Handling of nrs and bcm in pcrf and gw

A tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions thereon for execution by a policy and charging rules node (PCRN), wherein the tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprises instructions for:

• receiving at said PCRN, a service request message from an Evolved Packet Core node;
• generating a response message;
• and
• if said response message is a success message;
• determining whether the service request message includes a Network-Request-Support (NRS) attribute value pair (AVP) for an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session or a gateway control session;
• and
• if said service request message includes said NRS AVP:
• storing the NRS value in a NRS buffer at said PCRN;
• determining a Bearer Control Mode (BCM) value for said IP-CAN session or gateway control session, based on said NRS value and policy rules at said PCRN;
• storing said BCM value in a BCM buffer at said PCRN;
• and sending said response message containing a BCM AVP containing said BCM value for said IP-CAN session or gateway control session.

A policy and charging rules node (PCRN) for handling an incoming request message, said PCRN comprising:

• an interface for communicating with an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) node;
• a Network-Request-Support (NRS) buffer;
• a Bearer Control Mode (BCM) buffer;
• wherein said PCRN is configured to:
• receive a service request message on said interface from said EPC node;
• generate a response message to said request message;
• and if said response message is a success message;
• determining whether the request message includes a Network-Request-Support (NRS) attribute value pair (AVP) for an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session or gateway control session;
• and
• if said request message includes said NRS AVP:
• store the NRS value in said NRS buffer;
• determine a Bearer Control Mode (BCM) value for said IP-CAN session or gateway control session, based on said NRS value and policy rules at said PCRN;
• store said BCM value in said BCM buffer;
• and
• send said response message containing a BCM AVP containing said BCM value for said IP-CAN session or gateway control session on said interface to said EPC node.

A method performed by an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) gateway node, the method comprising:

• receiving a NRS value from a downstream node;
• sending a service request message for an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session or gateway control session, to a policy and charging rules node (PCRN), said service request message including a Network-Request-Support (NRS) attribute value pair (AVP) containing said received NRS value;
• receiving a response message from said PCRN in response to said service request message,
• determining if said response message is a success message;
• and
• storing said received NRS value in a NRS buffer at said EPC gateway node only if said response message is a success message.

A tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions thereon for execution by an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) gateway node), wherein the tangible and non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprises instructions for:

• receiving a NRS value from a downstream node;
• sending a service request message for an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session or gateway control session, to a policy and charging rules node (PCRN), said service request message including a Network-Request-Support (NRS) attribute value pair (AVP) containing said received NRS value;
• receiving a response message from said PCRN in response to said service request message,
• determining if said response message is a success message;
• and
• storing said received NRS value in a NRS buffer at said EPC gateway node only if said response message is a success message.

An Evolved Packet Core (EPC) gateway node comprising:

• a first interface for communicating with a downstream node;
• a second interface for communicating with a policy and charging rules node (PCRN);
• a Network-Request-Support (NRS) buffer;
• wherein said EPC gateway node is configured to:
• receive a NRS value from said downstream node;
• send a service request message for an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session or gateway control session, to a policy and charging rules node (PCRN), said service request message including a Network-Request-Support (NRS) attribute value pair (AVP) containing said received NRS value;
• receive a response message from said PCRN in response to said service request message,
• determine if said response message is a success message;
• and
• store said received NRS value in said NRS buffer at said EPC gateway node only if said response message is a success message.