SDP OverviewSDP is a Charging System network element that also can be used standalone.

SDP can be implemented in charging systems other than Ericsson Charging System.
SDP manages prepaid calls in real time. It is responsible for holding data

about subscribers, accounts, service classes, rating periods and charging analysis, for rating of services, and sending notifications through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Short Message Service (SMS) or file. The SDP also controls the life cycle of a subscriber account.
An overview of SDP is shown below -

Machine-Machine Interfaces
Remote Procedure Call - The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol is used for administration of account and subscriber data, account inquiries, and voucher refills. Batch File - A batch file interface is used to receive files from the Administrative system (ADMIN), to perform batch jobs and to return an output file with the result of the operation. Text File Alarm Adaptation - The Text File Alarm Adaptation (TXF) interface is used for sending alarms to external monitors in the Operations Support System (OSS).

Charging Data Record Input - Charging Data Records (CDRs) are sent to the SDP for post-charging of accounts. Charging Data Record Output - SDP generates the many CDR types and send it to external systems. Customer Administration Interface - The Customer Administration Interface (CAI) is used for service barring and unbarring towards the HLR. Ericsson Mobile Application Protocol - Ericssons adaption of Mobile Application Protocol (EMAP) can be used to send the notification types over a USSD notification operation or to receive a triggering of USSD callback over a USSD request operation. Mobile Application Protocol - Mobile Application Protocol (MAP) can be used to send the notifications. XMLRPC - External network elements can send XML files to SDP, where the parameters of the file can be altered.

User Interfaces

Graphical User Interface - There are three Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) associated with SDP. All three are Java-based. SDP Management Application (SMA) GUI. Rating Management Application (RMA) GUI. Signaling Manager (SM) GUI.

SDP System
Here some main entries are described: Hardware Software Directory Structure Configuration Log Files Processes

Hardware
The SDP cluster is a UNIX based system running on Sun Solaris. It is based on two identically equipped Sun servers. Each server by itself is not fault tolerant, although many hardware components are redundant.
Instead, the SDP cluster is designed to allow for failures to happen, and the capacity of the cluster is enough to allow one server to fail and still be able to manage all traffic that is generated by the real-time charging clients and other surrounding network elements. The servers are rack mounted and the hardware is monitored using a workstation connected to the LAN, called the Sun Management Center (SunMC) Application for Charging.

Software
The SDP software consists of a set of cooperating plug-ins. To reach high availability and in-service performance, the SDP system is designed to minimize the effect of a possible failure in one of the plug-ins. The plug-in based architecture allows for redundancy and load-sharing between the plug-ins. CORBA is the underlying communication protocol between the plug-ins. The software that is installed on the server is described below-

Sun Solaris- Solaris is the operating system used by the SDP servers. Solaris ZFS Management-Solaris ZFS storage pools are used to manage physical storage. SS7 Software - The SS7 software holds device drivers and the SS7 protocol stack for INAP,MAP, and EMAP communication protocols. Sun Management Center Agent - The Sun Management Center Agent is a system management tool for Sun products and their subsystems, hardware components, and peripheral devices. In SDP this tool is mainly used for hardware alarms. CORBA - CORBA handles the internal communication protocol within Flexible Distributed Systems (FDS). Apache Web Server - The Apache web server handles requests from the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

TimesTen Database - The TimesTen database embedded in the SDP is an in-memory SQL database for storage of subscribers and service classes. The database is synchronized between the different SDP servers in the cluster. SDP Management Application - The SDP Management Application (SMA) is a GUI for SDP administration. The application has functions for managing the plug-ins in the system, for example, starting and unloading plug-ins.

Rating Manager - The Rating Management Application (RMA) is a GUI that handles rating tree structures. Signaling Manager - The Signaling Manager (SM) is a GUI through which the configuration of the SS7 stack is managed, with some stack alarm handling and statistics presentation functionality.

Directory Structure

1.Directory /var/log Contains system log files. 2.Directory /var/opt This directory contains dynamic data for the SDP system.

/var/opt/EABcss7ut - Contains all customer specific SS7 configuration files. It also contains the available licenses from the license server. /var/opt/EABcss7ut/cfg - Contains the SS7 related configuration files, readable by SM. /var/opt/EABcss7ut/cfg/generated - Contains the configuration files generated by SM, readable by the SS7 stack. /var/opt/EABcss7ut/logs - Contains all SS7 related log files. /var/opt/EABcss7ut/templates - Contains the templates used by SM to generate the SS7 configuration files. /var/opt/EABfdslic - This directory is only available if a license server has been ` installed and contains the available licenses and log files from the license server. SS7 related

3.Directory /var/opt/fds Contains dynamic information for the FDS system and application. /var/opt/fds/cache - Contains the container directory which has one directory for each container process that is running. Each directory contains links to the versions that are used by the component. /var/opt/fds/CDR- Contains the directory structure related to the CDR Processing feature.

/var/opt/fds/cfg - Contains environment files that are read when the FDS Cluster is started. /var/opt/fds/config - Contains configuration files. /var/opt/fds/logs - Contains log files and output from SDP application programs.

/var/opt/fds/msisdnLookupTable - Contains a list of the subscribers in the SDP and their service class.

/var/opt/fds/statistics - Contains the statistics generated by the SDP.

4.Directory /var/opt/fds/CDRContains dynamic data for the CDR Processing feature. /var/opt/fds/CDR/adj - Contains the adjusted CDR files generated from the CDRProcessor component. /var/opt/fds/CDR/bookmarks - Contains some internal information for the CDRProcessor component. /var/opt/fds/CDR/cdrin - Contains CDR files incoming from the billing system.

/var/opt/fds/CDR/cdrout - Contains the output CDR files generated from the PSC-AdminAccount, PSC-SubscriberHandler, and PSC-TrafficHandler

components. The name of the output CDR file includes an identifier showing which component generated the file, as follows: ADM (PSC-AdminAccount) SUB (PSC-SubscriberHandler) TRF (PSC-TrafficHandler) Example: SDPOUTPUTCDR_4001_t5220x01_SUB_8302_20091012-115305.ASN As shown in the example, the file name also contains the host name (t5220x01), the sequence number for this SUB file (8302), and the date and time. Separate sequence counters are used for each component, that is, for ADM, SUB, and TRF files respectively.

/var/opt/fds/CDR/finalrej - Used in a multiple SDP configuration. This directory is where the CDRProcessor puts a rejected file if the same SDP has already rejected the file once and stored the file in the rej directory.

/var/opt/fds/CDR/rej - Contains the CDR files, generated from the CDRProcessor component, for subscribers that do not exist in the SDP database.

/var/opt/fds/CDR/scheduledJobCdrOut - Contains output CDR files generated from the ScheduledJob component. The following file extensions are used for the different scheduled jobs:

ADJ - Clear dedicated account. LCY - Life cycle change NEG - Negative balance barring

PER - Periodic adjustment SFD - Service fee deduction VVE - Value voucher

ExampleSDPOUTPUTCDR_4001_t5220x01_SCH_0266_20091012-004441.LCY As shown in the example, the file name contains the host name (t5220x01), the identifier for the ScheduledJob component (SCH), the sequence number for this life cycle change file (0266), and the date and time. The file extension LCY identifies the scheduled job. Separate sequence counters are used for each scheduled job.

/var/opt/fds/CDR/scheduledJobSentCdr - Contains a backup of the successfully transferred ScheduledJob CDRs. /var/opt/fds/CDR/scheduledJobUnsentCdr - Contains the ScheduledJob CDRs for which the first file transfer attempt failed and which have still not been delivered successfully. /var/opt/fds/CDR/tmpcdrout - Temporary storage before CDR files are sent to the billing system.

SDP Definitions
Here some central definitions in SDP are decribed-

Account Service State

After the activation of an account, the account is always in a certain service

state that defines the subscribers access to different services. The service state of an account depends on the service class settings of its account value, service fee period, and supervision period. The different service states of an active account are presented are given belowActive Service - The Active service gives the end user access to charged originating and terminating services. It is also possible to make specified active service calls which are not to be rated. The Active service also includes all possibilities of the No service state.

Passive Service - An account with Passive service is allowed to perform services that are not charged and are not necessary to rate. The passive service gives the end user access to not charged originating and terminating services. It is also possible to make specified passive service toll free calls. The Passive service also includes all possibilities of the No service state. No Service - The No service state only allows services to always allowed numbers. Terminating services are not allowed. Full Service - The Full service state includes all possible states of Active service, Passive service, and No service. Temporary Blocked - A subscriber can be set to state Temporary blocked to prevent a subscriber from making any changes to the account. This is particularly useful during, for example, migration, upgrade, balancing or any other maintenance activity, but it can also be used if a SIM card has been stolen or lost to prevent unauthorized use of the subscription. The Temporary blocked state can be set by the ADMIN or by SDP itself, for

example, as a result of a life cycle change. It can be cleared only by an external request from ADMIN.

Account Life Cycle

Life Cycle Periods Supervision Period - The supervision period is the time period when a service is available to the subscriber before a refill has to be made. When the supervision period expires, the credit clearance period is started. Service Fee Period - The service fee period is the time period for which a service is granted to the subscriber. When the service fee period expires, the service removal period, also known as the account disconnect period, is started. Credit Clearance Period - A credit clearance period starts when the supervision period expires. If no refill is made before the credit clearance period has expired, the account is set for credit clearance, which means that any credit on the main account and all available Dedicated Accounts (DAs) are cleared.

Service Removal Period - A service removal (account disconnect) period starts when the service fee period expires. If no service fee is placed before the service removal period has expired, the account is set for service removal. This means that the account is marked for disconnection in the database, all subscribers attached to the account are temporary blocked, and all services are blocked in the HLR.