Rules-based overload protection of a diameter device

Abstract

Various exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the method including: receiving a Diameter message at the DRA; evaluating an overload state of the DRA; evaluating a shedding rule based upon the overload state of the DRA; and shedding the received Diameter message based upon the evaluation of the shedding rule.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the method comprising:
 receiving a Diameter message at the DRA;   evaluating an overload state of the DRA;   evaluating a shedding rule based upon the overload state of the DRA; and   shedding the received Diameter message based upon the evaluation of the shedding rule.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving a Diameter message includes receiving a plurality of Diameter messages;   wherein the overload state of the DRA is resource critical; and   wherein shedding the received Diameter message includes shedding all received Diameter messages.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, receiving, via a user interface, a definition of the shedding rule, wherein the definition specifies conditions for shedding Diameter requests. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein evaluating the shedding rule is further based upon attribute value pairs in the received Diameter message. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein evaluating the shedding rule is further based upon information received in a previously received Diameter message. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the shedding rule defines a percentage of Diameter messages to be shed based upon the overload state of the DRA. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the shedding rule identifies Diameter messages to shed based upon message type. 
     
     
         8 . A Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the DRA comprising:
 a rule storage configured to store a shedding rule that includes a context object reference;   a Diameter stack configured to receive a Diameter message from an origin device;   a rule engine configured to evaluate the shedding rule, wherein the evaluation is based upon an overload state of the DRA; and   a message handler configured to shed the received Diameter message based on the evaluation of the rule.   
     
     
         9 . The DRA of  claim 8 , wherein:
 receiving a Diameter message includes receiving a plurality of Diameter messages;   wherein the overload state of the DRA is resource critical; and   wherein shedding the received Diameter message includes shedding all received Diameter messages.   
     
     
         10 . The DRA of  claim 8 , further comprising, receiving, via a user interface, a definition of the shedding rule, wherein the definition specifies conditions for shedding Diameter requests. 
     
     
         11 . The DRA of  claim 8 , wherein evaluating the shedding rule is further based upon attribute value pairs in the received Diameter message. 
     
     
         12 . The DRA of  claim 8 , wherein evaluating the shedding rule is further based upon information received in a previously received Diameter message. 
     
     
         13 . The DRA of  claim 8 , wherein the shedding rule defines a percentage of Diameter messages to be shed based upon the overload state of the DRA. 
     
     
         14 . The DRA of  claim 8 , wherein the shedding rule identifies Diameter messages to shed based upon message type. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for execution by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) for processing a Diameter message, the medium comprising:
 instructions for receiving a Diameter message at the DRA;   instructions for evaluating an overload state of the DRA;   instructions for evaluating a shedding rule based upon the overload state of the DRA; and   instructions for shedding the received Diameter message based upon the evaluation of the shedding rule.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein:
 instructions for receiving a Diameter message includes receiving a plurality of Diameter messages;   wherein the overload state of the DRA is resource critical; and   wherein shedding the received Diameter message includes shedding all received Diameter messages.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein evaluating the shedding rule is further based upon attribute value pairs in the received Diameter message. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein evaluating the shedding rule is further based upon information received in a previously received Diameter message. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the shedding rule defines a percentage of Diameter messages to be shed based upon the overload state of the DRA. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the shedding rule identifies Diameter messages to shed based upon message type.