Cbs Solution Description (v500r005).pdf

CBS V500R005C30

Solution Description

Issue

01

Date

2014-09-30

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Trademarks and Permissions and other Huawei trademarks are trademarks of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All other trademarks and trade names mentioned in this document are the property of their respective holders.

Notice The purchased products, services and features are stipulated by the contract made between Huawei and the customer. All or part of the products, services and features described in this document may not be within the purchase scope or the usage scope. Unless otherwise specified in the contract, all statements, information, and recommendations in this document are provided "AS IS" without warranties, guarantees or representations of any kind, either express or implied. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this document to ensure accuracy of the contents, but all statements, information, and recommendations in this document do not constitute a warranty of any kind, express or implied.

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Address:

Huawei Industrial Base Bantian, Longgang Shenzhen 518129 People's Republic of China

Website:

http://www.huawei.com

Email:

[email protected]

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CBS Solution Description

About This Document

About This Document Overview This document describes the CBS System Architecture, Service Features, Security and Reliability.

Intended Audience This document is intended for: 

Technical support engineers



Maintenance engineers

Symbol Conventions The symbols that may be found in this document are defined as follows. Symbol

Description Indicates an imminently hazardous situation which, if not avoided, will result in death or serious injury. Indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury. Indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, may result in minor or moderate injury. Indicates a potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in equipment damage, data loss, performance deterioration, or unanticipated results. NOTICE is used to address practices not related to personal injury. Calls attention to important information, best practices and tips. NOTE is used to address information not related to personal injury, equipment damage, and environment

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About This Document

Symbol

Description deterioration.

Privacy Notice Some functions provided by the product collect certain subscriber data, such as the subscriber number and consumption records. The subscriber data is used only to locate or rectify faults. You are advised to enable the functions only for the purposes and within the ranges that are allowed by the laws and regulations. When using and saving subscribers' communication information, you must take proper measurements to protect their privacy. For example, you must reclaim the permission when the corresponding operator's position is changed. The functions require privacy protection measurements include but are not limited to the following: 

Data backup function To avoid data change by mistake, which can result in system faults or subscriber data faults, the product prompts carriers to back up data periodically. The data may involve subscriber information, such as the subscriber number, account balance, consumption fees saved in the Oracle database. The backup data can be used only for data recovery, but not for personal use or other purposes. Expired data must be deleted in a timely manner.



Log function This function enables operators to locate faults according to logs. If log files are transferred out of the customer's network, anonymization tools should be used for processing the log files to ensure that security-sensitive data such as the name, gender, age, birthday, password, phone number, and account balance of a user is not collected. You must comply with related laws and regulations when using this function, and take proper measurements to process the subscriber data. For example, you need to delete log files that are copied to the local server after use. To facilitate the query for contact records with customers, the product generates files that record historical SMS messages sent by the system to subscribers. This function is control by a system parameter and is disabled by default. You must comply with related laws and regulations when using this function, and take proper measurements to process the subscriber data. You are not allowed to send the SMS messages information out of the customer's network, and the information must be deleted after use in a timely manner.



Data, interface, and call tracing functions In some fault scenarios, certain tools may be used to trace subscribers' communication process. For example, use iTrace and eTrace to trace interaction messages between NEs based on the subscriber number to locate possible faults. The tracing function does not collect detailed subscriber communication contents. The traced data can be used only to locate faults, and must be deleted after use in a timely manner.



Fault information collection function To find the fault reasons, necessary service logs may need to be collected, and the logs may contain subscriber information such as the subscriber number. You must use the information according to laws and local carrier requirements, and are not allowed to send the log information out of the customer's network. During use, you are advised to use the

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CBS Solution Description

About This Document

anonymization tool to hide subscriber information. When related faults are located, you must delete the logs in a timely manner.

Huawei support engineers can perform maintenance operations only after being authorized by the customer, and are forbidden to perform any operations that are not approved by the customer. In addition, fault-locating data cannot be transferred out of the customer's network without authorization from the customer.

Change History Updates between document issues are cumulative. Therefore, the latest document version contains all updates made in previous versions.

Issue 01 (2014-09-30) This issue is used for first office application (FOA).

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CBS Solution Description

Contents

Contents About This Document .................................................................................................................... ii 1 Solution Overview ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Positioning .................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Benefits ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Main Services Supported by CBS................................................................................................................................. 4

2 Solution Architecture ................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Software Architecture ................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Functional Architecture.............................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1.2 Technical Architecture ............................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.3 Cloud Architecture ................................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Network Structure ....................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.1 Logical Network ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 NE Description ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2.3 Interface Description................................................................................................................................................ 16

3 Service Features ........................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Charging Features ....................................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1.1 Configurable Charging Capabilities Based on the Rule Engine .............................................................................. 21 3.1.2 Flexible Pricing Plans and Policies .......................................................................................................................... 22 3.1.3 Various Charging Elements ...................................................................................................................................... 22 3.1.4 Flexible Fee Calculation .......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.5 Multiple Accounts and Free Resources .................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.6 Real-Time Account Balance Management ............................................................................................................... 25 3.1.7 Binding Capability ................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.8 Real-Time Credit Control ........................................................................................................................................ 26 3.1.9 Accumulation Capability ......................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.10 Data Service Charging ........................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.11 Content Charging ................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.12 Offline Rating ........................................................................................................................................................ 27 3.1.13 International Settlement CDR Processing .............................................................................................................. 27 3.2 Bill Run and Payment Features .................................................................................................................................. 28 3.2.1 Bill Run.................................................................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.2 Accounts Receivable ................................................................................................................................................ 29 Issue 01 (2014-09-30)

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Contents

3.2.3 Collection................................................................................................................................................................. 29 3.3 Service Management Features .................................................................................................................................... 30 3.3.1 Unified System Management ................................................................................................................................... 30 3.3.2 Customer Management ............................................................................................................................................ 31 3.3.3 Report ...................................................................................................................................................................... 31 3.4 Operation and Maintenance Features .......................................................................................................................... 31 3.4.1 Operation and Maintenance System ........................................................................................................................ 31 3.4.2 Connecting CBPAPP and BMPAPP to I2000 .......................................................................................................... 32 3.4.3 Connecting Other NEs to I2000 ............................................................................................................................... 33 3.4.4 Statistics Function .................................................................................................................................................... 34 3.4.5 Alarm Management ................................................................................................................................................. 35 3.4.6 Maintenance Tools ................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.5 Cloudification Feature ................................................................................................................................................ 35 3.5.1 Virtualization ........................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.5.2 Flexible Scalability .................................................................................................................................................. 36

4 Security.......................................................................................................................................... 37 4.1 System Security .......................................................................................................................................................... 37 4.2 Application Security ................................................................................................................................................... 38 4.3 Network Security ........................................................................................................................................................ 39 4.4 O&M Security ............................................................................................................................................................ 39 4.5 Privacy Protection ....................................................................................................................................................... 39

5 Reliability ..................................................................................................................................... 43 5.1 Software Reliability .................................................................................................................................................... 43 5.2 Data Reliability ........................................................................................................................................................... 45 5.3 Overload Control ........................................................................................................................................................ 46 5.4 Disaster Recovery Scheme ......................................................................................................................................... 47 5.5 Other Reliability Schemes .......................................................................................................................................... 48

6 International Standards ............................................................................................................. 49

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CBS Solution Description

1 Solution Overview

1

Solution Overview

About This Chapter Convergent Billing System (CBS) is a new generation of convergent charging solution developed from the online charging system. CBS inherits the large capacity, high performance, and high reliability of Huawei intelligent network and provides a unified data model that incorporates customers, subscribers, and accounts. 1.1 Positioning 1.2 Benefits 1.3 Main Services Supported by CBS

1.1 Positioning CBS is a unified, convergent, and end-to-end charging system that renders various rating and billing capabilities for all types of subscribers, services, and networks. CBS helps carriers achieve the following: 

Remain competitive through the flexible rating and billing engine.



Improve operational efficiency and reduce cost through quick billing.



Improve customer experience with real-time rating and billing services, thereby improving customer loyalty.

Full Service Convergence 

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CBS supports various types of networks, such as: −

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)

−

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and CDMA2000

−

Long Term Evolution (LTE)

−

Public switched telephone network (PSTN) and next generation network (NGN)

−

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)

−

Wireless Fidelity Alliance (WiFi)

−

x digital subscriber line (xDSL)

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CBS Solution Description 

1 Solution Overview

CBS provides various types of services, such as voice, messaging, data, and content services. This unified system improves the operation and maintenance (O&M) efficiency and reduces the operating cost.

Full Customer Support CBS provides full customer support to help carriers quickly expand their market share. 

Supports all types of customers, including individuals, families, and enterprises as well as all types of payment modes, including prepaid, postpaid, and hybrid.



Provides a unified GUI for customer management, making customer management much easier.

End-to-End Revenue Assurance CBS provides end-to-end measures to prevent revenue loss. 

Implements the real-time charging, notification, discount, and credit control functions to provide high-quality customer experience and to reduce the risks that subscribers owe fees.



Provides the accurate charging function to improve the operational efficiency.



Uses an embedded revenue assurance mechanism to help prevent revenue leakage.

MVNO Capabilities 



CBS provides the following two construction solutions: −

Constructing a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) system to provide services for multiple mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) regardless of whether they have their own customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

−

Constructing an MVNO system to connect to MVNEs of other vendors.

MVNOs operate independently. CBS isolates data, operations, and service processes of a tenant from those of other tenants.





CBS supports regional differences, which include: −

Language differences

−

Time zone differences

−

Currency differences

CBS supports hierarchical management. In hierarchical management, data is isolated between objects at a same level. An object in a higher level has the permission to view and maintain the data of an object at a lower level. Hierarchical management provides a unified data view and the capability to share data between objects at different levels.

1.2 Benefits In the severe competition of value-added services among telecom carriers, the CBS integrated charging system is not only the strength of carriers to win the competition but also the key for stable running of all telecom services. The following describes benefits of CBS. Issue 01 (2014-09-30)

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Reducing the Operating Cost 

CBS supports all types of networks, charging modes, and services. Therefore, carriers do not need to build and maintain multiple systems.



The configuration capabilities of charging interfaces and product tariffs are greatly improved, which helps carriers reduce the operating cost.



The standard interfaces and open architecture provided by CBS facilitate the integration with third-party systems, which also helps carriers reduce the operating cost.

Increasing the Revenue 

Carriers can quickly publish inter-network and cross-service packages or discounts as a new service to increase service use and therefore increase the average profitability.



Based on customer segmentation, carriers can provide more personalized products and use more promotion methods to meet different customer requirements and attract more customers.



The real-time charging function enables carriers to remain in a more favorable position in multiple business models because they can charge customers in real time.

Intensifying Customer Loyalty 

CBS provides high-quality customer experiences through diverse functions such as online voice notifications, and short message service (SMS) notifications.



The credit control function provides customers a flexible and easy way to control their account credits, which helps to improve the customer satisfaction.

Shortening the Go-To-Market Time 

Product and tariff configuration is made easier to accelerate rollout of encapsulated offerings to the target market.



The open and standard architecture of CBS allows configuration and customization without changing its architecture. Within this architecture, the configuration and customization capabilities are classified into different layers by roles. New services can be developed through quick configuration and customization, so the go-to-market time for new services is reduced. Table 1-1 lists the activities of each role on different capability layers.

Table 1-1 Activities of each role on different capability layers Layer

Description

Role

Layer 1: GUI-based service configuratio n layer

Configure services on the GUI based on the basic configuration items that have been defined in the system. Activities on this layer are simple service logic configuration activities.

Carrier service personnel

Layer 2: GUI-based customizatio n development

Customize data that is not directly related to services on the GUI to meet complex service requirements.

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For example, configure a new offering or configure tariffs based on an existing policy template. Customization developer

For example, add a policy template, an event attribute, a product attribute, or a service rule.

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Layer

Description

Role

Layer 3: IDE-based customizatio n development layer

Develop code using customization tools (such as the Billing IDE and SOA IDE) and APIs.

Customization developer

Layer 4: core development layer

Develop the baseline version and provide core code and basic capabilities.

layer

For example, develop a GUI or WebService interface, add a native function, or add a BO or an RO.

Huawei R&D engineers

Based on the openness requirements on a site, the layers 1 and 2 can be adjusted by assigning different permission to the roles.

Supporting Cloudification CBS meets commercial requirements of virtualization and cloudification, eliminates services provided by the dedicated hardware upgrade mode, implements unified management and on-demand allocation of resources, and reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO), including the capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operating expense (OPEX). The cloudification advantages are described as follows: 

Virtualization is supported, which decouples software from hardware.



Applications can be separated from data, which implements horizontal expansion and cluster deployment of applications.



Data nodes can be horizontally expanded, which enables subscriber data to be dynamically migrated.

After integrating with the C3 cloud management platform, CBS supports application life cycle management, SLA real-time monitoring, resource orchestration, and automatic deployment. These functions enable CBS to dynamically adjust resources according to demands, execute automatic service switchover when a fault occurs, and automatically resume the services when the fault is rectified. In addition, CBS supports VMware, which enables virtual deployment.

1.3 Main Services Supported by CBS CBS provides a uniform charging platform and flexible charging policies for multiple telecommunication services. CBS supports charging for the following telecommunication services flexibly: 

Voice Call



Short Message Service (SMS)



Multimedia Message Service (MMS)



Data Service

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Fax, Data, and Video Call

The following contents briefly describe the preceding services.

Voice Call The voice call service is a basic telecommunication service. By using the voice call service, a subscriber, either a calling party or a called party, is engaged in a voice call with a mobile subscriber. When a subscriber uses the voice service, the CBS charges the subscriber the call fee. The call fee can include the local call fee, toll call fee, roaming call fee and external fee.

SMS The SMS service is a basic telecommunication service, and a short message refers to a text message with limited length. By using the SMS service, a subscriber, either a calling party or a called party, can communicate with other mobile subscribers through short messages. The CBS system charges the subscribers who send or receive short messages.

MMS The MMS service is a value-added service. A multimedia message can be a video clip, picture, sound, or word. The MMS service enriches information exchange modes of subscribers. By using this service, a subscriber, either a calling party or a called party, can communicate with other mobile subscribers through multimedia messages. The CBS charges subscribers who use the MMS service.

Data Service The data service mainly includes: 

GPRS The GPRS service is a wireless data service. The GPRS service provides online services through the WAP/Web protocol. By using the GPRS service, a mobile subscriber accesses an application server through a WAP/Web gateway to obtain information. A mobile subscriber browses Web pages, news, and pictures through a mobile terminal. The CBS supports charging and deducting the rental of a subscriber based on the usage (duration or traffic) of the GPRS service.



Content Subscribers can consume the content that exists as entity files by subscribing to certain services such as downloading and service-on-demand. The CBS charges subscribers who use the content service.

Fax, Data, and Video Call The CBS subscriber can use the fax call, data (circuit switched domain) call, and video call (3G UMTS network, circuit switched domain) services. The CBS charges subscribers who use the fax call, data call, and video call service.

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CBS Solution Description

2 Solution Architecture

2

Solution Architecture

About This Chapter To meet billing and charging requirements in the telecommunications industry, CBS uses an easily extended distributed software architecture and an advanced telecommunications hardware platform. CBS also provides flexible networking capabilities and a unified customer-oriented data model. 2.1 Software Architecture 2.2 Network Structure

2.1 Software Architecture This section describes the functional and technical architecture of CBS.

2.1.1 Functional Architecture Figure 2-1 shows CBS's functional architecture.

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Figure 2-1 CBS's functional architecture



Yellow cells: network elements (NEs) required by CBS



White cells: third-party NEs



Gray area: CBS's core functional modules and subsystems

Accounts Receivable The Accounts Receivable (AR) module provides the following transaction services in a postpaid or hybrid service solution: 

Single services: recharge and payment, recharge and payment reversal, refunding, account adjustment, account transfer, payment application, write-off, and advance deposit



Batch services: batch payment application, account adjustment, advance deposit, write-off, prepayment, and payment reversal



Query services: query for invoices, account balance, outstanding fees, payment records, deposit details, adjustment logs, and transfer logs

Billing Care The Billing Care module provides a GUI for customer management operations, including operations for single services and batch services. This module also provides maintenance functions, such as viewing operation logs and managing orders.

Billing Configurator The Billing Configurator module sets the following public parameters and rules for the Invoicing and Rating & Charging modules:

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

Basic system data, such as bill cycle, network layer access data, and number analysis data



Rules for standard events, charging preprocessing, authentication, payment application, and call detail record (CDR) extension



Self-service management services



Voice, SMS message, multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, notification, recharge, bill run, and error CDR



Data synchronization

Bill Management The Bill Management (BM) module exports formatted bills, including generating bills in a specified format, converting bill formats, and reprinting bills. This module provides the following functions: 

Bill design (implemented by the PrintNet Designer, a third-party software)



Bill creation



Bill distribution

Convergent Balance Service The Convergent Balance Service module is a functional module that performs unified balance management. This module provides the following functions: 

Balance adjustment and reversal



Prepayment and reversal



Balance transfer and reversal



Account settlement and query



Recharging using vouchers



Balance refunding

Customer Management The Customer Management module performs background tasks for the Billing Care module. The Customer Management module connects to the CRM system and provides a reverse work order interface.

Debt Collection The Debt Collection (DC) module collects payment from subscribers or accounts that have not paid fees by the due date. DC obtains debt information from AR. The collection methods include: 

Automatic dunning



Manual dunning The DC provides a GUI for an operator to upload files, analyze file content, and dun subscribers accordingly.

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General Ledger The General Ledger (GL) module provides daily transaction data, generates journals, and sends post files to external financial systems.

Invoicing The Invoicing module provides the core functions of bill run calculation, including real billing, billing redo, test billing, hot billing, and CDR accumulation.

Product Management The Product Management (PM) module manages offerings, products, plans (such as pricing plan and notification plan), policies, and reference data (such as brands, free resources, and time schemes).

Recharge & Balance Handling The Recharge & Balance Handling module provides the following transaction services in a prepaid service solution: 

Single services: recharge and payment, recharge and payment reversal, refunding, account adjustment, and account transfer



Query services: query for account balance, payment records, adjustment logs, and transfer logs

Rating & Charging The Rating & Charging module provides the following functions: 

Online rating, offline rating, rerating, billing undo, error CDR recycling, recurring charging, and bypass



Charging for voice, data, content, and messaging services

System Management The System Management (SM) module provides system management functions. It manages regions, business entities (BEs), departments, teams, employees, permissions, data dictionaries, and system parameters.

2.1.2 Technical Architecture Technical Features CBS's technical platform offers the following features: 

Distributed service framework (DSF) In DSF, services comply with standard specifications and can be loaded and run by containers. This framework provides the service registration, locating, routing, and distributed access functions.



Distributed data access framework (DAF) DAF shields both the data location and access mode differences when applications access data.

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

Extensible rules Various extensible charging rules meet customer requirements for charging policies in different charging scenarios.



Extensible service and data structure IDE supports the flexible extension and customization of service and data structures.

Functional Modules of the Technical Platform Functional modules of the technical platform have the following layers: 

Access layer: This layer is the entry for external systems. It manages the connection with external systems and protocol adaption capabilities and uses Business Service Bus (BSBus) to invoke back-end services. Adapters and controllers are on this layer.



Service processing layer: This layer provides containers for executing services. It supports the distributed data access framework and allows a service to access another service. Containers are on this layer.



Data access layer: This layer provides the distributed data access capability and shields the data location and data source type from services. DAF, BoCache, GMDB, and PDB are on this layer.

Table 2-1 lists the key functional modules on the technical platform. Table 2-1 Key functional modules Module

Description

Adapter



Functions as the entry for external systems.



Manages the connection with external systems, protocol adaption capabilities, and overload control.



Processes external messages and uses BSBus to invoke back-end services.

CBS provides the following adapters:

BatchController

BSBus



DCCAdapter: processes external Diameter messages. For example, when DCCAdapter connects to the online charging gateway (OCG), DCCAdapter processes the data communication channel (DCC) charging message sent by OCG.



RCOMMAdapter: processes external RCOMM messages. For example, when RCOMMAdapter connects to the front end processor (FEP), RCOMMAdapter uses the protocol customization capability of FEP to adapt to the special protocol requirements of a site.



Receives and manages the scheduled tasks delivered by the management server.



Schedules background services in batches.



Functions as a distributed service bus that connects to multiple nodes.



Separates service access from service deployment.

BSBus can be used to create a message channel between adapters and containers. Based on BSBus, the module that invokes a service does not need to know the physical location of the service provider or how

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Module

Description the service is deployed.

Container

Functions as the smallest manageable physical unit used to execute services in DSF. One container instance can load one or more services. For example, balance management and credit control run in containers.

DAF

Shields both the data location and access mode differences when applications access data. DAF supports the following data source types:

Rule Engine



BoCache



GMDB



Oracle PDB



Executes the Charging Rule Language (CRL) provided by CBS.



Improves the customization capability and flexibility of CBS.



Increases the speed of responses to customization requirements.

The CBS GUI allows an operator to use the CRL to define their own rules, such as authentication rules, rating rules, notification rules, bill combination rules, and auditing rules. Rule Engine encapsulates the charging virtual machine (CVM). As the engine that executes the CRL, CVM executes the bytecode exported by the CRL compiler. IDE

Extends the data model, services, and APIs.

2.1.3 Cloud Architecture Figure 2-2 shows the cloud architecture.

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Figure 2-2 Cloud architecture

The cloud architecture contains the following layers: 

Software as a service (SaaS): allows each component to run on the virtual platform, reports scalability KPIs to UOA, receives instructions from the cloud management platform, updates local configurations and routing information about nodes, and implements horizontal scalability of applications.



Platform as a service (PaaS): contains C3, I2000, Agilit, Fastore, SOA, SNE, UAP, and OceanInsight. All these platform components (except for C3) support service capabilities in a unified manner. C3 provides the following capabilities:

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−

Application resource orchestration: applies for or releases resources based on the service resource consumption.

−

Application life cycle management: completes the process of resource plan, application deployment, commercial use, and reclamation, monitors resources in the production process in real time, and supports flexible scalability of NE nodes. To implement flexible scalability, C3 collects VM resource KPIs and service KPIs, makes decisions based on the KPIs, and invokes the C3Agent interface to perform scalability processing.

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CBS Solution Description



2 Solution Architecture −

Real-time application monitoring: monitors application status and rectifies faults.

−

Heterogeneous virtualization software management: manages the heterogeneous virtualization software. C3 is connected to the OpenStack through the interface to dynamically and automatically manage virtual resources.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): manages VM resources and physical device resources based on VMware and the mainstream X86 device. VMware switches physical device resources, storage resources, and network resources to the virtual resource pool. Physical devices include the host, storage, and network devices.

2.2 Network Structure 2.2.1 Logical Network CBS Logical Network CBS logical network shows the connection between CBS and peripheral systems. Figure 2-3 CBS logical network

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2.2.2 NE Description Table 2-2 lists the functions of CBS NEs. Table 2-2 Functions of CBS NEs NE

Function

CBPAPP

CBPAPP is a core NE of CBS. It provides the charging and rating functions and supports the real-time charging mode and offline charging mode. CBPAPP has the convergent billing capabilities for processing services on multiple networks and in multiple dimensions. When charging a subscriber, CBPAPP performs the following: 

Preprocessing



Authentication



Rating



Debiting



CDR generating



Credit control

CBPAPP can be deployed in cluster mode, in which CBPAPP and MDB are deployed on different servers. CBPAPP can also be deployed in two-node cluster mode, in which CBPAPP and MDB are deployed on the same server. The corresponding NE is called CBP. Business Management Platform Application (BMPAPP) is an application node based on the billing management environment (BME) platform. Adding different functional modules on this node can provide different capabilities.

BMPAPP

Adding the following modules can provide the corresponding functions: 

AR: implements the accounts receivables function.



Billing Care: processes customer services.



Billing Configurator: configures parameters and rules.

BMPAPP can be deployed in cluster mode, in which BMPAPP and PDB are deployed on different servers. Invoicing

Invoicing performs the following: 

Processes account services.



Calculates account-level preferences, discounts, and rewards.



Implements test billing, real billing, and hot billing.

Invoicing can be deployed in cluster mode, in which Invoicing and MDB are deployed on different servers. Invoicing can also be deployed in cluster mode, in which Invoicing and MDB are deployed on the same server. Bill Management

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BM exports formatted bills, including generating bills in a special format, converting bills between different formats, and

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NE

Function reprinting bills.

CBPAdapter

CBPAdapter manages the connection of CBS to external systems, protocol adaptation capabilities, and overload control. It converts Diameter messages received from external NEs into internal messages, and uses BSBus to send these messages to CBP.

DBServer

The following DBServers are used to store different types of data:

OCG



BMPDB: public data, product data, and system management data at the system level.



USRDB: subscriber, customer, and account data.



BILLDB: billing data.



EDRDB: CDR data. In the OCS solution, EDRDB dispatches and imports CDRs.



MDB: customer, account, and session data in MDB of CBPAPP, and bill data in MDB of Invoicing.

OCG provides the following functions: 

Controls and processes intelligent calls.



Manages service logic.

BMPGateway

BMPGateway manages the connection of BMPAPP.

I2000

iManager I2000 is the network management system (NMS) and provides management of NEs, for example:

UVC/EVC



System management



Topology management



Configuration management



Performance management



Fault management

Uniform Voucher Center (UVC) provides unified recharging and payment services for carriers and subscribers. E-voucher center (EVC) provides the electronic recharge function.

Report Server

Report Server is a report system that provides flexible and convenient report application services, such as report generating, management, and display.

USAU

Universal signaling access unit (USAU) provides the narrowband Signaling System No. 7 (SS7) protocol and broadband Signaling Transport (SIGTRAN) protocol based on the Open Standards Telecom Architecture (OSTA) platform.

Mediation

Mediation collects CDRs, converts formats of CDR files, and transfers CDR files.

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2.2.3 Interface Description Interfaces of the CBS are classified into internal interfaces and external interfaces. Internal interfaces are used for the connection between internal NEs of CBS. External interfaces are used for the connection between CBS and external systems.

CBS Internal Interfaces Table 2-3 describes the internal interfaces between CBS NEs. Table 2-3 CBS internal interfaces Client

Server

Interfac e

Description

BMPA PP

CBP

Internal interface

BMPAPP invokes the internal interface to send requests to CBP to perform one-off fee deduction, query fee deduction, query subscriber status and life cycles, and query subscribers' account balance.

CBPAdapter

Internal interface

When executing bill run on the BMPAPP bill run page, TSM on BMPAPP uses Batch Controller of CBPAdapter to invoke the service on Invoicing.

OCG

Internal interface

BMPAPP sends notifications on the following events to OCG using the internal interface: number analysis data synchronization, subscriber data synchronization, system data synchronization, and service file loading and activation. When recharge cards are used to recharge accounts on BMPAPP, BMPAPP sends recharge authentication requests to OCG using the internal interface.

SLB

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SLB

WebServ ice

BMPAPP sends reverse work orders of customer management to CRM through SLB.

ReportServe r

SFTP

BMPAPP sends data sources files required for report display to ReportServer through Mediation.

GFEP

RCOMM

BMPAPP sends SMS notifications to SMSC through GFEP.

BMPDB

Internal interface

BMPAPP accesses BMPDB through DAS to maintain system data and service data.

USRDB

Internal interface

BMPAPP accesses USRDB through DAS to maintain customer-account-subscriber data.

BILLDB

Internal interface

BMPAPP accesses BILLDB through DAS to query bills.

I2000

BSON

BMPAPP connects to I2000 using the BSON interface. I2000 collects performance data and alarms of BMPAPP.

BMPAPP

WebServ

SLB distributes WebService requests sent from

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Client

CBPAd apter

Server

CBP

Interfac e

Description

ice

CRM to BMPAPP for processing.

Internal interface

CBPAdapter converts messages, for example, Diameter messages, received from external NEs into internal messages and sends the internal messages to CBP through BSBus. In addition, CBPAdapter receives offline CDR files from external NEs, converts the offline CDR files into BO events. Then BSBus sends the BO events to CBP for rating and charging.

CBP

Invoici ng

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I2000

BSON

CBPAdapter connects to I2000 using the BSON interface. I2000 collects performance data and alarms of CBPAdapter.

BMPAPP

Internal interface

CBP invokes the internal table interface to send reverse work orders to BMPAPP.

Invoicing

Internal interface

CBP sends CDR files to Invoicing through Mediation for accumulation.

GFEP

RCOMM

CBP sends SMS notifications to SMSC through GFEP.

BMPDB

Internal interface

CBP accesses BMPDB using the DBAgent of BMPDB.

USRDB

Internal interface

CBP accesses USRDB using the DBAgent of USRDBCBP to maintain customer-account-subscriber data.

EDRDB

Internal interface

CBP accesses EDRDB using the DBAgent of CDR2DB to import CDRs.

ReportServe r

SFTP

CBP sends data sources files required for report display to ReportServer through Mediation.

I2000

BSON

CBP connects to I2000 using the BSON interface. I2000 collects performance data and alarms of CBP.

BillManage ment

NFS

Invoicing shares original bill files to BillManagement through NFS for bill formatting.

ReportServe r

SFTP

Invoicing sends data sources files required for report display to ReportServer through Mediation.

BMPDB

Internal interface

Invoicing accesses BMPDB using the DBAgent of ERCDR2DB.

USRDB

Internal interface

Invoicing accesses USRDB using the DBAgent of USRDBCBP to maintain customer-account-subscriber data.

BILLDB

Internal interface

Invoicing accesses BILLDB using the DBAgent of BILLDB to import bill data.

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Server

Interfac e

Description

EDRDB

NFS

Invoicing accesses EDRDB using the NFS to maintain CDR data.

I2000

BSON

Invoicing connects to I2000 using the BSON interface. I2000 collects performance data and alarms of Invoicing.

I2000

BSON

PDB connects to I2000 using the BSON interface. I2000 collects performance data and alarms of CBP, and sends the performance data and alarms to I2000 using the SNMP interface.

CBPM DB

I2000

SNMP

CBPMDB connects to I2000 through UOA using the SNMP interface. I2000 collects performance data and alarms of the memory database, and sends the performance data and alarms to I2000 using the SNMP interface.

OCG

CBPAdapter

Diameter

OCG sends voice call charging requests and account balance query requests to CBP through CBPAdapter.

CBPAdapter

SFTP

Mediation collects offline call CDRs and offline SMS CDRs from OCG, and sends the CDRs to CBPAdapter. CBPAdapter converts the offline CDR files into BO events. Then BOEQ sends the BO events to CBP for rating and charging.

BMPAPP

RCOMM

When a subscriber dials the IVR access code to change a familiarity number, claim a SIM card missing or found, or change the password, OCG sends a subscriber information change notification to BMPAPP using the RCOMM interface.

GFEP

RCOMM

OCG connects to SMSC through GFEP to send system notifications. GFEP performs protocol conversion.

USAU

Internal interface

Through USAU, OCG sends recharge requests to UVC, sends subscriber location and status query requests to HLR, and sends voice play requests to URP.

I2000

MML

OCG connects to I2000 using the MML interface for performance and alarm monitoring.

UVC

I2000

MML

UVC connects to I2000 using the MML interface for performance and alarm monitoring.

EVC

CBPAdapter

Diameter

EVC connects to CBP through CBPAdapter to implement the electronic recharge function.

Client

EDRD B BILLD B USRD B BMPD B

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Server

Interfac e

Description

I2000

MML

EVC connects to I2000 using the MML interface for performance and alarm monitoring.

GFEP

I2000

SNMP

GFEP connects to I2000 using the SNMP interface for performance and alarm monitoring.

USAU

I2000

MML

USAU connects to I2000 using the MML interface for performance and alarm monitoring.

URP

I2000

MML

URP connects to I2000 using the MML interface for performance and alarm monitoring.

Client

CBS External Interfaces Table 2-4 describes the interfaces between CBS and external systems. Table 2-4 CBS external interfaces Client

Server

Interfac e

Description

SMSC

GFEP

SMPP+

SMSC sends requests to CBP through GFEP for charging subscribers for SMS messages. GFEP converts the SMPP+ protocol into Diameter protocol, and forwards the charging requests to CBP through CBPAdapter.

GFEP

SMSC

SMPP

BMPAPP, CBP, and OCG send SMS notifications to SMSC through GFEP. CBS and GFEP connect to each other using the RCOMM interface. GFEP and SMSC connect to each other using the SMPP interface.

MMSC

CBPAdapter

Diameter

MMSC sends requests to CBP through CBPAdapter for charging subscribers for MMS messages. MMSC and CBPAdapter connect to each other using the Diameter interface. So do CBPAdapter and CBP.

GGSN

CBPAdapter

Diameter

GGSN sends requests to CBP through CBPAdapter to charge subscribers for data services. GGSN and CBPAdapter connect to each other using the Diameter interface. So do CBPAdapter and CBP.

RBT

CBPAdapter

Diameter

RBT sends one-off fee deduction requests to CBP through CBPAdapter for charging subscribers for RBTs. RBT and CBPAdapter connect to each other using the Diameter interface. So do CBPAdapter and CBP.

MSC

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OCG

CAP

OCG connects to MSC through USAU to connect and control voice calls. USAU performs signaling

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Client

Server

Interfac e

Description conversion. USAU and OCG connect to each other using the internal interface, and USAU and MSC connect to each other using the CAP interface.

HLR

OCG

MAP

OCG connects to HLR through USAU to send USSD messages. USAU performs signaling conversion. USAU and OCG connect to each other using the internal interface, and USAU and HLR connect to each other using the MAP interface.

CRM

BMPAPP

WebServ ice

CRM notifies SLB of changes on customer information, products, and subscriber status using the WebService interface. SLB then notifies BMPAPP of the changes.

BMPA PP

CRM

WebServ ice

BMPAPP sends notifications on customer information changes, product changes, subscriber status changes, and product information query triggered on CBP to CRM through SLB. (The subscriber status changes, for example, when the subscriber is activated, suspended, or resumed upon payment.)

BMPA PP

CRM

SFTP

BMPAPP sends the following files to CRM using the SFTP interface: 

File of batch suspension or resumption



File of batch change on subscriber status



File of subscriber deregistration upon account expiration

BMPA PP

Bank

SFTP

BMPAPP sends autopay files generated by AR to the bank through Mediation.

BMPA PP

Finance

SFTP

BMPAPP sends summarized financial data generated by GL to the financial system through Mediation.

Bank

BMPAPP

SFTP

The bank sends the batch payment file to AR of BMPAPP through Mediation for payment processing.

CRM

Invoicing

WebServ ice

CRM connect to Invoicing using the WebService interface to query unbilled CDRs and synchronize business fees and installments.

Invoici ng

CRM

SFTP

Invoicing sends PDF bill files and bill description files to CRM through Mediation for archiving and query.

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3

Service Features

About This Chapter This topic describes the service features of CBS. 3.1 Charging Features 3.2 Bill Run and Payment Features 3.3 Service Management Features 3.4 Operation and Maintenance Features 3.5 Cloudification Feature

3.1 Charging Features 3.1.1 Configurable Charging Capabilities Based on the Rule Engine CBS has a powerful dynamic rule engine. The rule engine can be used to configure and extend charging elements to meet new charging requirements or charging dimensions. CBS supports flexible payment modes, tariff policies, promotion policies, and multiple accounts. Carriers can promote services by providing product packages, discounts, and bonus. The carriers can also provide featured services such as multiple accounts, shared accounts, and account groups. CBS provides the following configurable charging capabilities: 

Extensible charging dimensions In the telecom service, multiple elements, such as time, location, and people, may affect the charging result. These elements are called charging dimensions, which can be extended as required by defining extended attributes, charging rules, and tariff policies.



Customizable charging process In CBS, service processes, functional components, and data sources are loosely coupled. The real-time control engine can combine various functions, such as authentication, authorization, and charging flexibly to customize the charging process. Therefore,

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various charging processes can be customized in CBS, meeting diversified charging requirements.

3.1.2 Flexible Pricing Plans and Policies The pricing plan indicates a set of price policies for a group of telecommunication services provided by carriers. The charging system can calculate the service fee according to the service usage of the subscriber and the planned tariff. By application scope, plans are classified into the offering plan and global plan. By application type, plans are classified into the pricing plan, penalty plan, notification plan, tax plan, accumulation plan, credit control plan, spending control plan, late fee plan, billing rate plan, subscriber status management plan, authentication plan, integrated postprocessing plan and so on. The unified product catalog provides management functions such as plan configuration, classification, and tariff defining. 



Plan configuration: A plan consists of multiple policies, and a policy consists of multiple patterns and actions. Plans, policies, patterns, and actions restrict each other. They must comply with the type matching rule. −

Policy: A policy is a detailed segmentation of the content of a plan, and based on different processing methods and execution stages. A policy describes a certain kind of tariff. For example, the rental policy and discount policy.

−

Pattern: Patterns are decision-making models used in Plan Domain. Patterns are developed according to empirical designs, including the rank pattern, matrix selection pattern, and condition selection pattern. Patterns can be embedded into patterns. The system performs rating in the sequence of configured patterns. For example, the time-span pattern and one-off rank pattern.

−

Action: An action is atomic calculation logic, which cannot be divided into smaller units. Actions are used by a certain model in a combination way and can be configured separately, including the rate action, allowance action, discount action, and notification action. An action is triggered based on some matching patterns defined in the policy of a plan.

Reference data configuration: Before configuring a pricing plan, you must configure related reference data including the time schemas, free unit types, charge code types, account balance types, accumulator cycles, credit control types, fee restriction scenarios and so on.

3.1.3 Various Charging Elements Various charging elements are involved during charging, including: 

Event attributes Event attributes include the calling party, called party, calling party address, called party address, time, duration, tariff, access point name (APN) for the general packet radio service (GPRS), content type, and transaction type.





Product attributes −

Static attributes: attributes of the products themselves.

−

Instantiation attributes: product attributes that must be instantiated when offerings are instantiated.

−

Subscription attributes: product attributes that must be instantiated when offerings are subscribed to.

Subscriber attributes Subscriber attributes include the subscriber type, date of birth, home area, status, validity period, and brand.

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Customer attributes Customer attributes include the date of birth, occupation, and company.



Account attributes Account attributes include the account type, validity period, balance status, and credit control.



Accumulators Accumulated amount can be used as a charging element. For example, the accumulated toll call fee can be used as a charging element. When a subscriber's accumulated toll call fee reaches 80 dollars, the subscriber enjoys a 20% discount when making subsequent toll calls.

3.1.4 Flexible Fee Calculation During charging, CBS can: 

Calculate multiple fee items for a single event. For example, CBS can calculate the access fee, toll call fee, and roaming fee for a single call.



Support multiple measurement types and measurement units. Measurement types include the duration, traffic, and number of times. Measurement units include second, minute, hour, KB, and MB.





Support multiple charging methods. −

Reference calculation: CBS calculates a fee item based on other fee items. This charging method mainly applies to tax calculation.

−

Optimum calculation: CBS selects the optimum calculation result after calculating multiple fee items. This charging method is used to select the minimum fee when there are multiple promotion rules.

−

Accumulator calculation: This charging method mainly applies to fee item accumulation.

Support multiple rounding modes. CBS supports round off, round up, and round down.



Calculate accumulators during charging. CBS calculates accumulators when charging for a call or during recurring charging.

3.1.5 Multiple Accounts and Free Resources Multiple Accounts and Free Resources of a Single Subscriber In CBS, a single subscriber can have multiple accounts and free resources. In the example shown in Figure 3-1, CBS subscriber John can use any of the four accounts to pay for SMS messages.

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Figure 3-1 Multiple accounts and free resources of a single subscriber



Free resource account: John is rewarded 10 free SMS messages when he recharged his account last time. This account is configured with level-1 priority.



Dedicated monetary account: John can use the dedicated monetary account to pay for SMS messages when all the free SMS messages are used up. This account can only be used to pay for SMS messages and is configured with level-2 priority.



Bonus account: John can use the bonus account to pay for any services, including SMS. This account is configured with level-3 priority.



Main account: This account is configured with level-4 priority.

In CBS, each subscriber can have multiple accounts and free resources. The numbers of accounts and free resources depend on the hardware capability. CBS also provides the capability to configure accounts for specified purposes or to meet certain conditions. For example, CBS supports accounts or free resources specially used for local calls.

Shared Account or Free Resources In CBS, multiple subscribers can share one account or free resources. In the example shown in Figure 3-2, CBS subscribers John and Tom have a shared account besides their respective main accounts.

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Figure 3-2 Shared account

Multiple customers, products, and services can share one account or free resources. Multiple fees can be reserved in the shared account, and free resources can also be reserved.

Dedicated Accounts and Free Resources for Specific Services An account or free resource specially used for a service is called a dedicated account or dedicated free resource. For example, a GPRS account is a dedicated account. The balance of the GPRS account may come from GPRS service promotion. The GPRS account balance does not affect the voice service because the balance cannot be used to pay for the voice service.

Special Payment Types for Specific Accounts In CBS, different accounts of a subscriber may fall into different payment types. For example, the shared account is postpaid while the main account is prepaid.

3.1.6 Real-Time Account Balance Management When a subscriber uses the telecom service, CBS reserves the fee (for example, account balance and bonus) in real time by segment duration. If the account balance becomes insufficient, CBS immediately stops the service.

Fee Reservation According to the charging request, CBS reserves certain fees from the account. The fees are frozen until a fee deduction request is submitted or canceled. CBS supports the following special reservation functions: 

CBS can reserve fees from multiple accounts based on the account priority. For example, if the balance of the bonus account (with level-1 priority) is insufficient, CBS reserves fees from the main account (with level-2 priority).



CBS can reserve fees for multiple services from a single account.

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Reservation Cancellation CBS can cancel fee reservation and refund the fees to the account. The cause for reservation cancellation may be that the service ends and the next reservation is canceled, or the external response times out and the reservation expires.

Fee Deduction When a fee reservation request is submitted, CBS deducts the reserved fees from the account in real time. CBS can deduct the fees from multiple accounts by priority, similar to the process of fee reservation.

Refund Refund is the reverse process of fee deduction and usually applies to charging events. If an external entity requests fee deduction but fails to provide services, CBS refunds the fees.

3.1.7 Binding Capability CBS supports the capability to bind customers, products, and services. Binding is classified into the following types: 

Bind a product to different services For example, a product is bound to the voice and data services, or bound to the local call, national call, and international call services.



Bind different products together for a subscriber For example, fixed-line products and mobile products of a subscriber are bound together. Prepaid products and postpaid products can also be bound together.



Bind different subscribers together For example, subscribers in a same group can be bound together based on a certain relationship.

3.1.8 Real-Time Credit Control CBS specifies credit balances for subscribers based on the credit limit and controls the credit balances in real time. Credit control is usually designed for postpaid subscribers, who can still use services based on the credit limit even when they have no account balance. Real-time credit control has the following features: 

The credit level determines the initial credit balance.



The credit balance can only be an amount of money.



CBS deducts fees from the account balance and uses the credit balance only when the account balance is used up.



When the credit balance is used up, CBS executes operations according to a predefined rule, for example, notifying the subscriber of an insufficient balance.



Credit balance can apply only to a certain product or service.

3.1.9 Accumulation Capability CBS provides multiple accumulation functions. For example, CBS accumulates traffic of the GPRS service or duration of basic calls, toll calls, roaming calls, and international toll calls.

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Accumulation periods and accumulators can be customized to support new accumulation functions. CBS supports the following: 

Accumulators of multiple services



Multiple accumulation measurement units Different measurement units are defined for different accumulators. For example, the call duration is measured in hours, minutes, and seconds; the traffic is measured in MB and KB. The measurement units can be configured on the system GUI.



Various accumulation periods An accumulation period refers to the period in which the service usage such as duration and traffic is accumulated. At the end of each accumulation period, CBS automatically resets the accumulation value.



Consecutive accumulation periods CBS can accumulate the service usage from 1 to N accumulation periods. By the end of a period, CBS automatically switches to the next period and proceeds to accumulate the service usage.

During charging, CBS can refer to the current accumulation data or the historical accumulation data in the last one or several periods. Accumulation applies to: 

Accumulation-based bonus



Consumption-based rank discount



Service control

3.1.10 Data Service Charging CBS provides divergent data services based on the network types with different bandwidths. CBS supports various tariffs for mobile bandwidths, for example, unified tariff, fixed fee, rank-based pricing, time-segment-based pricing, and reference pricing. CBS communicates with external data service components by sending and receiving Diameter messages. CBS authenticates and charges for the data services in real time. The Diameter protocol used between gateway GPRS support node (GGSN)/data service components and CBS is extended by Huawei based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard protocol.

3.1.11 Content Charging CBS can charge for content in addition to charging data services by duration and traffic. Content includes various media entities, such as pictures, music, applications, games, themes, video on demand programs, and live programs. In the content charging solution, CBS and the service delivery platform (SDP) are integrated through interfaces or the GUI. The content charging solution applies to both the SDP Openness solution and SDP Media solution.

3.1.12 Offline Rating CBS supports offline rating. In details, CBS converts the CDR files obtained from an external system into business objects (BOs) and sends the BOs to CBP for rating.

3.1.13 International Settlement CDR Processing CBS executes offline rating based on the international roaming CDRs uploaded by Mediation.

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3.2 Bill Run and Payment Features 3.2.1 Bill Run Invoicing, a subsystem in CBS, collects CDRs, calculates fees, and generates Extensible Markup Language (XML) bills, which have no specified format. 

Bill run Bill run is a process of calculating the billing data of an account in a bill cycle and generating a bill when the bill cycle ends. The billing data includes the monthly rental, usage fee, and preference.



Sampling billing Sampling billing is a process of executing bill run based on specified conditions to verify the expected bill run result. For example, sampling billing can be executed for new products or for specified subscriber numbers, products, or account codes.



Test billing Billing supports a simulative manual or automatic bill run before real bill run to detect possible errors in advance. Billing generates bills according to the test billing data. The operator or billing personnel can query the bills generated in test billing on the system GUI.



Hot billing Billing can execute a real-time bill run and generate a bill before the end of a bill cycle as requested by a postpaid subscriber, for example, when the postpaid subscriber requires immediate deregistration.



Billing arrangement The billing arrangement function enables CBS to generate customized bills for postpaid customers based on fee scenarios.



Tax CBS supports tax calculation during bill run. The tax includes:



−

Consumption tax, for example, goods and services tax (GST), whose rate is 10% of the total consumption amount.

−

Ranked consumption tax, for example, stamp tax.

Billing preference At the end of a bill cycle, Billing calculates the discount for postpaid subscribers based on the bill calculation result and service usage or service fee.



Bill run bonus A bill run bonus is rewarded during bill run. The bonus includes free resources and account balance.



Bill format definition CBS provides bills in different formats for different customers. Carriers can use bills to promote sales. For example, a carrier can insert new product information to attract customers' attention and stimulate customer consumption. CBS allows carriers to set different marketing information, bill inserts, bill run masks, payment rules, and bill descriptions in bills for different customer groups.



Bill formatting and delivery Bill formatting and delivery is a process of generating bill files in the defined format based on the bill data and sending the bills to customers as required.

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Bills are classified into summary bills and itemized bills. CBS supports multiple bill media, such as paper bills, SMS bills, and electronic bills. Summary bills can be sent to subscribers as payment notifications through SMS messages. 

Paper bill reprinting Customers can require bill reprinting when they lose paper bills or when they query historical paper bills. Then Invoicing regenerates the bills for reprinting.

3.2.2 Accounts Receivable AR, a subsystem in CBS, manages customers' accounts by recharge, adjustment, transfer, payment reversal, and refund. In addition, AR connects to carriers' financial systems to send post files. AR provides the following functions: 

Payment Payment is a process of collecting fees and applying the fees to customers' accounts. CBS supports multiple payment methods, such as by cash, credit card, and debit card. CBS supports manual payment and automatic transfer.



Adjustment Adjustment is a process of changing the account balance due to a certain reason. For example, an error occurs during bill run or a customer makes a complaint. The adjustment can be in the credit (CR) or debit (DR) direction. That is, the account balance can be increased or decreased after adjustment.



Transfer Transfer is a process of transferring the prepayment, deposit, or balance between accounts of a customer or between accounts of two customers.



Payment reversal Payment reversal is a process of reversing payment when a business operator selected an incorrect account or amount for payment or when a customer requests to cancel the payment due to an acceptable reason.



Refund Refund is a process of returning the prepayment or deposit to customers.



Dispute A dispute is a process of suspending bills or fees that a customer has questions about. CBS can periodically generate dispute files and send them to the financial systems.

3.2.3 Collection DC, a subsystem in CBS, checks and monitors the payment of accounts. DC sends notifications to subscribers who owe fees and executes collection to reduce carriers' revenue loss. DC provides the following functions: 

Service rule configuration DC supports various collection scenarios based on the following rules:

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Minimum amount on which an action is triggered

−

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

3 Service Features −

Credit limit

−

Action execution schedule

−

Default credit

Collection action Collection actions are executed for subscribers who owe fees, for example, SMS notification, barring, and suspension.



Routine maintenance DC allows the following routine maintenance tasks: −

Batch barring and suspension

−

Batch cancellation of barring and resumption

−

Collection plan cancellation

−

Dispute and undispute

−

Collection schedule maintenance

−

Special date maintenance

3.3 Service Management Features 3.3.1 Unified System Management CBS integrates the unified system management function to implement permission control. Unified system management is the unified support platform in BSS. Unified system management maintains the basic information in BSS, such as business entities (BEs), departments, teams, staff, carriers, areas, permissions, roles, system parameters, and data dictionaries. Unified system management also controls carriers' login permission. Unified system management provides the following features: 

BE management: adds, modifies, and deletes BEs.



Department management: manages department attributes, such as names and functions.



Team management: adds, modifies, and deletes teams, and maintains information about team members and their superiors. A team is a virtual department established for accomplishing business goals. Team members may come from different departments.



Area management: manages areas that the carrier business covers. Areas are classified into business areas and administrative areas.



Operator management: manages basic information about carrier operators.



Dynamic attribute configuration: configures dynamic attributes for BEs, departments, teams, and operators. The carrier administrator can define a new attribute, specify the attribute ID, name, and description, and assign a value to the attribute. By using this function, attributes of BEs, departments, teams, and operators can be extended.



Role management: manages roles. The role of a BSS operator determines the permission of the operator, and the role itself is determined by the system functions implemented by an operator. A role can be allocated multiple permissions.



Password management: manages passwords. Passwords must meet the strength requirements to avoid password leakage.



Log management: records important information in USM, including the operator ID, operator code, login time, login type, login information, event type, and module ID.

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

System management: manages GUI parameters in different BSS subsystems. The administrator can assign different values for a same parameter for different BEs.



Data dictionary management: manages data dictionaries in different BSS subsystems. The administrator can assign different values for a same entry in the data dictionaries for different BEs.



Menu management: configures and queries menus in different BSS subsystems. The administrator can change the links of the menus on GUIs. The operator can configure different links for a same menu for different BEs.



Login and logout management: allows operators to log in and log out.

3.3.2 Customer Management Carriers gain profits from customers. Customer management includes: 

Customer management Creates and deletes customers, enters and modifies customer information, subscribes to services, and manages the blacklist.



Subscriber management Creates subscribers, modifies subscriber information, changes subscriber numbers, changes subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, and change subscriber status.



Customer relationship management Establishes customer relationships or customer group relationships for family members, colleagues, friends, and groups, and adds and deletes group members.



Subscription management Supports subscription and unsubscription for customers, subscribers, accounts, and groups.

CBS divides customers into different classes, for example, platinum customers, gold customers, silver customers, bronze customers, and standard customers. CBS provides services based on the customer classes.

3.3.3 Report The CBS Report system uses the business intelligent platform. The platform is a standardized, componentized, and service-oriented platform with a professional business intelligent analysis capability. CBS uses extract, transform, load (ETL) to obtain data from the database tables in full or incremental mode, and exports the data into files. Then Mediation sends the data files to the Report system for analysis.

3.4 Operation and Maintenance Features 3.4.1 Operation and Maintenance System CBS connects to I2000 through UOA and uses I2000 as the central NMS to provide log management, topology management, performance management, and fault management functions. Figure 3-3 shows the CBS NMS.

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Figure 3-3 CBS NMS

3.4.2 Connecting CBPAPP and BMPAPP to I2000 Upon startup, the Node Agent process of CBPAPP and BMPAPP uses APIs to communicate with UOA Server for registration. Then UOA Server reports the registered NE information to I2000, as shown in Figure 3-4. Figure 3-4 Interfaces for connecting CBPAPP and BMPAPP to I2000

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3.4.3 Connecting Other NEs to I2000 Connecting OCG to I2000 OCG connects to I2000 using UOA Server in the C/S architecture. UOA Server connects to I2000 using the SNMP interface and connects to OCG using NMAdapter. UOA Server communicates with NMAdapter using the internal API, as shown in Figure 3-5. Figure 3-5 Interfaces for connecting OCG to I2000

Connecting IA to I2000 IA connects to I2000 using UOA Server in the C/S architecture. UOA Server provides the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface for I2000. UOA Server connects to IA using ia_report. UOA Server communicates with ia_report using the SOAP interface, as shown in Figure 3-6.

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Figure 3-6 Interfaces for connecting IA to I2000

3.4.4 Statistics Function I2000 provides the statistics function for the following performance counters: 

Traffic statistics, for example, the number of interface messages received and sent in a measurement unit.



Key service counters.



CDR-related counters.



Topology Management Topology management allows the network topology to be displayed on different layers according to operator rights. For example, the main topology can be displayed on the physical layer, logical layer, and application layer, and an operator can view the information about entities and alarms on each layer through this topology.



Monitoring and Design of Key Performance Indicators and Service Indicators −

Collecting and managing performance data Performance data is uploaded to the I2000 server from NEs in either of the following modes: By file: NEs upload performance data to the I2000 server by files. The performance data collection management function periodically analyzes performance data files based on statistics tasks and invokes NE interfaces to import performance data to the database. If the performance data file in the current cycle cannot be uploaded to the I2000 server because of network disconnection or other exceptions, NEs re-upload the file to the I2000 server. By message: The I2000 server sends Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messages to NEs to collect performance data. The performance data collection management function sends SOAP messages based on statistics tasks, analyzes SOAP response messages, and invokes the operation and maintenance system (OMS) platform interface to import performance data to the database. If the performance data in the current cycle is not collected because of network disconnection or other exceptions, the I2000 server sends another message to collect the performance data that has not been collected.

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

The performance data collection management function allows a user to view and modify the attributes of statistics task templates, for example, modifying data collection intervals and alarm thresholds, starting the data collection task, and enabling the alarm function.

Monitoring performance counters based on management objects −

A user selects a management object to view the detailed performance data of this management object. If the performance counter of this management object is the summary of the performance counters of objects at a lower level, I2000 displays the data summary for this management object. Performance counter figures support bar, dashboard, and line charts. A user can click a monitoring management object in a performance counter figure and right-click a lower-level object to view the performance counters of this lower-level object. A user can double-click a performance counter figure to query and view the historical data of the performance counters related to this figure.

−

A user selects a management object and views the performance data in the basic information area. Similar to viewing performance data, only a small number of key performance counters are displayed.



Viewing performance counters by tenants



Viewing performance counters by services

3.4.5 Alarm Management I2000 provides CBS with unified alarm management, including collecting, reporting, clearing, and querying alarms. The I2000 client provides audible and visual alarms. Different voices and icons indicate different alarm severities.

3.4.6 Maintenance Tools CBS provides O&M tools, such as calltrace, etrace, logadm and so on.

3.5 Cloudification Feature 3.5.1 Virtualization The virtualization technology allows a host to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) at the same time. The operating system can be installed on each VM. The operating system running at the host level is HostOS and that running at the VM level is GuestOS. Each VM has independent computing resources (vCPU), memory resources (vMem), storage resources (vStorage), and network resources (vNIC). The system can run in the virtualized environment deployed based on the mainstream X86 architecture device. The Linux SUSE operating system is used as GuestOS and VMware vSphere (ESXi) as HostOS.

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3.5.2 Flexible Scalability On a cloud network, most NEs are deployed on VMs and C3 is used to manage application life cycles. Flexible scalability refers to the capability of adding or deleting NE nodes, which is triggered by C3 based on service requirements. NE nodes are flexibly added and deleted based on the KPIs reported by each NE node to C3. If the KPIs reported to C3 meet the scalability conditions, C3 executes the corresponding scalability action based on the predefined process to add or delete NE nodes. You can also manually execute the scalability action based on the service requirements. System services are not affected when C3 executes the scalability action. If NE nodes are added, they automatically connect to the service and network management systems. If NE nodes are deleted, resources are reclaimed from them and services are switched smoothly.

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4

Security

About This Chapter CBS provides multiple mechanisms to ensure system security, application security, network security, and O&M security. All these security mechanisms comply with local laws and regulations. 4.1 System Security 4.2 Application Security 4.3 Network Security 4.4 O&M Security 4.5 Privacy Protection CBS provides privacy protection schemes so that carriers can meet local laws and regulations and customer requirements on privacy protection.

4.1 System Security CBS uses the following methods to ensure system security: 

System hardening



User management Unified user management specifies the rules for user planning and provides user list and password policies.



Protocol and port management CBS uses the minimum service principle, disables insecure protocols such as NFS, FTP, TELNET, POP3, and SMTP, enable secure services such as SSH and SFTP, and configures a secure user environment. CBS also specifies the rules for port planning and provides the communication matrix.



Windows antivirus software and manual



Web container security CBS provides comprehensive security configurations for web containers, including minimizing components, deleting the console, minimizing rights in the running environment, and enabling the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the log audit function.

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4.2 Application Security Application security ensures that application software is running properly and provides services for external systems. CBS checks user ID and password and uses an intensive encryption algorithm to encrypt sensitive user information. The centralized management and identity authentication approach ensures that accesses to subnets are differentiated by user level and right. In addition, information and resources are shared based on the trust relationship, which prevents unauthorized accesses. CBS uses the following methods to ensure application security: 

Centralized management of user IDs, and single sign-on (SSO)



Account and right management CBS provides password authentication, account policies, authentication policies, session management, and right management.



Interface authentication and authorization −

Alarm monitor of outsourcing system (AMOS) supports SNMP V3.

−

Interfaces provided by BM for external services support the authentication mechanism.

−

Interfaces for Report and Settlement support the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).

−

Unexposed interfaces are not allowed in CBS.

−

IP address-based authentication. Through server IP address configurations, this function prevents services with unauthorized IP addresses to communicate with the local node. This function is available only to internal NEs.



Encryption and key management



Security logs



Sensitive data protection CBS uses the following methods to protect sensitive data:

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Right control over CDR files

−

Right control over bill files

−

Complete bank account information does not appear in databases, bills, reports, or on GUIs. If the bank account is required, part of the account is shielded, for example, 58591345****1234.

−

Complete subscriber number information does not appear on the GUI for querying CDR files and bills. If the subscriber number is required, part of the subscriber number is shielded.

−

Customer addresses, email addresses, contacts, and phone numbers cannot be found in simple searches.

−

When subscriber information is exported to locate faults, subscriber numbers, call records, and call fees must be changed to virtual data to protect real subscriber information.

−

Independent query operations must be recorded in logs.

−

Payment bills of postpaid subscribers are transferred into the historical table and cannot be queried.

−

Accesses to the sensitive data table in the database are controlled.

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The account for accessing external systems has the minimum rights.



Anonymous customer information



Web security

4.3 Network Security CBS uses the following methods to ensure network security. 

To prevent management traffic from attacking core switches, the gateway for network management and the gateway for the service system cannot be located on the same host.



SSO Server supports accesses using management IP addresses and service IP addresses simultaneously.



CBS divides secure areas. NEs are placed in the corresponding secure areas.

4.4 O&M Security O&M security ensures the account and log security and normal management. CBS uses the following methods to ensure O&M security: 



A special group and maintenance account −

CBS creates an operating system administrator group and default maintenance accounts for maintenance operations such as upgrade and PMI, and for tools to access a host.

−

CBS creates a database administrator group and default maintenance accounts for maintenance operations such as installation, upgrade, and PMI, and for tools and services to access a host.

Security logs and audit CBS records important operations, such as login and logout, in security logs for system security audit.



Maintenance and management Apart from technological measures, Huawei also provides some maintenance and management advice for carriers to minimize risks.

4.5 Privacy Protection CBS provides privacy protection schemes so that carriers can meet local laws and regulations and customer requirements on privacy protection.

Overview Privacy refers to individuals' identifiable information, including information that is directly or indirectly related to individuals. Privacy protection is to protect individuals' identifiable information. CBS provides privacy protection for personal data, including but not limited to the following:

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

Basic customer information, such as the customer name, customer code, certificate type, certificate ID, home address, gender, date of birth, customer level, fax number, and email address.



Account information, such as the account name, account address, account record, and bank account.



Subscriber information, such as contract signing information, subscription information, service use records, and subscriber invoices.



Accounting information, such as customer invoices and receipts, payment records, overdue payment records, and dunning records.

The CBS takes the following measures to protect customer privacy. 

Process customers' sensitive information (such as numbers, ages, genders, and account balances) in an anonymous manner.



Provide a security protection mechanism (such as authentication, permission control, and log recording) during collection and processing of individual data and make the mechanism open to customers using product information.

Data Protection The CBS protects sensitive data, which includes but is not limited to the password, cipher key, bank account, important service data, financial data, enterprise data, and individual data. Individual data includes the subscriber name, account, calling and called numbers, CDRs, and call duration. This type of data can identify or works with other information to identify a natural person. The CBS uses different modes to process different types of sensitive data, including data collection, encrypted storage, encrypted transmission, data display, and backup and restore. 

Data collection To enable subscribers to use services and receive system notifications, the CBS collects individual data based on service information. Carriers and subscribers must sign the data collection contract so that the system can process subscriber data to generate production data required by the service system. Without being authorized by subscribers, the CBS does not collect, store, or process subscriber data. −

Registration During registration, the system collects service-related data including the customer's name, certificate number, date of birth, phone number, password for query, home address, email address, and invoice address. The system does not collect service-irrelevant information, such as, family members and their health status. In the self-registration and self-service scenarios, the system displays the data collection purpose and notifies the subscriber of data to be collected. When connecting to a third-party system interface, the CBS notifies the interface of the mandatory and optional data to be collected.

−

Deregistration The CBS starts a scheduled task to automatically clear all individual data X days after deregistration.

The value of X is configurable and is 30 by default. −

CDR CDRs record the calling number, called number, communication time, location information, and other information. The CBS can store CDR files without importing

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them to a database or start a scheduled task to automatically clear CDR files a specified time period after they are stored. The CBS does not import the location and peer number in CDRs to the database. NEs in the CBS use SFTP to transfer CDR files. Permission on the files is set as follows: The owner has read, write, and delete permission, and users in the same group as the owner has the read permission. Other non-root users have no permission on CDR files. The CBS records an operation log each time a CDR file is queried. CDR files in the CBS are used by the Invoicing to accumulate accounts, used by the report system to collect and analyze statistics, used by the RA to audit and rerate CDRs, used by the GL for accounting, and used by a third-party system (for example, PRM) to execute settlement. −

Invoice Invoices record the customer name, invoice address, calling number, called number, consumption information, balance, total outstanding amount, and other information. The information can be customized by carriers, and called numbers are anonymized.

−

Receipt Receipts record information such as the customer name and phone number. Receipts are compressed before being stored in a database.

−

Recharge and payment The recharge and payment log table records information related to the bank account, such as, the credit card number, card expiration time, credit card authorization code, bank account, check number, and check data. The CBS deducts fees based on the information related to the bank account. Therefore, the system uses the reversible algorithm AES128 to encrypt and decrypt the information and then stores it in the database.



Encrypted storage The system encrypts sensitive data such as the password, bank account, cipher key, PIN1, PIN2, PUK1, and PUK2 so that the sensitive data is not displayed in plaintext. The system uses the irreversible algorithm Hmac-SHA256 to encrypt the login password. The user name is used as the salt for password encryption, which ensures that different ciphertexts are obtained for the same password. The ciphertext is stored in the CBS database and is used for verifying the login password that a subscriber enters. The system uses AES128 to encrypt and decrypt the authentication passwords transferred between the client and server. The two ends use the same algorithm and cipher key to ensure that the peer end can decrypt the received passwords. The passwords are generally stored in configuration files in ciphertext for applications to query. Cipher keys are generally stored in configuration files in ciphertext to protect key security. The system generally uses AES128 to encrypt and decrypt bank accounts. To meet the PCI standards, bank accounts can be saved to the dedicated database that is separated from the service system. If PCI standards are not considered, bank accounts are stored in the service database in ciphertext to prevent unauthorized access.



Encrypted transmission Sensitive data is transferred in ciphertext or through an encryption channel such as HTTPS, VPN, or SFTP. Passwords, bank accounts, and other information requiring high-level security must be transferred through an encryption channel in ciphertext.



Data display Sensitive data is not displayed on web pages, log files, and configuration files in plaintext. To protect the security of sensitive data such as bank accounts, the system saves the data in the database in ciphertext, displays the first six or last four digits of

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each record on web pages for tracing services or transactions, and displays the encryption status in log files. If the system does not displays the encryption status in log files, it displays the first six or last four digits and uses asterisks (*) to mask other digits. Passwords are masked with asterisks (*) on web pages or text boxes and recorded in ciphertext in log files and configuration files. Cipher keys are displayed in ciphertext in configuration files. Other sensitive data such as PIN1, PIN2, PUK1, and PUK2 is displayed in ciphertext. Individual data of subscribers such as their names, phone numbers, invoices, and transaction data is displayed in plaintext on web pages and log files. However, individual data exported to other systems out of the production system or imported to the development and test system is anonymized. That is, the system performs transcoding for individual data such as the name and mobile number to protect subscribers' privacy. 

Backup and restore Service-related data is backed up based on a backup policy. The backup scope, time, and interval can be configured in the backup policy. Generally, data generated within a specified time period is backed up as online backup data for fast restore. By default, the CBS stores data backed up in the last month as online backup data on disks and stores data backed up earlier as offline backup data. Data restore tests must be performed on a regular basis to test the validity of the backup policy and backup data.

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5

Reliability

About This Chapter CBP and BMPAPP in CBS use the memory database (MDB) and the two-node cluster to ensure high system performance and reliability. 5.1 Software Reliability 5.2 Data Reliability 5.3 Overload Control 5.4 Disaster Recovery Scheme 5.5 Other Reliability Schemes

5.1 Software Reliability To ensure software reliability, CBS can: 

Restore the operating system upon suspension (only in the ATAE architecture). The operating system is the basis for the running of a two-node cluster. Operating system suspension disables the two-node cluster, and the standby node cannot take over services from the active node. In special scenarios when data consistency is not required, CBS supports the operating system suspension check and automatic restart.



Rectify faults for key processes and threads. CBS periodically checks for and, if found, rectifies the following faults:



−

Thread suspension

−

Service exceptions

−

Two-node cluster software exceptions

Protect operating system startup and prevent system exceptions. Before starting the system, CBS checks the readiness of the software and hardware environment. If the environment cannot support system operations, CBS adopts corresponding protection measures, for example, delaying the startup until loading software and hardware is completed, or automatically attempting to restart CBS for a specified number of times. These protection measures avoid long-term system interruptions caused by unsolvable faults. If a system does not support repeated startup, CBS checks instances that are currently running to avoid service interruptions caused by

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resource competition. CBS generates alarms or stops starting the system due to the competition for key resources. 

Start the system automatically after power resumption. If the host powers off when the equipment room or power supply is faulty, the VM and operating system can automatically start when the host powers on again. If cluster software is installed, it also restarts automatically.



Tolerate interface faults (such as intermittent disconnection) and recover from the faults (such as connection restoration after disconnection). To avoid system suspension or service exceptions caused by improper operations, CBS provides tolerance in the following scenarios:



−

Repeated registration and subscription messages

−

Repeated charging requests

−

DCC messages in incorrect order

−

External request timeout or suspended external requests

−

Suspended accesses to disk arrays

−

Suspended accesses to databases

Tolerate changes of time zones and time. If the system requires a system time design timer or service execution depends on system time, CBS has to provide tolerance to changes of time zones and time.



Protect data integrity. If data transmission such as network transmission, local persistency, and file upload is interrupted, a file may contain incomplete information. When the system accesses the incomplete file, service exceptions may occur. This scenario must be considered during system design to protect data integrity. In addition, the system must provide tolerance to damaged data to ensure uninterrupted services. Data may be damaged in the following scenarios:



−

Network transmission

−

Unexpected power off

−

File upload and download, or resumable upload and download

Monitor and rectify service process faults. Host resources can be monitored, including physical memory resources, CPU usage, network interface status, and traffic. VM resources can be monitored, including virtual memory resources, virtual CPU usage, virtual network interface status, and traffic. Host hardware faults can be monitored and reported to the management center. The faults include CPU, memory, network interface, disk, shared disk array, and power faults. The service engine orchestrates a process, and the process invokes a service that supports distributed deployment. When a process invokes components to provide a service, the act of invoking may time out or may not be responded because of faulty network and remote components. Therefore, a timeout mechanism must be provided when a process invokes components.

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CBS makes the procedure of invoking components persistent to ensure that steps that have been executed before service process interruption are not executed again after service process restoration.

−

CBS monitors the key status of state machines. When a state machine stays in a same state for a long time, CBS sends a notification for manual intervention.

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

The state machine monitors the system running status. CBS marks the state machines that do not end for a long time, records logs, and sends alarms.

Protect queues and resource pools. CBS sets a maximum size for message queues and a maximum time for a message to remain in a queue. A timeout mechanism needs to be provided to ensure that a resource that has been borrowed returns to the resource pool on time.



−

If the time for a message to remain in the queue exceeds the specified maximum time, the message must be discarded.

−

If a borrowed resource does not return to the resource pool for a long time and the resource pool does not have sufficient resources, the timeout mechanism forcibly recycles this resource.

Isolate services of different types and priorities. When the system supports multiple service scenarios, different applications and system resources are configured based on service types and priorities. This function ensures that important services are not affected by the great number of requests for non-important services. Services of different types must be isolated, so one service that is faulty or a great number of requests for one service does not affect other services. Isolated deployment has the following functions: −

Allows the sharing of important and non-important services of the same process.

−

Sets the priority to ensure that important services are executed by priority and are assigned more resources.

5.2 Data Reliability CBS provides data backup and restoration schemes of different types and levels for disks, databases, and applications. 

RAID 1+0 mode for external disks Each disk has a physical mirror disk that provides redundancy security and allows some disk faults but does not affect data availability. The disk striping technology distributes data on multiple disks to ensure fast data read and write operations.



Mirroring technology for built-in disks A host is configured with two built-in disks as its system disks. The two system disks are mirrored to ensure the reliability of the operating system.



Backup and restoration of the Oracle database CBS backs up the archive logs, control files, and data files in the Oracle database. Oracle backup includes full backup and incremental backup. −

Full backup Full backup is easy to maintain and provides high security and execution efficiency. The Oracle database must be stopped during full backup.

−

Incremental backup During incremental backup, the Oracle database must be in the archive mode. This mode backs up and restores operations of the last second. The Oracle database does not need to be stopped during incremental backup.

When an unknown fault occurs in the database, you can restore the database. Before restoration, you must verify that the backup files are available.

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Backup and restoration of GMDB Memory data is backed up to disks when the GMDB is running. When a fault occurs on the GMDB, backup files are used for data restoration. This ensures transaction consistency and data integration.

1.

−

Data can be backed up manually. When the GMDB attempts to back up data in a file but the backup directory contains a file with the same name, the GMDB gives up the backup or overwrites the file in the backup directory (which operation the GMDB will perform depends on the setting of a configuration item).

−

Data can be restored in the following ways:

Load persistency data and redo log files to restore the GMDB. This method is used in routine maintenance.

2.

Restore data from the memory on the active node to a specified node by using network input/output (I/O) capabilities. This method is used to quickly recover the standby node and reconstruct the replication relationship between the active and standby nodes when a fault occurs on a two-node cluster.





Backup and restoration of application software −

The application software on both the active and standby nodes is backed up in the full backup mode.

−

The application software is restored in the full restoration mode.

Backup and restoration of the operating system The backup and restoration software NetBackup (NBU) is recommended to implement full backup and restoration for the operating system.



Backup of configuration files The configuration files on both the active and standby nodes are backed up in the full or incremental backup mode.

5.3 Overload Control Overload control is a self-protection mechanism. When detecting that the load exceeds the processing capability, CBS starts the overload control mechanism. CBS provides the following overload control policies: 

Static overload control Static overload control is the control over the maximum number of calls per unit of time. The maximum number of calls of the same type is specified. When the number of calls exceeds the maximum, CBS starts the overload control policy to reject new calls.



Dynamic overload control Dynamic overload control is the control over the percentage of rejected calls in a certain period based on the average response time and CPU usage.

OCG supports both the static overload control and dynamic overload control. BMPAPP and CBP support only the static overload control. CBS overload control policies have the following features: 

Overload control capabilities of DCCAdapter −

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the statistics based on the predefined threshold and determines whether to start traffic control. Once traffic control is started, new calls and messages are rejected unconditionally in the cases of overload. −



Dynamic overload: Service response delay statistics are collected by node and domain. DCCAdapter assesses the statistics based on the predefined threshold and determines whether to start traffic control. Once traffic control is started, new calls and messages are passed in the sequence of predefined service priority, customer level, and subscriber type.

Overload control capabilities of controllers for real-time and non-real-time services CPU usage and non-real-time service response delay statistics on a node are collected based on tasks. Controllers assess the statistics based on the predefined threshold and determine whether to start traffic control. Once traffic control is started, CBS reduces the number of concurrent tasks and the invoking frequency to reduce the load.

5.4 Disaster Recovery Scheme CBS provides the 1+1 disaster recovery (DR) scheme, using the redundancy machine to back up the production machine. The DR scheme has the following features: 







High performance −

Oracle DataGuard automatically creates and maintains one or more databases on the redundancy machine for the primary database on the production machine. When the primary database is not available because of disasters or incorrect maintenance operations, CBS activates a database on the redundancy machine to function as the primary database.

−

The DR system uses the snapshot technology to ensure that data on the production machine is consistent with that on the redundancy machine after the primary database is available. The restoration time is short.

High reliability −

The transmission distance does not affect data replication or service running.

−

The DR system does not affect the performance of the production machine.

−

The DR system does not affect the service running on the production machine.

−

The redundancy machine can provide services for a long time.

High maintainability −

The system software is modularized.

−

I2000 provides the alarm and log functions to locate faults and maintain the system.

−

After the production machine provides the DR function, external interfaces and the maintenance method and procedure remain the same on the production machine and redundancy machine.

−

The DR system provides the DR test function, which ensures the availability of data and DR software.

−

After the DR switchover, the bill serial number is continuous with that of the original production machine.

−

Operations such as query, monitoring, and maintenance can be performed in I2000.

High flexibility −

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CBS Solution Description

5 Reliability −

The system networking is flexible. The production machine can have the DR function both in the cold standby mode and hot standby mode.

−

The DR switchover supports both automatic switchover and manual switchover.

For more details on the DR system and DR schemes, see the related HUAWEI DR documents.

5.5 Other Reliability Schemes CBS provides the bypass charging scheme that is executed in adapters. CBS determines whether to execute bypass based on the following bypass conditions: 

Return code



Deployed node



Subscriber number segment



System error code



Service restriction duration



Subscriber roaming status



Domain

On the cloud network, CBS can ensure that the time is the same on each host and VM, which prevents services from being affected due to the time difference.

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CBS Solution Description

6 International Standards

6

International Standards

The system complies with international standards to communicate with external systems. Table 6-1 lists the international standards that the system complies with. Table 6-1 International standards that the system complies with Standard Series

International Standard

3GPP

3GPP TS 22.115 3GPP TS 32.200 3GPP TS 32.215 3GPP TS 32.225 3GPP TS 32.240 3GPP TS 32.251 3GPP TS 32.296 3GPP TS 32.299

3GPP CAMEL Phase 3 Series Standards

3GPP TS 22.078 3G TS 23.060 3GPP TS 23.078 3GPP TS 29.002 3G TS 29.060 3GPP TS 29.078 3G TS 24.008

3GPP CAMEL Release 4 Series Standards

3GPP TS 22.078 3GPP TS 23.078 3GPP TS 29.002 3GPP TS 29.078

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CBS Solution Description

6 International Standards

Standard Series

International Standard

3GPP CAMEL Phase 4 Series Standards

3GPP TS 22.078

HTTP

HTTP1.1

SOAP

SOAP1.1

SSL

SSL v3

INAP International Standards

ITUT Q.121X CS-1 Series Recommendations ITUT Q.122X CS-2 Series Recommendations ETS 300 374 (ETSI core INAP)

ETSI CAMEL Phase 1 Series Standards

GSM 02.78 GSM 03.78 GSM 09.78

ETSI CAMEL Phase 2 Series Standards

GSM 02.78 GSM 03.78 GSM 09.78 GSM 09.02 3GPP TS 23.078 3GPP TS 29.078 3GPP TS 29.002

IETF

IETF SIP Protocol Draft draft-ietf-sip-2543bis-00

RFC

RFC 2138/2139 Radius Protocol

ANSI

ANSI T1.114-1988 (ANSI TCAP)

WIN Series Protocols

TIA/EIA-IS664 TIA/EIA-IS764 TIA/EIA-41D IS-771

1999

IS-826

2000

TIA/EIA PN4818 TIA/EIA Enhanced Wireless 9-1-1 Phase 2 (J-STD-036-AD-2) TIA/EIA PN4747 SIP Series Protocols

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IETF RFC 2543 IETF RFC 2976

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CBS Solution Description

6 International Standards

Standard Series

International Standard IETF RFC 3261 IETF RFC 3262 IETF RFC 3264 IETF RFC 3265 IETF RFC 3311 IETF RFC 3326 IETF RFC 3428 IETF RFC 2327 IEEE-ISTO VoiceXML 2.0 Draft

Diameter Series Protocols

3GPP 32105-004 3G Charging and Billing Stage 2 description IETF RFC 3588 Diameter Base Protocol IETF RFC 4006 Diameter Credit-Control Application 3GPP TS 32.299 3GPP TS 32.215 Telecommunication management; Charging management; Charging data description for the Packet Switched (PS) domain 3GPP TS 32.251 Telecommunication management; Charging management; Packet Switched (PS) domain charging

IUT-T TCAP

ITU-T Q.77x Series Specifications

ANSI TCAP

ANSI T1.114 ANSI T1.114

CDMA

IS771 IS826 IS41

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