Contents

1   Alarm Description

The threshold alarm CSCF Charging Request Transmission Problem is raised when there is a problem in sending charging requests (ACRs) from the CSCF to the charging system. The charging requests are backed up locally in the CSCF file system until the charging transmission is working.

The alarm is associated to the Performance Management counter gauge cscfCurrentStoredRecords.

The alarm is raised when the number of charging records has reached or exceeded its configured thresholdHigh within the time period configured by thresholdRateOfVariation and granularityPeriod.

The alarm is automatically ceased when it reaches or goes below the configured thresholdLow value.

The default values related to this alarm are: thresholdRateOfVariation=PER_GP, granularityPeriod=FIVE_MIN, thresholdHigh=2, and thresholdLow=0. This means that when the counter value is 2 or higher, the alarm is raised when the Granularity Period is ended. The alarm is ceased when the counter cscfCurrentStoredRecords has reached a value of 0 at the end of a Granularity Period.

Note:  

The thresholds for raising and ceasing this alarm are configurable. The default Distinguished Name for the thresholds is: ManagedElement=<node_name>, SystemFunctions=1, Pm=1, PmJob=CscfChargingStatisticsThreshold, MeasurementReader=cscfCurrentStoredRecordsMeasReader, PmThresholdMonitoring=cscfCurrentStoredRecords.

It is not possible to change threshold values once they have been set. To change a threshold, first the PmThresholdMonitoring instance must be deleted and recreated with required thresholdHigh and thresholdLow.

For more information, refer to Performance Management.

If the alarm is not solved, there is a limited amount of memory reserved (in the range of a few days) to store the charging information temporarily. When this buffer is full, subsequent charging information is lost, and the alarm CSCF Charging Backup File System Unavailable is also raised.

Table 1    CSCF Charging Request Transmission Problem Alarm Causes

Alarm Cause	Description	Fault Reason	Fault Location	Impact
The PM gauge counter cscfCurrentStoredRecords has reached or exceeded its configured upper threshold value.	The average number of charging records in the backup has reached or exceeded the configured threshold.	Communication problems with the external charging system results in storing charging records.	Communication problems between the CSCF and the Charging Data Function (CDF). This can either be caused by a charging request transmission problem or a charging configuration problem.	Charging information is buffered on persistent media until communication to CDF is reestablished.

Note:  

This alarm can appear as a result of maintenance activity.

Table 2    CSCF Charging Request Transmission Problem Alarm Attributes

Attribute Name	Attribute Value
Major Type	193
Minor Type	6684681
Managed Object Class	MeasurementReader
Managed Object Instance	ManagedElement=<node_name>,SystemFunctions=1, Pm=1, PmJob=CscfChargingStatisticsThreshold, MeasurementReader=cscfCurrentStoredRecordsMeasReader
Specific Problem	CSCF Charging Request Transmission Problem
Event Type	communication (2)
Probable Cause	x733ThresholdCrossed (351)
Additional Text	cscfCurrentStoredRecords, charging information sent to back up. Check connection to charging system.
Perceived Severity	major (4)

2   Procedure

2.1   Handle Alarm CSCF Charging Request Transmission Problem

Prerequisites

• This instruction references the following documents:
  • Performance Management
  • vDicos, Diameter Link Failure
  • Managed Object Model (MOM)
• Before starting this procedure, ensure that the following tool is available:
  • A Diameter protocol sniffer, refer to RFC 3588 Diameter Base Protocol.
• The following condition must apply:
  • The alarm is raised.

Steps

Note:  

If the reason for the alarm has disappeared after the Granularity Period, the alarm automatically ceases.

1. Is the Charging Server is operational.

   Yes: Continue with the next step.

   No: Contact the charging service support.

2. Is the alarm vDicos, Diameter Link Failure raised?

   Yes: Refer to vDicos, Diameter Link Failure to solve the alarm.

   No: Continue with the next step.

3. Make sure that the Diameter routing configuration is synchronized with the latest site configuration.

   Compare the configuration in the CSCF node with the configuration file.

4. Is the alarm threshold is set too low?

   Yes: Adjust the alarm threshold and then continue with the next step.

   No: Continue with the next step.

5. Has the alarm ceased?

   Yes: Proceed with Step 7.

   No: Continue with the next step.

6. If the alarm is not ceased, consult the next level of maintenance support.

   Further actions are outside the scope of this instruction.

7. Job is completed.