Session Management RARs

A Re-Auth-Request (RAR) is sent to the PCEF when MATRIXX Policy Application determines that the policy has changed because of some operation such as balance impacts from rating or changes to other subscriber data. When a device purchases a catalog item, a Gx RAR is sent only if a policy is impacted for any device.

A device purchasing a catalog item can affect policy sessions on all devices associated with the subscriber. A subscriber's balances can affect the policy for any device associated with the subscriber or the state of the subscriber object itself. In addition, a device purchasing a catalog item can affect the subscriber's balances or the subscriber object. As a result, the policies on all the sessions associated with the subscriber are re-evaluated, and RARs are sent for any session in which the policy changes.

The PCEF replies with a RAA and is not required to send another CCR. After sending a notification request, an answer (Gx RAA) is expected.
Note: Gx RARs are sent independently from Gy RARs. A Gx RAR requests a re-authorization of the assigned policy information, whereas a Gy RAR requests a re-authorization of quota for charging.

After a Gx RAR has been sent, while waiting for a Gx RAA from the PCEF, if another policy change is detected, MATRIXX Engine will wait to send another Gx RAR until a Gx RAA has been received.

The Revalidation-Time AVP is included in Gx CCA messages and Gx RAR messages. The revalidation time for Gx is similar to the quota validity time in Gy; policy processing considers anything that limits the time for which the result is valid, including:
  • Boundaries in time normalization.
  • Expiration of balances (including period boundaries in periodic and on-demand balances).
  • Balances becoming valid in the future.
  • Product offers becoming valid in the future.
  • Expiration of product offers.

The maximum interval from the time a Gx CCA message or a Gx RAR message is sent to the Revalidation-Time in Gx CCA and Gx RAR messages is determined by the global.gx_maximum_revalidation_interval_in_minutes parameter. This parameter is configured during engine configuration with the question:

Global:Session:Policy:Notify:How long (in minutes) is the maximum time interval from the message time to the Revalidation-Time in Gx CCA and RAR messages?

A Gx policy session is terminated using the following criteria:
  • If a policy changes, a RAR is sent.
  • If a RAA is received, the RAR trigger and counter are reset. If a RAA is received and it includes a result code other than 2001 SUCCESS, the session is deleted.
  • If the policy session is expired, MATRIXX Engine sends a RAR to the PCEF. A RAA can indicate that the session is still in progress or that the session is not found by the PCEF. If the session is not found, it is removed.

    MATRIXX Engine uses the last update timestamp on the session object to calculate the elapsed amount of time and compares the value to the session timeout value defined with the system configuration question:

    Global:Session:Charging:Notify:How long (in seconds) to wait after the most recent activity before the first attempt?

  • Gx RARs are sent until an answer is received or until the maximum number of requests set with the system configuration question:

    Global:Session:Charging:Notify:How many attempts?

    The delay between requests is configured with the following system configuration question:

    Global:Session:Charging:Notify:How long (in seconds) to wait after each attempt?

  • If MATRIXX Engine does not receive a RAA, the session is deleted.
  • If MATRIXX Engine receives a RAA with a result code other than 2001 SUCCESS, the session is deleted.