While we’ve covered the Update Location Request / Response, where an MME is able to request subscriber data from the HSS, what about updating a subscriber’s profile when they’re already attached? If we’re just relying on the Update Location Request / Response dialog, the update to the subscriber’s profile would only happen when they re-attach.

We need a mechanism where the HSS can send the Request and the MME can send the response.

This is what the Insert Subscriber Data Request/Response is used for.

Let's imagine we want to allow a subscriber to access an additional APN, or change an AMBR values of an existing APN;

We'd send an Insert Subscriber Data Request from the HSS, to the MME, with the Subscription Data AVP populated with the additional APN the subscriber can now access.

Beyond just updating the Subscription Data, the Insert Subscriber Data Request/Response has a few other funky uses.

Through it the HSS can request the EPS Location information of a Subscriber, down to the TAC / eNB ID serving that subscriber. It’s not the same thing as the GMLC interfaces used for locating subscribers, but will wake Idle UEs to get their current serving eNB, if the Current Location Request is set in the IDR Flags.

But the most common use for the Insert-Subscriber-Data request is to modify the Subscription Profile, contained in the Subscription-Data AVP,

If the All-APN-Configurations-Included-Indicator is set in the AVP info, then all the existing AVPs will be replaced, if it’s not then everything specified is just updated.

The Insert Subscriber Data Request/Response is a bit novel compared to other S6a requests, in this case it’s initiated by the HSS to the MME (Like the Cancel Location Request), and used to update an existing value.