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EP-4740516-A1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BARRING AND UNBARRING OF AN ATLEAST ONE SERVICE RELATED TO SUBSCRIBERS

EP4740516A1EP 4740516 A1EP4740516 A1EP 4740516A1EP-4740516-A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a system (125) and a method (600) for barring and unbarring of an at least one service related to subscribers The system (125) includes a transceiver (220) to receive a request from a network operator via an interface module. The system (125) includes a fetching module (225) to fetch relevant data from a database (250). The system (125) includes a rule checker module (230) to check whether predefined rules are pre-associated to the subscribers. The transceiver (220) transmits the request to at least one active Session Management Function (SMF) (245) when the predefined rules are independent of an association with the subscribers. The system (125) includes a rule application module (235) to apply the rules for the subscribers. The system (125) further includes an updating module (240) configured to update the rules for the subscribers.

Inventors

  • BHATNAGAR, AAYUSH
  • BISHT, BIRENDRA
  • Singh, Harbinder Pal
  • Aggarwal, Pravesh
  • SINGH, PRIYANKA
  • Soren, Rohit
  • Sahu, Bidhu

Assignees

  • Jio Platforms Limited

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240627

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A method (600) for barring and unbarring of an at least one service related to subscribers, the method (600) comprises the steps of: receiving, by one or more processors (205), a request from a network operator via an interface module (215) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to subscribers; fetching, by the one or more processors (205), the relevant data corresponding to the request from a centralized database (250); checking, by the one or more processors (205), whether one or more predefined rules are pre-associated to the subscribers based on the fetched data from the centralized database (250) corresponding to the request, wherein the one or more predefined rules represent the at least one service related to the subscribers which is required to be barred or unbarred based on the request; transmitting, by the one or more processors (205), the request to an at least one active Session Management Function (SMF) (245) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to the subscribers when the one or more predefined rules are independent of an association with the subscribers; applying, by the one or more processors (205), via the at least one active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers; and updating, by the one or more processors (205), via the at least one active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules applied for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers at the centralized database (250).
  2. 2. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the request received from the network operator for barring or unbarring of the subscribers includes at least one of, Tracking Area Code (TAC) List, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and one or more rule IDs representing the one or more predefined rules to be applied to the subscribers.
  3. 3. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the relevant data fetched by the one or more processors (205) from the centralized database (250) in response to the request received from the network operator, is at least one of, subscriber IDs and pre-configured rule IDs associated with the specified TAC list or the PLMN.
  4. 4. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more pre-defined rules are represented as one or more rule IDs pertaining to barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to a specific subscription plan of the subscribers..
  5. 5. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of fetching, the relevant data corresponding to the request from the centralized database (250), includes the steps of: extracting, by the one or more processors (205), data pertaining to the specified TAC list and the PLMN from the request; and retrieving, by the one or more processors (205), from the centralized database (250), the relevant data pertaining to the subscriber IDs and associated pre-configured rule IDs based on the extracted TAC list and the PLMN.
  6. 6. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step of, checking, whether the one or more pre-defined rules are pre-associated to the subscribers based on the fetched data from the centralized database (250), includes the steps of: comparing, by the one or more processors (205), the one or more rule IDs pertaining to the one or more pre-defined rules with the pre-configured rule IDs for the respective subscribers; and inferring, by the one or more processors (205), availability or nonavailability of the one or more pre-defined rules pre-associated to the subscribers based on comparing the one or more rule IDs with the preconfigured rule IDs for the respective subscribers.
  7. 7. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of, transmitting, the request to the at least one active SMF (245) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to the subscribers when the one or more predefined rules are independent of an association with the subscribers includes the steps of: identifying, by the one or more processors (205), the at least one active SMF (245) responsible for handling the respective subscribers at a pre-defined rate; and transmitting, by the one or more processors (205), the request to the identified active SMF (245).
  8. 8. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of applying, the one or more predefined rules for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers, includes the step of: applying, by the one or more processors (205), via the at least one active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules to subscriber sessions related to the respective subscribers for barring or unbarring the at least one service.
  9. 9. The method (600) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of, updating, via the at least one active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules applied for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers at the centralized database (250), further includes the steps of: updating, by the one or more processors (205), an at least one network element including at least one of, a Policy Control Function (PCF) to enforce the one or more predefined rules applied to the respective subscribers; and synchronizing, by the one or more processors (205), the updated at least one network element with the centralized database (250) to maintain consistency with the updated data related to the one or more predefined rules applied to the subscribers.
  10. 10. A system (125) for barring and unbarring of an at least one service related to the subscribers, the system (125) comprising: a transceiver module (220) configured to, receive, a request from a network operator via an interface module (215) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to subscribers; a fetching module (225) configured to, fetch, the relevant data corresponding to the request from a centralized database (250); a rule checker module (230) configured to, check, whether one or more predefined rules are pre-associated to the subscribers based on the fetched data from the centralized database (250) corresponding to the request, wherein the one or more predefined rules represent the at least one service related to the subscribers which is required to be barred or unbarred based on the request; the transceiver module (220) configured to, transmit, the request to an at least one active Session Management Function (SMF) (245) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to the subscribers when the one or more predefined rules are independent of an association with the subscribers; a rule application module (235) configured to, apply, via the at least one active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers; and an updating module (240) configured to, update, via the active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules applied for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers at the centralized database (250).
  11. 11. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the request received from the network operator for barring or unbarring of the subscribers includes at least one of, Tracking Area Code (TAC) List, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and one or more rule IDs representing the one or more predefined rules to be applied to the subscribers.
  12. 12. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the relevant data is at least one of, subscriber IDs and pre -configured rule IDs associated with the specified TAC list or the PLMN.
  13. 13. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the one or more pre-defined rules are represented as the one or more rule IDs pertaining to barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to a specific subscription plan of the subscribers.
  14. 14. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the fetching module (225) is further configured to: extract, data pertaining to the specified TAC list and the PLMN from the request; and retrieve, from the centralized database (250), the relevant data pertaining to the subscriber IDs and associated pre-configured rule IDs based on the extracted TAC list and the PLMN.
  15. 15. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rule checker module (230) is further configured to: compare, one or more rule IDs pertaining to the one or more predefined rules with the pre-configured rule IDs for the respective subscribers; and infer, availability or non-availability of the one or more pre-defined rules pre-associated to the subscribers based on comparing the one or more rule IDs with the pre-configured rule IDs for the respective subscribers.
  16. 16. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein on transmitting the request to the at least one active SMF (245) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to the subscribers when the one or more predefined rules are independent of an association with the subscribers, the transceiver module (220) is further configured to: identify, the at least one active SMF (245) responsible for handling the respective subscribers at a pre-defined rate; and transmit, the request to the identified active SMF (245).
  17. 17. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rule application module (235) is further configured to: apply, via the at least one active SMF (245), the one or more predefined rules to subscriber sessions related to the respective subscribers for barring or unbarring the at least one service.
  18. 18. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the updating module (240) of the system (125) is further configured to: update, at least one network element including at least one of, a Policy Control Function (PCF) to enforce the one or more predefined rules applied to the respective subscribers; and synchronize, the updated at least one network element with the centralized database (250) to maintain consistency with the updated data related to the one or more predefined rules applied to the subscribers.
  19. 19. The system (125) as claimed in claim 10, wherein the updating module (240) of the system (125) is further configured to update, the centralized database (250) with the TAC list subsequent to at least one of, Protocol Data Unit (PDU) establishment or handover of a new Subscriber Equipment (SE) (105) with an existing network and PDU release of existing SE (105) from the existing network.
  20. 20. A Subscriber Equipment (SE) (105), comprising: one or more primary processors (305) communicatively coupled to one or more processors (205), the one or more primary processors (305) coupled with a memory (310), wherein said memory (310) stores instructions which when executed by the one or more primary processors (305) causes the SE (105) to: transmit, location coordinates of respective subscribers to a network operator database, based on a current location of the respective subscribers; and transmit, a Tracking Area Code (TAC) to the network operator database; wherein, the processor is further configured to perform the steps as claimed in claim 1.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR BARRING AND UNBARRING OF AN ATLEAST ONE SERVICE RELATED TO SUBSCRIBERS FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention generally relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly relates to optimizing barring and unbarring of subscribers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The barring and unbarring of users in specific areas is a common practice in the communication services field. Due to recent statutory enactments enshrining user’s rights and changes in regulatory requirements, data usage for users are disabled for a particular area, spanning approximately few kilometers. This area may consist of multiple towers, with each tower having multiple Tracking Area Codes (TACs). In order to enforce the barring and unbarring of users in these TAC areas, it is essential to maintain data about user’s location based on the TACs in the application. [0003] To accomplish this, a conventional method is being used, which involves maintaining a list of subscribers associated with each TAC. Since there could be thousands of users attached to the TACs in the specified area, it becomes necessary to bar these users from accessing data services. However, this approach presents certain challenges. Firstly, the memory size of the application increases significantly as a result of storing the TAC-Subscriber list. Additionally, contentious issues arise when multiple threads concurrently access the same data, leading to increased CPU utilization. Moreover, the data needs to be maintained in both active and standby servers, further complicating the process. [0004] Considering the potential for future features and requirements, it is anticipated that additional data may need to be stored based on different parameters such as VID (Virtual ID), PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) data, or other custom parameters. Storing data based on multiple keys to accommodate varying application requirements would further contribute to the increased size of the application. [0005] Therefore, there is a need for an advancement for a system and method that can overcome at least one of the above shortcomings, particularly to manage the storage during fault handling. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] One or more embodiments of the present disclosure provide a system and method for barring and unbarring of an at least one service related to subscribers. [0007] In one aspect of the present invention, the system for barring and unbarring of an at least one service related to the subscribers is disclosed. The system includes a transceiver configured to receive a request from a network operator via an interface module for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to subscribers. The system includes a fetching module configured to fetch the relevant data corresponding to the request from a centralized database. The system further includes a rule checker module configured to check whether one or more predefined rules are pre-associated to the subscribers based on the fetched data from the centralized database corresponding to the request. In an embodiment, the one or more predefined rules represent the at least one service related to the subscribers which is required to be barred or unbarred based on the request. The system includes the transceiver module configured to transmit the request to at least one active Session Management Function (SMF) for barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to subscribers when the one or more predefined rules are independent of an association with the subscribers. The system further includes a rule application module configured to apply via the at least one active SMF the one or more predefined rules for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers. The system further includes an updating module configured to update via the at least one active SMF the one or more predefined rules applied for barring or unbarring the at least one service related to the respective subscribers at the centralized database. [0008] In an embodiment, the request received from the network operator for barring or unbarring of subscribers includes at least one of, Tracking Area Codes (TAC) List, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and rule IDs representing the one or more predefined rules to be applied to the subscribers. [0009] In another embodiment, the relevant data is at least one of subscriber IDs and pre-configured rule IDs associated with the specified TAC list or the PLMN. [0010] In yet another embodiment, the one or more pre-defined rules are represented as rule IDs pertaining to barring or unbarring of the at least one service related to a specific subscription plan of the subscribers. [0011] In yet another embodiment, the fetching module is further configured to extract data pertaining to specified Tracking Area Codes (TAC) list and Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) from the request. The fetching module is configured to retrieve