Subscription Policy Control Framework for IMS-Based Networks

The Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architecture was firstly introduced in the 3GPP’s Release 7. However, the PCC has its problems. The main problems include the incapability of performing policy control with consideration of subscriber profiles and missing specification on how to organize and express the policy information. In addition, no policy control at application session establishment stage also contributes to its imperfectness. In this paper, the authors propose a subscription-based policy control framework that implements a subscription-centered approach for policy control and to enable flexible policy definitions based on the subscriber’s profile at the application level. The framework also provides functionalities of organizing the subscription data, identifying the policy, regulating the policy control process, interpreting, managing and enforcing the corresponding policies. The main objective is to qualify the subscribers and thus, enhance the network customization through defining flexible policies based on policy control requirements for different subscribers.