Diameter Gateway

The Diameter Gateway is a Diameter server that allows communication between the MATRIXX Engine and a network entity requesting service through the Diameter protocol.

The Diameter protocol provides a framework for access by technologies that require authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) support across multiple networks. Most telecommunications and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use this protocol for AAA before allowing you to connect to their network and consume services.

The Diameter Gateway provides direct access to the MATRIXX Engine for Diameter applications. It uses the 3GPP Diameter Credit Control Application (DCCA), including event and session charging with unit reservation, and enables a direct exchange of Diameter's AAA protocol. External platforms such as mediation systems, and hardware devices such as GGSNs, communicate by using Diameter applications that the MATRIXX Engine understands, such as DCCA.

The Diameter Gateway is configured with a mapping of Diameter AVP (attribute-value pair) fields to MDC (MATRIXX data container) fields. The AVPs carry the AAA information, as well as routing and capabilities information. The Diameter AVPs are configurable by event type, and the MDC configuration format is XML, so it is easy to configure the information that is sent.

When a network usage event, for example, an SMS, is reported by a Diameter client, a request message (packet) is generated and sent to the Diameter Gateway. The Diameter Gateway converts the packet to the MDC format and sends it to the Charging Server. After the MDC is processed, it is sent back to the Diameter Gateway, where it is converted to an answer message and returned to the Diameter application that sent the request.

The Diameter Gateway also acts as a Diameter client that initiates Diameter Re-Auth Requests (RAR) to the Diameter client that originated the online charging requests to the Charging Server. The Diameter Gateway sends a RAR message to the network during an open session and a request for further action has not been received from the network after a configurable amount of time. The RAR functionality provides a way to clean up open sessions that are invalid, for example, when the network connection drops and strands the session before it has been terminated.

For information about using Diameter Event Logger to log events from the Diameter Gateway to a JSON file, see the discussion about logging Diameter events in MATRIXX Monitoring and Logging.

For information about MATRIXX Engine SNMP configuration and Diameter Gateway statistics, see the discussion in Installation and Configuration.