METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR USING POLICY KNOWLEDGE FOR NEEDS BASED FORWARDING OF BEARER SESSION TRAFFIC TO NETWORK NODES

摘要

The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for using policy knowledge of or obtained by a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) for needs based forwarding of bearer session traffic to network nodes. One exemplary system includes a PCRF 200. The PCRF includes a policy engine 202 for identifying, using policy knowledge or obtained by the PCRF, zero or more network nodes hosting applications needed for processing packets of a bearer session. The PCRF 200 further includes an application routing configurator 204 for providing instructions to configure at least one configurable network element 206 to forward bearer session traffic to any of the network nodes determined to be needed for processing packets associated with the bearer session and to bypass any of the network nodes not determined to be needed for processing packets associated with the bearer session. The policy engine may determine whether a deep packet inspection (DPI) device 108, a video over packet (VoP) device 110, or a content filter 112 is needed for a session.