Bridgewater Systems - Service Controller in GSM/HSPA Networks

Serving as a 3GPP-compliant AAA server, the Bridgewater® Service Controller supports the following functions:

Supports MAP gateway interworking, which allows for integration to the HLR.
Enables caching of authentication vectors from the HLR to support fast re-authentication for users and reduce the authentication load on the HLR.
Reduces the load on overloaded WAP gateways that jeopardize subscriber access to services and impact on service experience.
Enables scalable high performance network access control to enable fast deployment in multi-vendor and multi-access technology fixed-mobile networks.
Provides proven scalability and performance to meet the increased demands of complex network applications.
High performance processing of large volumes of state-based accounting transactions reduces opportunities for revenue leakage.
Allows GSM/HSPA service providers to maintain ownership of the subscriber relationship while managing revenue-sharing relationships with partners.
Supports standards-based LTE infrastructures enabling interworking functions with non-3GPP access networks.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS

Seamless subscriber experience.
Improve service control and manage the overall subscriber experience with comprehensive state, usage, and profile information on subscribers.
Highly flexible policy creation allows the service provider to control and direct the subscriber experience in real time with time-based restrictions, content control, and other parameters.
Simultaneous support of multiple EAP methods, including EAP-AKA/EAP-SIM to ensure single sign-on across networks in FMC.
Customer self-care – enables online self-service portals that allow subscribers to see and alter their service packages and choices, which is proven to reduce customer care calls by 40%.

Centralized management

RADIUS-based IP address management allows rapid, scalable address allocation from pre-determined subscriber address pools and filtering based on any incoming attribute, to deliver centralized, policy-based address management.

Revenue opportunities and management

Innovative new state-driven services enable 3G-GSM service providers to increase subscriber retention, drive new revenue streams, and increase ARPU.
Flexible, granular policy creation enables 3G-GSM service providers to create highly flexible services that are easily managed and modified at pace with demand.

A future-proof solution

Multiprotocol (RADIUS/Diameter) support protects investments in legacy applications and enables migration to next-generation networks.
Vendor and network agnosticism enables easy integration in mixed networks.
Proven to scale to support increasing numbers of subscriber and transaction rates.

Flexible architecture and superior performance

Supports 3GPP TS29.061-compliant Gi GPRS interface between the GGSN and external packet data networks.
Full support for wireless Mobile IP (MIP) standards required for mobile subscriber inter-technology network roaming scenarios (e.g., GSM-WiMAX).
Standards-based interfaces for ease of integration with legacy infrastructure. The Service Controller provides full support for 3GPP AAA Servers that support 3G WLAN interworking (TS 23.234).
Support for MAP Gateway Inter-Working Function - D’/Gr’ interface allows subscriber information to be passed via the IP network to the HLR / Authentication Center (AuC), bridging RADIUS and IP-based WLAN infrastructures and allowing for granular control of subscriber services and supporting authorization according to stored service/privilege profiles.
Support for Authentication Vector caching - Allows for caching of a number of Authentication vectors retrieved from the HLR to enable rapid local authentication as needed this also reduces the load on the HLR.
Support for the Wm interface between the UE and a PDG security gateway, protecting user traffic and enabling secure access to the service provider’s core 3GPP IP network for WLAN subscribers.
Support of Wo, Wf interfaces to enable the charging for WLAN sessions and allow for the integration of the solution with the service provider’s online and offline charging systems.