Virtual Policy Table Case Study

Virtual policy tables allow you to test policy table deployments before you deploy them to the entire network.

A wireless carrier named Example Inc. offers three monthly data usage plans for its subscribers. The monthly quota levels are 100 MB, 2 GB, and 100 GB, and each level corresponds to one row in the policy table. The business logic for each usage plan is captured using one policy table, Monthly Data Plans, with six columns and three rows, as shown in the table below. For a detailed explanation of this policy table, see Policy Table Case Study.

Monthly Data Plans Policy Table
Policy Variable scenario Base Quota Additional Quota Percent Limit Additional Limit Grant Quota
100 MB DP_QUOTA.100MB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.​3GB 70 3 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.3GB
2 GB DP_QUOTA.2GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.​4GB 90 4 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.4GB
100 GB DP_QUOTA.100GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.​5GB 90 5 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.5GB

Any changes to the Monthly Data Plans policy table will be deployed to the entire network. To test changes without deploying them to the entire network, Example Inc. creates a virtual policy table, Test Plans, and sets the default policy table for Test Plans to Monthly Data Plans. Without further configuration, changes made to the Monthly Data Plans policy table will be deployed to the entire network as before.

Example Inc. requires an additional monthly data usage plan for its subscribers with a monthly quota level of 150 GB. To test the policies associated with the 150 GB monthly data usage plan, Example Inc. creates a second policy table, Four-tier Data Plans, with the same rows and columns as Monthly Data Plans and an additional row to represent the 150 GB usage plan. The Four-tier Data Plans policy table is associated to the Test Plans virtual policy table using a configuration template.

Four-tier Data Plans Policy Table
Policy Variable scenario Base Quota Additional Quota Percent Limit Additional Limit Grant Quota
100 MB DP_QUOTA.100MB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.​3GB 70 3 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.3GB
2 GB DP_QUOTA.2GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.​4GB 90 4 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.4GB
100 GB DP_QUOTA.100GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.​5GB 90 5 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.5GB
150 GB DP_QUOTA.150GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.6GB 90 6 GB DP_QUOTA_ADDL.6GB

The Test Plans virtual policy table now has one default policy table, Monthly Data Plans, and one associated policy table, Four-tier Data Plans. The data in the Monthly Data Plans policy table is pushed to all of the MPE devices on the network except when the configuration template specifies that the data in the Four-tier Data Plans policy table should be pushed instead. Example Inc. can now test the new 150 GB monthly data usage plan on a specific MPE devices without affecting the rest of the network.

If the testing is successful, the added row from the Four-tier Data Plans policy table can be added to the Monthly Data Plans policy table and deployed to the entire network. The Four-tier Data Plans policy table can safely be deleted or removed from the Test Plans virtual policy table configuration.