A major headache for operators will be enabling their 3G applications for LTE

Further to signaling traffic management, roaming control, vendor interoperability and legacy interworking, a major headache for operators will be enabling their 3G applications for LTE. There are two approaches to this, either integrate legacy SS7-based services in LTE using Diameter-SS7 interworking or migrate the applications to LTE by “Diameter-enabling” them.
With the introduction of the Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) as the carrier-grade network element for Diameter in 4G, this provides the ideal point in the network that allows services to be integrated, either hosted or remote and SS7-based or Diameter-based.  These applications can monitor Diameter traffic by taking a copy of the Diameter messages and process them, or can work in interrupt mode where the applications can modify the message or respond to them.
In addition to the migration of 3G applications, can a new breed of applications benefit by being hosted on the DSC? With all the Diameter interfaces that pass thru the DSC, there is a wealth of information that can be mined and used for different purposes. The DSC is a unique point in the 4G network to offer value-added applications, both the migration of 3G applications and possibly new applications using policy, charging, subscriber or location information.