Efficient Testing of Cisco ASR 5000's Enhanced Charging Service Function with TeraVM

Cisco's ASR 5000 Series is designed to address the high-performance requirements of the next generation of mobile Internet. It contains real-time integrated, session-state intelligence, enabling it to effectively manage IP-based flows on a per-session basis. A significant challenge that Cisco faced was how to efficiently test the stateful reliability of the ASR’s enhanced charging service function, which is part of the packet data network gateway (PGW), at a highly scaled level of network traffic load. The enhanced charging service (ECS) function is designed to identify and manage traffic on a per-session basis, helping develop tiered and detailed billing schemes based on mobile subscribers' usage. The challenge was to efficiently and reliably test the ECS function with an array of traffic types. The ECS is part of the LTE PGW, adding an additional complexity to the challenge of testing; requiring that the IP application flows be delivered in GTP encapsulated tunnels.

Cisco is a multinational technology conglomerate that develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment, and other high-technology services and products. They are known for their innovative solutions in the field of Internet of Things, domain security, and energy management. The ASR 5000 Series is one of their products designed to address the high-performance requirements of the next generation of mobile Internet. It contains real-time integrated, session-state intelligence, enabling it to effectively manage IP-based flows on a per-session basis. The enhanced charging service function of the ASR 5000 Series is designed to identify and manage traffic on a per-session basis, helping develop tiered and detailed billing schemes based on mobile subscribers' usage.