LTE configuration

LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the new standard for building wireless networks. PortaBilling serves as the B/OSS system for LTE services, i.e., it manages customer data (including unified balance), service configuration details, product/rate tables, etc.

PortaBilling is integrated with the list of devices to build the LTE network infrastructure and provide full-scale LTE services. (Please refer to the Verified devices section of the PortaBilling Administrator Guide for details.). It can also communicate with other remote devices for LTE service provisioning via the Diameter protocol.

In this document, the LTE network is deployed using the HuaweiUGW9811 gateway.

This chapter demonstrates how to configure the LTE service on the PortaBilling side. We assume that prepaid users receive 5 GB of mobile Internet for a $10 monthly fee. Once the 5 GB is used up, the service becomes unavailable. If the 5 GB quota has not been completely used up during the month, the unused portion is added to the following month’s quota. Additionally, there are different speed limitations for peak and off-peak periods for users – 10 Mbps and 20 Mbps, respectively.

Use this checklist to check off the operations you have completed while performing the system setup according to the instructions in this chapter. Please be sure to perform all of the operations in the order designated (all of the boxes should be checked), otherwise, the service will not work.

1. On the Configuration server web interface, go to the Configurations tab.
2. Clone the current configuration.

   

3. In the Configuration Tree, click on the BillingEngine node.
4. In the Groups panel, select the NetAccess group.
5. For the Enabled option, select Yes.
6. Click Save and then click Verify.
7. Verify the new configuration and click Check/Apply.

These settings are necessary to allow the PortaBilling server and your gateway (router, modem) to exchange packages via the Diameter protocol.

1. Go to the Configurations tab on the Configuration server.
2. Clone the existing configuration.
3. Select the Diameter group on BillingEngine and configure the following options:

   

    

   • Enabled – this enables billing through the Diameter protocol. Select Yes.
   • Origin_Host – specify the PortaBilling host.
   • Origin_Realm – specify the PortaBilling realm.
   • Leave the default values for other fields.
4. Click the Save button and then the Verify button.
5. Verify the new configuration and click the Check/Apply button

This step is only required if you have not defined the necessary destination previously. If not, you will need to create a symbolic NETACCESS destination.

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog, Rate codes, and then select Destinations.

   

2. Open the Create a destination panel and fill in the destination information:
   • Format – select Custom from the list.
   • Prefix – type in NETACCESS.
   • Description – enter useful information about the service being provided (e.g., Internet Access), since this is what your clients will see on their xDR Summary pages.

     

3. Click Save.

For this scenario, you will need to create a quota by using the volume discount plan. Creation of a volume discount plan requires a destination groups set. A destination groups set contains destination groups. A destination group contain prefixes (e.g., 1206) and/or special destinations (e.g., NETACCESS). For the current case, we need to provide access to the Internet, therefore to create a destination group with the special NETACCESS destination. To do this, proceed with the following steps:

1. On the navigation menu on the left, select Service catalog, Rate codes and click Destination group sets.

   

2. On the Create destination group sets panel, fill in the required information:
   • Name – type in a descriptive name for the destination group set (e.g., Internet Access).
   • Type – leave the default type Regular.

     

3. Click the Save button to save the destination group set.

Now you need to create the actual destination group.

1. After saving a destination group set, the Destination group page opens.
2. On the Create destination group panel, type in the destination group name and provide a short description.

   

3. Click the Save button to save the destination group.

Now you need to add the NETACCESS prefix to the just created destination group.

1. To do this, on the Destination group page, click the default All destinations group.

   

2. On Search filters panel specify the parameters (e.g., format, prefix, country) to find the required destination in the list and click Apply filters.

   

3. On the Destination list panel select the prefix you want to include (NETACCESS) in the destination group and click Assign to group.

   

4. Select the destination group (Internet Access) and click Assign. The selected prefixes will be added automatically to the destination group.

   

Services provide a way to define how charges are calculated (e.g. whether customers are charged based on the time they stay online or by the amount of data transferred) and how these are then presented on the invoices.

1. On the navigation menu go to Service catalog and select Services.
2. Open the Create service panel and fill in the required information:
   • Name – a short descriptive name for this service that will be used in select menus and shown on the customer self-care pages. Type LTE into this field.
   • Type – select Internet access.
   • Rating base – select upload+download (kilobytes).
   • Base unit – select kilobyte.
   • Billing unit – select megabyte. This will be shown on statistics pages and on invoices.
   • Base ratio – type 1024.
   • Usage charge – select Yes here.
3. Click Save.

This step is only required if you have not previously configured your gateway in PortaBilling. In that case enter your gateway as a node. PortaBilling requires key information about your network equipment, such as IP address, Node ID, etc.

1. On the navigation menu, select Infrastructure, then Billing data sources, and click Nodes.
2. On the Create node panel, fill in the node details:
   • Name – a short descriptive name for this node (e.g., LTE Node).
   • Node ID – specify the node ID; it must include the origin host defined on the customer’s gateway (in our example node.huawei.com).
   • IP – the IP address of your gateway.
   • Manufacturer – select Huawei.
   • Type – select UGW9811.
3. Click Save.

   

4. On the Communication with billing section use the slider to enable Communication with billing and fill in the node details:
   • Client protocol – select Diameter from the list.
   • Realm – specify the gateway’s realm. It is used to identify the node in Diameter messages.
   • POD server – use a slider to enable interaction with this server. The system will send a special command to this server if an account runs out of balance, exceeds its data transfer limit, or expires. The POD server will then terminate the LTE session(s) opened by this account.

     

5. Click Save.

TIP: PortaBilling is also capable to communicate with other remote gateways via the Diameter protocol. In this case, select PortaOne from the Manufacturer and Generic from the Type lists to configure your gateway as a node.

To create the required tariff, follow the following steps:

1. On the navigation menu on the left, select Service catalog and click Tariffs.

   

2. On the Create tariff panel, fill in the tariff details:
   • Name – a short name for the tariff object (e.g., Vendor LTE tariff); this is the name you will see in select menus.
   • Currency – choose the currency in which the vendor charges you.
     The currency for the tariff may be chosen only once and cannot be changed later.
   • Service – select the LTE service.
   • Applied to – choose Vendor in the Applied to select menu.

     

3. Click Save.

1. Open the “Vendor LTE tariff” and click Rates.
2. On the Add rate panel, fill in the rate details:
   • Rate code – type in the ‘|’ (pipe) destination.
   • Rating mode – select Flat rate.
   • Rounding – leave the default “1” value for this example. See more info on the Rounding option in the UI help.
   • Unit price – price per billing unit (in this example, per megabyte). If you don’t intend to calculate costs, specify zero “0” rate for this vendor tariff.

     

3. Click Save.

This step is only required if you have not entered vendor information to the system before.

1. On the navigation menu, select Infrastructure, then select Vendors.
2. On the Create vendor panel, fill in the vendor details:
   • Name – type a short name for the vendor object (for example, LTE Vendor).
   • Currency – leave the base currency.
   • For Opening balance and Billing period fields leave the default values since this symbolic vendor is created only so that the system will function properly.

     

3. Click Save.

1. On your vendor’s panel (LTE Vendor), click Connections.
2. On the Create connection panel, fill in the connection details:
   • Description – type in a short description for this connection (in this example LTE).
   • Service type – select Internet access.
   • Tariff – select the vendor tariff you created earlier.
   • Node – select the LTE node which you previously added as a node.
   • Capacity – in the Capacity field specify the maximum number of sessions you anticipate handling on this gateway in the near future. This parameter is only used for correctly scaling the load graph for the connection.

     

3. Click Save.

In the given scenario, users are charged via subscription. Therefore, we create this tariff as supplementary object to create a product later on.

To create the tariff required, follow the next steps:

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Tariffs.
2. On the Create tariff panel, fill in the tariff details:
   • Name – type in a short name for the tariff object; this is the name you will see in the select menus.
   • Currency – select the currency in which you will charge your customers.
   • Service – select LTE from the list.
   • Applied to – select Customer as this tariff will be used to charge your customers.
   • Managed by – select Administrator only here.
3. Click Save.

1. Open the “Customer LTE tariff” and click Rates.
2. On the Add rate panel, fill in the rate details:
   • Rate code – type in the NETACCESS destination directly or select it from the list.
   • Rating mode – select Flat rate here.
   • Rounding – leave the default “1” value for this example. See more info on the Rounding option in the UI help.
   • Unit price – price per billing unit (in this example, per megabyte). Specify $0.001 for this example.
     The price must be higher than 0. This ensures that a session is disconnected once the Internet quota has been used up.

      

     

3. Click Save.

Data access policies are typically configured in PCRF (Policy Control and Charging Rules Function) within LTE networks. These policies define such settings as bandwidth, QOS, etc.

According to the current scenario, you need to provide Internet service with 10 Mbps speed for peak time and 20 Mbps speed for off-peak time. To do this, create a policy in PCRF, e.g., Golden, and specify the necessary values. Next, create an Internet access service policy with the same name (Golden) in PortaBilling. Once a new account is created in PortaBilling and this service policy is assigned to it, ESPF provisions data to PCRF (matching the service policy assigned to the account in PortaBilling and the service policy created in PCRF by name). Once the user connects to the network, access to the Internet is provided according to the Golden policy (the speed values specified in the PCRF policy are used).

To create an Internet access policy in PortaBilling, follow these steps:

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Service policies.
2. On the Create service policy panel, fill in the Service policy details:
   • Name – define a name that matches the speed policy on the network side (e.g., Golden)
   • Service type – select Internet access.
   • Managed by – choose Administrator only here.
3. Click Save.

   

4. On the Access policy panel, type any values into the table’s fields; the billing engine will ignore them and instead use the speed defined on the network side.

   

5. On the Attributes panel, adjust your service provisioning based on the specifics of your gateway.
6. On the Hotlining panel define conditions on which your users will be redirected to the hotline portal:
   • If account is out of funds – select this option to redirect end users if their traffic quota or balance are insufficient for accessing the Internet.
   • If account is suspended or blocked – select this option to redirect end users whose accounts are blocked, suspended or expired.
   • Captive portal URL – specify your hotline portal address.

     

7. Click Save.

Quota is assigned via a volume discount plan. To do this, proceed with the following steps:

1. On the navigation menu on the left, select Service catalog, then Bundles and click Volume discount plans.

   

   

2. On the Create discount plan panel, fill in the volume discount plan details.
   • Name – a short descriptive name for this volume discount plan (e.g., Quota for LTE).
   • Currency – select the currency in which you charge your customers.
     The currency for the volume discount plan may be chosen only once (at creation) and cannot be changed later.
   • Apply discounts to – leave the default value here Individual combinations of Services/Destination Group.
   • Destination group set – choose the destination group set you created in the previous steps.
   • Destination group lookup type – select Same destination as rate here.
   • Managed by – choose Administrator only here.
   • Description – specify an extended discount description.

Please consult the Volume Discount Plans section in the PortaBilling help a description of the parameters available here.

1. While on the Edit discount plan panel, click the VDP configuration link.
2. On the Create volume discount group panel fill in the following information:
   • Type – select Quota.
   • Service – select LTE here.
   • Volume measured – as the discount levels will be based on the total amount of transferred data, choose Service used, megabyte. For more details about different discount level options, see the PortaBilling Administrator guide.
   • Destination group – select the destination group from the list that this discount will apply to (Internet Access in our example).
   • Reset threshold counters – select Monthly.

     

3. Click Save. You are redirected to the quota configuration panel.
4. On the Thresholds configuration panel, configure the following:
   • Peak period thresholds – specify a threshold value here.
   • Use separate thresholds for the first off-peak period – enable this option if you have specific threshold values for off-peak periods.

TIP: To configure quota schemes for off-peak periods, refer to the Creating a service with multiple off-peak periods handbook.

5. On the Advanced configuration panel, configure the following:
   • Split xDRs if a session spans over several rating periods – when a session spans several rating periods (e.g., covers both peak and off-peak periods) it is divided into portions and two xDRs (for each period) can be created. Our scenario does not include this condition, so leave this checkbox unselected.
   • Prorate thresholds for first usage period – enable this option to prorate the quota threshold according to the number of days remaining in the first usage period after the volume discount plan has been assigned.
   • Allowed number of rollovers – if at the end of the month there are unused megabytes, they will be rolled over to the next month. Select the number of rollovers from the list.
   • Internet access mode when quota is exhausted – select Blocked. With this option selected, once the quota is exhausted, the subscriber no longer has access to LTE service.

     

6. On the Notifications configuration panel, configure the following:
   • Notify end user when:
     • Remaining peak period quota is, megabyte – define the warning threshold value; the end user will be notified when their remaining traffic approaches a discount threshold.
     • Peak period quota is exhausted – enable this option if you want to notify the customer when the quota threshold is crossed. If no email is specified for the subscriber, notification will be sent to the customer whom the subscriber belongs to.

       

7. Click the Save button.

According to the current business scenario, end users are charged a defined monthly amount of money via subscription. Therefore, you need to create a new subscription plan.

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Subscription Plans.
2. On the Create subscription panel, fill in the required information:
   • Name – name of the subscription plan that will be used on the Admin interface.
   • Subscription name visible to end user – provide the name of the subscription plan that your customers will see on their self-care interfaces and invoices.
   • Currency – indicates which currency is used for pricing information. A subscription plan can only be applied to a product, account or customer using this same currency.
     The currency for the subscription plan may only be chosen once and cannot be changed later.
   • Managed by – select Administrator Only.
   • Subscription charges applied – select In advance, to apply subscription charges to the account/customer balance during the first days of the billing period.
   • Periods in advance – specifies for how many periods advance charges should be made. Type in 1.
   • Activation mode – defines when the subscription will be considered active (and charges will begin to apply): either simply from the date it is entered into the system, or you may postpone it until the date when the customer actually uses the account for the first time. Select Upon the account’s first usage.
   • Activation fee – the value charged for every new subscription upon startup. Leave this field empty to waive the activation fee.
   • Monthly fee – specify the fee value that will be applied to your customers every month.
   • Can be applied more than once – select this checkbox to assign the same subscription multiple times to one account. You can only use this option when you are adding a new subscription plan. For new subscriptions, the Can be applied more than once option is off by default (so that subscription charges are not applied multiple times for the same account).
3. Click Save.

   

4. On the Subscription plan panel, click General configuration.
5. On General configuration panel, you can configure the following options:
   • Issue credits for the days when – here you can choose under which conditions to issue credits for a subscription fee.

     Customers may not have access to the service due to suspension, block, account expiration, or lack of funds. To exclude charges for the days when no service was provided, a subscription fee is charged in full and then credits are issued for the days when no service was available. By default, credits for a subscription fee are issued under all conditions: the account was expired, the account or customer was blocked, the customer was suspended, or no funds were available (the balance of a customer or an individual account reached the credit limit or ran out of available funds). Clear the checkboxes if you want to charge the subscription fee for these days.

   • Skip credits, charge in full – when one or several conditions are set to issue credits for a subscription fee, you can skip credits for the first, last, or/and regular billing periods by selecting the corresponding checkbox.
   • Description – you can specify an extended description for this subscription plan.

      

6. Go to Fees panel and fill in the required information:
   • Round up to – leave the default value unchanged if you want to calculate charges with the maximum available precision; otherwise, see the PortaBilling help for more details about setting up rounding.
   • Activation tax transaction code – specify the internal tax transaction code from the list. PortaBilling will use this code to extract taxation codes for EZTax, Avalara, GST or SureTax taxation plug-ins and send them for tax processing for services covered by a subscription activation fee.
   • Monthly fee – click   icon to select a specific billing period the periodic fee value will be defined for.

     You can manage the periodic fee value for different billing periods. When another billing period is selected in the Show rates for dropdown list, the Periodic Fee field is populated with auto-calculated fee values (e.g., if a $10.00 periodic fee is defined for customers with a monthly billing period, a $2.33333 periodic fee will be applied to customers with a weekly billing period, etc). Of course, you may change the actual values afterwards (e.g., make weekly billing more expensive by setting the fee to $3.00).

   • Prorate fee for the partial billing period – when a customer signs up for/cancels a subscription in the middle of a billing period, you can charge either a prorated or full periodic fee. By default, customers are charged a prorated fee based on the number of days the subscription is active during the first/last partial billing period.
     • First billing period – select the checkbox to charge a prorated fee for the first billing period. Clear the checkbox to charge customers a full periodic fee, no matter when they activate their subscription.
     • Last billing period – select the checkbox to charge a prorated fee for the last billing period. Clear the checkbox to charge customers a full periodic fee, no matter when they cancel their subscription.
       If you set up the non-prorated (full) fee, credits may still be issued for the days when a customer cannot use the service due to service suspension, block, having exceeded credit limit, etc. (credits are issued according to the Issue credits for the days when and Skip credits, charge in full options configuration).
   • Usage tax transaction code – specify the internal tax transaction code from the list. PortaBilling will use this code to extract taxation codes for EZTax, Avalara, GST or SureTax taxation plug-ins and send them for tax processing for services covered by the periodic subscription fees.
   • Minimum subscription period – time (in months) during which the customer must keep the subscription plan active in order to avoid penalties. Leave this field empty to create a subscription plan that can be closed at any time.
   • Early cancellation penalty – if the subscription is cancelled earlier than the minimum subscription period, a one-time fee is applied. The following options are available:
     • Fixed – a fixed charge is applied without taking account of when the subscription was cancelled.
     • Remaining subscription charges – the charge will depend on when the subscription was cancelled.
   • Cancellation tax transaction code – specify the internal tax transaction code from the list. PortaBilling will use this code to extract taxation codes for EZTax, Avalara, GST or SureTax taxation plug-ins and send them for tax processing for services covered by the subscription cancellation fee (e.g., administrative costs).
7. Click Save to save the Subscription plan.

Accounts for specific products will be issued for accessing your Internet services.

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Products.
2. On the Create product panel, fill in the product details:
   • Name – type in a short name for the product object; this is the name you will then see in the select menus.
   • Name visible to end users – specify the name of this product that your customers will see on their self-care interface.
   • Product type – select Main product here.
   • Currency – choose a currency the product will be priced in.
   • Managed by – select Administrator only here, since we are setting up a service without the involvement of resellers.
   • Account default ACL – choose an Access Control List (ACL) for accounts with this product assigned. ACLs control which objects end users can access to and which actions they can perform.
   • Account role – select Mobile to associate this product with mobile subscribers.
3. Click Save.

   

Define which service types are included in the product. A service type is a description of the physical service provided to end users.

To add a service type:

1. On your product’s panel, click Services.
2. On the Services panel, click Add a service.
3. In the Select services to add dialog box, select LTE and Mobile network provisioning services and click Add.

   

Define the default values of the service attributes for all the accounts that this product will be assigned to.

1. Go to the Internet access configuration page and configure the following:
   • Session limit – use a slider to enable the option to define a specific number of simultaneous sessions.
   • Access policy – use a slider to enable the option to define an Internet access policy and set different bandwidths for different times of day.
   • Internet access policy – select the access policy you have created earlier (e.g., Golden).

     

The rating list has two functions: it defines permitted access points (nodes and access numbers) and specifies which tariff should be used for billing in each of these points.

1. On your product’s panel, click Charges, then click Usage charges.
2. On the Usage charges panel, click Add.
3. Fill in the required information:
   • Service – select LTE.
   • Node – select the LTE node.
   • Access code – leave this field empty.
   • Tariff – select the tariff that applies to your customers when they use the LTE service.
   • Overdraft protection – to configure overdraft protection for this product, consult the Configure Overdraft Protection Section within the Product section in the Overdraft protection configuration handbook.
4. Click Save.

   

On the Charges panel you can define special pricing such as volume discounts, regular payments such as subscriptions, and set up overdraft protection.

1. To access this panel, click Charges on your product’s panel, then click General info.

   Overdraft protection

   Link copied to clipboard
   • Use the slider to turn on/off overdraft protection. For obvious reason, turning off overdraft protection is not recommended for general use

   Recurring charges

   Link copied to clipboard
   • Subscription – to bundle the required subscription with the product, select previously created LTE subscription plan from the list of subscription plans

   Volume discounts

   Link copied to clipboard
   • Default discount plan – to bundle the required quota with the product, select previously created Quota for LTE volume discount plan from the Default discount plan list.

     

2. Click the Save button to save the Product.

Refer to the Enter SIM Cards into the SIM Card Inventory section of the MVNO service provisioning handbook to find out how to add SIM cards into the SIM card inventory.

A customer is an owner of accounts. Customer contact information is used for distributing account usage information, Internet access statistics, invoices, etc. You usually need to create one customer per each retail prepaid LTE user.

1. On the navigation menu, select Sales, then select Customers.
2. On the Create customer panel, fill in the customer details:
   • Name – type a short name for the customer object; this will be used on the web interface.
   • Balance control – select Prepaid in this field.
   • Currency – choose the currency in which this customer will be billed.
   • Available funds – the amount of funds available for the customer to spend on services.
   • Business model – a business model defines what type of service is to be provided to the customer. Select Mobile for this customer.
   • Customer class – customer class allows you to define a policy for automated payment collection. By choosing a specific class here the customer will automatically inherit all of the class properties (grace period, invoice template, etc.). Select the previously created customer class.
   • Billing period – choose a billing period for the customer. A billing period defines the frequency of invoicing for this customer.
   • Billing period time zone – choose a time zone in which customer’s billing period will be closed and invoices will be generated.

     

3. Click Save.

Create an account for each device that has a unique SIM card.

1. On your customer’s panel, click Accounts.
2. On the Create an account panel, specify the account’s details:
   • ID – you can type in the user’s mobile phone number manually or provision it from the DID inventory.
   • Account role – select Mobile.
   • IMSI – click on  IMSI icon and select one of the available SIM cards from the SIM Card Inventory dialog box.
   • Product – select the LTE Product here.
   • Activation date – the date from which the account is usable.
   • Type – select Credit for your postpaid Internet users.
   • Balance control – select Subordinate from the list.

     

3. Click Save to create an account.

ESPF (External Systems Provisioning Framework) is the event handler framework for provisioning service configuration and for account management operations done in PortaBilling to the mobile carrier’s core. It consists of events that are processed by handlers – special Perl modules. The events processing results are sent to the carrier’s core.

At this moment, PortaOne can provision data to the following equipment:

1. 1. • Adax (AricentHSS handler)
      • Aricent (AricentHSS handler)
      • Greenisis (Kleos::HSS and Kleos::PCRF handlers)
      • Huawei (Huawei::HSS and Huawei::PCRF handlers)
      • NetNumber Titan HSS (Titan::HSS handler)
      • Yate (YateHSS handler)
      • ZXUN by ZTE (ZXUN::HSS and ZXUN::SPR handlers).

For detailed instructions on how to configure ESPF handlers, please refer to ESPF configuration handbook.