dsTest® supports both server emulation and client simulation capabilities with the Ga Interface application. Test the Charging Data Function (CDF) in the Serving Gateway (SGW), PDN Gateway (PGW), Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) in LTE and UMTS networks with our Offline Charging System (OFCS) Emulator. Use the Ga Interface application for CDF simulation to test the capacity and performance of a Charging Gateway Function (CGF).
A rich set of operational measurements is collected at specified intervals and stored in a SQLite database on the dsTest server. Real-time measurements may be retrieved through our dsClient™ CLI interface or graphed via our dsClient GUI interface.
Implementation
The Ga application supports the following charging scenarios and Charging Data Record (CDR) types:
- IP-CAN bearer charging data (S-CDR, SGW-CDR, PGW-CDR)
- Service data flow charging data (PGW-CDR)
- Mobility management charging data (M-CDR)
- SMS charging data (S-SMO-CDR, SMS-SMT-CDR)
- Location request charging data (LCS-MO-CDR, LCS-MT-CDR, LCS-NI-CDR)
- MBMS bearer context charging data (S-MB-CDR, G-MB-CDR)
Server Emulation
The CGF emulator collects CDRs, validates CDR formats, and consolidates CDRs of like types into CDR files, eliminating the need to dedicate a produc
tion server to lab activities. In addition, when CDRs for the same charging event are received from two CDFs, the CGF emulator can optionally validate the values in one CDR against the other. You can simulate pre- and post-CDR processing communication loss to test CDF potential duplicate CDR handling and redirect CDFs to an alternate CGF emulator. CDR files are generated and saved on the dsTest platform at configurable intervals for recovery during or after a test run.
Read more about our OFCS Emulator.
Client Simulation
The Ga Interface application can be used to simulate the CDF functionality of an SGW, SGSN, PGW, or GGSN to validate Charging Gateway Function (CGF) performance and capacity in a realistic network environment, replicating the deployment configuration.
Execute timed chains of test events with a run-time command or during an automated test to generate Data Record Transfer Requests towards the CGF.
- Construct IP-CAN bearer and service data flow charging event cycles with a mix of start, partial, stop, and event CDRs in each request
Detect communication loss with configurable timeout and retries. In the event that communication with the primary CGF is interrupted, the CDF simulator initiates transactions with a secondary CGF (pre-configured or as directed by the primary) and includes the appropriate potential duplicate record indication. When communication with the primary is restored, the CDF node handles the duplicate record detection and release between the primary and secondary CGFs.
Multiple CDF nodes can be instantiated on a single server, each with scalable subscriber loads and transaction rates. In this mode, up to 1000 independent nodes may be simultaneously simulated. The nodes are fully independent and their subscriber configurations may also be independent, overlap, or be duplicated.
Read more about our Capacity and Performance.
Supporting Standards
- Ga – 3GPP TS 32.240 and 32.351, and 32.295
- UDP – RFC 768
- TCP – RFC 793