Subscriber data management (SDM)

Subscription data typically includes identification information such as user IDs, international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), and mobile station international subscriber directory number (MSISDN), as well as subscription details such as service plans, billing profiles, usage quotas, and associated policies.

Authentication data covers cryptographic keys and credentials for secure communication, as well as protocol-specific data for authentication mechanisms, for example, 5G-AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement) for 5G or EAP-AKA (Extensible Authentication Protocol for Authentication and Key Agreement) for WiFi.

Network configuration data includes access preferences such as preferred and allowed networks, roaming restrictions, and access point names (APNs), as well as service settings such as quality of service (QoS) parameters.

Policy and charging data pertain to policy rules such as traffic prioritization, service restrictions, and bandwidth allocations, as well as charging data such as billing cycles and subscriber call and/or data usage.

Mobility data includes data collected via home location register (HLR) in 2G/3G, the home subscriber server (HSS) in 4G, and the user plane function (UPF) in 5G networks, as well as information on handovers and other mobility events across the network.

Application data pertains to data collected from specific applications that run on the network, such as individual device status across IoT services. It also typically includes data specific to enhanced services such as VoLTE, VoWiFi, or streaming services.

Subscriber behavioral data, including subscriber session data and usage preferences, is also ingested, stored, and provisioned through SDM.

Cloud-native SDM leverages 5G service-based architecture to enable real-time, agile, and scalable orchestration of SDM components as microservices across the network, making it easier to roll out and scale up new on-demand 5G services.

Cloud-native SDM is key to realizing advanced 5G use cases such as 5G voice services, network slicing, and edge computing. It ensures that SDM microservices can be processed closer to the application for real-time execution.

Cloud-native SDM creates a common multi-mode data repository for all subscriber-related data across 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and fixed networks, simplifying the network architecture and lowering capital expenditure.

Cloud-native SDM enables greater agnosticism between applications and the network’s underlying infrastructure, allowing for greater deployment flexibility, easier implementation, and portability. Data provisioning is also significantly simplified through a common point for data provisioning and a common operations and management platform for all SDM components.

Higher levels of orchestration and automation through capabilities like auto-scaling of microservices, auto-healing, auto-provisioning, and automated tests significantly reduce the need for manual intervention such as manual provisioning, fault management, and maintenance. This also considerably reduces network resources’ over-dimensioning, ensuring optimal capacity and resource allocation.

In-service software upgrade (ISSU) enables cloud-native network functions (CNFs) to be upgraded, downgraded, or rolled back through in-service software rollback (ISSR) while still processing traffic – with no capacity loss, no partial loss of network functionality, and no need for manual intervention.

Through a built-in automated migration procedure, our cloud-native SDM solutions are built to deliver a fast and automated migration of subscriber data from legacy solutions into a cloud-native dual-mode common repository, thus ensuring an easy, safe, and cost-efficient migration project.

Cloud-native SDM enhances access to subscriber data for external exposure and analytics, reducing data duplication and inconsistencies risks and avoiding multiple provisioning platforms with complex integration projects.

Multiple end-to-end security and authentication mechanisms reinforce the availability and robustness of data storage resources, safeguarding a network against malicious attacks and protecting subscriber data.

Advanced triple geo-redundancy and network-level overload protection mechanisms guarantee a higher availability of data and service continuity in the event of unexpected network issues, such as database failure or signaling overload. This prevents the need for a full restart or service interruption.

Cloud-native SDM is built to expand capabilities with artificial intelligence. It embraces cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies seamlessly for greater efficiency, optimized performance, and transformative growth.