Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC User Manual

Alcatel-Lucent
5750 Subscriber
Services Controller

Integrated Subscriber and Services
Control for Alcatel-Lucent’s Triple
Play Service Delivery Architecture

2 Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller (SSC) is a flexible, modular and
prein tegrated subscriber- and policy-management solution that controls Alcatel-Lucent’s
Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA), enabling innovative IMS (IP multimedia
subsystem) and non-IMS services to be dynamically created on an IP infrastructure
capable of delivering different quality of service (QoS) levels. The Alcatel-Lucent
5750 SSC is instru mental in cost-effectively delivering next-generation IP-based services
such as broadcast IP television (IPTV), video on demand (VoD), voice over IP (VoIP),
enhanced Internet services (EIS) and emerging IMS services to a mass market, while
enabling a personalized and seamless user experience across all bundled services.

3Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller

On-demand subscriber self-service
portals and network-policy auto ­generation allow service providers
to minimize operational costs by
employ ing a flexible, “zero-touch”
service-delivery model that caters
to indi vidual subscriber preferences
and evolving service needs.

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
reduces operational transformation
risks and the costs of introducing new
network architecture and services.
Its modularity and flexibility enable
deployment in phases, allowing
service providers to satisfy initial
service-deployment requirements
while investing in a future-safe plat ­form that can be leveraged to scale

VoD, migrate toward IMS, support
emergency systems for IP telephony,
introduce mandatory law systems for
Internet service, etc.

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC also
provides a graceful subscriber migra ­tion from best-effort services delivered
using the legacy broadband remote
access server (BRAS) network to EIS
on the Alcatel-Lucent TPSDA. The
Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC removes
the need to duplicate back-office sys ­tems by centralizing subscriber and
policy management for both TPSDA
and the legacy BRAS on one plat ­form. Modularity and proxy functions
also minimize legacy-network config ­uration changes and enable a smooth
transition to centralized operations.

Triple-play service delivery — blend ­ing voice, video and data services in
an integrated service bundle — is a
generational leap that carries with
it certain challenges.

• Today’s Internet service-delivery
networks are optimized for flat-rate,
best-effort commodity services.
With the advent of triple play,
high-revenue services such as inter ­active multimedia applications, VoIP,
VoD and broadcast TV (BTV)
become the dominant network­design drivers. These services place
unprecedented scalability, reliability,
flexibility and QoS requirements
on the IP-network infrastructure.

• New user devices such as residen ­tial gateways (RGs), IPTV set-top
boxes, IP phones and gaming con ­soles are being intro duced in the
digital home network and must be
managed and con trolled. Fiber-to­the-node (FTTN) and fiber-to-the-

Challenges and Opportunities of Triple-Play Service Delivery

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 4

user (FTTU) access technologies,
a shift from ATM to Ethernet-based
service aggregation, IP/MPLS serv ­ice routing, IP multi cast, and on­demand session-admission con trol
are driving oper ational support
requirements for which legacy
systems were not designed.

• While transforming to a converged,
multiservice IP infrastructure, ser ­vice providers need to leverage and
migrate strategic assets from the
installed base of TDM voice and
high-speed Internet (HSI) services
to effectively up-sell existing sub ­scribers to a triple-play offering.
This migration needs to be non­disruptive for the service provider
and transparent to subscribers by
allowing legacy service features
to be seamlessly ported to the
next-generation network (NGN)
infra struc ture while minimizing
operational impacts and costs.

Beyond a profound network transfor ­mation, a centralized and reliable
subscriber-management and policy­control infrastructure is required to
enable millions of triple-play sub ­scribers and end-user devices to
securely access and use network-based
applications, services and content
with assured quality of experience.
The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC is
purpose-built to address these needs.
The system enables service providers
to be optimally positioned to success ­fully conduct network and service
transformation to converged triple­play service delivery and unlock its
full revenue potential.

A Whole New World of Services

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 5

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC allows service providers
to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU) with
the rapid creation and deployment of innovative triple-play
services, enabling end users to package these services in
personalized bundles. The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
facilitates the introduction of new services (e.g., IPTV
and VoD) and the evolution of traditional HSI services
to EIS with support of dynamic bandwidth management
and per-application QoS control. This allows service
providers to enhance their value proposition by delivering

a superior user experience for Internet video, gaming
and multi media applications. The migration of legacy
voice services to NGN and the introduction of IMS­based services are other strategic areas of innovation for
which the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC provides an
evolution path for key control elements.

Figure 1 shows the key role the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
plays in admin istering control over subscribers and user
devices, application services, and network resources.

Figure 1. Centralized Administration and Policy Management with the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC

SDM Order Entry Provisioning Assurance Billing

Subscribers
User Devices

AAA, IPAM

RG

EAP/RADIUS/DHCP DIAMETER, XML

5750 SSC

Network

Access

Control

Flexible Policy Management Framework

(Subscribers, Network Resources, Service Policies)

(CLI, SNMP, COPS, XML/SOAP, etc.)

Northbound

OSS Interfaces

Dynamic

Policy

Control

Network Interfacing

Service

Admission

Control

Application
Control

Self-Care

External

AAA

Servers

NGN/IMS

Application

Servers

WiMAX

xDSL

GPON

BSAN

Broadband

Service

Access

Node

BSA

Broadband

Service

Aggregator

BSR

Broadband

Service
Router

Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture

IP/MPLS

Optical Core

IPTV

Middleware

Enhanced

Internet
Services

6 Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
provides centralized management
control and a data repository for:

•Subscriber administration —

Creation and management of
subscriber accounts, user profiles
and device profiles

• Service administration — Creation

of service profiles and triple-play
services bundles

• Network-policy administration —

Administration and configuration
of per-subscriber and per-service
resource policies in the end-to-end
network

The flexible policy-management
framework of the Alcatel-Lucent
5750 SSC uses this information for
three key policy decision functions:

• Network access control —

Authentication, authorization
and accounting (AAA ) for eligible
subscribers and user devices to
provide access to network-based
services, applications and content,
with the support of 802.1x EAP,
RADIUS and DHCP. The Alcatel-

Lucent 5750 SSC provides full
flexibility to attach user devices
using a range of wireline and
wireless-access network technolo ­gies, with support for IP address
assignment and management
(IPAM) and the setting of appropri ­ate security and QoS policies in the
network. The Alcatel-Lucent 5750
SSC supports the ETSI TISPAN
network attachment sub system
(NASS) specifications, pro viding
a unified network access- control
solution for both IMS and non­IMS service environments.

• Dynamic service control — Dynamic
application of network policies,
based on various triggers such as
service or change requests from
customer self-service portals,
network events, timer events or
operations support systems (OSS)
(e.g., customer care ad billing).
This control allows service providers
to support dynamic service or band ­width upgrades, offer try-and-buy
service specials, redirect subscribers
to a captive portal in case of non­payment or virus infection, etc.

• Service admission control —

Assurance that sufficient resources
are available in the network to
ensure proper throughput guaran ­tees (QoS) for the duration of the
session. While resources for always­on services such as basic HSI access
can be statically provisioned in
the network, resource allocation
for session-based services such
as VoD is done dynamically for
each request. The Alcatel-Lucent
5750 SSC also enables IMS-based
services by supporting the ETSI
TISPAN access resource and admis ­sion control function (A-RACF).

Through its many open interfaces,
the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC coordi ­nates and integrates information and
control flows among the subscribers
and user devices, OSS, application­control infrastructure, and end-to-end
network to streamline operational
processes associated with service
delivery in real time.

• Try-and-buy, evening and weekend
specials — The ability for subscrib ­ers to try services or boost service
levels for a limited amount of time,
or to introduce off-peak usage rates
based on parameters such as usage
time, traffic volume or specific con ­tent. This not only invites subscrib ­ers to try new value-added services
with minimal commitment, but also
encourages service usage during
off-peak hours to better utilize
network investments.

• Comprehensive usage control and
accounting — Flexible usage options
and billing schemes to address
different market needs using detailed
subscriber-level reporting and real­time billing data.

Putting subscribers in the driver’s
seat — empowering them to create
a more personalized and interactive
experience using self-service sub scrip ­tion and service-selection portals —
provides a better user expe rience
while significantly reduc ing service
providers’ operational costs.

7Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller

Service Velocity and Mass Customization

Process integration and automation
enable the efficient delivery of services
on the massive scale that occurs in
carrier networks. In the past, service
providers made large investments in
dedicated service-delivery tools and
processes that are becoming increasin ­gly cumbersome and costly to main ­tain. With the advent of triple-play
service delivery and the need for
ongoing service differentiation and
innovation, the operational challenges
of catering to the individual needs
of millions of users without incurring
dramatic increases in costs or process ­ing times for customer care and sup ­port take center stage. These two
issues of mass customization and
service velocity require a solution
that transcends traditional “cookie­cutter” approaches to process integra ­tion and automation.

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC brings
all the interdependent control ele ­ments and aspects of triple-play serv ­ice delivery together in an integrated,
policy-based control solution. Using
a policy-based operational model, the
Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC enables a
zero-touch operational deployment
model, allowing users to choose the
services and options they want and
delivering them without manual
intervention by customer care or
support personnel. This approach

provides the flexibility needed to
address the following market opportu ­nities for triple-play service delivery,
combining an enriched user experi ­ence with operational cost savings
and increased revenues:

• Triple-play packages and tiered
services — Complete, competitive
and personalized service bundles
that merge voice, video and data
with one-stop shopping conven ience
and easily adapt to evolving needs.

• Self-service portals — Portals
that allow subscribers to directly
manage their accounts and service
subscrip tions and temporarily or
perma nently upgrade service levels.
This reduces customer-care costs
while giving subscribers the service
they want.

• Application-aware QoS — The
dynamic (versus static) allocation
of network resources driven by user
and service needs, enabling high­quality video and multimedia
applications and optimizing resource
utilization. The Alcatel-Lucent
5750 SSC can be deployed in com ­bination with deep packet inspec ­tion (DPI) engines to control policy
enforcement of per-application
QoS, security and bandwidth, and
deliver EIS for secure peer-to-peer
networking, online gaming and
streaming Internet video and voice.

8 Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller

Key Features and Benefits

Centralized Management
of Subscribers, Services
and Resource Policies

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC pro ­vides a highly scalable and flexible
policy-management framework that
enables centralized and dynamic
control over subscribers, services
and network devices. The platform
manages an integrated repository of
subscriber account information and
user credentials, user device profiles,
service profiles and network resource­policy definitions. This information
is externally accessible through open
interfaces to allow integration with
external subscriber data-management
systems, such as IMS home subscriber
service (HSS), and the service-control
functions of application middleware
(e.g., IMS application servers or IPTV
middleware).

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC base
product contains a broadband policy
server that acts as a centralized policy­decision and orchestration point for
the end-to-end access, aggregation
and IP transport network, evaluating
on-demand subscriber requests for
access to network-based services
and content.

The dynamic assignment of IP
address es to user devices is controlled
with predefined static or dynamic

address pools that are managed using
DHCP or RADIUS (combined with
the DHCP or RADIUS server con ­troller module or external servers).
These same network-access protocols
or element-management system (EMS)
plug-ins for multitechnology and multi ­vendor network integration can be
used to coordinate the real-time
deploy ment of service-control policies
and enable dynamic, on-demand
policy modification.

Subscribers may trigger these
modifications (e.g., dynam ic service
selection or upgrade) using a self­service web portal based on:

• Service-metering policy events
(usage metering and triggering
package)

• Application or network events
(e.g., VoD session request, DPI
virus detection alert)

• Timer expiration (e.g., end of
service trial period)

With service components, subscribers
can mix and match video, voice and
Internet service packages and create
personalized triple-play service bun ­dles. These capabilities give service
providers many options for simply and
cost-effectively creating differentiated,
and user-centric services in a simple
and cost-effective way.

Integrated Network-Access Control and User-Device Authentication

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC provides subscribers and end-user devices with
a single point of access to network-based services, content and applications.
The product supports the full range of DHCP, RADIUS and 802.1x EAP
authentication methods, enabling maximum operational flexibility with complete
coverage of connectivity options and the security needs of such digital home­network devices as RGs, IPTV set-top boxes, IP phones, PCs, game consoles
and 802.1x wireless devices. Supporting both basic and enhanced subscriber
management with Alcatel-Lucent’s TPSDA combined with any mode of oper ­ation, the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC also enables the consolidation of subscribers
and services using the current mode of operation based on traditional multi ­vendor BRAS systems under a common AAA solution. New enhancements
offer a seamless evolution and integration path to an ETSI TISPAN-compliant
IMS service-delivery environment, with the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC fulfilling
the role of the NASS.

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 10

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC can there ­fore offer a full implementation of the
a2, e2 and e4 interfaces in the NASS.

IEEE 802.1X EAP/RADIUS SUPPORT

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
enables the authentication and
configuration of user devices such
as RGs that require EAP and 802.1x
wireless access points such as WiFi.
Legitimate RGs can be preconfigured
with a certificate that is authenticated
via the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
prior to authorizing access at the dig ­ital subscriber line access multiplexer
(DSLAM) or aggregation node.

RADIUS AAA SERVICES

Legacy HSI-infrastructure consoli ­dation and migration to Alcatel­Lucent’s TPSDA is supported using
a fully featured, highly scalable and
extensible RADIUS authentication
server, with support for standardized as
well as multivendor RADIUS attrib ­ute configuration on legacy BRAS
systems. RADIUS support includes
change of authorization (CoA) for
mid-session policy changes, to facil ­itate dynamic bandwidth man gement
and on-demand service upgrades.

INTEGRATED DHCP SERVER WITH
STANDARDS-BASED INTERFACES

The DHCP server allows the manage ­ment of IP address pools and can, with
the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC, per ­form policy-based authentication, IP
address assignment, and subscriber­profile configuration based on DHCP
options 82 and 67. The system keeps
track of IP leases for established sub ­scriber and service sessions using a high­speed, real-time database that can be
replicated over redundant servers.

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC can
also interwork with existing DHCP
servers in relay mode and is fully
capa ble of fulfilling the role of net ­work access configuration function
(NACF), as defined in the ETSI
TISPAN architecture standards.
A built-in a2 reference interface
allows subscriber information to
be shared with third-party systems
or complementary Alcatel-Lucent
TISPAN/IMS products. A functional
enhancement is available for the
DHCP server module, enabling it
to provide the connectivity location
function (CLF) with support of the
e2 and e4 reference interfaces. The

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 11

Dynamic Bandwidth Management
and Usage Accounting

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC allows service providers to differentiate and
evolve from basic HSI-access commodity services. With traditional flat-rate,
“all-you-can-eat” Internet services, subscribers often think they are paying too
much for a service without the guarantee that sufficient bandwidth is provided
when needed. The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC combats this issue by enabling
dynamic, mid-session policy modifications based on subscriber- or application­initiated bandwidth requests, usage metering, and accounting functions. The
system’s design enables the introduction and enforcement of specific volume,
bandwidth and usage quotas (e.g., for peer-to-peer Internet applications, to
create differentiated service subscriptions and apply application-usage quotas).

Volume-metering functions keep track of consumed resources on a per-subscriber
and per-service basis and can dynamically trigger session QoS or bandwidth
policy changes when thresholds are crossed. Alternatively, users can be redirected
to a subscriber portal to buy more bandwidth capacity or upgrade a service.
As a result, end users have more control over their service experience, with
the option to pay per usage rather than lock themselves into a fixed band width
tier that may not meet their budget or application requirements.

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 12

On-Demand Service Admission Control

VoD and IMS services introduce
the need to enable deterministic QoS
guarantees for latency, jitter and pack ­et loss. To address this need, the
Alcatel 5750 SSC optionally supports
service admission control (SAC) for
VoD and QoS-sensitive IMS applica ­tions, thereby ensuring a reliable and
consistent quality of experience for
VoD services by preventing the over ­booking of network resource capacity
during periods of peak demand.

For non-IMS applications, the
Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC offers
a flexible API to make band width
reservations. IMS applications can
use an ETSI TISPAN-compliant
Rq interface to address the Alcatel­Lucent 5750 SSC in the capability

of the A-RACF. The SAC function
is implemented as a logically cen tral ­ized policy-decision point, with full
awareness of the first-, second- and
third-mile net work topology and
resource states to ensure that suffi ­cient resources are available at all
critical bottle necks in the end-to­end network.

Sophisticated bandwidth-allocation
and arbitration policies can be
enforced on links, per forwarding
class, and on individual services that
share a forwarding class. This ability
opti mizes service revenues that can
be derived from installed network
capac ity while ensuring that overall
service quality is maintained with a
fair allocation of shared bandwidth
among services.

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 13

Subscriber and
Service Usage Accounting

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC inte ­grates accounting capabilities for
service usage. The system contains
an accounting module that correlates
and aggregates accounting infor mation
from various sources, such as per­service subscriber statistics from the
Alcatel-Lucent 5620 Service Aware
Manager (SAM). Service providers
can therefore offer usage-based HSI
service options. An optional format ­ting and reporting back end supports
flexible data-formatting options to
enable the export of revenue data
to external billing systems.

Figure 2. ETSI TISPAN Architecture and IMS Infrastructure

Lawful Intercept

Many countries mandate that service
providers provide a secure interface
that allows law enforcement agencies
to intercept and monitor the Internet
activities of subscribers sus pected of
criminal activities. A new module pro ­vides a secure access inter face, allow ­ing service providers to lever age the
Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC’s subscriber
IP-address and network-location
knowl edge for lawful inter cept sys ­tems. The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC
Lawful Intercept Notification Server
is preintegrated with the Alcatel­Lucent 1357 Unified Interception
Suite, enabling ETSI compliance with
government regulations.

ETSI TISPAN/IMS Support

IMS services present a strategic oppor ­tunity for the migration of legacy
PSTN voice subscribers, applications
and infrastructure to an NGN infra ­structure. Revitalizing and lowering
the cost base of the voice-services
infra structure, IMS also enables serv ­ice providers to tap new revenues with
the introduction of a new gener ation
of wireline or converged wireline/
wireless multimedia communi ca ­tion services.

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC pro ­vides two key components defined
in the ETSI TISPAN architecture
standards, offering an easy expansion
path into the world of IMS, NGN
and fixed-mobile convergence, as
shown in Figure 2.

5750 SSC

IMS SCF

Gq’
Rx

PDF

MPLS Core

Network

VoD SCF

GxIa

GGSNA-BGW

Ia

I-BGW

Access

Network

Peer

Network

VoD

e2

Master Policy
Repository

Context
Data

SPR

IPTV SCF

Gq’

Policy

NACF
NASS

e4

Policy

Access

Network

PDF

Rq

A-RACF

Re

RCEF

Rq

Aggregation

Network

Policy

IPTV

Support for standards-compliant reference
interfaces — e2, e4 and Rq — enables
service providers to easily integrate the
Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC in a lar ger IMS
context, with the following functions:

• e2 reference interface — Interface

to external service control functions
(SCFs), allowing the query of
sub scriber and user-device state
infor ma tion maintained by the
Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC NASS
function.

• e4 reference interface — Used inter nally

between the Alcatel-Lucent 5750
SSC NASS and resource
and admission control sub system
(RACS); also enables inter facing with
external RACS functions.

• Rq reference interface — Allows

interworking with external policy
decision functions (PDFs) in the IMS
service-control layer. For example,
Rq can be used to inter face to a proxy
call session control function (P­CSCF) to support band width
management for IMS-based services.

• ETSI TISPAN-compliant support of the
NASS and A-RACF — Support for
NGN/IMS service delivery on Alcatel­Lucent’s TPSDA.

• ETSI TISPAN Rq, e2 and e4 interface
support — To integrate with an IMS
CSCF, PDF, SCF or external RACS.

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 14

5750 SSC
Slave
Controller

Regional Locations

Central Locations

Load

Balancing

Failover

5750 SSC
Slave
Controller

5750 SSC
Slave
Controller

5750 SSC

Slave

Controller

5750 SSC

Master

Controller

Primary

Database

5750 SSC

Slave

Controller

5750 SSC

Slave

Controller

5750 SSC
Master
Controller

Secondary
Database

Figure 3. Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC Server and Database Redundancy

System Reliability and Scalability

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC soft ­ware can be deployed on a wide range
of single and multiprocessor server
platforms to optimize scalability,
and 1+1 or 1+n server/database
redundancy provides protection
against server or database failure
(see Figure 3). The Alcatel-Lucent
5750 SSC scales with service
providers’ needs as they add sub ­scribers and serv ices and expand the
network footprint.

Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller 15

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC enhances TPSDA with IMS
support capabilities to expand service provider business with
fixed-mobile converged services.

The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC provides an integrated control solution that
enables service providers to cost-effectively introduce differentiated and flexible
service packages, addressing all individual user needs for broadband Internet
access, personal communication, television and multimedia entertainment.
The system helps deliver the full breadth of today’s non-IMS wireline services —
including HSI, IPTV, VoD and VoIP — and enables the introduction of new
innovative IP multimedia services with minimal integration cost, time and risk.

Alcatel-Lucent’s TPSDA and the Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC help service pro ­viders to bridge the worlds of fixed and wireless broadband services and deliver
an enhanced, seamless user experience of blended triple-play services on any
user device. The Alcatel-Lucent 5750 SSC provides an operational support
environment that is ideally suited to conducting the network transformation
needed for triple-play service delivery.

Bridging the Fixed and Wireless Broadband
Service Worlds with Enhanced Triple Play

www.alcatel-lucent.com

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trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information presented is subject to change
without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.
© 2007 Alcatel-Lucent. All rights reserved. WLN1103070811 (09)