[Update12 - Alcatel-Lucent 5780] PCRF - DPI Compatibility Matrix

  

I mentioned Alcatel-Lucent's PCRF product, the 5780 Dynamic Services Controller (announced on March 18, 2010) in one of my posts ("LTE May Heat up Mobile Net Neutrality Debate" - here), but somehow it did not make it to the PCRF matrix. It is added now, and I am using this opportunity to update the table with the acquisitions effects (Camiant is now Tekelec, 724 is Mobixell and Starent is Cisco).

See the ALU 5780 product page here, and a short ALU video below.

"The 5780 DSC empowers the mobile service provider to monetize their network resources by allowing them to break into the value chain normally reserved for application and content providers (ACPs). By providing dynamic application-specific quality of service (QoS) treatment within the network that guarantees performance, ACPs will find it compelling to partner with service providers to augment their existing service. In addition to creating a “net new” revenue stream within the application space, the 5780 DSC will allow mobile providers to streamline and scale their network operations by leveraging the simplifications introduced by the 3GPP specifications for dynamic and centralized policy and charging control."

The product brochure (here) explains that "The Alcatel-Lucent 5780 DSC is based on the NEBs certified, carrier-grade Alcatel-Lucent ATCA 14-slot blade server platform " and presents the interfaces and architecture of the product (see diagrams below).

Note that an earlier product of ALU (Alcatel-Lucent 5750 Subscriber Services Controller) is a s/w OEM from Bridgewater systems, which has its own PCRF product. In its 2010-Q1 report Bridgewater says (here): "Wireline revenue of $2.6 million (11% of revenue) in the first quarter of 2010 was primarily derived from revenue from the Alcatel-Lucent Source Code License Agreement (“Alcatel Agreement”) which expires October 30, 2010 and resale of products and services through the Alcatel-Lucent reseller agreement."
The 5780 DPI interoperability is not specified, beyond the support for ALU 7750, which "leverages deep packet inspection (DPI) technology to provide application-level traffic reporting and traffic management capabilities". The 7750, which was a fixed broadband network edge router, is now defined by ALU also as a GGSN/PGW (here).

PCRF Vendor	PCRF Product	Allot	Arbor	Cisco	Procera	Sandvine
Alcatel-Lucent	5780 Dynamic Services Controller (DSC)
BandWD	BwDRC - Dynamic Resource Control	●		●		●
Bridgewater Systems	Policy Controller/PCRF	●	●	●		●
Broadhop	Quantum Policy Server		●	●
Comability	ComAbility neXus			●
Comptel	Comptel Policy Control™			●	●
Cisco (Starent)	Policy and Charging Control
Ericsson	Service-Aware Policy Controller (SAPC)
Flash Networks	POLICY MANAGER
FTS	Leap™Policy Control	●		●		●
HP	HP Policy and Charging(IUM)	●
Huawei	Open Control & Charging Gateway	●
Kabira (Tibco)	Policy Server			●
Mobixell (724)	X-treme Framework Platform (XF)	●		●
Nokia Siemens Networks	PCS 5000	●
Openet	FusionWorks™ Policy Manager			●		●
Redknee	Policy Manager (PCRF)			●		●
Tekelec (Camiant)	Multimedia Policy Engine	●	●	●	●	●
Telcordia	Telcordia Bandwidth Manager
Volubill	CONTROL-IT Policy Manager
ZTE	ZXUN RCP	●