6 Adding Custom Diameter AVPs

The Oracle Communications Service Broker Policy Controller (Policy Controller) Diameter stack supports a specific list of Diameter AVPs that Policy Controller can use to pass information from Diameter reference points. If your Policy Controller implementation requires additional AVPs, follow the instructions in this chapter to add them to the Diameter stack using the Administration Console. Policy Controller rejects any messages with unsupported AVPs and returns an error message to the sender.

About Adding Custom Diameter AVPs

Policy Controller entities such as Policy Control Enforcement Functions (PCEFs), Application Functions (AFs), Online Charging Systems (OCSs) may use custom (non Diameter-standard) AVPs to transfer information among Diameter nodes. If your Policy Controller implementation requires it, you can add these custom AVPs to the Diameter stack. Policy Controller rejects any messages with unsupported AVPs and returns an error message to the sender.

You are free to add as many custom AVPs to the Policy Controller Diameter stack as necessary, and this chapter explains how. Once custom AVPs are added to the stack, Policy Controller accepts messages with these AVPs, but does not by default use any of the information they contain. To make use of the information they contain you must create a Policy Designer rule that uses the AVP information.

Note:

If your Policy Controller implementation uses split domains, you must add the same list of AVPs to both domains manually.

The "About Diameter AVP Data Types" section lists how various Service Broker and Policy Controller entities represent the different AVP data types, and "Functions Available for Each Data Type" lists the functions that they can use.

Adding Custom AVPs to Use with Policy Controller

To add custom AVPs to Policy Controller:

1. Start the Administration Console.

   For details see Oracle Communications Service Broker Administrator's Guide.

2. Navigate to Platform, OCSB, Domain Management, Diameter AVPs, AVP Definitions.

   The AVP Definitions screen appears.

3. Click Lock and Edit.

4. Click New.

   The New AVP Definitions/Attributes pane appears.

5. Enter a Code for the new AVP.

   Ensure that this code is not used by any existing Diameter AVP.

6. Enter the Vendor-Id of the AVP.

   This is the IANA SMI Network Management Private Enterprise Codes for the vendor. For details see http://www.iana.org/assignments/enterprise-numbers. A value of 0 indicates that there is no vendor code.

7. Enter a Name for the AVP.

   Enter a unique name for the new AVP.

8. Select a data Type for the new AVP.

   See Table 6-1 for a list of the available types.

9. Select a Mandatory Flag option to control support for the new AVP. See RFC 3588 for details. The options are:

   • Default - No behavior is specified if the AVP is unsupported by a Diameter client.

   • MUST - The AVP must be rejected by a Diameter client if unsupported.

   • MAY - The AVP may be rejected by a Diameter client if unsupported

   • MUST_NOT - The AVP can never be rejected by the Diameter client if unsupported.

10. Select a level of security support in the End-to-end encryption setting. The options are:

    • Blank (no value - Does not specify a security behavior.

    • TRUE - The AVP must not be sent unless end-to-end encryption is supported by both parties of the connection.

    • FALSE - The AVP may be sent even if end-to-end encryption is not supported by both parties of the connection.

11. Click Apply.

    The new AVP appears in the AVP Attributes table.

12. Repeat steps 4 through 11 for each custom AVP you are adding.

About Diameter AVP Data Types

Table 6-1 lists the various AVP data types and how they are represented in Policy Controller entities.

Table 6-1 Diameter AVP Data Types and the Policy Controller/Policy Designer Equivalents

Policy Controller (Administration Console) Representation	Diameter AVP Type (from RFC 3588)	Derived from type (from RFC3588)	Policy Designer Representation	Policy Designer Representation for Custom AVPs
bytes	OctetString	N/A	java.lang.String	java.lang.String
integer32	Integer32	N/A	java.lang.Integer	java.lang.Integer
integer64	Integer64	N/A	java.lang.Long	java.lang.Long
unsigned32	Unsigned32	N/A	java.lang.Long	java.lang.Long
unsigned64	Unsigned64	N/A	java.math.BigInteger	java.math.BigInteger
float32	Float32	N/A	java.lang.Float	java.lang.Float
float64	Float64	N/A	java.lang.Double	java.lang.Double
grouped	Grouped	N/A	N/A	N/A
addressbytes	Address	OctetString	InetAddress Address	Address
time	Time	OctetString	java.sql.Time (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.Time)	java.sql.Time
string	UTF8String	OctetString	java.lang.String	java.lang.String
bytes	DiameterIdentity	OctetString	java.lang.String	java.lang.String
bytes	Diameter URI	N/A	java.lang.String	java.lang.String
integer32	Enumerated	Integer32	Known types will have a new class, for example: EventTrigger (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.EventTrigger) IPCanType (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.IPCanType)	java.lang.Integer
bytes	IPFilterRule	OctetString	IPFilterRule (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.IPFilterRule)	IPFilterRule (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.IPFilterRule)
bytes	QoSFilterRule	OctetString	IPFilterRule (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.IPFilterRule)	IPFilterRule (oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.feature.pcrf.api.type.IPFilterRule)

Functions Available for Each Data Type

Table 6-2 lists the Policy Designer rule functions available for custom AVPs by data type.

Table 6-2 Supported Functions for Custom AVPs

Data Type	Supported Function	Description
IntegerList	contains(Integer intValue)	Check whether intValue is in the list.
IntegerList	hasGreaterThan(Integer intValue)	Check whether the list contains a value greater than intValue.
IntegerList	hasLesserThan(Integer intValue)	Check whether the list contains a value lesser than intValue.
LongList	contains(String longValue)	Check whether longValue is in the list.
LongList	hasGreaterThan(String longValue)	Check whether the list contains a value greater than longValue.
LongList	hasLesserThan(String longValue)	Check whether the list contains a value lesser than longValue.
BigIntegerList	contains(String bigIntegerValue)	Check whether the list contains bigIntegerValue.
BigIntegerList	hasGreaterThan(String bigIntegerValue)	Check whether the list contains a value greater than bigIntegerValue.
BigIntegerList	hasLesserThan(String bigIntegerValue)	Check whether the list contains a value less than bigIntegerValue.
StringList	contains(String stringValue)	Check whether stringValue is in the list.
FloatList	contains(String floatValue)	Check whether floatValue is in the list.
FloatList	hasGreaterThan(String floatValue)	Check whether the list contains a value greater than floatValue.
FloatList	hasLesserThan(String floatValue)	Check whether the list contains a value less than floatValue.
DoubleList	contains(String doubleValue)	Check whether doubleValue is in the list.
DoubleList	hasGreaterThan(String doubleValue)	Check whether the list contains a value greater than doubleValue.
DoubleList	hasLesserThan(String doubleValue)	Check whether the list contains a value less than doubleValue.
AddressList	contains(Integer addressType, String addressData)	Check whether values for addressType, addressData are in the list.
IPFilterRuleList	Not used by Policy Controller	Not used by Policy Controller.
TimeList	contains(Calendar c)	Check whether the list contains c.
TimeList	hasBefore(Calendar c)	Checkwhether the list contains a value less than c.
TimeList	hasAfter(Calendar c)	Check whether the list contains a value greater than c.