OVERVIEW
Service Delivery Engine: Bring subscriber and network services to life in any fixed, mobile, or converged access environment with the world s most powerful universal policy controller (i.e., PCRF) The Service Delivery Engine (SDE) - Sandvine s Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) enables universal policy control and management for any network with a range of powerful technologies and features: Universal Policy Control Deploy in any network, to provide policy control with any combination of access technologies, using standard interfaces Any combination of FTTX, DSL, Cable, Satellite, WiFi, WiMAX, 2G, 3G, LTE, 5G Using standards from 3GPP, IETF, CableLabs (e.g., DOCSIS/PCMM), Broadband Forum, DSL Forum, 5G Infrastructure Association, W3C, etc. Policy and Charging Control Sandvine Policy Engine Scalability Standards-compliant 3GPP Diameter interface support (Gx, Rx, Sy, Rf, Gz, Sp/Ud) seamlessly integrates to your existing PCC, PCMM or Radius COA infrastructure Link any conditions to any actions in real-time, to enable a wide range of policy control use cases: gain vital business intelligence, launch new subscriber services (e.g., differentiated quotas, roaming plans, quality of service, fair usage, access controls, etc.), apply precise congestion management policies, and enable digital subscriber engagement through multiple channels The scalability your network needs for today and tomorrow: Horizontal Scalability - An internal signaling controller builds scale as needed; also supports third-party load balancers and diameter routing agents (DRAs) Vertical Scalability - Supports geographic failover to ensure service continuation even if an entire data center goes down Subscriber Awareness Enables subscriber-aware policy control by making subscriber information, session details, and related subscriber attributes available to other Sandvine elements, to the network s Policy Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) or Traffic Detection Function (TDF), and other services. Two approaches combine to deliver this functionality: Parsing mapping/authentication protocols Querying other systems for additional information ServiceDesigner A true UML drag-and-drop feature that accelerates your service definition and roll-out SUPPORTED ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORTED INTERFACES SUPPORTED INTERFACES SUPPORTED INTEGRATIONS FTTX, CABLE, DSL OCS 5G, LTE, 3G, 2G Gx Sd Radius PCMM HTTP Rx Sy Sp Ud HTTP B/OSS PORTAL SATELLITE AF WIFI/ WIMAX PARTNERS 2
The Sandvine Policy Engine Service Delivery Engine Take control of your network by linking conditions to actions in real-time The Sandvine Policy Engine 1 is the brain of our platform, and is the foundation of all of our policy control solutions. It lets you realize your business objectives by linking any set of conditions to any set of actions, in real-time. Information about measured conditions and provisioned subscriber entitlements flows into the Policy Engine, and charging updates, management actions, and business intelligence data emerge. SandScript and DevOps The Policy Engine is driven by a highly-configurable policy language called SandScript. Much more than a simple rules system, SandScript lets operators programmatically define and associate an infinite set of policy statements, any of which can affect a particular entity, such as a subscriber, in a specific context. Changes made within the guiding SandScript instructions become immediately active (i.e., live in the network) making SandScript the perfect tool for the DevOps environments that are becoming increasingly common in CSP organizations. The Potential of Unified Policy Control In Sandvine s complete platform architecture, the Policy Engine operates in the data plane, within the Policy Traffic Switch (the PTS, Sandvine s PCEF/TDF), and in the control plane, within the Service Delivery Engine, and interacts with the B/OSS plane and remote enforcement points using industry standards. This unification across the control and data planes delivers many benefits: Simplicity: Network operators define a policy once, and it is seamlessly and consistently applied across control and data planes Efficiency: Easily create and deploy policy changes through Control Center Velocity: Policy decisions and actions are made faster by using a combination of many conditions and actions and by making many decisions concurrently Consistency: If using the Sandvine Policy Traffic Switch (PTS) in conjunction with the SDE, then the control and data planes have a common model of network policy control, so they have an equivalent understanding of what the business policy means and how it is implemented Universality: Network policy control is completely agnostic of access technologies and vendors within the network 1 More information about the Sandvine Policy Engine is available online at: https://www.sandvine.com/downloads/general/sandvine-technology-showcases/the-policy-engine-and-sandscript.pdf 3
Example Policy Control Use Cases The SDE is powering innovative subscriber and network services around the world, including: Sponsored Data Voice over LTE Bite-Size Internet OTT Integration Time-Based Pricing Location-Based Pricing Shared Data Internet as a Public Service Value-Added Services Differentiated Charging Roaming Services Self-Care Offer services that are free for subscribers to use paid for by a third-party sponsor Deliver crystal-clear voice services that stand out from the noise of OTT alternatives Get subscribers comfortable using data with bite-size time- and volume-based data packs Partner with OTT providers to make it easier to purchase and to stream exclusive content Provide cost-certainty to customers and enable innovative services like off-peak and zero-rating Enable innovative data promotions based on subscribers location Build services that share data between family members, friends, employees, and devices Enable free Internet connectivity through Free Basics by Facebook or by building your own collection of zero-rated sites Introduce additional services including speed boosts, cyber security for subscriber protection, and parental controls Turn network insights into action and create unique time- and application-based offerings Provide travelers with affordable options and protect them against bill shock Empower subscribers to manage their own services and to carry out automated workflows 4
Policy Control Standards Support Industry standards and interfaces are important guidelines that ensure efficiency, ease multi-vendor interoperability, and contribute to predictable costs and deployment timelines. Within the control plane, the Service Delivery Engine provides the interfaces that the Sandvine Policy Engine needs to take in events and output/enforce actions by communicating with other network services and elements. Diameter Client Diameter Server 3GPP Gx 3GPP Rx 3GPP Sy 3GPP S9 PCMM / COPS IPDR LDAP Data Record Logs RADIUS Client RADIUS Server DHCP/DHCPv6 DHCP Lease Query GTP-C HTTP/REST Generic Diameter client interface Generic Diameter server interface Collect usage data from and signal enforcement to PCEFs Accept QoS requests from Application Functions (AFs) Receive usage notifications from an online charging system (OCS) to signal alerts and enforcements Send and receive enforcement and QoS to and from foreign networks Signal to CMTS units to set QoS gates Collect IP Detail Records and IP usage records from CMTS units to gain subscriber location, IP address, and data usage per service class Request subscriber profile information from LDAP servers; also utilized within the Sp and Ud reference points Create arbitrary, configurable-format records (e.g., UDRs, EDRs) Send change of authorization (CoA), disconnect, and arbitrary RADIUS messages to RADIUS endpoints Receive RADIUS messages for use in subscriber mapping or accounting Receive DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 packets for use in subscriber mapping Send DHCP lease queries for subscriber session reconciliation Receive GTP-Cv1 and GTP-Cv2 messages for subscriber mapping in 3G and LTE Interact with third-party systems for exchange of information and to trigger events: as a client: allows the SDE to signal to other systems as a server: allows other systems to signal the SDE to perform policy actions BGP/SNMP Text Input Allows for learning subnets from the network, to be used for PCMM routing Allows CSV text input (file or streaming) to push additional information into the SDE 5
Control Center Simplify Operations without Sacrificing Functionality Control Center is Sandvine s unified policy and element management graphical user interface, and provides a single mechanism for monitoring operational information, editing network policies, configuring elements, and deploying network policy control solutions. 2 Benefit from: Operational Insight: Monitor the health and status of your entire Sandvine deployment in a central location. Real-Time Visibility: Control Center lets you examine the real-time performance of your entire Sandvine deployment. From here, you can start by viewing aggregate traffic for the whole deployment and then drill into individual elements. Policy Libraries: Get a head start on your management policies with a list of pre-defined and comprehensively tested SandScript snippets covering the most common use cases. Just click and import! RuleBuilder: Build, edit, and deploy policy control rules using the Sandscript policy language inside a GUI. ServiceDesigner: A GUI that lets you drag-and-drop features to build a service offering and that utilizes a logical hierarchy to organize your services for ease of management. Easy Software Updates: Control Center simplifies pushing software updates, including loadable traffic identification packages (LTIPs) to all Policy Traffic Switch elements. Subscriber Mapping Configuration: A configuration tool to configure subscriber awareness in your network. Simply choose from the options based on your network architecture. Accelerate Your Service Innovation with ServiceDesigner Tomorrow s hot app or new service request can show up without warning, and you need to be able to move quickly to take advantage of new opportunities and to respond to competitive threats. ServiceDesigner, a feature within Control Center, lets you define, modify, and deploy subscriber services to the network in minutes, leading to a number of important benefits: Shortened Time to Market: rapidly innovate and immediately reap the revenue rewards Reduced Implementation Costs: quickly define and introduce a unique range of high-value subscriber services that are access-agnostic, and deploy them network wide Increased Competitive Agility: respond to competitive threats, differentiate in the marketplace, and dictate the playing field New Revenue Streams: introduce a range of stand-alone services and service bolt-ons to target mass market segments and high-value niches 2 More information is available online: https://www.sandvine.com/platform/control-center/ 6
Service Designer includes a drag-and-drop user interface that makes it easy to define, configure, and edit subscriber and network services. The user simply chooses pre-defined service features and defines the logic (e.g., if true, if false, always) that links them together. Each service feature is associated with SandScript behind-the-scenes 7
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