A supplementary service that informs customers about the cost of a requested service in monetary or nonmonetary format.
An online charging function by which you can inform customers of a possible promotion if they request a service at a future time; for example, when a call would charge less in an off-peak time period.
An ECE component that enables ECE to send data to the BRM server for various purposes; for example, triggering billing, and updating subscriber life-cycle states.
challenge handshake authentication protocol (CHAP)
An authentication protocol that authenticates a user to a network entity; for example, the Web. This protocol ensures that the server sends a challenge to the client after the client establishes a network connection to access the Web server.
A Java Virtual Machine (JVM) running Coherence that is a member of the Coherence cluster. There can be multiple nodes in a Coherence cluster. A client application that becomes a member of the Coherence cluster becomes a node in the cluster. The Elastic Charging Controller monitors and manages all nodes the are defined in the ECE topology file.
The data grid on a physical machine of which ECE nodes are a member. Client applications that need to send requests to ECE must join the Coherence cluster to access the data in ECE caches and to access other services required for sending requests. Client applications use the Elastic Charging Client API for joining the Coherence cluster.
An ECE component that keeps the customer data in ECE synchronized with the customer data in BRM.
When changes to customer data occur in BRM, Customer Updater automatically updates the ECE customer cache. Customer Updater updates the cache by adding, modifying or removing data as required by the update.
Customer Updater is a component that listens on a queue for update requests from BRM. Customer Updater is separate from the customerLoader which is a utility for loading customer data into ECE from file.
A utility used to load customer data into ECE from file. The customerLoader utility loads data that has been previously extracted from BRM by Oracle Data Integrator. customerLoader loads the data from the ECE customer XML data files into the customer cache of the Elastic Charging Server.
A usage request that is received after the end of the accounting cycle in which the usage occurred. For example, if the current accounting cycle ends on October 25, the usage request received after October 25 for the usage that occurred before October 25 (assume October 23) is called the delayed usage request.
An ECE component that serves as the Online Charging System (OCS) front-end server for the BRM system. It processes network requests for Gy, Sy, and Sh Diameter interfaces. It acts as a Diameter Server and presents the BRM Elastic Charging Engine to the network as a Diameter Credit-Control Application. It translates Diameter requests received from Diameter Clients (for example, Application Servers, Policy Servers or IMS-GWFs) into Elastic Charging Engine Java API requests. It translates the response from the Elastic Charging Server back into Diameter requests and responds back to the requesting Diameter Client.
The driver machine is the machine on which you installed ECE, and the machine used to administer the ECE system. The driver machine is the server that is set up to be the primary administrator machine. As a best practice, you do not install ECE nodes on the driver machine; you install them on separate remote machines (server machines).
The client library that enables client applications to connect to the cluster and build usage requests for sending to the Elastic Charging Server. The Elastic Charging Client is used for sending all types of requests: usage requests, query requests, update requests, and management requests. When client applications start the Elastic Charging Client, they automatically join the cluster. As a member of the cluster, applications have access to ECE node data caches and the services required for sending requests.
The ECE command-line application used for operational management of ECE nodes in the cluster.
Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
An authentication protocol which supports multiple authentication mechanisms used for RADIUS; for example, EAP-Tunneled Transport Layer Security.
The ECE component that converts a BRM opcode input flist into an ECE request and converts the subsequent ECE response back into a BRM opcode output flist. External Manager (EM) Gateway acts as a client to the Elastic Charging Server, sending requests to it from BRM. For example, EM Gateway is used to send rerating requests and balance query requests from BRM to ECE.
The identity cache stores the public user identity information of customers; for example, the customer's phone number, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address.
The JConsole graphical user interface is a monitoring tool that complies to the Java Management Extensions (JMX) specification. You can use JConsole and other JMX editors to edit ECE MBeans.
An ECE node that has a JMX port specified and has the start CohMgt parameter set to true in the ECE topology file. When this node starts, it provides a JMX management service on the specified host and port, which is used to expose ECE configuration MBeans. This enables you to edit the MBean attributes by using a JMX editor such as JConsole. You designate only one node as a JMX-management-enabled node for each unique IP address in your topology.
A rated event generated when a Diameter update operation occurs during a network session. By default, ECE generates rated events for a network session only when a Diameter terminate operation ends the session. To avoid waiting until the end of a lengthy session to recognize revenue for the part of the session that subscribers have already consumed, however, you can configure ECE to generate midsession rated events each time a Diameter update operation occurs in an ongoing session.
See terminal server.
An ECE framework that publishes asynchronous notifications to a database queue when certain events, or state changes, occur in the ECE charging server. For example, when a customer breaches a credit threshold, the details of the threshold breach are published. Other applications can use the information in the notifications for their own processing.
ODI is used to generate ECE customer XML data files. ODI extracts customer data from the BRM database and transforms it into ECE XML data format. Extracted BRM customer data is loaded into ECE by the customerLoader utility.
ECE uses Oracle NoSQL Database to temporarily store rated event information. The ECE components that interact with Oracle NoSQL Database are Rated Event Publisher and Rated Event Formatter. Rated Event Publisher publishes data to the NoSQL data store. Rated Event Formatter formats rated event information for other applications to use; it also deletes the rated events from the NoSQL database once those rated events are processed.
The fields in the request specification that are relevant to usage charging. The fields are used to create rate plan expressions which ECE uses to process usage charging. operations.
password authentication protocol (PAP)
An authentication protocol that uses the user name and password to validate users.
A process that loads pricing data from Pricing Design Center and updates the ECE pricing cache when alterations to pricing data are published from Pricing Design Center.
A utility that loads pricing data from an XML file into ECE. pricingLoader is only used on test or standalone installations on which Oracle Communications Pricing Design Center (PDC) is not used.
Pricing Updater loads pricing data into ECE automatically when you publish pricing data in PDC for ECE. Do not mix running pricingLoader and Pricing Updater on the same ECE deployment.
An ECE component that serves as the OCS front-end server for the BRM system that processes authentication and accounting requests from RADIUS clients. It acts as a RADIUS server and presents BRM Elastic Charging Engine to the network as a RADIUS application. It translates RADIUS requests received from RADIUS clients into ECE Java API requests. It translates the response from Elastic Charging Server back into RADIUS requests and responds back to the requesting RADIUS client.
An ECE process that reads rated event information from the Oracle NoSQL Database and formats the information as required by other applications that need to use the information. It also deletes the rated events from the NoSQL Database once the events are processed.
An ECE process that publishes rated event information to the Oracle NoSQL Database.
Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS)
An industry standard protocol for processing authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) requests. Terminal servers use the RADIUS protocol to communicate AAA requests to, and return results from, a database of customer information. ECE implements RADIUS protocols for authentication and accounting by using RADIUS Gateway.
Data that defines the usage payload (rating attributes) that ECE can accept when processing usage requests. The payloads are fields that are relevant to usage charging. The fields are used to create rate plan expressions which ECE uses to process usage charging operations. The payloads and network attributes make up the event definition of your events. You perform event definition in PDC. When you publish your event definition to ECE (from PDC by way of Pricing Updater), the request specification data is automatically generated and published to ECE.
The ECE tool used to emulate the role of a network mediation software program (client application) sending requests to ECE.
A server that your customers connect to when dialing in to your IP services. Also known as Network Access Server (NAS).
The file (ECE_Home/oceceserver/config/eceTopology.conf, where ECE_Home is the directory in which you installed ECE) that describes all ECE nodes in the Coherence cluster. The topology file defines the name, role, physical host, and JVM tuning file preference for each node. Elastic Charging Controller (ECC) reads your topology file to know where all of the nodes of the cluster are located.
A request in ECE-domain-specific-language format sent to ECE from client applications, such as network mediation software programs, for charging usage of a product by a customer.
Client applications construct usage requests and send them to ECE. For example, a network mediation software program sends usage requests to ECE so that online or offline charging of network usage can be performed. Usage requests contain payloads ECE requires for calculating charges such as the duration of the call, the data volume used, and so on. Usage requests adhere to the format defined by the ECE request specification data.