Policy Charging and Rules Function

With surging demand for broadband connectivity and bandwidth, operators are compelled to maintain a delicate equilibrium between competitively priced offers and managing network congestion and costs of the data traffic. Policy Management enables operators to address network congestion by enforcing subscriber and application usage policies. But more crucially, these policy controls also provide the means to innovate, personalize the customer experience, and to monetize data usage. Policy Charging and Rules Function (PCRF) plays an important in enforcing the Policy Management.

PCRF is the software node designated in real-time to determine policy rules in a multimedia network. As a policy tool, the PCRF plays a central role in next-generation networks. Unlike earlier policy engines that were added on to an existing network to enforce policy, the PCRF is a software component that operates at the network core and accesses subscriber databases and other specialized functions, such as a charging system, in a centralized manner. Because it operates in real time, the PCRF has an increased strategic significance and broader potential role than traditional policy engines. It is an important entity in the LTE core network domain.

The PCRF is the part of the network architecture that aggregates information to and from the network, operational support systems, and other sources (such as portals) in real time, supporting the creation of rules and then automatically making policy decisions for each subscriber active on the network. Such a network might offer multiple services, quality of service (QoS) levels, and charging rules. PCRF can provide a network agnostic solution (wire line and wireless) and can also provide multi-dimensional approach which helps in creating a lucrative and innovative platform for operators. PCRF can be integrated with different platforms like billing, rating, charging, and subscriber database or can also be deployed as a standalone operational entity.