The Development of 5G Policy Control Function

Abstract

The world of telecommunication nowadays has seen numerous improvements in line with improved performance since the First Generation (1G) to the Fifth Generation (5G). From the analogue system, to where we are today, the Internet of Things (IoT) era. The new 5G policy control function (PCF) combines the legacy online charging function and offline charging function into one converged charging system. Without PCF, network operators could not have transparency and control over the data consumption during real-time service delivery. Operators also unable to manage the network slicing for each subscribers group according to their selected plan and could not make a profit from it. Therefore, the policy is a critical provider of network control and differentiation. This project aims to develop a new PCF that will support the new 5G charging control system and Quality of Service (QoS) policy. Three main objectives of this project are to study and analyze the 5G network architecture and policy charging framework for th e 5G system, to design and implement the PCF to meet the demand for 5G technologies and to test the PCF. This project applies Scrumban methodology since there are always changes in the use cases and it involves global software development (GSD). The result from the smoke test at the end of this project proves that the PCF is working. Now, network operators can control and manage network resources by implementing the new PCF to replace the existing 4G policy and charging rules function (PCRF).