WO2013004107A1 - Multiple network element convergent charging method and system, and charging gateway function - Google Patents

Abstract

A multiple network element convergent charging method and system, and charging gateway function (CGF), the method comprising: after receiving a call charging termination request sent by the multiple network-elements during a call process, a convergent charging data record of the multiple network-elements related to the call process is generated by the CGF and sent to a billing domain (BD); and the BD charges for the call process according to the convergent charging data record of the multiple network-elements. In the process of IMS multiple network-elements participating in the call, the charging data records of the multiple network-elements related to the call process are converged by the CGF, and then sent together to the BD, thereby reducing the system network element interactive complexity and the signaling traffic before the CGF and the BD, while avoiding the BD recorrelating the CDR call bill of an independent network-element, thus reducing the complexity of the BD.

Description

 Multi-network element convergent charging method and system and charging data gateway functional entity

Technical field

 The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a multi-network element convergent charging method and system and an accounting data gateway function entity in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).

Background technique

 IMS is a next-generation network standard defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Its distinctive feature is the use of Session Initial Protocol (SIP) system, communication and connection. Irrelevant, it can have the separation of multimedia service control functions and bearer capabilities, separation of calls and services, separation of applications and services, separation of services from networks, and integration of mobile networks and Internet services.

 1 is a schematic diagram of an IMS charging system according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, the entire framework includes a user equipment (User Equipment, UE for short) 101, and a proxy call session control function (referred to as a proxy call session control function). P-CSCF) 102, Serving Call Session Control Function (SCSCF) 103, Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 104, Application Service (AS) 105 , Charging Gateway Function (CGF) 106, Billing Domain (Broadcast Domain, BD for short) 107, in addition to interrogating Call Session Control Function (Interrogating Call Session Control Function) , (referred to as I-CSCF) and other functional entities (not shown in the figure).

 FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the interaction of the charging process in the case of multi-network element convergent charging according to the charging method of the IMS according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 2, the following steps S201 to S215 are included.

 S201, the calling user initiates a call, accesses the SCSCF to which the user belongs, performs the home service processing, and triggers the service server AS1 and the service server AS2 through the ISC interface, and finally goes out to the called domain.

S202. The called domain returns a successful response of the call request, and passes through AS2, AS1, and SCSCF respectively. 5203. The calling user sends a call setup response request, and the call setup is confirmed by the SCSCF, AS1, and AS2, respectively.

 5204. After confirming that the call is established, the SCSCF reports the current call charging start request to the CGF.

5205. After confirming that the call is established, the AS1 reports the current call charging start request to the CGF.

 S206, after confirming that the call is established, the AS2 reports the current call charging start request to the CGF.

 5207, after the service is completed, the user hangs up and sends a call termination request, which passes through SCSCF, AS1, and AS2 respectively.

 5208. After receiving the call release request, the SCSCF sends a call termination request to the CGF.

5209. After receiving the charging termination request of the SCSCF, the CGF sends a Charging Data Records (CDR) CDR of the SCSCF in the current call to the BD.

 5210. After receiving the call release request, the AS 1 reports the call termination request to the CGF.

5211. After receiving the accounting termination request of AS1, the CGF sends the CDR CDR of the AS1 in the call to the BD.

 5212. After receiving the call release request, the AS2 reports the current call termination request to the CGF. S213. After receiving the accounting termination request of the AS2, the CGF sends the CDR CDR of the AS2 in the current call to the BD.

 5214. The called domain returns a successful response to the call termination request, and passes through AS2, AS1, and SCSCF respectively.

5215. The BD combines the CDRs of all the network elements SCSCF, AS1, and AS2 participating in the call to charge the user.

 It can be seen from the above process that the multi-network element participates in the IMS call process, and the CGF needs to send a CDR bill to the billing center for each network element involved in the call process, and the network message volume is large, and the billing is performed. The center needs to associate the CDR bills of all network elements in the call process, and finally perform comprehensive billing. The billing center needs to analyze and correlate the bills of all network elements, and the system complexity is high.

Summary of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a multi-network element convergent charging method and system and a charging data gateway function entity, which can save signaling traffic and system network element interaction before CGF and BD. the complexity.

 In order to solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-network element convergent charging method, including: after the charging data gateway function entity receives a call charging termination request sent by multiple related network elements in a call, the integrated The charging data of the plurality of related network elements generates a multi-network element convergent charging data record related to the calling process, and sends the data to the charging center, where the charging center records the charging data record according to the multi-network element The call process is charged.

 The above method can also have the following characteristics:

 The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.

 The above method can also have the following characteristics:

 The network element related to the call process sends a report to the charging data gateway function entity after receiving the session establishment response message from the called party or after receiving the session establishment request message from the calling party. The fee starts to request the message.

 The above method can also have the following characteristics:

 The charging data gateway function entity performs the merging of the network elements according to the subscription service type of the user. The above method can also have the following characteristics:

 The network element related to the call process includes at least: a service call session control function entity, a calling party service server, and/or a called party service server.

 In order to solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-network element convergent charging system, including: a charging data gateway function entity and a charging center, and the charging data gateway function entity includes a receiving module, a fusion module, and a reporting The receiving module is configured to notify the fusion module after the call charging termination request sent by the multiple related network elements in the process of receiving the call; the fusion module is configured to generate a multi-network related to the calling process And the upper module is configured to send the multi-network element converged charging data record to the charging center; the charging center is configured to perform the charging charging data record according to the multi-network element The call process is charged.

 The above system can also have the following characteristics:

The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the call process are fused by the net element. The above system can also have the following characteristics:

 The network element related to the call process includes at least: a service call session control function entity, a calling party service server, and/or a called party service server.

 In order to solve the above technical problem, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a charging data gateway function entity of a multi-network element convergent charging, which includes: the charging data gateway function entity includes a receiving module, a converging module, and a reporting module; The receiving module is configured to notify the fusion module after the call charging termination request sent by the multiple related network elements in the process of receiving the call; the fusion module is configured to synthesize the charging data of the multiple related network elements The multi-network element converged charging data record related to the calling process; the reporting module is configured to send the multi-network element convergent charging data record to the charging center.

 The above charging data gateway functional entity may also have the following characteristics:

 The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.

 In the process of the IMS multi-network element participating in the call, the CGF performs the charging data record fusion of the multiple network elements related to the call process, and then sends the data to the charging center, which can save the signaling traffic and the system network before the CGF and the BD. The meta-interaction complexity avoids the association between the CDR bills of the independent network element and the complexity of the billing center.

BRIEF abstract

 1 is a structural diagram of an IMS charging system in the related art;

 2 is a flow chart of interaction of charging processing in the current status quo of the multi-network element charging method of the IMS according to the related art;

 3 is a structural composition diagram of a multi-network element convergent charging system in an embodiment;

 4 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-network element convergent charging method in an embodiment;

 FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a multi-network element convergent charging method in Embodiment 1.

Preferred embodiment of the invention As shown in FIG. 3, the multi-network element convergent charging system includes a billing data gateway function entity 30 and a billing center 31. The billing data gateway function entity 30 includes a receiving module 301, a converging module 302, and a reporting module 303.

 The receiving module 301 is configured to notify the fusion module after receiving the call charging termination request sent by the plurality of related network elements during the process of receiving the call.

 The fusion module 302 is configured to generate a multi-network element consolidated charging data record associated with the call process;

 The reporting module 303 is configured to send the multi-network element converged charging data record to the billing center. The billing center 31 is arranged to bill the call process based on the multi-network element consolidated billing data record.

 The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.

 The network element related to the call process includes at least: a service call session control function entity, a calling party service server, and/or a called party service server.

As shown in FIG. 4, a multi-network element convergent charging method includes:

 Step 401: The charging data gateway function entity receives a call charging termination request sent by multiple related network elements during a call,

 Step 402: Generate a multi-network element convergent charging data record related to the calling process, and send the data to the charging center.

 Step 403: The charging center charges the call process according to the multi-network element convergent charging data record.

 The network element related to the call process includes at least: a service call session control function entity, a calling party service server, and/or a called party service server, and may also include other related network elements.

 The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.

In the above method, the network element related to the calling process receives the session establishment from the called party. After receiving the message, or after receiving the session establishment request message from the calling party, the charging start message is sent to the charging data gateway function entity. The session establishment request message may be a SIP message, such as an INVITE message.

 The billing data gateway function entity may perform the converged network element according to the user's subscription service type decision. The different subscription service types of the user correspond to different application servers, and the billing data gateway function entity may determine the application of different types of services according to the contracted service type. server.

 When the charging data gateway function entity determines whether each network element belongs to the same calling process, it can judge according to the ICID identifier or the charging number (for example, the calling number) of the user terminal carried in the message.

In the multi-network element charging method of the IMS in the related art, during the IMS call, the CGF needs to send a CDR to the BD for each network element per call, the network message volume is relatively large, and the BD needs to associate each call. The CDR CDRs of all network elements are finally comprehensively charged. BD needs to analyze and correlate the CDRs of all network elements, and the system complexity is high. In the above method, the CGF completes the fusion of the multi-network element charging request information of the same call process into one CDR, and solves the excessive signaling amount of the CGF and the BD in the charging method of the IMS in the related art, and the BD. The problem of overcomplicating is realized, the signaling traffic before CGF and BD is reduced, the complexity of BD is reduced, and the charging process of IMS multi-network element is simplified.

The implementation process of the embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

 Specific embodiment 1

 The first embodiment provides an accounting method for an IP multimedia subsystem, including that each network element (S-CSCF, AS1, AS2) receives a session establishment response message or a session establishment confirmation request message from a called domain, where the session The establishment response message is used to notify each network element (S-CSCF, AS1, AS2) that the session is connected. After receiving the charging request of each network element (S-CSCF, AS1, AS2), the CGF sends a charging response message to each NE confirmation. Specifically, the session establishment response message may be a 200 OK response message, and the session establishment confirmation request message may be an ACK request message. The charging response message can be an ACA response message.

5 is an interactive flow of charging processing of a multi-network element convergent charging method of an IMS according to Embodiment 1 Cheng Tu. As shown in FIG. 5, the following steps S501 to S514 are included.

 S501, the calling user initiates a call, accesses the SCSCF to which the user belongs, and performs home service processing, and triggers the service server AS1 and the service server AS2 through the ISC interface, and finally goes out to the called domain.

 S502. The called domain returns a successful response to the call request, and passes through AS2, AS1, and SCSCF respectively.

5503. The calling user sends a call setup response request, and the call establishment is confirmed by the SCSCF, AS1, and AS2 respectively.

 5504. After confirming that the call is established, the SCSCF reports the current call charging start request to the CGF.

5505. After confirming that the call is established, the AS1 reports the current call charging start request to the CGF.

 S506, after confirming that the call is established, the AS2 reports the current call charging start request to the CGF.

 5507, after the service is completed, the calling user hangs up and sends a call termination request, which passes through SCSCF, AS1, and AS2 respectively.

 After the call release request is received by the SCSCF, the SCSCF terminates the call termination request to the CGF.

5509. After receiving the call release request, the AS1 reports the current call termination request to the CGF. S510. After receiving the call release request, the AS2 sends a call termination request to the CGF.

5511. The called domain returns a successful response to the call termination request, and passes through AS2, AS1, and SCSCF respectively.

5512, CGF integrated S-CSCF, AS1, AS2 accounting request data is a converged CDR bill.

 5513, CGF sends the merged CDR bill to BD.

 S514. The BD charges the user according to the CDR CDR.

It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the features in the embodiments and the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other. It is a matter of course that the invention may be embodied in various other forms and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or a portion of the above steps may be performed by a program to instruct the associated hardware, such as a read only memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. Alternatively, all or part of the steps of the above embodiments may also be implemented using one or more integrated circuits. Correspondingly, each module/unit in the foregoing embodiment may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may be implemented in the form of a software function module. The invention is not limited to any specific form of combination of hardware and software.

Industrial applicability

 In the process of the IMS multi-network element participating in the call, the CGF performs the charging data record fusion of the multiple network elements related to the call process, and then sends the data to the charging center, which can save the signaling traffic and the system network before the CGF and the BD. The meta-interaction complexity avoids the association between the CDR bills of the independent network element and the complexity of the billing center.

Claims

Claim  A multi-network element convergent charging method, comprising:  After receiving the call charging termination request sent by the multiple related network elements in the call process, the charging data gateway function entity synthesizes the charging data of the plurality of related network elements to generate a multi-network element fusion meter related to the calling process. The fee data is recorded and sent to the billing center, and the billing center charges the call process according to the multi-network element converged billing data record.  2. The method of claim 1 wherein  The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.  3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:  The network element related to the call process sends a report to the charging data gateway function entity after receiving the session establishment response message from the called party or after receiving the session establishment request message from the calling party. The fee starts to request the message.  4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:  The charging data gateway function entity performs the merging of the network elements according to the subscription service type of the user. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein  The network element related to the call process includes: a service call session control function entity, a calling party service server, and/or a called party service server.  A multi-network element convergent charging system, comprising: a charging data gateway function entity and a charging center, wherein the charging data gateway function entity comprises a receiving module, a fusion module and a reporting module;  The receiving module is configured to notify the fusion module after the call charging termination request sent by the multiple related network elements in the process of receiving the call;  The merging module is configured to synthesize the charging data of the plurality of related network elements to generate a multi-network element merging charging data record related to the calling process; And the upper module is configured to send the multi-network element converged charging data record to the charging center; the charging center is configured to perform charging on the calling process according to the multi-network element convergent charging data record. 7. The system of claim 6 wherein  The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.  8. The system of claim 6 wherein  The network element related to the call process includes: a service call session control function entity, a calling party service server, and/or a called party service server.  9. A billing data gateway functional entity for multi-network element convergent charging, comprising:  The billing data gateway function entity includes a receiving module, a fusion module, and a reporting module;  The receiving module is configured to notify the fusion module after receiving the call charging termination request sent by the multiple related network elements in the process of receiving the call;  The merging module is configured to synthesize the charging data of the plurality of related network elements to generate a multi-network element merging charging data record related to the calling process;  The reporting module sets the multi-network element converged charging data record to the charging center. 10. The billing data gateway functional entity of claim 9, wherein  The multi-network element converged call charging data record refers to a call billing data record in which two or two of the plurality of related network elements in the calling process are fused by the net element.