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DIAMETER: Does Proxy Agent validate presence of a mandatory field for an incoming diameter message ?

+2 votes
595 views

Please find the description of the problem:
A diameter client and server communicates in the network through Proxy Agent.
Here, I have assumed PCEF is a diameter client and PCRF is a diameter server. Interface between the PCEF and the PCRF is known as Gx.

Does Proxy agent, which sits between PCEF and PCRF, need to support Gx application ?
Does Proxy agent validate presence of any mandatory or optional AVP when it receives a message from a diamter client (PCEF) before forwarding it to diameter server (PCRF) ?

Can someone please provides the detailed behavior of a proxy agent ?

posted Apr 9, 2014 by Vimal Kumar Mishra

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2 Answers

+3 votes

A Proxy agent can be used to manage the application work and to ease the authorized decisions on behalf of other party. If we talk about any Proxy agent, It has rights to see the message that what he is going to proxy out, So in Gx reference point, yes it has to understand the Gx messages {CCR-CCA (I,U,T)} and other messages too. Precisely it should have ABNF of Gx application.

Yes, AVP level evaluation would be there. It should be. Atleast up to mandatory level. If the Proxy Product is more smart then it can also do till optional AVP evaluation but in most of the cases it considers only Mandatory . Because we can not expect that when vendor is going to add his own Vendor specific AVP's, Operators don't want to configure these info's in agent, to avoid this Proxy agent is configured up to Mandatory Level AVP.

answer Apr 10, 2014 by Hiteshwar Thakur
+1 vote

In general, a proxy agent is application aware, unlike a relay or redirection agent. Depending on the actual value addition provided by the specific agent, it will have to access application AVPs. While doing this, it may validate the AVPs.

I don't think every proxy agent will have to do this, but if it depends on the missing AVPs, for its functioning clearly it is going to complain.

answer Apr 10, 2014 by Rathnakumar Kayyar
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+3 votes

In the CCA message sent by the PCRF to PGW during the Initial Attach, may have "Charging-Rule-Base-Name" Or "Charging-rule-Name". I think "Charging-rule-Name" is sent as part of the Charging-Rule-Install , where the Rule is sent from the PCRF to PGW. "Charging-Rule-Base-Name" is sent as part of the preinstalled rules in the PGW.

Now the question is if the PCRF is getting integrated to thirdparty PGW. In this case how PCRF knows about the names installed in the PGW ?

thanks a lot for the responses and hints

+1 vote

Looking at interoperability issues.
The CCRequest message sent from PGW to PCRF during attach. Does the CCA sent back from PCRF to PGW needs to have TFT info?

+4 votes

Hello,

I have been able to write a standalone basic PCRF code in our software.

I had also written them using the Gx and RX interfaces (i.e using the diameter protocol). There was no time to test this feature.

Now I find flaws in my design regarding the Diameter while testing.

Initially the SIP (i.e ike IMS) was sending the request to PGW to create the voice bearer. Now my initial implemetation of Rx i thought the TFT was calculated in the SIP and sent across in the RX, but now when revisiting the code, i feel, that there was no such parameter to pass this info to the PCRF from SIP.

Now my doubt is, how this info related to TFT is being passed across to PCRF. Is it through the "Flows".
If so how to get the TFT in the PCRF to send back to PGW...I have missed this part of the design as i was looking more into the QOS..

Any help is greatly appreciated.

thanks
pdk

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