CN101431422A - Accounting method, accounting apparatus, accounting gateway and accounting system - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a charging method, a charging device, a charging gateway and a charging system. The billing method includes: when the external agent FA is switched, receiving the FA switching message sent by the charging gateway, the FA switching message including the IP address after the FA switching; according to the FA switching message and on the charging device determine the charging rate of the UE connected to the network through the switched FA, and send the quota to the charging gateway according to the determined UE charging rate for charging. By applying the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when the FA is switched, the billing device can obtain the billing rate of the UE connected to the network through the switched FA in time, so as to realize accurate billing.

Description

Billing method, billing device, billing gateway and billing system

technical field

The invention relates to the communication field, in particular to a charging method, a charging device, a charging gateway and a charging system.

Background technique

With the increasing abundance of 3G data services, the simple billing model of traffic and duration can no longer adapt to the rapid development of wireless data services. In order to expand greater business profits and integrate business operation solutions, operators are gradually moving to richer granularity With the development of dynamic value-based charging model, content-based charging is a key step towards value-based charging model. Content billing enables operators to charge for various content and applications in addition to access fees, thereby obtaining additional profits.

Content charging gateway (Content Charging Gateway, CCG) is a gateway network element to realize content charging. It is used to solve the functions of data service access, service control, and charging support carried by the current mobile communication network. Billing of typical data services, such as: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) services, Wireless Application Protocol (Wireless Application Protocol, WAP) services, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), streaming media services, mail services, text Transfer protocol (File Transfer Protocol, FTP) business, etc.

The content charging of the user equipment UE can be performed on the home agent (Home Agent, HA). If the charging is performed on the HA, the data message of the UE will be sent to the HA through the reverse tunnel, and the HA will charge to the user through the CCG. The device applies for a quota and performs billing.

The foreign agent (Foreign Agent, FA) is a router on the link between the UE and the HA, which forwards the data packets between the HA and the UE. The data of the UE is sent to the HA through the FA. If the UE is roaming or in other states, When the FA corresponding to the UE is switched, the charging rate of the UE often changes.

The inventor found in the process of implementing the present invention that: when the FA is switched in the above-mentioned charging mode, the charging rate of the UE connected to the network through the FA may also change, which will cause inaccurate charging.

Contents of the invention

The embodiment of the present invention provides a billing method, a billing device, a billing gateway and a billing system. When the FA is switched, the billing device can obtain the billing rate of the UE that enters the network through the FA after switching in time, so as to realize accurate billing .

A billing method, when the external agent FA is switched, includes:

receiving the FA switching message sent by the charging gateway, the FA switching message including the IP address after the FA switching;

According to the FA switching message and the charging rate of the user terminal UE on the charging device, determine the charging rate of the UE connected to the network through the switched FA, and send it to the charging gateway according to the determined charging rate of the UE Quota for billing.

A billing device, comprising:

The receiving unit is used to receive the FA switching message sent by the charging gateway, and the FA switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching;

The determining unit is configured to determine the charging rate of the UE that accesses the network through the switched FA according to the FA switching message in the receiving unit and the charging rate of the user terminal UE on the charging device;

The sending unit is configured to send the quota request to the charging gateway according to the charging rate of the UE determined in the determining unit.

A billing gateway comprising:

An acquisition unit, configured to acquire the IP address after FA switching;

The first judging unit is used to judge whether it is allowed to send the FA switching message to the charging device;

A sending unit, configured to send the FA switching message to the charging device when it is determined in the first judging unit that the FA switching message is allowed to be sent to the charging device, and the FA switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching.

A charging system, including a charging gateway and a charging device, wherein

The charging gateway is used to obtain the IP address after the FA switching, and send the FA switching message to the charging device, and the FA switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching;

The charging device is configured to receive the FA switching message, determine the charging rate of the user terminal UE accessing the network through the FA according to the FA switching message and the charging rate of the UE on the charging device, and determine the charging rate according to the UE The quota is sent to the billing gateway for billing.

Applying the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when the FA is switched, the charging device can obtain the switching message of the FA in time according to the report of the charging gateway, and according to the IP address of the FA contained in the FA switching message and the information in the charging device The charging rate of the UE set on the network, the charging rate of the UE after the FA switching is obtained in time, and the quota is sent to the charging gateway according to the charging rate of the UE after the FA switching, so as to realize accurate charging.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a first flowchart of a billing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a second flow chart of a billing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a third flowchart of a billing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fourth flowchart of a billing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a first schematic diagram of a billing device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6a is a second schematic diagram of a billing device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6b is a third schematic diagram of a billing device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7a is a first schematic diagram of a charging gateway provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7b is a second schematic diagram of a charging gateway provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 8a is a third schematic diagram of a charging gateway provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 8b is a fourth schematic diagram of a charging gateway provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a billing system provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Referring to accompanying drawing 1, the embodiment of the present invention provides a kind of billing method, when the external agent FA switches, including:

101. Receive the FA switching message sent by the charging gateway, where the switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching;

102. According to the FA switching message and the settings on the charging device, determine the charging rate of the user terminal UE that accesses the network through the switched FA, and send the quota to the charging gateway according to the determined charging rate of the UE , for billing.

In the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when the FA is switched, the charging device can obtain the IP address after the FA switching in time, and determine the UE charging rate after the FA switching according to the UE charging rate set on the charging device, According to the charging rate of the UE after the FA switching, the quota is sent to the charging gateway for charging, and accurate charging is realized. The charging gateway here can be a CCG or an HA that includes a content charging gateway function. That is, HA/CCG; the charging device can be an online charging system (Online charging System, OCS), or a CAMEL system, etc.

Referring to Figure 2, a charging method provided by an embodiment of the present invention is described by taking the charging gateway as HA/CCG and the charging device as OCS as an example, including:

201. Set the UE's tariff on the OCS and the command "allowing to report FA switching events", and set the UE's tariff on the OCS based on the FA's identity, and the FA's identity includes the FA's IP address or the FA's IP Address groups, including:

Set the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" on the OCS, and the OCS sends the command to the HA/CCG; specifically, the OCS sends a credit control response (Credit Control Request, CCA) message to the HA/CCG, in the CCA message Including the command "allowing to report FA switching events", you can include the CHANGE_IN_FA_IP_ADDRESS flag in the trigger-type attribute of the CCA message, indicating that the reporting of FA switching events is allowed, as shown in Table 1,

message direction Parameters CCA OCS-->CCG trigger-type=CHANGE_IN_FA_IP_ADDRESS

Table 1

On the OCS, based on the IP address of the FA, set a rate for the UE that accesses the network through the FA, for example: when the IP address of the FA is set to 192.168.1.1, the rate of the UE is x1; when the IP address of the FA is 192.168.1.2, the rate The fee rate is x2; when the IP address of FA is 192.168.1.3, the fee rate of UE is x3; the IP addresses of FA can also be grouped, such as setting 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, and 192.168.1.3 as an IP address group , in the IP address group, the charging rates of the UE are all X and so on.

202. Optionally, set the command "Allow to report FA switching events" on the HA/CCG, or set the FAs that need to be reported after switching on the HA/CCG based on the identification of the FA. The identification of the FA includes the IP address of the FA Or the IP address group of FA, including:

On the HA/CCG, set the "Allow reporting of FA switching events" command.

You can also set the IP address or IP address group of the FA that needs to be reported to the OCS on the HA/CCG.

Specifically: when the IP address after FA switching is set to 192.168.1.2, it needs to be reported to OCS; when the IP address after FA switching is 192.168.1.3, it does not need to be reported to OCS, etc.; it can also be determined according to the IP address group of FA Is it necessary to report to the OCS when the FA is switched? For example, when the IP address of the FA is 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, or 192.168.1.3, an IP address group is formed. After the FA is switched, the IP address becomes any one in the IP address group. , it needs to be reported to the OCS and so on.

This step is an optional step, and if there is no such step, step 203 is performed directly.

203. The HA/CCG obtains the IP address after the FA switching, and judges whether to allow reporting of the FA switching event, including:

During the user's network access process, if the FA is switched, the switched FA re-establishes a tunnel connection with the HA/CCG, and the UE needs to re-register with the HA. The UE sends a Registration Request message to the FA, and the FA forwards the message. For the HA, the Registration Request message contains the IP address of the FA, or the FA initiates the registration of the UE, and the FA sends a Registration Request message to the HA, including the IP address of the FA. The HA/CCG learns that the FA has switched and received the Registration Request message. IP address after the FA switchover. The HA/CCG judges whether it has received or saved the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" sent by the OCS, and if so, executes step 205, and if not, executes step 204;

204. The HA/CCG judges whether the command "allowing to report the FA handover event" is set on itself, and if so, executes step 205; if not, still performs charging according to the UE's original charging rate.

Wherein, the settings in step 201 and step 202 are not in sequence, and can be performed simultaneously or separately. In step 203 and step 204, the command "Allow FA switching event to be reported" can be set on OCS and HA/CCG at the same time, or "Allow FA switching event to be reported" can be set on OCS or HA/CCG respectively The priority of the "Allow to report FA switching event" command set on OCS is higher than the priority of the "Allow to report FA switching event" command set on HA/CCG. When HA/CCG receives the When the "Allow to report FA switching event" command, report it according to the received command. When the HA/CCG does not receive the "Allow to report FA switching event" command issued by OCS, follow the " Allow reporting of FA switching events" command to report.

205. The HA/CCG judges according to the acquired IP address of the FA after switching and the set IP address or IP address group of the FA that needs to be reported after the switching. If it is determined that the FA needs to be reported after the switching, then the IP The address is reported to the OCS. If there is no need to report, the original charging rate of the UE is still charged. specific:

The HA/CCG sends the authentication control request (Credit Control Request, CCR) message to the OCS, which contains the identifier of the IP address after the FA switch, and can include the FA IP Address identifier in the PDSN-Address attribute of the CCR message, which includes the FA The switched IP address is shown in Table 2:

message direction Parameters CCR CCG-->OCS trigger-type=CHANGE_IN_FA_IP_ADDRESSPDSN-Address=FA IP Address

Table 2

Optionally, the HA/CCG may also send the message that the FA has been switched to the OCS, specifically including: carrying the FA switching event in the CCR message, and including the CHANGE_IN_FA_IP_ADDRESS flag in the trigger attribute of the CCR message, which indicates that the FA has occurred switch, as shown in Table 2.

Step 205 is an optional step. The HA/CCG may also determine that the command "allowing to report FA switching events" sent by the OCS is stored, or determine that the "allowing to report FA switching events" is set on the HA/CCG. When ordering, report the IP address of the FA after switching to the OCS, instead of determining whether the FA needs to be reported according to the IP address of the FA that needs to be reported after the switching set on the HA/CCG. For the specific reporting process, refer to step 205 .

206. The OCS compares the received IP address after the FA switch with the UE fee rate set on the OCS, determines whether the UE fee rate has changed after the FA switch, and sends it to the HA/CCG according to the UE fee rate after the FA switch Quotas, specifically:

The OCS parses the received CCR message to obtain the IP address after the FA switch, and compares the obtained IP address of the FA with the UE tariff set on the OCS to determine whether the UE tariff has changed. If the rate changes, the quota will be sent to HA/CCG according to the new rate;

If the charging rate of the UE does not change, the OCS also sends the quota to the HA/CCG according to the original charging rate.

HA/CCG counts the UE's business traffic and compares it with the received quota. When the traffic is greater than or equal to the quota, it continues to apply for a quota from the OCS. If the quota is applied, the UE is allowed to continue accessing. If the quota is not applied, it is terminated. Services accessed by the UE.

The billing method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when billing on HA/CCG, when FA is switched, HA/CCG can send the IP address after FA switching to OCS in time, and OCS will The UE charging rate set in OCS in advance determines the corresponding UE charging rate after FA switching, and sends the quota to the HA/CCG according to the determined charging rate for charging, making the charging more accurate.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the setting action takes place before the FA switching, and when the FA switching occurs, the operation between the charging gateway and the charging device after the FA switching occurs according to the preset settings.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the billing gateway is HA/CCG. Of course, HA and CCG can also be set in the system as independent network elements, that is, the billing gateway is CCG. At this time, the charging function is implemented on HA, and the CCG It realizes functions such as statistical traffic information and packet forwarding. The command "Allow to report the FA switching event" can be set on the CCG, and at the same time, whether to report after the FA switching is set on the CCG. The charging process is similar to the embodiment of the present invention, except that when the FA switches, the HA can Obtain the FA handover and the IP address after the FA handover in time, and send the FA handover IP address to the CCG, and the CCG decides whether to report it to the OCS according to the settings.

Referring to accompanying drawing 3, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a charging method, when the charging gateway is CCG, and the charging device is OCS, the IP address of the FA that needs to be reported after switching is set on the CCG, and the IP address of the FA that needs to be reported is set on the OCS The command "allowing to report FA switching events" includes:

301. Set the UE's charging rate and the command "allowing to report the FA handover event" on the OCS, including:

Set the command "Allow to report the FA switching event" on the OCS, and the OCS sends the command to the CCG. For the specific sending process, refer to step 201;

When the IP address of the FA is set to 192.168.1.1 on the OCS, the tariff rate of the UE is x1; when the IP address of the FA is 192.168.1.2, the tariff rate of the UE is x2.

302. Set the FA that needs to be reported after the handover on the CCG, including:

When the IP address after FA switching is set on CCG to 192.168.1.2, send the IP address after FA switching to OCS;

When the FA switches, referring to Figure 3, perform the following steps:

303. The CCG acquires the IP address after the FA switch, including

When the FA is switched and the IP address of the FA is switched from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.2, the switched FA re-establishes a tunnel connection with the HA, and the Registration Request message sent by the FA to the HA contains the IP address after the FA switch. Obtain the IP address of the FA after switching and switching, and send the switched IP address of the FA to the CCG.

304. The CCG judges whether to allow reporting of the FA switching event;

The CCG determines that it has received the command "allow to report the FA switching event" issued by the OCS, and allows the reporting of the FA switching event, and executes step 305 .

305. The CCG determines that the FA needs to be reported after switching according to the acquired IP address of the FA after switching and the set IP address of the FA that needs to be reported after switching;

CCG receives the IP address after the FA switch from the HA is 192.168.1.2, and needs to report when the IP address changes to 192.168.1.2 after the FA switch set on the CCG. It is determined that the FA switch needs to be reported, so the CCG The IP address 192.168.1.2 after the FA switching is sent to the OCS through the CCR message. Refer to step 205 for the specific sending process.

306. The OCS determines the charging rate of the UE that accesses the network through the switched FA according to the IP address after the FA switching and the charging rate of the UE set on the OCS, and sends the quota to the CCG according to the charging rate of the UE after the FA switching, including:

After receiving the CCR message, the OCS analyzes the CCR message, and finds that the FA has switched, and obtains the IP address of the FA after the switch is 192.168.1.2, compares it with the set UE tariff, and obtains the IP address of the FA is 192.168 .1.2 UE's charging rate is x2, UE's charging rate has changed, so OCS sends quota to CCG according to new charging rate x2 for charging.

CCG counts the UE's business traffic and compares it with the received quota. When the traffic is greater than or equal to the quota, it continues to apply for a quota from the OCS. If the quota is applied, the UE is allowed to continue to access. If the quota cannot be applied, the UE's access is terminated. Business.

For example: CCG receives the quota of 1M traffic sent by OCS, then allows the UE to continue the ongoing business, and counts the traffic of the UE accessing the business. When the counted traffic is greater than or equal to 1M, CCG continues to apply for the quota from OCS. If OCS should If the user's quota is still 200K, then continue to deliver the 200K quota to the CCG, and the issued CCA message includes a command to terminate the service accessed by the user when the quota is exhausted.

Using the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when the FA is switched, the HA sends the FA switched and the switched IP address to the CCG, and the CCG sends the "Allow to report the FA switching event" command sent by the OCS and the CCG The IP address of the FA that needs to be reported after the switch is set on the above, and the IP address after the FA switch is determined to be sent to the OCS. After the FA switching, the charging rate of the UE is sent to the quota, so that the charging is more accurate.

Referring to accompanying drawing 4, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a charging method, wherein the charging gateway is HA/CCG, and when the charging device is OCS, the command "Allow to report FA switching event" is set on HA/CCG ,include:

401. Set the UE rate on the OCS, including:

When the IP address of the FA is set to 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, and 192.168.1.3 on the OCS, IP address group 0 is formed. The rate is y.

402. Set the command "allowing to report FA switching events" on the HA/CCG, and set the FAs that need to be reported after the switching; including:

Set the command "allow to report FA switching events" on HA/CCG;

When the IP addresses of HA/CCG are set to 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.4, and 192.168.1.5, IP address group No. 1 is formed. When the IP address of FA becomes any one of IP address group No. 1, the FA The switched IP address is reported to the OCS.

When the FA is switched, refer to Figure 4 and perform the following steps:

403. The HA/CCG obtains the IP address after the FA switch, including:

When the FA is switched, the switched FA re-establishes a tunnel connection with the HA/CCG, and the Registration Request message sent by the FA to the HA/CCG contains the IP address after the FA switch, and the Registration Request message received by the HA/CCG obtains the FA IP address after the switchover and FA switchover.

404. The HA/CCG judges whether to allow the reporting of the handover event;

The HA/CCG determines that it has not received the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" sent by the OCS; therefore, step 405 needs to be performed.

405. The HA/CCG determines that the command "allowing to report FA switching events" is set on the HA/CCG, then allows reporting the IP address after FA switching, and executes step 406;

406. The HA/CCG determines whether to report after the FA is switched according to the IP address of the FA after switching and the set IP address group of the FA that needs to be reported after switching;

The IP address obtained by HA/CCG after FA switching is 192.168.1.1. 192.168.1.1 is an address in the No. 1 IP address group set on HA/CCG. It needs to be reported after the FA switching is confirmed. Therefore, after the HAA/CCG FA is switched, the IP address is sent to the OCS through a CCR message, and the specific sending process refers to step 205.

407. The OCS determines the fee rate of the UE after the FA switch according to the IP address after the FA switch and the set UE fee rate, and sends the quota to the HA/CCG according to the UE fee rate.

After the OCS receives the CCR message, it analyzes the CCR message, and obtains the IP address after the FA switch is 192.168.1.1; compares it with the IP address group of the FA set on the OCS, and the IP address after the FA switch becomes 0 One of the IP address groups determines that the charging rate of the UE accessed through the FA becomes x, and the charging rate of the UE changes, so the OCS sends a quota to the HA/CCG according to the new charging rate x.

HA/CCG counts the UE's business traffic and compares it with the received quota. When the traffic is greater than or equal to the quota, it continues to apply for a quota from the OCS. If the quota is applied, the UE is allowed to continue accessing. If the quota is not applied, it is terminated. Services accessed by the UE.

Using the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, an IP address group can be set on the HA/CCG. When the HA/CCG determines that the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" is set, and the IP address after the FA switching is No. 1 When it is an address in the IP address group, it is allowed to report the IP address after FA switching to OCS; OCS determines according to the received IP address and the set UE fee rate, and the fee rate of the UE connected to the network through the switched FA occurs If there is a change, it will be billed according to the changed rate. At the same time, UEs corresponding to FAs in the same IP address group have the same charging rate, so that when the UE roams in the area corresponding to the IP address group of the FA, it will be billed according to the same charging rate. When roaming outside the area , it will be billed according to the new rate, making the billing more accurate and flexible.

Referring to accompanying drawing 5, the embodiment of the present invention provides a billing device 500, comprising:

The receiving unit 501 is configured to receive the FA switching message sent by the charging gateway, where the FA switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching;

The determining unit 502 is configured to determine the charging rate of the UE that accesses the network through the FA according to the FA switching message in the receiving unit 501 and the charging rate of the UE set on the charging device;

The sending unit 503 is configured to send the quota to the charging gateway according to the charging rate of the UE determined by the determining unit 502 .

The billing device provided by the embodiment of the present invention can obtain the IP address after the FA switching in time, and determine the billing rate of the UE connected to the network through the switched FA according to the preset setting, so that the billing is more accurate.

6, the embodiment of the present invention also provides a billing device 600, including a receiving unit 601, a sending unit 602, a first setting unit 603 and a determining unit 604, wherein

The receiving unit 601 is configured to receive the FA switching message sent by the charging gateway, where the FA switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching;

The first setting unit 603 is configured to set the charging rate of the UE based on the identification of the FA on the charging device 600, and the identification of the FA may be the IP address of the FA or the IP address group of the FA;

The determining unit 604 is configured to determine the charging rate of the UE that accesses the network through the FA according to the FA switching message in the receiving unit 601 and the charging rate of the UE set in the first setting unit 603;

The sending unit 602 is configured to send the quota request to the charging gateway according to the charging rate of the UE determined in the determining unit 604 .

In an embodiment of the present invention, it may also include:

The second setting unit 605 is used to set the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" on the billing device 600;

The sending unit 602 is further configured to send the command for setting "allowing to report the FA switching event" in the second setting unit 603 to the charging gateway.

In the billing device provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the command "allowing to report FA switching events" is set on the billing device and sent to the billing gateway to allow reporting after FA switching; at the same time, the billing device can obtain FA in time The IP address after switching, and determine the charging rate of the terminal connected to the network through the switching FA according to the preset setting, and charge according to the determined terminal charging rate, so that the charging is more accurate.

Referring to FIG. 7 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a billing gateway 700, including an acquisition unit 701, a first judgment unit 702, and a sending unit 703, wherein

An acquisition unit 701, configured to acquire an IP address after FA switching;

The first judging unit 702 is configured to determine whether to allow sending an FA switching message to the charging device;

The sending unit 703 is configured to send the switching message to the charging device when it is determined in the first judging unit 702 that the FA switching message is allowed to be sent to the charging device, and the switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching.

in,

The obtaining unit 701 is also configured to receive the command "Allow to report the FA switching event" sent by the billing device;

The first judging unit 702 determines that an FA switching message needs to be sent to the charging device according to the command "allow to report the FA switching event" received in the acquiring unit 701 .

In an embodiment of the present invention, it may also include:

The fourth setting unit 704 is used to set the identity of the FA that needs to be reported after switching on the billing gateway 700;

The second judging unit 705 is configured to, when the obtaining unit 701 determines to receive the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" sent by the charging device, according to the identification of the FA that needs to be reported after switching set in the fourth setting unit 704 , to determine whether to report the FA switching message.

The billing gateway provided by the embodiment of the present invention can obtain the IP address after FA switching and FA switching in time, and send the IP address after FA switching to the billing device according to the preset settings, so that the billing device can timely The switched IP address of the FA is obtained, and then the charging rate of the terminal connected to the network through the switched FA is determined, so that the charging is more accurate.

Referring to FIG. 8 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a charging gateway, including: an acquisition unit 801, a first judgment unit 802, a sending unit 803, and a third setting unit 804, wherein:

The obtaining unit 801 is configured to obtain the IP address after the FA switching, and obtain the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" sent by the billing device;

The third setting unit 804 is configured to set the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" on the charging gateway 800;

The first judging unit 802 determines that the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" has not been received in the acquiring unit 801, determines that the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" is set in the third setting unit 804, and determines that it is necessary to report to the charging device Send FA switching message;

The sending unit 803 is configured to send the switching message to the charging device when it is determined in the first judging unit 802 that the FA switching message is allowed to be sent to the charging device, and the switching message includes the IP address after the FA switching.

In an embodiment of the present invention, it may also include:

The fourth setting unit 805 is used to set the identity of the FA that needs to be reported after switching on the billing gateway 800;

The second judging unit 806 is configured to determine in the acquiring unit 801 that the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" sent by the charging device is received or the first setting unit 804 is set with the command "allowing to report the FA switching event" When ordering, determine whether to report the FA switching message according to the identifiers of the FAs that need to be reported after switching set in the second setting unit 805 .

The billing gateway provided by the embodiment of the present invention, in the case of allowing the reporting of the FA switching event, further judges whether to report after the FA switching according to the setting in advance on the billing gateway, and provides diversified options for billing.

Referring to Figure 9, an embodiment of the present invention provides a billing system, including a billing gateway 902 and a billing device 901,

The charging gateway 902 is configured to obtain the IP address after FA switching, and send an FA switching message to the charging device, where the FA switching message includes the IP address after FA switching;

The charging device 901 is configured to receive the FA switching message, determine the charging rate of the user terminal UE that accesses the network through the FA according to the FA switching message and the charging rate of the UE on the charging device 901, and according to the The charging rate of the UE sends the quota to the charging gateway 902 for charging.

In the billing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention,

The billing gateway 902 is also used to set the command "allowing to report the FA switching event";

The billing device 901 is also configured to set the command "Allow reporting of FA switching events";

The billing gateway 902 determines that it is necessary to send the FA switching message according to the command "allow to report the FA switching event" sent by the billing device 901, or according to the command "allow to report the FA switching event" set on the billing gateway 902 To the billing device 901.

in,

The billing gateway 902 is also used to set the identification of the FA that needs to be reported after switching;

The billing gateway 902 acquires the IP address after the FA switch, and according to the command "Allow to report the FA switch event" sent by the billing device 901, or according to the "Allow to report the FA switch event" set on the billing gateway 902 command, and at the same time determine whether to allow the FA switching message to be sent to the charging device 901 according to the IP address after the switching of the FA and the identification of the FA that needs to be reported after switching set on the charging gateway 802 .

In the billing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the billing gateway acquires the FA switching and the IP address after the FA switching, and sends the IP address after the FA switching to the billing device in time, and the billing device follows the preset settings, Determine the charge rate of the terminal accessing the network through the switched FA, and send the quota to the charging gateway according to the determined charge rate. The billing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention can adjust the billing rate of the terminal in time to make the billing more accurate.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps for realizing the above-mentioned method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions, and the aforementioned program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the program is executed, the It includes the steps of the above method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: ROM, RAM, magnetic disk or optical disk and other various media that can store program codes.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalent technologies, the present invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims (20)

1, a kind of charging method is characterized in that, when external agent FA switches, comprising:

Receive the FA switching message that charging gateway sends, described FA switches the IP address after message comprises the FA switching;

According to the rate of described FA switching message and the user terminal UE on message accounting, determine rate, and send quota to charging gateway according to the rate of the described UE that determines by the UE of the networking of the FA after the described switching, charge.

2, a kind of charging method as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, also comprises:

The rate of UE is set based on the sign of FA on message accounting.

3, a kind of charging method as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that, also comprises:

The order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " is set on message accounting; Perhaps

The order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " is set on charging gateway; Perhaps

The order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " is set on message accounting and charging gateway.

4, a kind of charging method as claimed in claim 3, it is characterized in that, the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " is set on message accounting, the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " perhaps is set on message accounting and charging gateway, also comprise:

Described message accounting sends to charging gateway with the order of described " allowing the FA handover event is reported ".

5, a kind of charging method as claimed in claim 4 is characterized in that, also comprises:

Described charging gateway obtains the IP address after FA switches;

Determine to preserve on the charging gateway order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " that message accounting sends;

Send described FA to message accounting and switch message, described FA switches the IP address after message comprises the FA switching.

6, as claim 4 or 5 arbitrary described a kind of charging methods, it is characterized in that, when charging gateway is content charging gateway CCG or the home agent HA/CCG that has realized the content charging function, when message accounting is Online Charging System OCS, described message accounting sends to charging gateway with described " allowing the FA handover event is reported " order, comprising:

OCS sends authentication control to charging gateway and replys CCA message, and described CCA message comprises the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ".

7, a kind of charging method as claimed in claim 3 is characterized in that, the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " is set on charging gateway, also comprises:

Described charging gateway obtains the IP address after FA switches;

Determine not preserve on the charging gateway order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " that message accounting sends;

Determine that charging gateway is provided with the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ";

Send FA to message accounting and switch message, described FA switches the IP address after message comprises the FA switching.

As claim 5 or 7 arbitrary described a kind of charging methods, it is characterized in that 8, charging gateway is provided with the sign that needs the FA that reports after the switching, describedly send FA to message accounting and also comprise before switching message:

Determine and described FA need be switched information reporting according to the IP address that is arranged on after sign that needs the FA that reports on the charging gateway and the FA that obtains are switched.

9, a kind of charging method as claimed in claim 8 is characterized in that,

When charging gateway is CCG or HA/CCG, when message accounting was OCS, described charging gateway switched message with FA and sends to OCS, comprising:

Charging gateway sends authentication control request CCR message to OCS, and described CCR message comprises the IP address after FA switches.

As claim 2 or 8 arbitrary described a kind of charging methods, it is characterized in that 10, the sign of described FA is the IP address of FA or the IP group of addresses of FA.

11, a kind of message accounting is characterized in that, comprising:

Receiving element is used to receive the FA switching message that charging gateway sends, and described FA switches the IP address after message comprises the FA switching;

Determining unit is used for the rate according to receiving element FA switching message and the user terminal UE on message accounting, determines the rate by the UE of the networking of the FA after the described switching;

Transmitting element is used for asking quota according to the rate of the definite described UE of determining unit to the charging gateway transmission.

12, a kind of message accounting as claimed in claim 11 is characterized in that, also comprises:

First is provided with the unit, is used for being provided with based on the sign of FA on message accounting the rate of UE.

13, a kind of message accounting as claimed in claim 12 is characterized in that, also comprises:

Second is provided with the unit, is used for being provided with on message accounting the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ";

Transmitting element also sends to charging gateway with the order that will " allow the FA handover event is reported ".

14, a kind of charging gateway is characterized in that, comprising:

Acquiring unit is used to obtain the IP address after FA switches;

First judging unit is used to judge whether allow to send FA to message accounting and switches message;

Transmitting element is used for determining that at first judging unit permission when message accounting sends FA switching message, sends to message accounting with described FA switching message that described FA switches the IP address after message comprises the FA switching.

15, a kind of charging gateway as claimed in claim 14 is characterized in that, also comprises:

Acquiring unit also is used to receive the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " that message accounting sends;

First judging unit determines that according to the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " of receiving in the acquiring unit need send FA to message accounting switches message.

16, a kind of charging gateway as claimed in claim 14 is characterized in that, also comprises:

The 3rd is provided with the unit, is used for being provided with on charging gateway the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ";

First judging unit determines not receive in the acquiring unit order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ", determines that first is provided with in the unit order that is provided with " allowing the FA handover event is reported ", determines that need send FA to message accounting switches message.

17, as claim 15 or 16 described a kind of charging gateways, it is characterized in that, also comprise:

The 4th is provided with the unit, needing after on the charging gateway switching being set to be used for the sign of the FA that reports;

Second judging unit, be used for determining to receive the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " that message accounting sends or when first is provided with in the unit order that is provided with " allowing the FA handover event is reported " when acquiring unit, the sign that needs the FA that reports after the switching that is provided with in the unit is set according to second, determines whether and described FA need be switched information reporting.

18, a kind of charge system is characterized in that, comprises charging gateway and message accounting, wherein

Charging gateway is used to obtain the IP address after FA switches, and sends FA to message accounting and switches message, and described FA switches the IP address after message comprises the FA switching;

Message accounting is used to receive described FA and switches message, according to the rate of described FA switching message and the UE on message accounting, determines the rate by the user terminal UE of described FA networking, and sends quota according to the rate of described UE to charging gateway, charges.

19, a kind of charge system as claimed in claim 18 is characterized in that,

Message accounting also is used for being provided with the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ";

Charging gateway also is used for being provided with the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported ";

Charging gateway perhaps according to the order that is arranged on " allowing the FA handover event is reported " on the charging gateway, determines that FA need be switched message sends to message accounting according to the order of message accounting transmission " allowing the FA handover event is reported ".

20, a kind of charge system as claimed in claim 19 is characterized in that,

Charging gateway also is used to be provided with the sign that needs the FA that reports after the switching;

Charging gateway obtains the IP address after FA switches, and the order of " allowing the FA handover event is reported " of sending according to message accounting, perhaps according to the order that is arranged on " allowing the FA handover event is reported " on the charging gateway, IP address after switching according to FA simultaneously and the sign of the FA that needs report after the switching that is provided with on the charging gateway determine whether that FA need be switched message sends to message accounting.

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