior is set to

command-level-short-strings)

CDR3

FCI = string5 (string4 gets overwritten before a CDR is generated, which is why that string is lost)

In the current release, Flexi NG does not support the triggering of CDR generation
neither when the FCI AVP arrives nor when the OCS changes the QoS.

Secondary PDP contexts and dedicated bearers

In case of secondary PDP contexts or dedicated bearers, Flexi NG establishes an independent DCCA session for each bearer (default and dedicated). The 3GPP-ChargingID AVP value is unique for each dedicated bearer. Correlation between dedicated
bearer and default bearer can be determined by analyzing the PDN-Connection-ID AVP
in CCR messages within the same GGSN/P-GW node. All bearers that belong to the
same subscriber share the same PDN-Connection-ID value.

34

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Online charging in Flexi NG

In certain DCCA modes (see Rulebase-ID description in chapter Credit-ControlAnswer), Flexi NG allows OCS to change the value of the Rulebase-ID AVP through the
CCA message. As the Rulebase-ID AVP is applied for each IP-CAN bearer, all bearers
belonging to same IP-CAN bearer share the same Rulebase-ID. If OCS changes the
Rulebase-ID, the value is changed for all bearers (default, dedicated) that belong to the
same subscriber. The operator is responsible for ensuring proper OCS configuration to
avoid cases where different dedicated bearers set different Rulebase-IDs.

Id:0900d80580a39695
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

35

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

5 Gy application
Flexi NG uses the Gy/Ro interface for online charging. The interface is implemented as
defined in 3GPP TS 32.240 [7].
Ro is an interface between an online charging system OCS and a charging trigger
function (CTF), Flexi NG being the CTF.
The Ro and Gy interfaces are functionally equivalent.

5.1

Gy
The Gy interface is used between an external online charging system (OCS) and Flexi
NG.
The following Diameter commands are supported with Gy:

5.2
5.2.1

CCR / CCA commands

RAR / RAA commands

Commands with Gy
CCR / CCA
Flexi NGs Gy application uses the Credit-Control-Request message (CCR) to create,
update, and terminate sessions towards OCS and to transfer information about the sessions.

Figure 6

5.2.2

CCR and CCA command flow with Gy

RAR / RAA
OCS can use a Re-Auth-Request to order Flexi NG to send a CCR. The AVPs in the
request define the scope of the re-authorization: DCCA session, rating group, or a combination of rating group and service identifier. If no rating group is provided, reauthorization is performed for all active rating groups.
For the time between CCR and CCA, traffic is allowed to pass, and the local default
quota is used. If OCS grants a valid quota, previous traffic is deducted.

36

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

g
5.2.3

Gy application

In the current release, if a RAR command arrives when Flexi NG is waiting for a CCA
message from that same DCCA session, then that RAR command is handled after the
CCA command has been processed. This can result in an extra CCR due to RAR.

ASR / ASA
OCS can use the Abort-Session-Request message (ASR) to terminate a session. After
the ASR is received, Flexi NG sends one final CCR that contains used units for the
active MSCC instances.

5.3

AVPs with Gy
This chapter shows the AVPs that are supported by Flexi NG Gy application. The AVPs,
their data types and the handling of unknown AVPs are implemented as specified in the
3GPP specification TS 32.299 [8].
Flags

R(equest), P(roxiable)

Code

272

Application-ID

DCCA (4)

Table 2

Message headers

Column
AVP (code)

Meaning
Contains the AVP name, and in parenthesis the AVP code
or vendor/code & bits and flag information. The following
flags are possible:

M
Mandatory
V
Vendor

An asterisk (*) indicates that multiple AVPs can be sent.

Type and content

Contains the AVP type and description.

Mode

Contains all modes in which the AVP is supported. The following flags are used with the mode:

Table 3

P
The AVP is supported on the S5 PMIP variant.
Gn
The AVP is supported on the Gn and S5 GTP variants.

Description of columns in AVP tables

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

37

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

5.3.1

Credit-Control-Request

AVP (code)
Session-Id (263M)

Type and content

UTF8String. Session-Id in string format:
<host>;<session creation
time>;<internal session sequence
number>. For example: gatewayservice7-100.NG1.nokiasiemensnetworks.com;847348
28 3;1.

Mode
ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

The <host> is 16 to 256 characters,

'nodeID.hostname'. The minimum is 16 because of
the recovery group prefix ('gatewayserviceX-Y').
The <session creation time> specifies the
DCCA session creation time in seconds from 1970.
It is always 10 digits assuming the system clock has
the correct time.
The <internal session sequence number>
is 1 to 10 digits.
When the field separators (';') are included in the
count, the theoretical minimum size is 16 bytes, and
the theoretical maximum size is 278.
Note that the above description is provided for
operator information and represents the current situation only. The content and format of the SessionId AVP may be changed in later releases or change
deliveries without warning, therefore servers are
instructed not to extract parts or otherwise parse the
content of this AVP in order to retain future compatibility.
Table 4

38

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Origin-Host (264M)

Gy application

Type and content

Mode

DiameterIdentity. The host name of the DCCA node

in Flexi NG where the request originated, as seen
by OCS.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

A different value can be configured for every

diameter server.
The origin host name is constructed by prefixing the
configured host name with the name of the node.
The host name is configured as part of diameter
profile.
Example:
my.configuration.in.dia.server.com
The node name is not configurable, and it corresponds to the Flexi NG recovery group that originated the message.
Example:
gatewayservice7-10-0: corresponds to
recovery group gateway service with nodes 7-0 and
10-0 working in active-standby mode. For more
information, see Recovery group roles and naming
in User Guide [2].
Flexi NG has 2 independent nodes per service
blade (0 and 1).
Example:
gatewayservice7-101.my.configuration.in.dia.server.com
Origin-Realm (296M)

DiameterIdentity. A different value can be configured for every diameter server.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Example:
nokiasiemensnetworks.com
If the Flexi NG host name is configured to contain
only a single word without any dots, this AVP is left
empty.
Destination-Realm (283M)

DiameterIdentity. Contains the destination realm

name configured for the server.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Auth-Application-Id (258M)

Unsigned32. Contains the value 4 to indicate that

DCCA is used.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Table 4

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

39

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Service-Context-Id (461M)

Type and content

UTF8String. Indicates the used service context.
Value is configurable, and is applied to every OCS
that connects to Flexi NG.

Mode
ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

The default values are:

[email protected]
In ISN mode.
[email protected]
In 3GPP-R7 mode.
[email protected]
In 3GPP-R8 mode.

For more information, see chapter Configuring a

service context ID in User Guide [2].
CC-Request-Type (416M)

Enumerated. Specifies the request type:

INITIAL_REQUEST (1)
UPDATE_REQUEST (2)
TERMINATION_REQUEST (3)

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Request-Number (415M)

Unsigned32. A session-specific number initialized

to 0 and increased for each CCR. The value of this
AVP is not necessarily monotonically increasing but
the Flexi NG ensures that the value in each CCR is
greater than in the previous CCR.

Destination-Host (293M)

DiameterIdentity. Contains the destination host

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
name configured for the server. If Flexi NG receives 3GPP-R8 (P)
the Origin-Host AVP in the answer message, then
the received Origin-Host is used as a DestinationHost AVP in new requests. If the destination host is
omitted from the configuration, Destination-Host
AVP is not sent in any outgoing Diameter message.

User-Name (1M)

UTF8String. If the user equipment has provided a ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

user name in the protocol configuration options
3GPP-R8 (P)
GTP information element, then it is used here. Otherwise, this AVP is not included.

Origin-State-Id (278M)

Unsigned32. Contains the value of the Flexi NG

restart counter. This value is increased by one
whenever Flexi NG loses its bearers due to a
restart.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Event-Timestamp (55M)

Time. Indicates the CCR creation time.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Subscription-Id (443M)

Grouped. Contains the MSISDN of the user.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Enumerated. Value is always END_USER_E164

(0).

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Subscription-Id-Type (450M)

Table 4

40

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Subscription-Id-Data (444M)

Type and content

Gy application

Mode

UTF8String. MSISDN.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Grouped. Contains the IMSI of the user.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Subscription-Id-Type (450M)

Enumerated. Value is always END_USER_IMSI

(1).

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Subscription-Id-Data (444M)

UTF8String. IMSI.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Enumerated. Sent in CCR Terminate. Indicates the

reason for session termination. Used values are
listed in chapter Termination cause codes with Gy.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Subscription-Id (443M)

Termination-Cause (295M)

Multiple-Services-Indicator (455M) Enumerated. Indicates that the client supports the

Multiple- Services-Credit-Control AVP. This is set
always to value:
MULTIPLE_SERVICES_SUPPORTED (1).
*Multiple-Services-Credit-Control
(456M)

Requested-Service-Unit (437M)

Grouped. Each MSCC contains the consumed

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
quota for an MSCC instance for which usage report- 3GPP-R8 (P)
ing is triggered (for example, due to a change in
rating conditions, or lack of quota). It also indicates
whether Flexi NG expects to receive more quota or
not. If no quota is allocated, this AVP is not present.
Grouped. This empty Grouped AVP is present if
ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
more quota is needed for the associated MSCC
3GPP-R8 (P)
instance. This AVP is omitted in the following cases:

*Used-Service-Unit (446M)

Table 4

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

The DCCA session is about to be terminated.

OCS terminates the MSCC instance by using
the result codes listed in chapter Result codes
with Gy.
The quota holding timer (QHT) expires.
The final unit indication is received and final
units are exhausted.

Grouped. This AVP is always present when Flexi

NG uses units to report.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

41

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Tariff-Change-Usage (452M)

Type and content

Mode

Enumerated. This AVP is present only when OCS

has set a tariff change time and the tariff change
has occurred. If the tariff change time is set but has
not occurred yet, then this AVP is omitted. Supported values are:

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

UNIT_BEFORE_TARIFF_CHANGE (0)
Indicates the amount of resource units used
before a tariff change had occurred.
UNIT_AFTER_TARIFF_CHANGE (1)
Indicates the amount of resource units used
after tariff change had occurred.
UNIT_INDETERMINATE (2)
Not supported.

CC-Time (420M)

Unsigned32. The amount of consumed time quota

in seconds.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Input-Octets (412M)

Unsigned64. The amount of consumed uplink

volume in bytes.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

g In the current release, only the lower 4 octets

(Unsigned32) are taken into account (this

means that the maximum quota is 2^32, which
is approximately 4 Gbits).

CC-Output-Octets (414M)

Unsigned64. The amount of consumed downlink

volume in bytes.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

g In the current release, only the lower 4 octets

(Unsigned32) are taken into account (this

means that the maximum quota is 2^32, which
is approximately 4 Gbits).

CC-Total-Octets (421M)

Unsigned64. The amount of consumed uplink and

downlink volume combined, in bytes.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

g In the current release, only the lower 4 octets

(Unsigned32) are taken into account (this

means that the maximum quota is 2^32, which
is approximately 4 Gbits).

Table 4

42

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Reporting-Reason
(3GPP/872MV)

Gy application

Type and content

Mode

Enumerated. Is present if quota is exhausted for

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
one or more metering types. Only one Reporting3GPP-R8 (P)
Reason AVP can be present in the Used-ServiceUnit AVP. (Note that the Reporting-Reason AVP
can also be present at the MSCC level; see below.)
Supported values are:

THRESHOLD (0)
Threshold is reached.
QUOTA_EXHAUSTED(3)
Quota for the associated metering type is
exhausted. With this reporting reason there is
only one metering type in the Used-Service-Unit
AVP.
OTHER_QUOTA_TYPE(5)
Quota for one or more of the other metering
types is exhausted. With this reporting reason
there can be multiple metering types in the
Used-Service-Unit AVP.

Service-Identifier (439M)

Unsigned32. The service for which quota is

requested.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Rating-Group (432M)

Unsigned32. The rating group to which a service

belongs.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Time-of-First-Usage
(Nokia/5103V)

Time. Contains a time-stamp identifying the date

and time of the first increment of the used units
counter since the previous report. If no used units
were gathered during the previous reporting interval, this AVP is not present.

ISN

Time-of-Last-Usage
(Nokia/5104MV)

Time. Contains a time-stamp identifying the date

and time of the last increment of the used units
counter since the previous report. If no used units
were gathered during the previous reporting interval, this AVP is not present.

ISN

Table 4

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

43

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
*Reporting-Reason
(3GPP/872MV)

Type and content

Mode

Enumerated. Indicates the reason for sending the ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
MSCC. When quota is requested for the first time, 3GPP-R8 (P)
this AVP is not present. More than one of these
AVPs can be present to indicate multiple reporting
reasons. (Note that the Reporting- Reason AVP can
also be sent inside the Used- Service-Unit AVP if
MSCC reporting reason is set as Final; see above).
Supported values are:

QHT (1)
Quota Holding Timer expires.
FINAL (2)
The MSCC instance is terminated (for example,
by OCS or by bearer deactivation).
VALIDITY_TIME (4)
Validity time expires, or the operator executed a
manual CDR generation from the user interface.
RATING_CONDITION_CHANGE (6)
Rating conditions have changed. The detailed
reason for this can be found from the TriggerType AVP.
FORCED_REAUTHORIZATION (7)
Re-Auth- Request received from OCS.

Nokia-URI (Nokia/5112MV)

Not supported.

ISN

*Trigger-Type (3GPP/870MV)

For more information, see Trigger-Type AVP

description below.

ISN

Trigger (1264MV)

Grouped. The presence of the Trigger AVP in the

CCR identifies the event(s) triggering the CCR.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Enumerated. One or more of these AVPs can be

present. Indicates the event that triggered the
MSCC. Supported values are:

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

*Trigger-Type (3GPP/870MV)

CHANGE_IN_SGSN_IP_ADDRESS (1)
A change in the SGSN address.
CHANGEINQOS_ANY (2)
A change in the QoS profile.
CHANGEINRAT (4)
A change in radio access technology.

If OCS does not send the Trigger-Type AVP, Flexi

NG uses its local configuration instead.
If OCS sends the Trigger AVP with no Trigger-Type
AVP, Flexi NG does not enable any triggers.
User-Equipment-Info (458)

Table 4

44

Grouped. Contains user equipment identifier.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Gy application

Type and content

Mode

User-Equipment-Info-Type
(459)

Enumerated. Contains always the value IMEISV

(0).

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

User-Equipment-Info-Value
(460)

OctetString. Contains the Mobile Equipment Id and

its software version. Can be present in the CCR
only if the SGSN/MME sent this information in the
Create Bearer Request. Contains the following
octets (one UTF8 (ASCII) or two (reversed) TBCD
digits per octet, like the IMEI(SV) in GTP messages
for the latter case):

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Octets 1-8
Type Allocation Code (TAC)
Octets 9-14
Serial Number (SNR)
Octets 15-16
Software Version Number (SVN)
If the SGSN/MME does not send the SVN,
octets 15-16 contain 0xFFFF.

Example on UTF8 (ASCII) format:

33:35:31:35:34:30:30:34:30:31:36:35:3
7:36:31:31
Example on (Reversed) TBCD format:
53 51 04 40 10 56 67 11
For information on TBCD digits, see 3GPP TS
23.003.
For more information on encoding scheme selection, see parameter gy-user-equipment-infoimei-encoding-mode in chapter Configuring
Diameter server profiles in Flexi NG User Guide.
Framed-IP-Address (8M)

OctetString. Present in the CCR if the PDP type is

IPv4. Contains the user equipment IP address. This
AVP is defined in RFC 2865 [14].

ISN

Framed-IPv6-Prefix (97M)

OctetString. Present in the CCR if the PDP type is

IPv6. The prefix is always 8 bytes long and the
mask length is set to 64 bits. Contains the user
equipment IP address. This AVP is defined in RFC
3162 [15].

ISN

Called-Station-Id (30M)

For more information, see Called-Station-Id AVP

description under PS-Information below.

ISN

Table 4

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

45

Gy application

AVP (code)

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Type and content

Mode

3GPP-GGSN-IP-Address
(3GPP/7MV)

Unsigned32. If the bearer was created through one

of the NAS (multi-access) interfaces of the Flexi
NG, this AVP is present to indicate the used NAS
interface. NAS interface identifiers are defined in
Flexi NG configuration. The format of this AVP is
defined in RFC 2865 [14].

ISN

3GPP-SGSN-IP-Address
(3GPP/6MV)

3GPP TS 29.061 [12]. The IP address of the SGSN

Gn interface.

ISN

3GPP-Charging-Id (3GPP/2MV)

For more information, see 3GPP-Charging-Id AVP

description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-GPRS-Negotiated-QoSProfile (3GPP/5VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-GPRS-Negotiated-QoS-Profile AVP description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-Charging-Characteristics
(3GPP/13VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-Charging-Charac- ISN

teristics AVP description under PS-Information
below.

3GPP-PDP-Type (3GPP/3VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-PDP-Type AVP

description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-SGSN-MCC-MNC
(3GPP/18VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-SGSN-MCC-MNC

AVP description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-CG-Address (3GPP/4MV)

OctetString. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). The address of

the charging gateway marked as the default
charging gateway for the bearer. The address is
expressed as a four-byte integer.

ISN

3GPP-GGSN-MCC-MNC
(3GPP/9VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-GGSN-MCCISN

MNC AVP description under PS-Information below.

3GPP-NSAPI (3GPP/10VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-NSAPI AVP

description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-Session-Stop-Indicator
(3GPP/11VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-Session-StopIndicator AVP description under PS-Information

below.

ISN

3GPP-Selection-Mode
(3GPP/12VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-Selection-Mode

AVP description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-RAT-Type (3GPP/21VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-RAT-Type AVP

description under PS-Information below. The value
E-UTRAN (6) is not supported.

ISN

3GPP-User-Location-Info
(3GPP/22VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-User-LocationInfo AVP description under PS-Information below.

ISN

3GPP-MS-TimeZone
(3GPP/23VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-MS-TimeZone

AVP description under PS-Information below.

ISN

Table 4

46

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Gy application

Type and content

Mode

3GPP-IMSI-MCC-MNC (8VM)

For more information, see 3GPP-IMSI-MCC-MNC

AVP description under PS-Information below.

ISN

Rulebase-ID (Nokia/5106MV)

UTF8String. This AVP contains rulebase names

separated with space. With local configuration, up
to 20 rulebase names can be configured for one
bearer. However, OCS can overwrite (at CCA) local
configuration by sending a string of up to 20
rulebase names in this AVP.

ISN, 3GPP R7 (Gn)

Note that this AVP is supported in the 3GPP R7

mode only when the gx-over-gy parameter is
set to enable. For more information, see chapter
Gx parameters over Gy interface.
Session-Start-Indicator
(Nokia/5105MV)

OctetString. If this AVP is present, it indicates that

the bearer is the first of the bearer session. Consists
always of a single octet that has the value 0xff.

ISN

Proxy-Info (284M)

Not supported in the current release.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Route-Record (282M)

Not supported in the current release.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Service-Information
(3GPP/873VM)

Grouped. The Service-Information purpose is to

allow the transmission of additional 3GPP servicespecific information elements (3GPP 32.299 [8]).

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Grouped. Its purpose is to allow the transmission of

additional PS service specific information elements
(3GPP 32.299 [8]).

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Unsigned32. Contains the charging identifier to

identify different records belonging to same PDN
connection. This field includes Charging Id of first
IP-CAN bearer activated within the PDN connection. Together with P-GW address this uniquely
identifies the PDN connection.

3GPP-R8 (P)

PS-Information (3GPP/874VM)

PDN-Connection-ID
(3GPP/2050V)

Coding of this AVP is same as 3GPP-Charging-Id

coding described in 3GPP TS 29.061 [12].
PDP-Address (3GPP/1227VM) Address. Contains the user equipment IP address.
This AVP is defined in 3GPP 32.299 [8].
Called-Station-Id (30M)

Table 4

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

UTF8String. Contains an identifier of the access

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
point to which the user is connected to. If the access 3GPP-R8 (P)
point numeric identifier is specified in Flexi NG configuration, it is used in this AVP. Otherwise, the
access point name is used. This AVP is defined in
RFC 2865 [14]. Note that Flexi NG always reports
the Called-Station-Id in lower case letters.

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

47

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

Mode

3GPP-IMSI-MCC-MNC
(3GPP/8VM)

UTF8String. The MCC and MNC extracted from the

user's IMSI (the first 5 or 6 digits, as applicable from
the presented IMSI).

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

GGSN-Address
(3GPP/847VM)

Address. GGSN IP address.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

SGSN-Address
(3GPP/1228VM)

Address. (3GPP TS 32.299 [8]). The control plane 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

IP address of the Gn/Gp SGSN or S-GW. The S3GPP-R8 (P)
GW address is copied from the Create-SessionRequest message (Modify-Bearer-Request
message if S-GW changes during the PDN connection lifetime), except when Flexi NG functions in
combined S-GW and P-GW mode. In that case the
address is taken from the S5 configuration.

3GPP-Charging-Id
(3GPP/2MV)

Charging ID for this bearer (this together with the

GGSN-Address constitutes a unique identifier for
the bearer).

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

3GPP-GPRS-NegotiatedQoS-Profile

UTF8String (3GPP TS 29.061). The QoS profile

applied by Flexi NG. This field is always encoded
following 3GPP Release 7 or earlier specifications.
For LTE encoding of QoS, see the QoS-Information
AVP.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

UTF8String. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). The charging

characteristics for the bearer. Consists of four
octets. Each octet contains a single UTF-8 encoded
digit. The content of the charging characteristics is
described in 3GPP TS 32.215 [13].

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

(3GPP/5VM)

3GPP-R7

(3GPP/5V)

3GPP-R8

3GPP-Charging-Characteristics (3GPP/13VM)

This AVP is encoded if it is received from the

RADIUS AAA server, from the PCRF, or from
HLR/HSS (the applied charging characteristics is
reported). The value received from the RADIUS
AAA server has the highest priority.
3GPP-PDP-Type (3GPP/3VM) Enumerated. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). Type of
bearer, for example, IP or PPP.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

3GPP-SGSN-MCC-MNC
(3GPP/18VM)

UTF8String. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). MCC and

MNC extracted from the RAI within Create or
Update Bearer Request.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

CG-Address (3GPP/846VM)

Address. (3GPP 32.299 [8]). The address of the

charging gateway marked as the default charging
gateway for the bearer.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Table 4

48

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
3GPP-GGSN-MCC-MNC
(3GPP/9VM)

Type and content

UTF8String. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). Contains the
mobile country and network code of the PLMN that
Flexi NG belongs to. The first entry in the list of local
PLMNs in Flexi NG configuration determines the
value of this AVP. Contains the following octets:

Gy application

Mode
3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Octet 1: MCC digit 1

Octet 2: MCC digit 2
Octet 3: MCC digit 3
Octet 4: MNC digit 1
Octet 5: MNC digit 2
Octet 6: MNC digit 3 (if present)
If MNC digit 3 is not present, octet 6 is not
included.

3GPP-NSAPI (3GPP/10VM)

UTF8String. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). Indicates the

NSAPI of the bearer. Contains one octet consisting
of a single digit.

3GPP-Session-Stop-Indicator
(3GPP/11VM)

OctetString. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). The presence 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

of this AVP indicates that the last context of the
3GPP-R8 (P)
bearer session is deleted. Can be present in the termination CCR only. Contains one octet that has a
value of 0xff.

3GPP-Selection-Mode
(3GPP/12VM)

UTF8String. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]). Consists of

one octet containing the selection mode as received
from SGSN in the Create Bearer Request.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

3GPP-RAT-Type
(3GPP/21VM)

OctetString. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]) Defines the

method used to access the network. Consists of a
single octet. The following values can be sent:

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

UTRAN (1)
GERAN (2)
WLAN (3)
HSPA Evolution (5)
E-UTRAN (6)
Supported when Flexi NG is configured either
as a P-GW or as a combined S/P-GW.
eHRPD (102)
HRPD (103)

3GPP-User-Location-Info
(3GPP/22VM)

OctetString. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]) Contains infor- 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

mation about the user's current geographical
3GPP-R8 (P)
location as received from the SGSN.

3GPP-MS-TimeZone
(3GPP/23VM)

OctetString. (3GPP TS 29.061 [12]) 3GPP-MSTimeZone is used to indicate the offset between
universal time and local time in steps of 15 minutes
of where the MS current resides.

Table 4

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

49

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

*Charging-Rule-Base-Name
(3GPP/1004MV)

UTF8String. Indicates the name of a pre-defined

group of PCC rules residing at Flexi NG. Each
instance of this AVP contains one rule base name
that is active for the subscriber. Flexi NG sends up
to 20 PCC rule bases.

Mode
3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

This AVP is not present in the CCR-Terminate

message.
QoS-Information
(3GPP/1016MV)

Grouped. Contains the authorized QoS applicable

for the bearer to which this diameter session refers.
For more information, see 3GPP 29.212 [16].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Supported only if the gx-over-gy parameter is

enabled and Flexi NG is in GGSN mode. If Flexi NG
is in LTE mode, this AVP is ignored.
QoS-Class-Identifier
(3GPP/1028MV)

3GPP-R8 (P)

Max-Requested- Bandwidth- Unsigned32. Defines the maximum bit rate allowed

UL (3GPP/515MV)
for the uplink direction.For more information, see
3GPP 29.214 [17].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Max-Requested- Bandwidth- Unsigned32. Defines the maximum bit rate allowed

DL (3GPP/516MV)
for the downlink direction.For more information, see
3GPP 29.214 [117.

3GPP-R8 (P)

Guaranteed-Bitrate-UL
(3GPP/1026MV)

Unsigned32. Defines the guaranteed bit rate

allowed for the uplink direction. For more information, see 3GPP 29.212 [16].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Guaranteed-Bitrate-DL
(3GPP/1025MV)

Unsigned32. For more information, see 3GPP

29.212 [16]. Defines the guaranteed bit rate allowed
for the downlink direction.

3GPP-R8 (P)

Bearer-Identifier
(3GPP/1020MV)

OctetString. Bearer ID. Ignored even though it can

be received by Flexi NG. For more information, see
3GPP 29.212 [16].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Allocation-Retention-Priority
(3GPP/1034MV)

Grouped. Indicator of the priority of allocation and 3GPP-R8 (P)

retention for the Service Data Flow. For more information, see 3GPP 29.212 [16].

Table 4

50

Enumerated. Identifies a set of IP-CAN specific

QoS parameters that define the authorized QoS.
For more information, see 3GPP 29.212 [16].

Priority-Level
(3GPP/1046MV)

Unsigned 32. For more information, see 3GPP

29.212 [16].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Pre-Emption-Capability
(3GPP/1047MV)

Enumerated. For more information, see 3GPP

29.212 [16].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Pre-Emption-Vulnerability
(3GPP/1048MV)

Enumerated. For more information, see 3GPP

29.212 [16].

3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

PDP-Context-Type
(3GPP/1247VM)

Enumerated. Indicates the type of a bearer.

Serving-Node-Type
(3GPP/2047VM)

Enumerated. Identifies the type of serving node. For

more information, see 3GPP 32.299 [8].

Table 4

Its values are 0 for primary and 1 for secondary

(3GPP 32.299 [8]).

Gy application

Mode
3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)
3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Request sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

5.3.2

Credit-Control-Answer

AVP (code)

Type and content

Mode

Session-Id (263M)

Flexi NG uses the end-to-end identifier in the

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
message header to locate the session that is associ- 3GPP-R8 (P)
ated with the CCA.

Result-Code (268M)

Unsigned32. Indicates the result of the credit authori- ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
zation. From an answer to the termination CCR, Flexi 3GPP-R8 (P)
NG uses the Result-Code only for logging purposes.

Origin-Host (264M)

DiameterIdentity. The value of this AVP is used for

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
session binding. Flexi NG uses this value in the Des- 3GPP-R8 (P)
tination-Host AVP of the subsequent CCRs. This
value overrides any configured destination host.

Origin-Realm (296M)

Diameter Identity. The value of this AVP is used for

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
session binding. Flexi NG uses this value in the Des- 3GPP-R8 (P)
tination-Realm AVP of the subsequent CCRs. This
value overrides any configured destination realm.

Auth-Application-Id (258M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with

the value in the request.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Request-Type (416M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with

the value in the request.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Request-Number (415M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with

the value in the request.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

User-Name (1M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with

the value in the request.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Session-Failover (418M)

Enumerated. If present, indicates whether the online

charging session can be directed to a secondary
server when a failure occurs. Supported values are:

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Acct-Multi-Session-Id (50M)

Table 5

FAILOVER_NOT_SUPPORTED (0)
FAILOVER_SUPPORTED (1)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to be correct. ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

51

Gy application

AVP (code)

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Type and content

Mode

Origin-State-Id (278M)

Ignored. Not supported in the current release.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Event-Timestamp (55M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with

the value in the request.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

*Multiple-Services-CreditControl (456M)

Grouped. Contains the granted quota for a rating

group.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Note that the MSCC AVP can be present even if the

related MSCC instance is not included in the corresponding CCR. This happens if redirection needs to
be activated for some MSCC instance immediately
and/or in-advance quota needs to be granted for
some MSCC instance before it is even used.
Granted-Service-Unit (431M)

Grouped. Contains the granted quota. Flexi NG

enables those metering types for which quota is
granted in the Granted-Service-Unit (GSU) AVP.
Metering type settings received from OCS override
any configured settings.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

If this AVP is present but empty, the DCCA session is

terminated.
Flexi NG handles cases where this AVP is present but
sub AVPs contain value 0 for quota as FUI = TERMINATE except when redirection triggers (which is
handled as FUI = REDIRECT).
Tariff-Time-Change (451M)

Time. If present, this specifies when the next tariff

time change occurs. The time is reported in seconds
since January 1, 1900, 00:00 UTC.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Time (420M)

Unsigned32. Optional. The amount of granted time

quota in seconds.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Input-Octets (412M)

Unsigned64. The amount of granted uplink volume in ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

bytes. Allowed only if CC-Total-Octets is not included. 3GPP-R8 (P)

g In the current release, only the lower 4 octets

(Unsigned32) are taken into account (this means

that the maximum quota is 2^32, which is approximately 4 Gbits).

CC-Output-Octets (414M)

Unsigned64. The amount of granted downlink volume

in bytes. Allowed only if CC-Total-Octets is not
included.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

g In the current release, only the lower 4 octets

(Unsigned32) are taken into account (this means

that the maximum quota is 2^32, which is approximately 4 Gbits).

Table 5

52

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
CC-Total-Octets (421M)

Type and content

Unsigned64. The amount of granted units for uplink
and downlink combined, in bytes. Allowed only if
neither CC-Input-Octets nor CC-Output-Octets are
included.

Gy application

Mode
ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

g In the current release, only the lower 4 octets

(Unsigned32) are taken into account (this means

that the maximum quota is 2^32, which is approximately 4 Gbits).

CC-Service-Specific-Units
(417M)

Ignored if received.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Service-Identifier (439M)

Unsigned32. Service-Identifier AVP contains a

numeric identifier for a service as determined by the
PCC rule configuration. Only one service identifier
may be present. The service identifier identifies the
service for which quota is being granted. If OCS
wishes to grant quota for all services belonging to a
certain rating group, the service identifier is omitted.For more information, see chapter Quota granularity.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Rating-Group (432M)

Mandatory. Unsigned32. Rating-Group AVP identifies a rating group for the MSCC instance. It defines
the rating group for which quota is granted.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Validity-Time (448M)

Unsigned32. Indicates the time in which the granted

quota is considered to be valid.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

If OCS does not send Validity-Time, quota is granted

for indefinite amount of time.
Flexi NG does not hold local configuration for this
parameter.
Result-Code (268M)

Unsigned32. Indicates the result of the quota request. ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Final-Unit-Indication (430M)

Grouped. The presence of this AVP indicates that no ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
more quota is available after the currently granted
3GPP-R8 (P)
quota is consumed. Granted-Service-Unit (GSU)
(with zero quota) in the MSCC AVP indicates that
there is no quota left (immediate final unit action). This
AVP also indicates the graceful termination action
that Flexi NG performs after the last quota is consumed.

Table 5

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

53

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

Mode

Final-Unit-Action (449M)

Mandatory. Enumerated. Indicates the action to

perform after the last units are consumed. Supported
values are:

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

TERMINATE (0)
REDIRECT (1)

Other values are interpreted as TERMINATE.

Restriction-Filter-Rule
(438M)

Ignored.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Filter-Id (11M)

Ignored.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Redirect-Server (434M)

Grouped. Indicates the redirection server address for

the REDIRECT final unit action.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Mandatory. Enumerated. Indicates the type of the

redirect address. The supported value is URL (2).

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Redirect-Address-Type
(433M)

For more information, see chapter Traffic redirection.

Redirect-Server-Address
(435M)

Mandatory. UTF8String. Indicates the address of the

redirect server.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Default-Quota (Nokia/5111MV) Grouped. Flexi NG uses the configured local default

quota if:

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Time (420M)

Unsigned32. Ignored if received.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Input-Octets (412M)

Unsigned64. Ignored if received.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Output-Octets (414M)

Unsigned64. Ignored if received.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Total-Octets (421M)

Unsigned64. For more information, se chapter

Default quota granted by OCS.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

CC-Service-Specific-Units
(417M)

Unsigned64. Ignored if received.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Table 5

54

This AVP is not present.

This AVP is present but does not include the CCTotal-Octets default quota.

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Time-Quota-Threshold
(868MV)

Type and content

Unsigned32. Contains the number in seconds of
quota left, after which Flexi NG reports quota, and
requests for more quota (for example when only the
Time-Quota-Threshold amount of seconds is left).

Gy application

Mode
3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

While waiting CCA for more quota, Flexi NG uses the

remaining quota. Quota threshold is always less than
total quota.
If OCS sends Time-Quota but not Time-QuotaThreshold, the Threshold value from configuration is
used.
Flexi NGs local configuration for threshold is the
same for volume and time, and is given as a percent
of total quota.
Volume-Quota-Threshold
(869MV)

Unsigned32. Contains the number of bytes of quota

left, after which Flexi NG reports quota and request
for more quota (for example when only the VolumeQuota-Threshold amount of bytes is left). While
waiting CCA for more quota, Flexi NG uses the
remaining quota. Quota threshold is always less than
total quota.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

If OCS sends Volume Quota but not Volume Quota

Threshold, then Threshold value from configuration is
used.
Flexi NGs local configuration for threshold is the
same for volume and time, and is given as a percent
of total quota.
Unit-Quota-Threshold
(1226MV)

Ignored.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Quota-Holding-Time
(3GPP/871MV)

Unsigned32. At the expiration of QHT, Flexi NG

reports quota usage.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

(Nokia/5110MV) in ISN mode

Flexi NG starts the quota holding timer on receipt of a

CCA and restarts it at the end of each packet.
Flexi NG uses the default configuration if:

Table 5

OCS does not send Quota-Holding-Time

OCS sends Quota-Consumption-Time and
Quota-Holding-Time, and QHT is less than QCT

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

55

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
Quota-Consumption-Time
(3GPP/881MV)
(Nokia/5109MV) in ISN mode

Type and content

Mode

Unsigned32. Contains the time elapsed from when

the traffic flow stopped, to the moment when Flexi NG
considers that the time envelope finishes.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Flexi NG uses the default configuration if:

Trigger (1264MV)

*Trigger-Type
(3GPP/870MV)

OCS does not send Quota-Consumption-Time

OCS sends Quota-Consumption-Time and
Quota-Holding-Time, and QHT is less than QCT

Grouped. The presence of the Trigger AVP in the

CCA identifies the event(s) that trigger the next quota
authorization (CCR).

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Enumerated. One or more of these AVPs can be

present. Indicates the event(s) that trigger the next
quota authorization. Supported values are:

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

CHANGE_IN_SGSN_IP_ADDRESS (1)
A change in the SGSN address.
CHANGEINQOS_ANY (2)
A change in the QoS profile.
CHANGEINRAT (4)
A change in radio access technology.

If OCS does not send Trigger-Type AVP, Flexi NG

uses its local configuration instead.
PS-Furnish-Charging- Information (3GPP/865MV)

3GPP-Charging-ID
(23GPP/MV)

Ignored. Flexi NG trusts that the received charging

identifier matches with the local charging identifier.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

PS-Free-Format-Data
(3GPP/866MV)

OctetString. Contains transparent data to be placed

to all subsequent CDRs sent to charging gateway.
Maximum allowed length for the data is 160 octets.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Table 5

56

Grouped. Contains free format data to be placed into ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
CDRs as described in chapter Furnish charging infor- 3GPP-R8 (P)
mation. This AVP and all AVPs contained within are
described in 3GPP 32.299 [8].

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)
PS-Append-Free-FormatData (3GPP/867MV)

Gy application

Type and content

Enumerated. Can contain the following values:

APPEND (0)
Flexi NG appends the attached free format data to
the earlier received data.
OVERWRITE (1)
Any earlier received data is replaced with the
current data.

Mode
ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

If this AVP is absent, the functionality is handled as in

OVERWRITE.
Note that the maximum size for the free format data is
160 octets. If an APPEND operation causes this limit
to be exceeded, this AVP is treated as having an
invalid value.
Cost-Information (423M)

Ignored.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Credit-Control-Failure-Handling
(427M)

Enumerated. Defines the failure handling procedure

as specified in chapter Session failover handling with
Gy. Allowed values are:

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

TERMINATE (0)
CONTINUE (1)
RETRY_AND_TERMINATE (2)

Validity-Time (448M)

For more information, see Validity-Time AVP descrip- ISN

tion under Multiple-Services-Credit-Control above.

3GPP-Charging-Characteristics
(3GPP/13MV)

UTF8String. Ignored. OCS is not allowed to change ISN

charging characteristics. Value is ignored if received.

Rulebase-ID (Nokia/5106V)

UTF8String. Indicates which rulebase names are

allowed for the user. The Rulebase-ID AVP is a
UTF8String and can contain a space-separated list of
rulebase names. The value of this AVP overrides the
value configured to the access point. OCS is able to
change the rulebase ID at CCA. OCS can send a
string of up to 20 rulebase names in this AVP. If no
rulebase names are included in this AVP, the corresponding session is terminated.

ISN, 3GPP R7 (Gn)

Note that this AVP is supported in the 3GPP R7 mode

only when the gx-over-gy parameter is set to
enable. For more information, see chapter Gx
parameters over Gy interface.
QoS-Information
(3GPP/1016MV)
QoS-Class-Identifier
(3GPP/1028MV)
Table 5

For more information, see QoS-Information AVP

description under PS-Information.

ISN

For more information, see QoS-Class-Identifier AVP

description under PS-Information.

ISN

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

57

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

Mode

Max-Requested-BandwidthUL (3GPP/515MV)

For more information, see Max-Requested-Bandwidth-UL AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

Max-Requested-BandwidthDL (3GPP/516MV)

For more information, see Max-Requested-Bandwidth-DL AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

Guaranteed-Bitrate-UL
(3GPP/1026MV)

For more information, see Guaranteed-Bitrate-UL

AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

Guaranteed-Bitrate-DL
(3GPP/1025MV)

For more information, see Guaranteed-Bitrate-DL

AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

Bearer-Identifier
(3GPP/1020MV)

For more information, see Bearer-Identifier AVP

description under PS-Information.

ISN

Allocation-Retention-Priority
(3GPP/1034MV)

For more information, see Allocation-RetentionPriority AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

Priority-Level
(3GPP/1046MV)

For more information, see Priority-Level AVP descrip- ISN

tion under PS-Information.

Pre-Emption-Capability
(3GPP/1047MV)

For more information, see Pre-Emption-Capability

AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

Pre-Emption-Vulnerability
(3GPP/1048MV)

For more information, see Pre-Emption-Vulnerability

AVP description under PS-Information.

ISN

PS-Furnish-Charging-Information (3GPP/865MV)

For more information, see PS-Furnish-ChargingISN

Information AVP description under Multiple-ServicesCredit-Control above.

3GPP-Charging-ID
(3GPP/846MV)

For more information, see 3GPP-Charging-ID AVP

description under Multiple-Services-Credit-Control
above.

ISN

PS-Free-Format-Data
(3GPP/866MV)

For more information, see PS-Free-Format-Data AVP

description under Multiple-Services-Credit-Control
above.

ISN

PS-Append-Free-Format-Data
(3GPP/867MV)

For more information, see PS-Append-Free-Format- ISN

Data AVP description under Multiple-Services-CreditControl above.

Proxy-Info (284M)

Ignored.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Route-Record (282M)

Ignored.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Failed-AVP (279M)

Ignored.

ISN, 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

3GPP-R8 (P)

Service-Information
(3GPP/873VM)

Grouped. The Service-Information purpose is to allow

the transmission of additional 3GPP service specific
information elements (3GPP 32.299 [8]).

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Table 5

58

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

PS-Information (3GPP/874VM) Grouped. Its purpose is to allow the transmission of

additional PS service specific information elements
(3GPP 32.299 [8]).
PS-Furnish-Charging-Information (3GPP/865MV)

Gy application

Mode
3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

Grouped. Contains free format data to be placed into 3GPP-R7 (Gn),

CDRs as described in chapter Furnish charging infor- 3GPP-R8 (P)
mation. This AVP and all AVPs contained within are
described in 3GPP 32.299 [8].

3GPP-Charging-ID
(23GPP/MV)

Ignored. Flexi NG trusts that the received charging

identifier matches with the local charging identifier.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

PS-Free-Format-Data
(3GPP/866MV)

OctetString. Contains transparent data to be placed

to all subsequent CDRs sent to charging gateway.
Maximum allowed length for the data is 160 octets.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

PS-Append-Free-FormatData (3GPP/867MV)

Enumerated. Can contain the following values:

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

APPEND (0)
Flexi NG appends the attached free format data to
the earlier received data.
OVERWRITE (1)
Any earlier received data is replaced with the
current data.

If this AVP is absent, the functionality is handled as in

OVERWRITE.
Note that the maximum size for the free format data is
160 octets. If an APPEND operation causes this limit
to be exceeded, this AVP is treated as having an
invalid value.
*Charging-Rule-Base-Name
(3GPP/1004MV)

Ignored.

3GPP-R7 (Gn),
3GPP-R8 (P)

QoS-Information
(3GPP/1016MV)

Grouped. This is the QoS that the DCCA server

requests from Flexi NG to be applied for this PDP
context. This AVP and all AVPs contained within are
described in 3GPP TS 29.212 [16].

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Supported only if the gx-over-gy parameter is

enabled and Flexi NG is in GGSN mode. If Flexi NG
is in LTE mode, this AVP is ignored.
QoS-Class-Identifier
(3GPP/1028MV)

Enumerated. QCI mapping is explained in 3GPP TS

29.212 [16] and in document Flexi NG QoS Concept
Overview.

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Max-Requested-Bandwidth-UL (3GPP/515MV)

Unsigned32. The Max-Requested-Bandwidth-UL/DL

AVP indicates the maximum allowed bit rate (in bits
per second) for the uplink direction.

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Table 5

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

59

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

Mode

Max-Requested-Bandwidth-DL (3GPP/516MV)

Unsigned32. The Max-Requested-Bandwidth-UL/DL

AVP indicates the maximum allowed bit rate (in bits
per second) for the uplink direction.

Guaranteed-Bitrate-UL
(3GPP/1026MV)

Unsigned32. Indicates the guaranteed bitrate in bits 3GPP-R7 (Gn)

per second for an uplink service data flow. The bandwidth contains all the overhead coming from the IPlayer and the layers above.

Guaranteed-Bitrate-DL
(3GPP/1025MV)

Unsigned32. Indicates the guaranteed bitrate in bits

per second for a downlink service data flow. The
bandwidth contains all the overhead coming from the
IP-layer and the layers above.

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Bearer-Identifier
(3GPP/1020MV)

OctetString. Ignored. Indicates the bearer to which

the QoS information refers. In Flexi NG, the PDP
context is referenced by the DCCA session.

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Allocation-RetentionPriority (3GPP/1034MV)

Grouped. Indicator of the priority of allocation and

3GPP-R7 (Gn)
retention for the service data flow. For more information, see 3GPP 29.212 [16].

Table 5

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Priority-Level
(3GPP/1046MV)

Unsigned 32. For more information, see 3GPP

29.212 [16].

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Pre-Emption-Capability
(3GPP/1047MV)

Enumerated. For more information, see 3GPP 29.212

[16].

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Pre-Emption-Vulnerability (3GPP/1048MV)

Enumerated. For more information, see 3GPP 29.212

[16].

3GPP-R7 (Gn)

Credit-Control-Answer received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

5.4

Re-Auth-Request

AVP (code)

Type and content

Session-Id (263M)

UTF8String. Session identifier indicates the bearer to which the re-authorization request concerns.

Origin-Host (264M)

Ignored. The peer is already known so evaluating this AVP is not necessary.

Origin-Realm (296M)

Ignored. The peer is already known so evaluating this AVP is not necessary.

Destination-Realm (283M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with Origin-Realm of Flexi
NG.

Destination-Host (293M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with Origin-Host of Flexi
NG.

Auth-Application-Id (258M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to be DCCA (4).

Re-Auth-Request-Type (285M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to be AUTHORIZE_ONLY (0).

User-Name (1M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with the user name linked
with the session.

Table 6

60

Re-Auth-Request received by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Gy application

Type and content

Origin-State-Id (278M)

Ignored. Not supported by Flexi NG.

Proxy-Info (284M)

Ignored.

Route-Record (282M)

Ignored.

G-S-U-Pool-Identifier (453M)

Ignored.

Service-Identifier (439M)

Unsigned32. If OCS wishes to re-authorize at rating group and service granularity, this AVP is present. When this AVP is present, also the Rating-Group
AVP must be present.

Rating-Group (432M)

Unsigned32. This AVP can be present if OCS re-authorizes only a certain

rating group.

Table 6

Re-Auth-Request received by Flexi NG (Cont.)

5.5

Re-Auth-Answer

AVP (code)

Type and content

Session-Id (263M)

UTF8String. Copied from the request.

Result-Code (268M)

Unsigned32. Indicates the result of the request.

Origin-Host (264M)

DiameterIdentity. The host name of the DCCA node in Flexi NG where the
request originated, as seen by OCS.
A different value can be configured for every diameter server.
The origin host name is constructed by prefixing the configured host name
with the name of the node.
The host name is configured as part of diameter profile.
Example:
my.configuration.in.dia.server.com
The node name is not configurable, and it corresponds to the Flexi NG
recovery group that originated the message.
Example:
gatewayservice7-10-0: corresponds to recovery group gateway service
with nodes 7-0 and 10-0 working in active-standby mode. For more information, see Recovery group roles and naming in User Guide [2].
Flexi NG has 2 independent nodes per service blade (0 and 1).
Example:
gatewayservice7-10-1.my.configuration.in.dia.server.com

Origin-Realm (296M)

DiameterIdentity. Flexi NG domain name.

User-Name (1M)

UTF8String. This AVP is present in the answer only if it is also present in the
request.

Origin-State-Id (278M)

Unsigned32. Contains the Flexi NG restart counter.

Table 7

Re-Auth-Answer sent by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

61

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Type and content

Rating-Group (432M)

Table 7

Unsigned32. This AVP is present in the answer only if it is also present in the
request.

Re-Auth-Answer sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

5.6

Abort-Session-Request

AVP (code)

Type and content

Session-Id (263M)

Mandatory. UTF8String. Session identifier indicates the bearer that shall be

terminated.

Origin-Host (264M)

Ignored. The peer is already known so evaluating this AVP is not necessary.

Origin-Realm (296M)

Ignored. The peer is already known so evaluating this AVP is not necessary.

Destination-Realm (283M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with the Origin-Realm of
Flexi NG.

Destination-Host (293M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to match with the Origin-Host of the
Flexi NG.

Auth-Application-Id (258M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to be 4 for DCCA.

User-Name (1M)

UTF8String. This AVP is not evaluated but it is copied to the answer message
if it is present in the request.

Origin-State-Id (278M)

Ignored. Not supported by Flexi NG.

Proxy-Info (284M)

Ignored. Copied to the Abort-Session-Answer.

Route-Record (282M)

Ignored. The value of this AVP is trusted to be acceptable.

Table 8

Abort-Session-Request received by Flexi NG

5.7

Abort-Session-Answer

AVP (code)

Type and content

Session-Id (263M)

UTF8String. Copied from the request.

Result-Code (268M)

Unsigned32. Indicates the result of the request.

Table 9

62

Abort-Session-Answer sent by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

AVP (code)

Gy application

Type and content

Origin-Host (264M)

DiameterIdentity. The host name of the DCCA node in Flexi NG where the
request originated, as seen by OCS.
A different value can be configured for every diameter server.
The origin host name is constructed by prefixing the configured host name
with the name of the node.
The host name is configured as part of diameter profile.
Example:
my.configuration.in.dia.server.com
The node name is not configurable, and it corresponds to the Flexi NG
recovery group that originated the message.
Example:
gatewayservice7-10-0: corresponds to recovery group gateway service
with nodes 7-0 and 10-0 working in active-standby mode. For more information, see Recovery group roles and naming in User Guide [2].
Flexi NG has 2 independent nodes per service blade (0 and 1).
Example:
gatewayservice7-10-1.my.configuration.in.dia.server.com

Origin-Realm (296M)

DiameterIdentity. Flexi NG domain name.

User-Name (1M)

UTF8String. This AVP is present in the answer only if it was also present in
the request.

Origin-State-Id (278M)

Unsigned32. Contains the Flexi NG restart counter.

Failed-AVP (279M)

Grouped. In failed answers, this AVP can be present if the result code so
mandates. It contains a copy of those AVPs that Flexi NG found faulty.

Proxy-Info (284M)

Grouped. If the request contained proxy information, then it is copied also to

here. Flexi NG does not interpret the content of this grouped AVP, so they are
not presented here.

Table 9

Abort-Session-Answer sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

5.8
5.8.1

Result codes with Gy

Result codes sent by Flexi NG
All Diameter answers sent by the Flexi NG contain one of the result codes listed in the
table below. Flexi NG does not send other codes.

Value (Code)

Meaning

SUCCESS (2001)

Flexi NG successfully fulfilled an OCS request. In Re-Auth-Answer, this result

code indicates that no CCR is generated.

LIMITED_SUCCESS (2002)

In Re-Auth-Answer only: a CCR is sent because of the Re-Auth-Request.

Table 10

Result codes sent by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

63

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Value (Code)

Meaning

COMMAND_UNSUPPORTED
(3001)

An unsupported command is received.

APPLICATION_UNSUPPORTE
D (3007)

A command contained an unsupported application identifier.

AVP_UNSUPPORTED (5001)

An unsupported mandatory AVP is encountered. The Failed-AVP contains

the offending AVP.

UNKNOWN_SESSION_ID
(5002)

An unrecognized session identifier is received. The Failed-AVP contains the

offending AVP.

INVALID_AVP_VALUE (5004)

The syntax or content of an AVP is incorrect. The Failed-AVP contains the

offending AVP.

MISSING_AVP (5005)

A mandatory AVP is missing. The Failed-AVP contains an empty skeleton of

the missing AVP.

AVP_OCCURS_TOO_MANY_
TIMES (5009)

Too many occurrences of an AVP are present. The Failed-AVP contains the
instance of the AVP that breached the limit.

NO_COMMON_APPLICATION
(5010)

In Capabilities-Exchange-Answer only: the peer did not send DCCA (4) or

relay (FFFFFFFF) application identifiers in the Authorization-Application-Id
AVP.

INVALID_AVP_LENGTH (5014) An AVP is longer than the number of remaining bytes in the message.
Table 10

Result codes sent by Flexi NG (Cont.)

5.8.2

Result codes received by Flexi NG at command level

The table below describes Flexi NG behavior when it receives result codes in CCA at
command level. The table also indicates whether the Flexi NG tries session failover to
the backup server when it receives a certain result code. If the failover is successful, the
action in the Behavior column is not executed.

Value (Code)

Session failover
attempted

Behavior if session failover is not allowed by OCS or configuration

Informational errors (1xxx)

no

The request is considered successful.

Success (2xxx)

no

END_USER_SERVICE_D
ENIED (4010)

no

USER_UNKNOWN (5030)

no

DIAMETER_RATING_FAI
LED (5031)

no

CREDIT_CONTROL_NOT
_APPLICABLE (4011)

no

Table 11

64

The behavior for these result codes is defined in the DCCA

state machine. The bearer and the online charging session are
terminated. No final CCR is sent.

The behavior for this result code is defined in the DCCA state
machine. The online charging session is terminated. No final
CCR is sent. The bearer remains active and can be charged
with offline charging if offline charging is enabled in the
charging profile.

Result codes received by Flexi NG at command level

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Value (Code)

Gy application

Session failover Behavior if session failover is not allowed by OCS or conattempted

figuration

CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHE
D (4012)

no

The bearer and the online charging session are terminated but
a final CCR is sent. This is useful if, for example, default quota
is used and OCS wishes to terminate the session without
losing the final used units.
If this result code is received in CCA-Init while the always-on
feature is disabled, Flexi NG triggers CCR termination, and
responds with USER AUTHENTICATION FAILED to create
Bearer request.

AUTHORIZATION_
REJECTED (5003)

no

When this cause code is received in a CCA Initial, the bearer

activation is not allowed. When this cause code is received in
a CCA Update, the bearer is terminated and a CCR Final is
sent.
Note that when the always-on mode is enabled and this cause
code is received in a CCA Initial, the bearer is terminated.
When this cause code is received in a CCA Update, the bearer
is terminated and a CCR Final is sent.

Protocol errors (3xxx)

yes

Transient errors that are

not listed above (4xxx)

yes

Permanent errors that are

not listed above (5xxx)

yes

Unknown errors

no

Table 11

When these cause codes are received in CCA Initial, the

bearer activation is not allowed. When these cause codes are
received in CCA Update, the bearer is terminated but CCR
Final is not sent.

Result codes received by Flexi NG at command level (Cont.)

Note that for each OCS, Flexi NG records the amount of CCA messages with result code
NOT_SUCCESS (Includes every result code at command level different than 1XXX or
2XXX).

5.8.3

Result codes received by Flexi NG at MSCC level

The table below describes Flexi NG behavior when it receives result codes from the
server at MSCC level. Note that DCCA does not define client behavior for result codes
received at MSCC level.

Value (Code)

Behavior if session failover is not allowed by OCS or configuration

Informational errors (1xxx)

The request is considered successful.

Success (2xxx)

If OCS terminates the MSCC instance (FUI = TERMINATE) with a successful

MSCC result code, the operator can choose whether NPT starts through configuration. For more information, see chapter Non-permission timer.

Table 12

Result codes received by Flexi NG at MSCC level

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

65

Gy application

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Value (Code)

Behavior if session failover is not allowed by OCS or configuration

RATING_FAILED (5031)

The MSCC instance is blacklisted for the duration of the bearer, and all subsequent traffic is discarded without further correspondence with OCS. The
AUTHORIZATION_ REJECTED
non-permission timer is not started in this case.
(5003)
CREDIT_CONTROL_NOT_AP
PLICABLE (4011)

The MSCC instance is locally granted unlimited quota, and no further signaling to OCS is performed.

CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHED
(4012)

This result code triggers redirection or terminates the MSCC instance. For
conditions that trigger redirection, see chapter Traffic redirection.
If no redirection applies, the MSCC instance is terminated. A CCR is sent to
report the final used units. This is useful when Flexi NG is configured to let
traffic go between the CCR and the CCA in order to terminate the MSCC
instance without losing the last used units. No further signaling to OCS is performed. The non-permission timer is started (for more information, see
chapter Non-permission timer).
Note that if a CCR, which does not contain Requested-Service-Unit AVP for
this MSCC, is sent, and a CCA with this result code is received, the extra
CCR is not sent as in this case there are no last used units to report.

Protocol errors (3xxx)

Transient errors that are not
listed above (4xxx)

The MSCC instance is blocked and any user data is discarded. No further signaling to OCS is performed. The non-permission timer is started (for more
information, see chapter Non-permission timer).

Permanent errors that are not

listed above (5xxx)
Unknown errors
Table 12

Result codes received by Flexi NG at MSCC level (Cont.)

Note that if OCS rejects the MSCC activation (by sending an 3xxx, 4xxx, or 5xxx error
result code at MSCC level in CCA-Init), Flexi NG does not report the used default quota
to OCS. Instead, that used traffic is reported in CDRs.

5.9

Termination cause codes with Gy

A termination CCR sent by Flexi NG contains one of the cause codes listed in the table
below. Flexi NG does not send other termination cause codes.

66

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Value (Code)
ADMINISTRATIVE (4)

Gy application

Meaning
This termination cause code is used when Flexi NG meets the following conditions:

OCS terminates the bearer by sending the result code

CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHED (4012) in CCA at command level.
A received CCA update contains the result code
AUTHORIZATION_REJECTED (5003) at command level.
Flexi NG sends a Delete Bearer Request message if a Diameter RAR
including the Session-Release-Cause (1045) AVP is received from the
PCRF.
Flexi NG sends a Delete Bearer Request message if the PCRF is
unreachable and no Gx failover takes place.

BAD_ANSWER (3)

This termination code is used whenever OCS returns an unknown AVP or an

unexpected result code.

LOGOUT (1)

This is the default cause code. It is used if the reason for closing the DCCA
session is none of the reasons listed above.

Table 13

Termination cause codes sent by Flexi NG

Id:0900d80580a3876e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

67

References

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

6 References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.

9.
10.

11.

12.

13.

14.
15.
16.
17.

68

Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi NG Diameter Base Protocol, Interface Description

Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi NG User Guide
Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi NG Service Awareness
Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi NG High Availability Solutions Reference Guide
IETF RFC 3588, Diameter Base Protocol
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3588
3GPP TS 23.402, Architecture enhancements for non-3GPP accesses
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/23402.htm
3GPP TS 32.240, Telecommunication management; Charging management;
Charging architecture and principles
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/32240.htm
3GPP TS 32.299 v. 7.7.0 (2007-09) and v.8.8.0 (2009-09), Telecommunication
management; Charging management; Diameter charging applications
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/specs/html-info/32299.htm
IETF RFC 4006, Diameter Credit-Control Application
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4006
3GPP TS 23.401, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enhancements for
Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) access
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/23401.htm
3GPP TS 32.251, Telecommunication management; Charging management;
Packet Switched (PS) domain charging
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/specs/html-info/32251.htm
3GPP TS 29.061 v.7.8.0 and v.8.4.0, Interworking between the Public Land Mobile
Network (PLMN) supporting packet based services and Packet Data Networks
(PDN)
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/29061.htm
3GPP TS 32.215, Telecommunication management; Charging management;
Charging data description for the Packet Switched (PS) domain
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/specs/html-info/32215.htm
IETF RFC 2865, Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2865.txt
IETF RFC 3162, RADIUS and IPv6
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3162
3GPP TS 29.212, Policy and charging control over Gx reference point
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/29212.htm
3GPP TS 29.214, Policy and charging control over Rx reference point
http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/29214.htm

Id:0900d805809b75f3
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

Diameter Credit-Control Application Interface Description

Glossary

7 Glossary
Term

Definition

AVP

Attribute-Value Pair

CCA

Credit-Control-Answer

CCR

Credit-Control-Request

CTF

Charging Trigger Function

DCCA

Diameter Credit-Control Application

eHRPD

evovled High Rate Packet Data

FCI

PS-Furnish-Charging-Information

FUI

Final-Unit-Indication

GSU

Granted-Service-Unit

HRPD

High Rate Packet Data

IMEISV

International Mobile Station Equipment Identity and Software

Version Number

MSCC

Multiple Services Credit-Control

MSISDN

Mobile Subscriber International ISDN Number

NPT

Non-permission timer

OCS

Online Charging System

PCC

Policy And Charging Control

PDP

Packet Data Protocol

QHT

Quota Holding Timer

QoS

Quality Of Service

RAT

Radio Access Technology

SCUR

Session Charging with Unit Reservation

SGSN

Serving GPRS Support Node

SNR

Serial Number

SVN

Software Version Number

TAC

Type Allocation Code

TTS

Tariff Time Switch

USU

Used-Service-Unit

Table 14

Terms and definitions

Id:0900d8058095f66e
DN0822736 Issue 2-13

69