CN1992763B - A Method of Realizing Prepayment in Digital Trunking System - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for realizing prepayment in a digital trunking system. A calling terminal initiates a trunking call, and the PDS requests authentication from an authentication server; account, the terminal using the account and the billing method, and allocate quota for the inactive account, and then notify the prepaid client; the prepaid client notifies the scheduling server to only page the terminal using the prepaid account with available quota; the prepaid The fee client monitors the status and quota usage of the paging terminal, and when the prepaid account has no balance to use or the terminal using the account quits the call, it notifies the prepaid server that the billing of the account is over ; The prepaid server records the total quota and reclaims the unused quota, end. The method of the invention can charge according to duration, flow rate and call times, and realize the prepayment function according to groups and users.

Description

A method for realizing prepayment in a digital trunking system

technical field

The invention relates to a digital trunking system, in particular to a method for realizing prepayment in a digital trunking system. the

Background technique

Traditional digital trunking systems are mostly used in private networks, and the trunking services provided are limited in service scope and service population. At the same time, because the network is constructed separately and overlaps with the construction of the public network, resources are seriously wasted. A more realistic solution to the above shortcomings is to integrate the cluster business into the public network system, and gradually evolve from the original private network to a virtual private network, so as to reduce the cost of network construction and expand the scope of use. the

The current trunking communication system has gradually realized the digital trunking system using virtual private network, but it has not developed synchronously in the field of billing. The traditional trunking communication system prepayment method is basically for the group billing, the prepayment method is relatively simple, and most of them adopt the monthly subscription method by the group. The digital trunking system based on the public network system not only provides trunking services for the group, but also requires the use of trunking services for different group users and individual users without a group, so that the digital trunking system based on the public network system serves a wider range of people. It is required that the digital trunking system can provide a reasonable prepayment method to meet the needs of different levels of users, including prepayment by group, group and user, and consider the duration, traffic or number of calls when billing. It is a pity that currently there are no corresponding norms and standards in the world for the implementation of prepaid trunking systems, and there are no documents proposing solutions to the above problems. the

Contents of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a method for realizing prepayment in a digital trunking system, which can charge according to duration, flow rate and call times, and realize prepayment function by group and by user. the

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides a method for realizing prepayment in a digital trunking system, in which a prepayment client resides in a scheduling server, and a prepayment server resides in an authentication server, the method includes the following steps:

(a) The calling terminal initiates a group call, the scheduling server sends an authentication request message to the authentication server, and the authentication server authenticates the calling terminal and the called group;

(b) The prepaid server residing on the authentication server determines the prepaid account involved in the charging, the terminal using the account and the information of the charging method according to the prepaid information of the relevant user of the call, and communicates with the described Scheduling the interaction of prepaid clients residing on the server, notifying the prepaid clients of the determined information, and allocating quotas for inactive accounts;

(c) According to the obtained prepaid account and its quota situation, the prepaid client notifies the scheduling server to only page the terminal using the prepaid account with available quota;

(d) The prepaid client monitors the status and quota usage of the paging terminal, charges the prepaid account, and if the terminal using the account quits the call before the prepaid account has no balance available , go to the next step, otherwise, go to the next step when there is no balance available in the prepaid account;

(e) The prepayment client notifies the prepayment server that the billing of the prepayment account is over, carrying the total quota used by the account; the prepayment server records the total quota and reclaims the unused quota , the prepaid client clears the account information, and ends. the

Further, the above method can also have the following features: in the step (b), when the prepaid account involved is a group prepaid account, the interaction with the prepaid server is completed through the following steps:

(b1) The prepaid server determines the information about the prepaid accounts of each group involved in the billing, the terminal using the account, and the billing method, and sends the information to the prepaid client along with the authorization message;

(b2) The prepaid client terminal judges whether the group prepaid account in the authorization message has been activated, and if activated, notifies the dispatching server to paging the terminals using these accounts, and then performs step (d) to prepay the unactivated group Fee account, execute step (b3);

(b3) The prepayment client sends an application quota message to the prepayment server to apply for a quota for an inactive group prepayment account;

(b4) After the prepaid server receives the quota request, it allocates quotas for the group prepaid accounts with balances, and returns the quota allocation message to the prepaid client, and returns no balance allocation for accounts without balance allocation. information, go to step (c). the

Further, the above method can also have the following characteristics: in the step (d), when charging the group prepaid account, it is further divided into the following steps:

(d1) The prepaid client monitors the status and quota usage of all paging terminals, and when charging a group prepaid account, calculates the used quota of the account based on the accumulated quotas used by all terminals using the account;

(d2) If before the used quota of the group prepaid account reaches the threshold of the current distribution quota, all terminals using the account have withdrawn from the call, perform step (e), otherwise the used quota reaches the threshold of the current distribution quota Within a time limit, the prepaid client sends an application quota request message to the prepaid server again;

(d3) After the prepaid server receives the application quota request message, when the account still has a balance allocation, it allocates a new quota and returns it to the prepaid client through the allocation quota message, if the account has no balance When allocating, carry the information of no balance allocation in the returned allocation quota message;

(d4) After the prepaid client receives the message of quota allocation, it judges whether a new quota has been allocated for the group's prepaid account, if yes, modify the current allocated quota of the account, and return to step (d1), if not Assign a new quota to the account and proceed to the next step;

(d5) The prepaid client terminal monitors that the terminals using the group's prepaid account have used up the remaining quota, and then stops the cluster services of these terminals, and performs step (e). the

Further, the above method can also have the following features: in the step (b), when the prepaid account involved is a user prepaid account, the interaction with the prepaid server is completed through the following steps: the prepaid server Determine the user prepaid accounts involved in billing, their corresponding terminals, and billing methods, allocate quotas for each user prepaid account, and identify accounts without balance allocation, and then return these prepaid information to all The above prepaid client. the

Further, the above method can also have the following characteristics: in the step (b), when the prepaid account involved is a user prepaid account, the interaction with the prepaid server is completed through the following steps:

(b1) The prepaid server determines the information of each user's prepaid account involved in charging, the terminal using the account, and the charging method, and sends the information to the prepaid client along with the authorization message;

(b2) After the prepaid client receives the authorization message, it sends an application quota message to the prepaid server, and the message includes the prepaid account of each user;

(b3) After receiving the quota application message, the prepaid server allocates quotas for user prepaid accounts with an allocable balance, returns the quota allocation message to the prepaid client, and returns an account with no allocable balance No information on balance distribution, then go to step (c). the

Further, the above-mentioned method may also have the following features: in the step (b), the prepaid server allocates quotas for the user's prepaid account in a segmented manner, and in the described step (d), the user prepaid Account billing is further divided into the following steps:

(d1) The prepaid client terminal monitors the status and quota usage of all paging terminals, if the terminal using the account quits the call before the current allocated quota of the user's prepaid account is used up, perform step (e), otherwise When the used quota reaches the threshold of the current allocated quota, send an application quota request message to the prepaid server;

(d2) After receiving the application quota request message, the prepaid server determines whether the user's prepaid account has an allocable balance, and if so, allocates a new quota for it and returns it to the prepaid client through an allocated quota message , if not, carry the information of no balance allocation in the allocation quota message;

(d3) After the prepaid client receives the allocation quota message, it judges whether a new quota has been allocated for the user's prepaid account, if yes, modify the current allocation quota of the account, and return to step (d1), if not The account is assigned a new quota, go to the next step;

(d4) The prepaid client terminal monitors that the terminal using the user's prepaid account has used up the remaining quota, then stops the cluster service of the terminal, and performs step (e). the

Further, the above method may also have the following characteristics: the quota is in units of call duration, call traffic or number of calls. the

Further, the above method may also have the following features: when the prepaid account has no balance for allocation, the prepaid server will set the quota allocated to the account in the allocation quota message as the quota of the last allocation, and in the first It is set to zero on the first allocation. the

Further, the above method may also have the following features: when the prepayment client applies for a quota again from the prepayment server, the quota application request message carries the quota currently used by the group or user prepayment account, the After receiving the message, the prepaid server records the used quota of the prepaid account. the

Further, the above method may also have the following characteristics: when the prepaid server allocates quotas for group or user prepaid accounts again and there is a balance for allocation, the allocated quotas are the last allocated quotas plus the new allocated quotas this time total amount. the

Further, the above-mentioned method may also have the following features: the threshold of the current allocated quota is specified by the prepaid server according to the allocated quota each time, and returns to the prepaid server together with the allocated quota. or, the threshold of the current allocated quota is calculated by the prepaid client according to the current allocated quota. the

Further, the above method can also have the following features: in the step (b), the prepaid server also judges whether the prepaid client resident on the dispatching server supports the prepaid account to be used for this call Charging method, for prepaid accounts that do not support the charging method, the prepaid client is not notified or quota is not allocated to it. the

Further, the above method may also have the following features: the prepayment server learns the charging mode information supported by the prepayment client through the following method: the prepayment client in the system regularly reports the charging method supported by it; charging method or when the charging method changes, report to the prepaid server to realize synchronous update; or, in the step (a), the scheduling server will reside the prepaid client supported The billing method is reported to the prepaid server residing on the authentication server together with the authentication message. the

Further, the above-mentioned method may also have the following characteristics: the digital trunking system has a roaming function, and in the step (b), the prepaid server sends the prepaid account involved in the charging to all the terminals where the terminal using the account is currently located. The scheduling server, and the prepaid clients residing on each scheduling server independently complete the billing of the received prepaid account. the

Further, the above-mentioned method can also have the following characteristics: in the step (b), when a prepaid account can adopt multiple charging methods, the prepaid customer who resides on the dispatching server where the terminal using the account is used is combined Choose one of the accounting methods supported by both terminals. the

Further, the above method may also have the following features: in the step (b), when the user has multiple prepaid accounts at the same time, the prepaid server selects one of the prepaid accounts according to a preset strategy, and then presses the The billing process for prepaid accounts is processed. the

It can be seen from the above that the method of the present invention can meet the requirements of prepaid charging for trunking services according to duration, traffic, and number of calls, and at the same time support the realization of prepaid functions by group and by user, and the prepaid realization method of allocating cumulative quotas in segments and A prepayment system, and at the same time, the scheme of the present invention allows multiple prepayment clients to use one prepayment account at the same time during use of the system, which can minimize billing errors. the

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between charging entities of the digital trunking system prepaid service in the present invention. the

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of message interaction in the process of group prepayment according to the present invention. the

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of message interaction in the process of group prepayment according to the present invention. the

Detailed ways

The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. the

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of entities directly related to prepayment in the digital trunking system of the present invention. A prepayment server 12 is connected to one or more prepayment clients 11 through an IP network 10 . The prepayment client usually resides on the dispatching server of the digital trunking system, and the prepayment server usually resides on the authentication server of the trunking dispatching system, responsible for managing the user's prepayment information, such as the user's prepayment account and billing method wait. The dispatch server (PDS) communicates with the terminal through the base station subsystem (BSS). It should be noted that the above-mentioned residency is a logical residency. On a physical entity, the prepayment server and the authentication server, the prepayment client and the scheduling server are usually integrated, but the possibility of separation is not ruled out. , such as using the current SCP to manage prepaid information, its processing part and the SCP need to use the interface to communicate with each other. the

The prepaid client can charge by call duration, call traffic or number of calls. And the prepayment mode of the present invention includes prepayment by group, prepayment by group and prepayment by user. Group calls can choose prepaid by group, prepaid by group and prepaid by user. The private call service can choose prepaid by group or prepaid by user. The billing object of prepayment by group and by user is the terminal, and the billing of the group is only the accumulation of the billing including the terminal; the prepayment by group is different, and the billing object of the group call is group call. The duration, flow or number of calculations, the number of terminals can be considered when charging, but each terminal is not charged separately. the

The three prepayment modes are described below with three embodiments. the

The first embodiment: prepayment by group

This embodiment is a method for realizing group prepayment on a digital trunking system. Prepaid by group means that the calls made by the members of the group will be charged from the group prepaid account, which is characterized in that the users involved in each call may belong to different groups, and users of the same group can initiate or join calls separately. Therefore, when a group member initiates a call or is paged, the corresponding group prepaid account may already be activated on the dispatch server. the

The flow of the method in this embodiment will be described below, please refer to the message interaction in Figure 2, including the following steps:

Step 110, the calling terminal initiates a group call, which can be a group call or a private call, and the calling message is sent to the dispatching server through the base station subsystem;

Step 120, the scheduling server sends an authentication request message to the authentication server, and the authentication server authenticates the calling terminal and the called group, and if the authentication fails, the subsequent steps are not executed;

Step 130, the prepaid server residing on the authentication server determines the prepaid accounts of each group involved in the billing, the terminals using the accounts, and the accounts according to the prepaid information of the relevant users of this call (referring to the calling party and all called parties). Payment method and other information, the information is sent to the scheduling server along with the authorization message replied after the authentication is passed, and then forwarded to the resident prepaid client;

Step 140, after the prepayment client receives the authorization message, judge whether the group prepayment account therein has been activated, if activated, then notify the dispatching server to paging the terminals using these accounts, and perform step 180, for unactivated group prepaid accounts Prepaid account, go to step 150;

Step 150, the prepayment client sends an application quota message to the prepayment server to apply for a quota for an inactive group prepayment account;

Step 160, after the prepaid server receives the quota request, it allocates quotas (in units of duration, traffic or call times) and quota thresholds for the group prepaid accounts therein, and allocates zero quotas for accounts without balance distribution, and then allocates quotas by allocating quotas. The message is returned to the prepaid client;

Step 170, after the prepaid client receives the quotas allocated for each group's prepaid accounts, if there are available quotas, notify the scheduling server to initiate paging to the terminals using these accounts; initiate a paging;

After the call is established, perform the following billing process for each group prepaid account to which the terminal that initiated the paging belongs:

Step 180, the prepaid client monitors the status and quota usage of all paging terminals, and when charging a group prepaid account, calculates the account's used quota according to the accumulated quota used by all terminals using the account;

After paging a terminal, the terminal may access immediately, later, or never receive a call. When the client monitors the status of the terminal, the terminal that does not receive a call also includes the monitoring of the status of the call paging the terminal. , when the call for paging the terminal ends, it is considered that the terminal has withdrawn from the call. the

Step 190, if before the used quota of the group prepaid account reaches the current quota threshold, all terminals using the account quit the call, perform step 240, otherwise, when the used quota reaches the current quota threshold, perform the next step ;

Step 200, the prepaid client sends a request for quota application to the prepaid server again, and the message carries the quota currently used by the group's prepaid account;

Step 210, after receiving the quota request, the prepayment server records the quota used by the group prepayment account, allocates a quota and quota threshold for the account again, and returns the quota allocation message to the prepayment client. If the account still has a balance allocation, the allocated quota is the total of the last allocated quota and the newly allocated quota, and the quota threshold is also recalculated based on the total quota. If there is no balance, the last allocated quota and quota threshold are returned;

Step 220, after the prepaid client terminal receives the allocation quota message, it is judged whether a new quota has been allocated for the group prepaid account, if yes, the current allocation quota and the quota threshold of the account are modified, and step 180 is returned, if a new quota is allocated Quota, go to the next step;

Step 230, the prepaid client terminal monitors that the terminals using the group's prepaid account have used up the remaining quota, and then stops the cluster services of these terminals;

Step 240, the prepayment client sends a prepayment end request message to the prepayment server, carrying the total quota currently used by the group's prepayment account;

Step 250, the prepayment server records the total amount of quota used by the group's prepayment account for this charging, reclaims the allocated but unused quota, and returns the end prepayment response message to the prepayment client, and the prepayment client clears the prepayment Account information, end. the

In the above process, the quota uses the duration, traffic or call times in the account billing method as the unit, which can facilitate the calculation of the quota by the prepaid client. In addition, the quota in this embodiment is allocated in sections, because for a group prepaid account, it is inappropriate to allocate the full amount to the terminal of a certain call. Moreover, since the packet message between the prepayment server and the prepayment client may be lost, the method of segment allocation can reduce the loss caused by message loss. As for the quota allocated each time, it may be a fixed value, or may be adjusted according to the number of terminals, which is not limited in the present invention. the

The prepaid client carries the used quota each time it applies for a quota, and the prepaid server records the used quota of the group prepaid account, which can also reduce the loss caused by packet loss. the

When using the billing method of duration and traffic, the quota threshold mentioned in the process can be set as a proportional value of the quota, such as 70% to 90%, and the prepaid client will apply again in time when the used quota reaches the threshold Quota, thus avoiding the interruption of calls caused by insufficient quota. However, in other implementations, the threshold is not the same as specified by the prepaid server and sent to the scheduling server, and the scheduling server can use a ratio of the current allocated quota, or subtract a fixed value from the current allocated quota to obtain The current quota threshold is also possible. However, it is not as flexible as setting it in a prepaid server. the

When using the billing method of the number of calls, the quota allocated each time can be set to 1, and the upper limit of the quota can not be set or set to 1, and when calculating the used quota of the terminal, it is not necessary to monitor the duration and flow of the terminal. Setting the used quota to 1 when exiting a call does the trick. As for other billing methods, it is also possible to calculate the number of times of speaking during a call. If the user says 3 words during a call, it will be counted as 3. This counts the number of times the terminal obtains the right to speak when billing. That's it. the

If one charging method is uniformly adopted in the system, the actual authorization message may not carry the charging method information, which should be regarded as carrying the default charging method information. the

In the above process, when the prepayment server finds that the group prepaid account has no balance to allocate, it allocates zero quota or the quota and quota threshold allocated last time, but in another embodiment, other means that there is no balance allocation can also be used. Information, such as setting a flag. the

The second embodiment: prepayment by user

This embodiment is a method for realizing prepayment per user on a digital trunking system. The feature of prepayment by user is that the user's prepaid account is used by the user alone, and there is no situation that the user's prepaid account is activated when the user joins the call. When billing, billing is carried out according to the call duration, call traffic or number of calls of a single terminal. the

The flow process of the method of this embodiment will be introduced below, including the following steps:

Step 310, the calling terminal initiates a group call, which can be a group call or a private call, and the calling message is sent to the dispatching server through the base station subsystem;

Step 320, the scheduling server sends an authentication request message to the authentication server, and the authentication server authenticates the calling terminal and the called group;

Step 330, the prepaid server residing on the authentication server determines the user's prepaid account, corresponding terminal, charging method and other information involved in the billing according to the prepaid information of the relevant user of the call, and prepays for each user Quota (duration, traffic or call times) and quota thresholds are assigned to premium accounts, and zero quota is assigned to accounts without balance distribution, and these prepaid information is returned to the prepaid client resident on the scheduling server through authorization messages or quota allocation messages ;

Step 340: After receiving the quota distribution message, the prepaid client notifies the dispatching server to initiate paging to the terminal using the account for the user prepaid account with available quota, and notifies the dispatching server not to page the account without available quota. call terminals using these accounts;

After the call is established, perform the following billing process for each user prepaid account corresponding to the paging terminal:

Step 350, the prepaid client terminal monitors the state of the paging terminal, the quota usage, if the terminal using the account has withdrawn from the call before the account has used the quota to reach its current quota threshold, step 400 is performed, otherwise the When the usage quota reaches the current quota threshold, go to the next step;

Step 360, the prepaid client sends a request for quota application to the prepaid server again, and the message carries the currently used quota of the user's prepaid account;

Step 370, after the prepaid server receives the quota request, it records the used quota of the user's prepaid account, and allocates the quota and the quota threshold for the account again, and returns to the prepaid client through the allocated quota message. For balance allocation, the allocated quota is the total of the last allocated quota and the newly allocated quota, and the quota threshold is also recalculated based on the total quota. If there is no balance, the last allocated quota and quota threshold are returned;

Step 380, after the prepaid client receives the allocation quota message, it is judged whether a new quota has been allocated for the user's prepaid account, if yes, modify the current allocation quota and quota threshold of the account, and return to step 350, otherwise, execute step 390;

Step 390, the prepaid client terminal monitors that the terminal using the user's prepaid account has used up the remaining quota, and then stops the cluster service of the terminal;

Step 400, the prepayment client sends a prepayment end request message to the prepayment server, carrying the total quota currently used by the user's prepayment account;

Step 410, the prepayment server records the total amount of quotas used by the user's prepaid account this time, reclaims the allocated but unused quotas, and returns an end prepaid response message to the prepaid client, and the prepaid client clears the user's prepaid account information, end. the

It can be seen from the above process that since the user’s prepaid account does not have the account activated when the call is initiated, the prepaid server can perform the first quota allocation while returning the prepaid account after authentication . Of course, it is also possible to adopt the method of the first embodiment, that is, to apply for the first quota to the prepaid server for the user's prepaid account after receiving the prepaid account by the scheduling server. the

When distributing quotas for user prepaid accounts and group prepaid accounts, do not rule out the possibility of carrying out full distribution in another embodiment, if all available balances of this account are distributed when distributing quotas in step 330 (with If), there is no need to calculate the quota threshold, then after step 340, the following billing process is performed for each user prepaid account:

Step 350', the prepaid client terminal monitors the status and quota usage of the paging terminal, if the terminal quits the call before the quota of the account used by the terminal is used up, go to the next step, otherwise, when the allocated quota is used up , and then execute the next step;

Step 360', the prepayment client sends a prepayment end request message to the prepayment server, carrying the total amount of quota currently used by the user's prepayment account;

Step 370', the prepayment server records the total quota used by the user's prepayment account this time, reclaims the allocated but unused quota (if any), and returns the end prepayment response message to the prepayment client, and the prepayment client Clear the information of the user's prepaid account, and end. the

Generally speaking, if the terminal withdraws from the call before the account has no balance to use (including the two situations that the balance has been exhausted or not enough to allocate), the prepayment is ended and the quota is returned, otherwise the prepayment is ended when the account has no balance to use. This is the same for segmented allocations as for one-shot allocations. the

The third embodiment: prepayment by group

This embodiment is an implementation method for realizing group prepayment on a digital trunking system. In this method, when billing the group prepaid account, only the duration or flow of the group call is calculated, and no accumulation is performed for each terminal. This is especially applicable to the current traditional digital trunking system, because the system has the advantages of large capacity and fast access, but the dispatching server only controls the base station subsystem during paging, and it is difficult to monitor the terminal in real time. When billing in this way, the situation that the user's prepaid account has just been activated on the dispatching server will not occur when the group calls out. the

In addition, it should be noted that the group prepayment proposed by the present invention is to charge the group prepaid account only when the group call occurs, and does not mean that the terminals in the group will be charged from the group when a call occurs. The group prepaid account is debited, and the latter is actually a group prepaid method. the

The flow process of the method of this embodiment will be described below, please refer to Figure 3, including the following steps:

Step 510, the calling terminal initiates a group call, and the calling message is sent to the dispatching server through the base station subsystem;

Step 520, the scheduling server sends an authentication request message to the authentication server, and the authentication server authenticates the calling terminal and the called group;

Step 530, the prepaid server residing on the authentication server determines the group prepaid account to be used for this group call and the billing method of the account, allocates a quota and a quota threshold for the account, and allocates zero if there is no balance allocation. Quota, and return these prepaid information to the prepaid client residing on the scheduling server through an authorization message or a quota allocation message;

Step 540, after the prepaid client terminal receives the allocation quota message, judge whether the group prepaid account has an available quota, if so, notify the dispatching server to initiate paging to the terminals of the group, and perform step 550; if there is no available quota, Then reject the group call and end;

Step 550, after the group call is set up, the prepaid client monitors the status and quota usage of this group call (the scheduling server has this ability), if the group prepaid account has used quota before reaching its current quota threshold The call has ended, go to step 600, otherwise, go to the next step when the used quota reaches the current quota threshold;

Step 560, the prepaid client sends a request for quota application to the prepaid server again, and the message carries the quota currently used by the prepaid account of the group;

Step 570, after the prepaid server receives the quota request, it records the used quota of the group prepaid account, and allocates the quota and the quota threshold for the account again, and returns the quota allocation message to the prepaid client. If there is a balance allocation, the allocated quota is the total of the last allocated quota and the newly allocated quota, and the quota threshold is also recalculated based on the total quota. If there is no balance, the last allocated quota and the quota threshold are returned;

Step 580, after receiving the allocation quota message, the prepaid client terminal determines whether a new quota has been allocated for the group prepaid account, if yes, revises the current allocation quota and quota threshold of the account, and returns to step 550, otherwise, executes Next step;

Step 590, after the prepaid client monitors that the group call has used up the remaining quota, stop the group call;

Step 600, the prepayment client sends a prepayment end request message to the prepayment server, carrying the total quota currently used by the group's prepayment account;

Step 610, the prepayment server records the total amount of quota used by the group prepayment account this time, reclaims the allocated but unused quota, and returns the end prepayment response message to the prepayment client, and the prepayment client clears the group prepayment Fee account information, end. the

Another implementation method can also be adopted for group prepayment, that is, the situation of each terminal can be considered when charging, such as the number of terminals added. In this case, the above process does not need to be modified. The method of calculating the quota usage for group calls is different. the

When prepaying by group, the possibility of full allocation is not excluded, and its flow is similar to the flow of full allocation of prepaid by user given later in the second embodiment, that is, all the balance is allocated for the first time. The calculation of the quota threshold is not performed, and the prepaid client monitors the status of the group call and the quota usage during billing. If it exits the call before using up its quota, it sends a prepaid end request to the prepaid server and returns the used Quota, otherwise, send a prepayment end request to the prepaid server when the quota is used up. Subsequent processing is the same. the

The processes of the above three embodiments can be changed and modified under different network conditions or under different prepayment policies. For example:

1) In a digital trunking system, prepaid clients residing on different scheduling servers may support all billing methods, and the above three processes are all based on this condition. However, when some prepaid clients do not support the billing method adopted by the prepaid account, the terminal using the account cannot be allowed to perform services. When considering this factor, in steps 130, 330 and 530 of the above three processes, it is necessary to increase the judgment whether the prepaid client resident on the dispatch server supports the account to be used for this call, that is, the group prepaid account, user prepaid account Fee account and group prepaid account. For accounts that do not support their billing methods, they will no longer be sent to the scheduling server or assigned quotas. In this way, the dispatch server will not page terminals using these accounts. the

As for how the prepayment server obtains the billing mode information supported by the prepayment client, each client may report to the associated prepayment server at regular intervals or when the information changes, so as to realize synchronous updating. Or, also in steps 202, 404 and 602, the charging mode supported by the prepaid client resident on it is reported to the prepaid server where the authentication server resides together with the authentication message by the scheduling server. the

2) In a digital trunking system with a roaming function, the scheduling server where the calling terminal is located is not necessarily the scheduling server to which the group belongs. In this case, the authentication process may be different from the above three embodiments. One of the methods is that the calling server and the dispatching server to which the group belongs initiate the authentication of the calling terminal and the called terminal respectively. The dispatching attribution register resides in the authentication server, which can know the current location of the group or terminal. the scheduling server. the

In this way, for the process of prepayment by user or prepayment by group, the user or group prepaid account corresponding to the calling terminal and its corresponding terminal and charging method can be returned when the calling server authenticates, and the home server authenticates When the user or group prepaid account related to the called terminal and its corresponding terminal and billing method are returned. And when a called terminal roams to other cooperative dispatching servers, the home dispatching server sends the relevant account information of the terminal to the dispatching server where it is located. When the authentication process is different, the work of specific account distribution may also be different. In short, it is to send the prepaid account involved in the billing to all dispatch servers where the terminal using the account is currently located. In the case of group prepaid, the same prepaid account may be sent to different prepaid clients, and then the The prepayment clients residing on each dispatching server independently monitor the terminal status and quota usage, interact with the prepayment server independently, complete the quota application and allocation, and end the prepayment and other charging processes. The method is the same as the above implementation The example is the same. the

For the process of group prepayment, the group prepaid account can be sent to the dispatching server of the originating call or the dispatching server belonging to the group or other servers participating in the group call. These dispatching servers can check the group call status and Quota usage is monitored to complete billing for group prepaid accounts. the

3) If the digital trunking system needs to support three billing methods at the same time, and it is possible for a certain terminal to correspond to multiple prepaid accounts, it is necessary to use the prepaid server residing on the authentication server during authentication. According to the prepaid information of the relevant user of this call, first determine which account the user will use, which can be selected according to the priority order of the system configuration. After different prepaid accounts are determined, the subsequent processing of each account can adopt the methods of the above-mentioned three embodiments and their conversion methods respectively. However, in order to make the process as consistent as possible, the user prepaid account and group prepaid The billing process of the premium account is also preferably unified as the same as the group prepaid account. In the authorization message, the account is allocated first, and then the prepaid client applies for the first quota, and the quota is allocated in sections. the

4) In the above embodiment, a billing method is stipulated for each prepaid account. But the strategy that the prepaid server of the present invention selects the billing method is not limited to this, if the prepaid account can adopt multiple billing methods, then you can choose a kind of charging method that both of them support in combination with the billing methods supported by the prepaid client. billing method. Avoid not being able to call when the prepaid client does not support it. the

Claims (16)

1. A kind of digital trunking system realizes the method for prepayment, resides the prepayment client in the scheduling server of this system, and resides the prepayment server in the authentication server, and the method comprises the following steps: (a) The calling terminal initiates a cluster call, the dispatching server sends an authentication request message to the authentication server, and the authentication server authenticates the calling terminal and the called group; (b) The prepaid server residing on the authentication server determines the prepaid account involved in the charging, the terminal using the account and the information of the charging method according to the prepaid information of the relevant user of the call, and communicates with the described The prepayment client on the scheduling server interacts, notifies the prepayment client of the determined information, the prepayment client sends an application quota message to the prepayment server, and the prepayment server receives Allocate quotas for inactive accounts after quota requests are received; (c) According to the obtained prepaid account and its quota situation, the prepaid client notifies the scheduling server to only page the terminal using the prepaid account with available quota; (d) The prepaid client monitors the status and quota usage of the paging terminal, charges the prepaid account, and if the terminal using the account quits the call before the prepaid account has no balance available , go to the next step, otherwise, go to the next step when there is no balance available in the prepaid account; (e) The prepayment client notifies the prepayment server that the billing of the prepayment account is over, carrying the total quota used by the account; the prepayment server records the total quota and reclaims the unused quota , the prepaid client clears the account information, and ends. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step (b), when the prepaid account involved is a group prepaid account, the interaction with the prepaid server is completed through the following steps: (b1) The prepaid server determines the information about the prepaid accounts of each group involved in the charging, the terminals using the accounts, and the charging method, and sends the information to the prepaid client along with the authorization message; (b2) The prepaid client terminal judges whether the group prepaid account in the authorization message has been activated, and if activated, notifies the dispatching server to paging the terminals using these accounts, and then performs step (d) to prepay the unactivated group fee account, perform step (b3); (b3) The prepayment client sends an application quota message to the prepayment server to apply for a quota for an inactive group prepayment account; (b4) After the prepaid server receives the quota request, it allocates quotas for the group prepaid accounts with balances, and returns the quota allocation message to the prepaid client, and returns no balance allocation for accounts without balance allocation. information, go to step (c). 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, in the step (d), when charging the group prepaid account, it is further divided into the following steps: (d1) The prepaid client terminal monitors the status and quota usage of all paging terminals, and when charging a group prepaid account, calculates the used quota of the account according to the accumulated quotas used by all terminals using the account; (d2) If before the used quota of the group prepaid account reaches the threshold of the current distribution quota, all terminals using the account have withdrawn from the call, perform step (e), otherwise the used quota reaches the threshold of the current distribution quota Within a time limit, the prepayment client sends an application quota request message to the prepayment server again; (d3) After the prepaid server receives the application quota request message, when the account still has a balance allocation, it allocates a new quota and returns it to the prepaid client through the allocation quota message, if the account has no balance When allocating, carry the information of no balance allocation in the returned allocation quota message; (d4) After the prepaid client receives the message of quota allocation, it judges whether a new quota has been allocated for the group's prepaid account, if yes, modify the current allocated quota of the account, and return to step (d1), if not Assign a new quota to the account and proceed to the next step; (d5) The prepaid client terminal monitors that the terminals using the group's prepaid account have used up the remaining quota, and then stops the cluster services of these terminals, and performs step (e). 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step (b), when the prepaid account involved is a user prepaid account, the interaction with the prepaid server is completed through the following steps: The above-mentioned prepaid server determines the user prepaid accounts involved in charging and its corresponding terminals and charging methods, allocates quotas for each user prepaid account, and marks no balance allocated accounts for accounts without balance allocation, and then allocates these prepaid accounts The information is returned to the prepaid client. 5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the step (b), when the prepaid account involved is a user prepaid account, the interaction with the prepaid server is completed through the following steps: (b1) The prepaid server determines the information about the prepaid account of each user involved in charging, the terminal using the account, and the charging method, and sends the information to the prepaid client along with the authorization message; (b2) After receiving the authorization message, the prepaid client sends an application quota message to the prepaid server, and the message includes the prepaid account of each user; (b3) After receiving the quota application message, the prepaid server allocates quotas for user prepaid accounts with an allocable balance, returns the quota allocation message to the prepaid client, and returns an account with no allocable balance No information on balance distribution, then go to step (c). 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the step (b), the prepaid server allocates the quota for the user's prepaid account in a segmented manner, and in the step (d), When billing the user's prepaid account, it is further divided into the following steps: (d1) The prepaid client terminal monitors the status and quota usage of all paging terminals, if the terminal using the account quits the call before the current allocated quota of the user's prepaid account is used up, perform step (e), otherwise When the used quota reaches the threshold of the current allocated quota, send an application quota request message to the prepaid server; (d2) After receiving the application quota request message, the prepaid server determines whether the user's prepaid account has an allocable balance, and if so, allocates a new quota for it and returns it to the prepaid client through an allocated quota message , if not, carry the information of no balance allocation in the allocation quota message; (d3) After the prepaid client receives the allocation quota message, it judges whether a new quota has been allocated for the user's prepaid account, if yes, modify the current allocation quota of the account, and return to step (d1), if not The account is assigned a new quota, go to the next step; (d4) The prepaid client terminal monitors that the terminal using the user's prepaid account has used up the remaining quota, then stops the cluster service of the terminal, and performs step (e). 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the quota is in units of call duration, call traffic or number of calls. 8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein, when the prepaid account has no balance for distribution, the prepaid server sets the quota allocated for the account in the quota distribution message. It is the quota at the time of the last allocation, and it is set to zero at the time of the first allocation. the 9. The method according to claim 3 or 6, wherein, when the prepayment client applies for a quota again to the prepayment server, the group or user prepayment account that is currently already registered is carried in the quota application request message. used quota, the prepaid server records the used quota of the prepaid account after receiving the message. 10. The method according to claim 3 or 6, wherein, when the prepaid server allocates a quota for the group or user prepaid account again and there is a balance for distribution, the allocated quota is the quota allocated last time plus The total amount of new allocations for this time. 11. The method according to claim 3 or 6, characterized in that, the threshold of the current allocation quota is specified by the prepaid server according to the allocation quota each time when the allocation quota is allocated, and is set with the allocation quota. and returned to the prepaid client together; or, the threshold of the current allocated quota is calculated by the prepaid client according to the current allocated quota. 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step (b), the prepaid server also judges whether the prepaid client resident on the dispatching server supports the The billing method of the prepaid account. For the prepaid account that does not support the billing method, the prepaid client is not notified or the quota is not allocated to it. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the prepayment server learns the charging mode information supported by the prepayment client through the following method: the prepayment client in the system regularly reports The billing method it supports or report to the prepaid server when the billing method changes, so as to realize synchronous update; or, in the step (a), the prepaid billing server resident on it The charging mode supported by the client is reported to the prepaid server residing on the authentication server together with the authentication message. 14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the digital trunking system has a roaming function, and in the step (b), the prepaid server is to send the prepaid account involved in charging to the terminal using the account All the dispatching servers currently located, and the prepaid clients residing on each dispatching server independently complete the billing for the received prepaid account. 15. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, in the step (b), when a prepaid account can adopt multiple billing methods, then the terminal that uses the account resides on the scheduling server. Choose one of the billing methods supported by both of the billing methods supported by the prepaid client. the 16. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step (b), when the user has multiple prepaid accounts at the same time, the prepaid server selects one of the prepaid accounts according to a preset policy , and then proceed according to the billing process of the prepaid account. the

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