Creating a Plan

In Gx mode, the MPE device can track and enforce a subscriber’s total IP-CAN session time and volume usage by day, week, or month, or track aggregate volume usage and time per IP-CAN session. In Gy mode, the MPE device can track usage for multiple services based on time, volume, specific event, rollover information, and top-up information.

Note: If the optional 3GPP-MS-TimeZone AVP is enabled, the MPE device can reset the quota based on the user local time. If so, and user equipment enters a different time zone near the end of a quota cycle, the subscriber may find that the quota reset earlier than expected, or the service provider may find that the quota reset later than expected.

To create a plan:

From the Policy Server section of the navigation pane, select Quota Profiles.
The content tree displays the Plans and Passes groups.
Select the Plans group.
The Plan Administration page opens in the work area.
Click Create Plan.
The New Plan page opens.
Enter the following information:
1. Name — The name of the plan.
  The name can only contain the characters A–Z, a–z, 0–9, period (.), hyphen (-), and underline (_). The maximum length is 255 characters.
2. Description/Location — Free-form text.
3. Quota Profile Type — Select whether the plan is assigned to an individual subscriber or a pool of subscribers. Select one of the following:
  - Subscriber (default)
  - Pool
  Note: If you select Pool, items can be added to support the account (Max Leakage Threshold, Dynamic Grant, etc). After the plans are created, the plans are applied to subscribers.
4. Enable Dynamic Grant (optional) — Specifies whether to track grant dynamically for the subscriber. This allows the granted values to be updated by the MPE device to the SPR. If the box is checked, then the configuration is set to true. The default value is false.
5. Max Leakage Threshold (MB) — Maximum amount by which the usage can be exceeded. The default is 0 MB.
6. Max Sessions Used For Dynamic Grant— Number of simultaneous sessions used in the dynamic grant algorithm for granting quota. Enabled when Enable Dynamic Grant is selected. The range is 1–2147483647 (Max 32-bit integer). The default is 10 sessions.
  Note: Do not enter a value if dynamic grant is not enabled.
7. Minimum Grant Size— The minimum plan amount granted by the MPE device. Enabled when Enable Dynamic Grant is selected. The value of the field depends upon the component (time/service-specific/volume) that is being granted by the MPE device:
  - time — minimum number of seconds
  - service-specific — minimum number of units
  - volume (total/input/output) — minimum number of bytes
  The default is 0.
  Note: The value of the Minimum Grant Size field applies to all of the components that are granted by the MPE device. Make sure that the value reflects the minimum amount for all components. A low value could lead to a high number of messages being generated.
8. Reset Every — Enter a value and select an interval from the list to specify how many times and how often the subscriber plan usage counters are reset. The default is 1 Month. Select one of the following intervals:
  - Months (default) — The plan is reset when the specified number of months is met. To have yearly plans, specify a multiple of 12. For example, 36 months is a 3 year plan.
  - Weeks — The Choose Day field appears. Weekly quotas are reset at midnight on the day you select from the list. The default day is Sunday.
  - Days — The Hour: Minute field appears. Enter the hour and minute (in 24-hour format) at which quotas are reset. You must enter a time.
  - Never — Go to step m.
  Note: You must specify a whole number greater than 0, a valid name in the Billing Date Effective, and enable the DB.User.EnableBillingStartDate expert setting to use this function. See the appropriate CMP User's Guide for more information about expert settings.
9. Reset Time Variable — (Optional) Specify a variable to reset the time for the plan based on any substitutable policy variable in the subscriber profile.
  The MPE device uses the variable name and substitutes it to calculate the actual reset time for the plan bucket. The substitutable variable names are the same as the substitutable policy variables, that is, variables that are substituted in policy actions, such as {User.State.Property1}. Curly braces ({}) can be used but are not required.
  - For a monthly plan bucket, specify a variable whose value is either a billing day (between 1 and 31) or a time of day (such as 11:02), in which case the billing day is retrieved using the current mechanism (that is, use the subscriber profile; if not set, use the global billing day); or an actual date/time, following the xsd:datetime (similar to custom fields and entity states), specifying the first reset time for the quota bucket. The MPE device manages setting the nextResetTime on the quota usage records by computing the closest date/time in the future that is a multiple of a month away from the configured date/time, conserving the time of day.
  - For a weekly plan bucket, specify a variable containing either a time of day, in which case the day of the week is taken from the configured fixed day of the week, or a date/time representing the first reset time. The MPE device computes the next reset time similarly to the monthly bucket, but using multiple of one week instead.
  - For a daily plan bucket, specify a variable containing either a time of day or a date/time. In both cases, the MPE device computes the next reset time based on the time of day.
10. Report Offset Limit (minutes) — The maximum minutes the MPE device add to the rest time for the quota when it calculates the session validation time. The range is 0 to 180.
11. Billing Date Effective Name — Enter the Billing Date Effective name from a subscriber profile to use as the plan start date. This date is used as the start date of the plan and is used to calculate the next reset time. Enable the DB.User.EnableBillingStartDate expert setting to use this function. See the appropriate CMP User's Guide for more information about expert settings.
12. Collect Reset Statistics — Enables the generation of reset statistics. If the reset frequency is set to Never, this field is hidden and the quota is never reset. The default is disabled.
13. Initial Total Volume Limit (bytes) — Gx or Gy mode. Specifies the initial value for total volume units granted by the plan. Select one of the following:
  - None (default). If you select None, then total volume units are not granted.
  - Specify Variable and enter a variable.
  - Specify Limit and enter a value.
14. Initial Upstream Volume Limit (bytes) — Gx or Gy mode. Specifies the initial value for output volume units granted by the plan. Select one of the following:
  - None (default). If you select None, then output volume units are not granted.
  - Specify Variable and enter a variable.
  - Specify Limit and enter a value.
15. Initial Downstream Volume Limit (bytes) — Gx or Gy mode. Specifies the initial value for input volume units granted by the plan. Select one of the following:
  - None (default). If you select None, then input volume units are not granted.
  - Specify Variable and enter a variable.
  - Specify Limit and enter a value.
16. Volume Threshold Percentage (%) — Gy mode only. Enter a threshold percentage.
  Below this percentage of volume quota, the charging traffic function must re-authorize.
17. Initial Time Limit (seconds) — Gx or Gy mode. Specifies the initial value for session time units granted by the plan. Select one of the following:
  - None (default). If you select None, then time units are not granted.
  - Specify Variable and enter a variable.
  - Specify Limit and enter a value.
18. Inactivity Detection Time (seconds) — Specifies the interval after which the time measurement will stop for the monitoring key if no packets are received. Select one of the following:
  - None (default)
  - Specify Limit and enter a value in seconds.
19. Time Threshold Percentage (%) — Gy mode only. Enter a threshold percentage.
  Below this percentage of time quota, the charging traffic function must re-authorize.
20. Initial Service Specific Limit (events) — Gy mode only. Specifies the initial value for service specific units granted by the plan. Select one of the following:
  - None (default). If you select None, then service specific units are not granted.
  - Specify Variable and enter a variable.
  - Specify Limit and enter a value.
21. Event Threshold Percentage (%) — Gy mode only. Enter a threshold percentage. When the event quota drops below this percentage, the charging traffic function must re-authorize. Select one of the following:
  - None (default)
  - Specify Variable and enter a variable.
  - Specify Limit and enter a value.
22. Interim Reporting Interval (seconds) — Gy mode only. How often the charging traffic function (such as a GGSN) must report quota usage to the MPE device.
  - None (default)
  - Specify Interval and enter a value.
Quota Exhaustion Action — Gy mode only. The action the charging traffic function (such as a GGSN) takes when a subscriber reaches the quota grant:
- N/A (default) — Take no action.
- TERMINATE — Terminate the subscriber’s session.
- REDIRECT — If you select this action, additional configuration fields appear:
  - Restriction Filters — Enter a comma-separated list of Diameter IP Filter rules.
  - Filter ID List — Enter a comma-separated list of named filters on the charging traffic function.
  - Redirect Server Type — Select IPv4, IPv6, URL, or SIP URI.
  - Redirect Server Address — Enter the server address
- RESTRICT ACCESS — If you select this action, additional configuration fields appear:
  - Restriction Filters — Enter a comma-separated list of Diameter IP Filter rules.
  - Filter ID List — Enter a comma-separated list of named filters on the charging traffic function.
Quota Convention — Select the name of a quota convention (see About Quota Conventions). This selection associates the plan with a rollover or top-up.
If you do not select a quota convention, then a default quota convention is assumed by the system. There is no rollover in a default quota convention.
Click Save.

The plan is defined in the CMP database and is displayed in the Plans group. The plan can now be used in a policy.