Mobile Internet Gateway - Functions Explained

   

Following my announcement on creating the Mobile Internet Gateway Function Matrix (here), please find below a short description of the different gateway functions to be covered by the matrix.

Please note that some of the functions may be interrelated (like DPI and traffic steering, or tiered services and quota). Also, we can expect different levels of support in most functions (e.g. video optimization or DPI) and different levels of integration (single/multiple devices, integrated management, single policy view etc).

Nevertheless, I will start by the highest level: whether the function is part of the vendor's offering or not. As a ground rule, I will indicate a function as supported only if it is clearly presented in the vendor's web site. Again, vendors are invited to send their information to me directly.

Category	Function/Service	Description
Content Management	WAP gateway	Translation of web pages to WAP format
	Content Adaption	Transforming web pages to adapt to the subscriber’s end-device capabilities
	URL filtering	Block access to certain categories of web sites (by subscriber)
	URL black list	Block access to illegal sites, including synchronization with black lists providers (such as the IWF)
	Content caching	Cache content locally – Web, Video or P2P shared files
Optimization	Data acceleration	Accelerate data traffic by optimizing the TCP or application layers
	Video Optimization	Optimize video traffic – including control of coding, size, resolution and pace
Service Management and Charging	Advice of use/bill shock prevention	Advise subscriber when reaching account limits
	Tiered services	Enforce traffic, content and security management polices per subscriber
	Quota control	Measure and enforce maximum volume of traffic consumed by a subscriber over a specific period of time
	Content charging	Analyze web traffic and report access to chargeable content
	CDR generation	Generate Call Detail Records with usage information by application and subscriber
Traffic Management	DPI	Per-Flow Deep Packet Inspection (“layer 7”) for accurate identification of the flow’s application and application-level information
	Traffic shaping	Enforce bandwidth management policies including blocking, allocating minimum or maximum bandwidth or priority
	Network intelligence	Collect, export and report network activity
	Traffic steering	Efficiently steer flows among the different services, based on subscriber’s service plan and application type
	Compliance with 3GPP PCRF	Support 3GPP interface with PCRF systems
	VoIP quality monitoring	Collect, analyze, calculate, export and report VoIP (voice and video) quality parameters including MOS per subscriber, VoIP Service and location
	Cell awareness	Consider, for traffic shaping and ad-insertion the subscriber location and path to the network
Security	Anti-Virus/worm detection	Detect and block or quarantine malware on traffic
	Outgoing SPAM detection	Detect and block or quarantine outgoing SPAM activity on subscriber level
	DDoS prevention	Detect and block Distributed Denial of Service attacks
	Session boarder control (SBC)	Support SBC functions
	Ad-insertion	Analyze subscribers' traffic and insert personalized ads