Policy and charging rules function (pcrf) and performance intelligence center (pic) based congestion control

A method for congestion control in a mobile communications network, the method comprising:

• monitoring control and user plane traffic associated with a cell in a mobile communications network;
• determining, based on the monitored message traffic, whether a congestion threshold associated with the cell has been crossed;
• in response to determining that the congestion threshold associated with the cell has been crossed, generating a congestion notification message that includes the identity of the one or more subscribers that are contributing to the congestion;
• receiving the congestion notification message at a policy server;
• generating a policy control and charging rule that modifies the policy of the one or more subscribers;
• and
• communicating the PCC rule to a policy and charging enforcement function (PCEF).

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:

• monitoring control and user plane traffic associated with a cell in a mobile communications network;
• determining, based on the monitored message traffic, whether a congestion threshold associated with the cell has been crossed;
• in response to determining that the congestion threshold associated with the cell has been crossed, generating a congestion notification message that includes the identity of the one or more subscribers that are contributing to the congestion;
• receiving the congestion notification message at a policy server;
• generating a policy control and charging rule that modifies the policy of the one or more subscribers;
• and
• communicating the PCC rule to a policy and charging enforcement function (PCEF).