CN106301807B

CN106301807B - Data service charging method, PCEF (policy and charging enforcement function) equipment, OCS (online charging System) and system

Info

Publication number: CN106301807B
Application number: CN201510376819.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 浠诲嘲; 任峰
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ruizhi Information Technology Binzhou Co ltd
Priority date: 2015-06-27
Filing date: 2015-06-27
Publication date: 2020-02-14
Anticipated expiration: 2035-06-27
Also published as: CN106301807A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a data service charging method, PCEF equipment, OCS and a system, wherein the data service charging method comprises the following steps: a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) device receives a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context request which is sent by a terminal device and carries a data service account of the terminal device; and the PCEF equipment detects that the service state of the data service account of the terminal equipment is a frozen state, and rejects the PDP context request. The embodiment of the invention can reduce repeated charging authentication interactive messages between the OCS and the PCEF equipment, is beneficial to reducing the pressure of a data link between the PCEF equipment and the OCS and reduces the performance loss of the OCS.

Description

Data service charging method, PCEF (policy and charging enforcement function) equipment, OCS (online charging System) and system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of wireless communication, in particular to a data service charging method, PCEF (policy and charging enforcement function) equipment, an OCS (online charging system) and a system.

Background

In a data service Charging System, an Online Charging System (OCS) may adjust network charges of a User Equipment (UE) of a data User. A Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) Network element may implement detection, policy Enforcement, and flow-based Charging of a Service Data flow, and the functional entity may be located in a Gateway, such as a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) of a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) of an EPC (Evolved Packet Core) of a 4G Core Network (EPC), a Packet Data Gateway (PDG) in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), or an external Deep Packet Inspection (Deep Packet Inspection, DPI) device as a point of Charging. A Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context provides Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity to a UE in a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), which is a Packet-based Protocol-related connection (context) through which the UE and a network device can exchange Data, and the use of the connection is limited to specific services, which can be accessed through an access point. The Gy interface is an online charging interface (for credit line control, prepayment, etc.) between the PCEF device and an Authentication, Authorization, and charging server such as OCS/AAA (Authentication, Authorization, charging, Authorization, Accounting), and the like, and charging-related protocols mainly include a Diameter protocol and a Radius protocol.

With the rapid increase of the number of UEs, the number of UEs in an arrearage state also increases, currently, most PCEF devices of operators generally request, through a standard Gy interface, an OCS for authentication of a request for creating a PDP context initiated by an arrearage UE, after the OCS queries the arrearage state of a data user, the OCS returns information of insufficient balance to the PCEF device, and the PCEF device rejects the request for creating a PDP context of the UE and deactivates the UE. Since the background application of the UE may periodically initiate a PDP context request to the PCEF device, which results in the PCEF device continuously requesting the OCS for authentication, such a large amount of repeated charging authentication interaction messages may severely load the OCS. For example, when an operator in south africa performs 2714173 retries for an insufficient subscriber in a busy hour (one hour), a large amount of Gy session messages are generated between the OCS and the PCEF device, resulting in a large performance loss of the OCS.

In summary, in the charging and authentication service process of the operator network, after the PCEF device receives the PDP context request of the UE each time, the PCEF device initiates the charging and authentication request to the OCS regardless of whether the UE is owed, so that under the condition that the UE with a large amount of owed fees continuously retries to connect to the network, a large amount of repeated charging and authentication interaction messages are generated between the PCEF device and the OCS, the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS is increased, the interface performance of the OCS and the PCEF is consumed, and even when the network is busy, the OCS may not respond to all messages, thereby causing system abnormality and affecting the experience of normal users using data services.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a data service charging method, a PCEF device, an OCS, and a system, so as to reduce pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS and reduce performance loss of the OCS.

The first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention discloses a data service charging method, including:

a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) device receives a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context request which is sent by a terminal device and carries a data service account of the terminal device;

and the PCEF equipment detects that the service state of the data service account of the terminal equipment is a frozen state, and rejects the PDP context request.

In a first possible implementation form of the first aspect of the embodiment of the present invention,

the PCEF device stores a state list comprising a data service account of the terminal device and a service state identifier of the data service account, wherein the service state identifier comprises a frozen state identifier and a unfreezing state identifier; the detecting, by the PCEF device, that the service state of the data service account of the terminal device is the frozen state includes:

the PCEF equipment inquires the state list stored in the PCEF equipment, and inquires that the service state identifier of the data service account is a frozen state identifier;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the PCEF device stores an authority list comprising a data service account of the terminal device and a service access authority type of the data service account, wherein the service access authority type comprises an authorization type and a restriction type; the detecting, by the PCEF device, that the service state of the data service account of the terminal device is the frozen state includes:

and the PCEF equipment inquires the authority list stored in the PCEF equipment, and inquires that the service access authority type of the data service account is a limited type.

With reference to the first aspect of the present invention or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect of the present invention, after the PCEF device receives a PDP context request carrying a data service account of a terminal device, the method further includes:

the method comprises the steps that the PCEF equipment detects that the service state of a data service account of the terminal equipment is a unfreezing state, the PCEF equipment sends a charging quota request message to an Online Charging System (OCS), receives a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message, and executes charging control operation according to the response message.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiment of the present invention,

the response message is a charging quota response message, and the executing of the charging control operation according to the response message comprises: determining a flow rate charge according to a charging policy in the charging quota response message and the flow consumed by the terminal device, wherein the charging quota response message is sent by the OCS to the PCEF device when the OCS detects that a data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message meets a preset condition; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the response message is a service freezing request message, and the executing of the charging control operation according to the response message comprises: and modifying the service state of the data service account of the terminal device from a unfreezing state to a freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and rejecting the PDP context request, wherein the service freezing request message is sent to the PCEF device by the OCS under the condition that the OCS detects that the data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message does not meet a preset condition.

With reference to the first aspect of the embodiment of the present invention or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

the PCEF equipment receives a service unfreezing request message sent by an OCS, wherein the service unfreezing request message is sent after the OCS receives an account number recharging message which is sent by a back-end IT system and carries a data service account number of the terminal equipment;

and the PCEF equipment modifies the service state of the data service account of the terminal equipment from a frozen state to a unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect of the present invention, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect of the present invention, the receiving, by the PCEF device, a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message includes:

the PCEF equipment receives a response message sent by the OCS through a standard Gy interface in response to the charging quota request message; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the PCEF equipment receives a response message sent by the OCS through a Web Service interface in response to the charging quota request message.

The second aspect of the embodiment of the invention discloses a data service charging method, which comprises the following steps:

the OCS receives a charging quota request message sent by the PCEF equipment;

the OCS detects that the data service account number of the terminal equipment in the charging quota request message does not meet a preset condition, and sends a service freezing request message to the PCEF equipment, wherein the service freezing request message is used for indicating the PCEF equipment to modify the service state of the data service account number of the terminal equipment into a freezing state so as to reject a PDP context request initiated by the terminal equipment before the data service account number meets the preset condition.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the preset condition includes:

the account balance of the data service account of the terminal equipment in the charging quota request message is greater than or equal to a preset account balance;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and the service access authority type of the data service account of the terminal equipment in the charging quota request message is an authorization type, and the service access authority type comprises an authorization type and a limitation type.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present invention discloses a PCEF device, including:

the receiving module is used for receiving a PDP context request which is sent by a terminal device and carries a data service account of the terminal device;

and the request rejection module is used for rejecting the PDP context request when detecting that the service state of the data service account of the terminal equipment is a frozen state.

In a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiment of the present invention,

the PCEF device stores a state list comprising a data service account of the terminal device and a service state identifier of the data service account, wherein the service state identifier comprises a frozen state identifier and a unfreezing state identifier; the request rejection module is specifically configured to:

inquiring the state list stored in the PCEF equipment, and inquiring that the service state identifier of the data service account is a frozen state identifier;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the PCEF device stores an authority list comprising a data service account of the terminal device and a service access authority type of the data service account, wherein the service access authority type comprises an authorization type and a restriction type; the request rejection module is specifically configured to:

and inquiring the authority list stored in the PCEF equipment, wherein the service access authority type of the data service account is inquired to be a limited type.

With reference to the third aspect of the present embodiment or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect of the present embodiment, the PCEF device further includes:

a sending module, configured to detect that a service state of a data service account of a terminal device is an unfreezing state after the receiving module receives a PDP context request carrying the data service account of the terminal device sent by the terminal device, and send a charging quota request message to an OCS;

and the receiving control module is used for receiving a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message after the sending module sends the charging quota request message to the OCS, and executing charging control operation according to the response message.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect of the embodiment of the present invention,

the response message is a charging quota response message, and the receiving control module is specifically configured to: determining a flow rate charge according to a charging policy in the charging quota response message and the flow consumed by the terminal device, wherein the charging quota response message is sent by the OCS to the receiving control module when detecting that the data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message satisfies a preset condition; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the response message is a service freezing request message, and the receiving control module is specifically configured to: and modifying the service state of the data service account of the terminal device from a unfreezing state to a freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and rejecting the PDP context request, wherein the service freezing request message is sent to the receiving control module by the OCS when the OCS detects that the data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message does not meet a preset condition.

The fourth aspect of the present invention discloses an OCS, including:

a receiving module, configured to receive a charging quota request message sent by a PCEF device;

a sending module, configured to send a service freezing request message to the PCEF device when detecting that the data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message received by the receiving module does not satisfy a preset condition, where the service freezing request message is used to instruct the PCEF device to modify a service state of the data service account of the terminal device to a frozen state, so as to reject a PDP context request initiated by the terminal device before the data service account satisfies the preset condition.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the preset condition includes:

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

A fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention discloses a data service charging system, including a terminal device, a PCEF device, and an OCS, wherein,

the terminal device is configured to send a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the terminal device to the PCEF device;

and the PCEF device is used for detecting that the service state of the data service account of the terminal device is a frozen state and rejecting the PDP context request.

In a first possible implementation of the fifth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention,

the PCEF device stores a state list comprising a data service account of the terminal device and a service state identifier of the data service account, wherein the service state identifier comprises a frozen state identifier and a unfreezing state identifier; the PCEF device is specifically configured to:

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the PCEF device stores an authority list comprising a data service account of the terminal device and a service access authority type of the data service account, wherein the service access authority type comprises an authorization type and a restriction type; the PCEF device is specifically configured to:

With reference to the fifth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention or the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention,

the PCEF device is further configured to detect that a service state of the data service account of the terminal device is an unfreezing state, and send a charging quota request message to the OCS;

the OCS is configured to detect that the data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message does not satisfy a preset condition, and send a service freezing request message to the PCEF device;

the PCEF device is further configured to modify the service state of the data service account of the terminal device from a unfreezing state to a freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and reject a PDP context request initiated by the terminal device before the data service account satisfies the preset condition.

In the embodiment of the invention, after receiving the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the UE, the PCEF device directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE when detecting that the service state of the data service account of the terminal device is the frozen state, and under the condition that the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request of the UE, the PCEF device does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS, so that it is beneficial to reduce repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF device, thereby reducing the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS and reducing the performance loss of the OCS.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a PCEF device disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a further data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a further data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a PCEF device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an OCS according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a data service charging system disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments, not all embodiments, of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, a network architecture of the embodiments of the present invention is described below. Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a UE, a radio base station, a PCEF device, an OCS device, a backend IT system, and a server (provided by a data service provider), where the PCEF device is configured to implement detection, policy enforcement, and flow-based charging for a service data flow of the UE, and the functional entity may be located in a gateway, for example, a GGSN which is a support node of GPRS, a packet data network gateway P-GW of an EPC (4G core network), or a packet data gateway PDG in a WLAN, or may be deployed independently, for example, an external deep packet inspection DPI device. The back-end IT system may include, for example, a recharging Center (VC) deployed by an operator, and in the case of insufficient balance or arrearage of a Data Service account, a user may recharge through multiple channels, for example, by using an Interactive Voice Response (IVR), a Short Message Service (SMS), an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), a third-party Application program (Application, APP) of a smart phone, a portal website (Web), and the like, by purchasing a recharging card, or may also request recharging through an interface paid by a third party such as a credit card, such as APP, Web, and the like, where the recharging request may be sent to the VC, and the VC may recharge to the OCS after authentication. The OCS is used to adjust the network charge of the UE data service, and may specifically include some backend automatic processing programs, such as a monthly processing program, which automatically deduct the charge and reset the user's entire data service account and the specific data service account when the periodic accounting period ends. The OCS is connected to the PCEF device through a Gy interface, which is an online charging interface (for credit line control, prepayment, etc.) between the PCEF device and the OCS. The UE sends a create PDP context request to the PCEF device via the radio base station, the PDP context being used to provide network protocol connectivity to the UE, being a packet-based protocol-dependent connection through which the UE exchanges data with a server provided by a data service provider. The UE may include various UEs using a Mobile communication network, such as a Mobile phone, a tablet (e.g., Internet access using a wireless charging card), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), and a smart wearable Device (e.g., a smart watch and a smart band).

In the network architecture shown in fig. 1, the data service accessed by the UE may be a media service (such as a QQ voice service, an arcade video service, a UC browser service, and the like) provided by the server, a traffic charging operation of the data service provided by the UE accessing the server is completed by the PCEF device and the OCS, after the PCEF device receives a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE sent by the UE, the PCEF device detects that a service state of the data service account of the terminal device is a frozen state, the PCEF device directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE, and under the condition that the PDP context request of the UE is rejected, the PCEF device does not send a charging quota request message to the OCS, so that it is beneficial to reduce repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF device. Therefore, the PCEF device does not need to send the charging quota request message of the data service to the OCS each time the PDP context request sent by the UE is received, so that the pressure of the data link between the PCEF device and the OCS is relieved, and the performance loss of the OCS is reduced.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the data service account Number of the UE may be a smart card (SIM) Number of the UE, or an International Mobile Subscriber identity Number (IMSI), or a Mobile station identity Number (Mobile Number) (Mobile ISDN/PSTN Number, MSISDN) and other overall service account numbers related to an overall data service state of the user, where the overall service account Number may correspond to a general monthly Mobile phone flow account Number, that is, under the overall service account Number, flows consumed by daily applications such as internet access, email, chat, file transfer, and video of the user using the UE are all counted in a flow charge corresponding to the overall service account Number; the data service account of the UE may also be a specific service account associated with a user-specific data service state, such as a QQ music listening-only flow packet, a green diamond listening-only flow packet, a video content-for-music flow packet, and the like, under a service corresponding to the specific service account, the user only counts the specific service account through the flow consumed by using the service by the UE, but does not count the whole service account, for example, when a user purchases the QQ music listening-only flow packet, the OCS system should generate a specific service account corresponding to the user's QQ music listening-only service, and the specific service account may be, for example, 765367XXX _ QQ _ music _ VIP.

The service state of the data service account may include a frozen state and a unfrozen state, where the service state of the data service account is in the frozen state, and may include, for example, situations where a balance of the data service account is insufficient or a service access authority type of the data service account is a restricted type, and the service state of the data service account is in the unfrozen state, and may include, for example, situations where a balance of the data service account is sufficient or a service access authority type of the data service account is an authorized type. The specific implementation form of the frozen state may be, for example, a frozen state identifier in a corresponding data field, and the specific implementation form of the unfreezing state identifier may be, for example, a unfreezing state identifier in a corresponding data field, for example, when a service state identifier bit in a corresponding data field is set to "1", the unfreezing state identifier is represented, and when the service state identifier bit is set to "0", the frozen state identifier is represented. In addition, the specific form of the frozen state identifier or the unfreezing state identifier may also be in other data structure forms, and the specific form of the state identifier is not limited uniquely by the present invention. The specific implementation process of performing the service charging operation according to the service state of the data service account will be described in detail later in the embodiments of the present invention, and will not be described here first.

The PCEF device involved in embodiments of the present invention is further described below. Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a PCEF device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the PCEF device may include: at least one processor 1001, such as a CPU, at least one network interface 1002, memory 1003, at least one communication bus 1004. A communication bus 1004 is used to enable connective communication between these components. The network interface 1002 includes a wireless interface, and may further include a wired interface, where the wireless interface (also referred to as an RF interface) provides a network interface function to the PCEF device in a wireless manner, communicates with the UE, the OCS, and the like according to a communication protocol (e.g., wireless standards ieee 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.15.1), and the wired interface provides a network interface capability in a wired manner (e.g., an ethernet cable). The memory 1003 may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may further include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one disk memory. The memory 1003 may optionally include at least one storage device located remotely from the processor 1001.

In some embodiments, memory 1003 stores the following elements, executable modules or data structures, or a subset thereof, or an expanded set thereof:

an operating system 10031, which contains various system programs for implementing various basic services and for processing hardware-based tasks;

the application 10032 includes various applications such as a device control service program and a device identification service program, and is used to implement various application services.

Specifically, the processor 1001 is configured to call a program stored in the memory 1003, and perform the following operations:

receiving a PDP context request which is sent by UE and carries a data service account of the UE;

and rejecting a PDP context request of the UE when the service state of the data service account of the UE is detected to be a frozen state.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the processor 1001 may receive a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE, which is sent by the UE through the wireless base station, where the PDP context request sending operation may be triggered by a data service access operation (such as web browsing, video viewing, content downloading, instant messaging message interaction, and the like) of the UE by a user, or may be triggered by a data interaction request (such as hundred-degree map background update, everyday music player push song recommendation, and the like) of an application program running in a background of the UE.

The memory 1003 may store, for example, a status list including a data service account of the UE and a service status identifier of the data service account, where the service status identifier includes a frozen status identifier and a unfreezed status identifier; after detecting the PDP context request sent by the UE, the processor 1001 may query the status list stored in the PCEF device, and query that the service status identifier of the data service account corresponding to the unique index information is a frozen status identifier, based on the unique index information of the data service account of the UE.

The memory 1003 may further store an authority list including a data service account of the UE and a service access authority type of the data service account, where the service access authority type includes an authorization type and a restriction type; after detecting the PDP context request sent by the UE, the processor 1001 may query the permission list stored in the PCEF device, and query that the service access permission type of the data service account corresponding to the unique index information is a restricted type based on the unique index information of the data service account of the UE.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, after the processor 1001 receives a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE sent by the UE, and detects that a service state of the data service account of the UE is an unfreezing state, the PCEF device sends a charging quota request message to the online charging system OCS, and receives a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message, and performs a charging control operation according to the response message.

In one embodiment, the response message is a charging quota response message, and the specific manner in which the processor 1001 executes the charging control operation according to the response message includes: determining a flow rate charge according to a charging policy in a charging quota response message and flow consumed by the UE, wherein the charging quota response message is sent to the PCEF equipment by the OCS under the condition that the OCS detects that a data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message meets a preset condition; wherein, the preset conditions may be: the account balance of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is greater than or equal to a preset account balance; or, the service access permission type of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is an authorization type, and the service access permission type includes an authorization type and a restriction type.

In another embodiment, the response message is a service freeze request message, and the specific manner of executing the charging control operation by the processor 1001 according to the response message includes: and modifying the service state of the data service account of the UE from a unfreezing state to a freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and rejecting the PDP context request, wherein the service freezing request message is sent to the PCEF device by the OCS under the condition that the OCS detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not meet the preset condition.

In a specific implementation, the specific implementation manner for modifying the service state of the data service account of the UE from the unfreezing state to the freezing state may be, for example: and changing the service state identification of the data service account of the UE from the unfreezing state identification to the freezing state identification, or changing the service access authority type of the data service account of the UE from the authorization type to the limitation type.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, a specific manner in which the processor 1001 receives the response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message may include:

receiving a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message through a standard Gy interface, wherein a normative document cited by the standard Gy interface may be any one of 3GPP TS 32.299, 3GPP TS 32.215, 3GPP TS 32.251, IETF RFC 4006, and IETF RFC 3588, which are international specification documents mainly compliant with the Gy interface and protocol; alternatively, a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message through the Web Service interface is received.

It can be seen that, after the PCEF device shown in fig. 2 receives the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the UE, the PCEF device directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE when detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and the PCEF device does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS under the condition that the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request of the UE, so that the repeated charging authentication interaction message between the OCS and the PCEF device is facilitated to be reduced, thereby reducing the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS, and reducing the performance loss of the OCS.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the processor 1001 may further perform the following operations:

receiving a service unfreezing request message sent by an OCS, wherein the service unfreezing request message is sent after the OCS receives an account recharging message which is sent by a back-end IT system and carries a data service account of UE;

and changing the service state of the data service account of the UE from the frozen state to the unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message. In a specific implementation, the specific implementation manner of modifying the service state of the data service account of the UE from the frozen state to the unfrozen state may be, for example: and changing the service state identification of the data service account of the UE from a frozen state identification to a unfreezed state identification, or changing the service access authority type of the data service account of the UE from an authorized type to a restricted type.

It can be seen that, in the above optional embodiment, the PCEF device updates the service state of the data service account of the UE in real time to be the unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message sent by the OCS, and when the UE sends the PDP context request to the PCEF device again, the PCEF device is favorable to receive the PDP context request initiated by the UE in time, and perform the traffic tariff operation after obtaining the charging quota response message of the OCS, so as to shorten the time for waiting for reconnection of the data service communication link after the user charges, thereby improving the data communication efficiency and improving the user experience.

In addition, since the data service account in the service unfreezing message may be a specific service account, other data service accounts are still frozen when the PCEF device unfreezes the specific service account, thereby implementing accurate service access control.

The network architecture and the PCEF device of the embodiments of the present invention are described above, and the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention is further described below. Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method described in fig. 3 is described from the PCEF device side. As shown in fig. 3, the method may include the steps of:

s301, the PCEF equipment receives a PDP context request which is sent by the UE and carries the data service account of the UE.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE may send the PDP context request to the PCEF device according to a data service interaction operation of the user (such as web browsing, video viewing, content downloading, instant messaging interaction message, etc.), or send the PDP context request to the PCEF device according to a data interaction request of an application running in the background (such as Baidu map background update, music player push song recommendation every day, etc.).

S302, the PCEF device detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the specific form of the service state of the data service account of the UE may be a service state identifier or a service access permission type.

In an embodiment, the PCEF device may store a state list including a data service account of the UE and a service state identifier of the data service account, where the service state identifier includes a frozen state identifier and a unfreezing state identifier; the specific implementation manner of the PCEF device detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state may be: and the PCEF equipment inquires the state list stored in the PCEF equipment, and inquires that the service state identifier of the data service account corresponding to the unique index information is a frozen state identifier by taking the unique index information of the data service account of the UE as an inquiry basis.

In another embodiment, the PCEF device may further store an authority list including a data service account of the UE and a service access authority type of the data service account, where the service access authority type includes an authorization type and a restriction type; the specific implementation manner of the PCEF device detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state may be: and the PCEF equipment inquires the authority list stored in the PCEF equipment, and inquires that the service access authority type of the data service account corresponding to the unique index information is a limited type by taking the unique index information of the data service account of the UE as an inquiry basis.

After the PCEF device receives the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the UE, the PCEF device directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE when detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and the PCEF device does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS under the condition that the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request of the UE, so that the method described in fig. 3 is beneficial to reducing repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF device, thereby relieving the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS and reducing the performance loss of the OCS.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, after the PCEF device receives the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the UE, and the PCEF device detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the unfreezing state, the PCEF device sends the charging quota request message to the online charging system OCS, and receives a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message, and performs a charging control operation according to the response message.

In an embodiment, the response message is a charging quota response message, and the performing the charging control operation according to the response message includes: determining a flow rate charge according to a charging policy in a charging quota response message and flow consumed by the UE, wherein the charging quota response message is sent to the PCEF equipment by the OCS under the condition that the OCS detects that a data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message meets a preset condition; wherein, the preset conditions include: the account balance of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is greater than or equal to a preset account balance; or, the service access permission type of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is an authorization type, and the service access permission type includes an authorization type and a restriction type.

In a specific implementation, a specific implementation manner of the OCS detecting that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message satisfies the preset condition may be: the OCS determines that the data service account satisfies a preset condition when detecting that the account balance of the data service account is greater than or equal to a preset account balance, where the preset account balance may be a fixed value or may change according to the credit degree of the user, and if the credit degree of the user is higher, the preset account balance may be set to be lower, or may even be a negative value (corresponding to an arrearage). Or, the OCS determines that the data service account satisfies the preset condition when detecting that the service access permission type of the data service account is the authorization type.

For example, when the OCS detects that the account balance of the data service account of the UE is 20 yuan and is in a non-arrearage state, the OCS sends a charging quota response message to the PCEF device.

In another embodiment, the response message is a service freeze request message, and performing the charging control operation according to the response message includes: according to the service freezing request message, the service state of the data service account of the UE is changed from a unfreezing state to a freezing state, and the PDP context request is rejected, wherein the service freezing request message is sent to PCEF equipment by an OCS under the condition that the account balance of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is detected not to meet a preset condition; the specific implementation manner of the OCS detecting that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition may be: the OCS determines that the data service account does not meet the preset condition when detecting that the account balance of the data service account is smaller than the preset account balance, or determines that the data service account does not meet the preset condition when detecting that the service access permission type of the data service account is a limited type.

For example, the OCS detects that the account balance of the data service account of the UE is-15 yuan (i.e., the defaulting is 15 yuan), and if the preset account balance of the data service account of the UE is-10 yuan (i.e., the maximum defaulting value is 10 yuan), the OCS sends a service freeze request message to the PCEF device.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, a specific implementation manner of the PCEF device receiving the response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message may include: receiving a response message sent by an OCS (online charging and charging Enforcement) responding to the charging quota request message through a standard Gy interface by the PCEF equipment; alternatively, a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message through the Web Service interface is received.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the PCEF device may further receive a service unfreezing request message sent by the OCS, where the service unfreezing request message is sent by the OCS after receiving an account recharging message carrying a data service account of the UE sent by the backend IT system; and the PCEF equipment modifies the service state of the data service account of the UE from a frozen state to a unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message.

The specific implementation manner of modifying the service state of the data service account of the UE from the frozen state to the unfrozen state may be, for example: and changing the service state identification of the data service account of the UE from a frozen state identification to a unfreezed state identification, or changing the service access authority type of the data service account of the UE from a limited type to an authorized type.

For example, the user a charges 10 yuan to the QQ traffic packet service account of the UE2 through the online business hall application in the UE1, the backend IT system updates the QQ traffic packet service account of the UE2 and sends the account charging message to the OCS, the OCS updates the account balance of the stored QQ traffic packet service account of the UE2 according to the account charging message after receiving the account charging message, and sends a service unfreezing request message to the PCEF device, and the PCEF device updates the service state identifier of the stored QQ traffic packet service account of the UE2 to the unfreezing state identifier after receiving the service unfreezing request message. When a user uses a QQ flow packet service account in UE2 and requests data interaction to a server providing QQ application data service, a PCEF device detects a PDP context request sent by UE2 and detects that a service state identifier of the QQ flow packet service account of UE2 is a thawing state identifier, the PCEF device sends a charging quota request message of the QQ application data service of UE2 to an OCS, after the OCS receives the charging quota request message of the QQ application of UE2, the OCS detects that the balance of the QQ flow packet service account of UE2 is sufficient, the OCS returns a charging quota response message to the PCEF, the PCEF device creates a PDP context for UE2, the UE2 performs data interaction with the server providing the QQ application data service according to the PDP context, and the PCEF device determines flow charge according to a charging policy in the charging quota response message and the QQ flow actually consumed by UE 2.

In a specific implementation, the message interface established between the OCS and the PCEF device for transmitting the service freezing request message and the service unfreezing request message may be implemented in the following manners.

First, the implementation is realized by an RAR message (Re-Auth-Request, Re-authentication/authorization Request, which may be sent by an OCS to an access device (e.g., PCEF device) providing session service to Request Re-authentication/authorization of a user) through a standard Gy interface, and specifically, a Re-Auth-Request-Type field in the RAR message may be used to identify a service frozen state or a service unfrozen state, such as adding a description-Status AVP for transmitting a service freeze request message or a service unfreeze request message based on a data service account, one possible configuration of the Subscription-Status AVP of the RAR message is shown in table 1, the AVP (Attribute-Value-Pair) is the unit of the message body part of the Diameter message, and the Diameter encapsulates various information related to one message by using the AVPs, and then connects the AVPs head to tail one by one. The AVPCode is a category of AVP, and is used for identifying the AVP. For example, origin-Host AVP has a Code value of 264.

Subscription-Status::＝<AVP Header:30000>

{Subscription-Id-Type}

{Subscription-Id-Data}

{Subscription-Id-Status}

*{Service-Status}

Service-Status::＝<AVP Header:30002>

{Service-Identifier}

{Service–Id-Status}

TABLE 1 AVP field schematic in a Gy interface RAR message

In table 1: the RAR message may notify the PCEF by the OCS to directly modify the service state identifier of the data service account of the UE in the PCEF, in case that the user does not create a Gy session. Wherein [ Subscription-Id-Type ] (AVP Code is 450) is a user account identification Type, and [ Subscription-Id-Data ] (AVP Code is 444) is specific content of the entire service account, for example, when the Subscription-Id-Type value is 0, the Type representing the entire service account is MSISDN, in this case, the Subscription-Id-Data corresponds to a user phone number, for example, 13813800001, when the Subscription-Id-Type value is 1, the Type representing the entire service account is IMSI, in this case, the Subscription-Id-Data corresponds to a UE identification Code, for example, 460-00-4777770001, and so on.

The second method is implemented by a CCA message (Credit-Control-Answer) of a standard Gy interface, and specifically, the service state of the data service account may be identified by extending the CCA message, for example, a Subscription-Id-Status AVP is added to the CCA message to transmit a service freezing request or a service unfreezing request based on the data service account.

In one embodiment, the CCA message PS-Information AVP may be extended, such as adding a Service-Status AVP for delivering a Service freezing request or a Service unfreezing request based on a specific Service account, as shown in table 2.

TABLE 2 AVP field schematic in Gy interface CCA message

In table 2, the bold font is a new field, since the CCA message is based on the session, the CCR message already contains the user number, and the CCA message is used as a return message of the CCR, it is not necessary to expand a specific content field of the entire service account, and it is only necessary to add the service state of the entire service account, the specific content of the specific service account, and the service state 2-type field. The Service-Status AVP is used for identifying the Service state of a specific Service account, and is added at the PS-Information AVP as the newly added Information of the PS Service Information.

In another embodiment, a Service-Status AVP may also be added to the MSCC AVP of the CCA message to transmit a Service freeze request or a Service unfreeze request based on the data Service account, as shown in table 2.

TABLE 3 AVP field schematic in Gy interface CCA message

In table 3, the bold font is a new field, because the CCA message is based on the session, the user number is already included in the CCR message, and the CCA message is used as a return message of the CCR, it is not necessary to expand a specific content field of the entire service account, and it is only necessary to add the service state of the entire service account, the specific content of the specific service account, and the service state 2-type field. The MSCCAVP can identify a specific service in the Gy charging session, and the service state AVP is expanded in the MSCC AVP, so that the corresponding service state can be naturally associated.

The AVPs in tables 2 and 3 may be used to identify the Service states of the data Service accounts, where the Service states may be selected according to specific implementations of the PCEF or the OCS, and for the Service-Status AVP extended in the MSCC AVP, the specific content of the Service account corresponding to the Service-Status AVP may be determined by a Service-Identifier (AVP Code 439) in the MSCC AVP, or may be determined by a Service-Identifier (AVP Code 30003) in the Service-Status. In addition, the definition of the AVP Code described in the embodiment of the present invention is only an example, and the value of the AVP Code or the value of the associated operator Code Vendor-ID may be agreed according to the specific implementation of the PCEF and the OCS.

Thirdly, the service freeze request message and the service unfreeze request message are delivered through other interfaces (such as Web service interfaces), and one possible configuration manner of the message fields is shown in table 4.

TABLE 4 data traffic freeze or unfreeze notification field schematic

TABLE 5 Service-Status-List data traffic Status List field schematic

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method described in fig. 4 is described from the OCS side. As shown in fig. 4, the method may include the steps of:

s401, the OCS receives the charging quota request message sent by the PCEF device.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the charging quota request message is sent to the OCS by the PCEF device when receiving a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE sent by the UE and detecting that a service state of the data service account of the UE is an unfrozen state.

In a specific implementation, the UE may send a PDP context request to the PCEF device according to a data service interaction operation of the user (e.g., web browsing, video viewing, content downloading, instant messaging interaction message, etc.), or send a PDP context request to the PCEF device according to a data interaction request of an application running in the background (e.g., update of a hundred-degree map background, push of song recommendation by a music player in the sky, etc.).

S402, when detecting that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition, the OCS sends a service freezing request message to the PCEF device, where the service freezing request message is used to instruct the PCEF device to modify the service state of the data service account of the UE into a frozen state, so as to reject a PDP context request initiated by the UE before the data service account satisfies the preset condition.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the preset conditions include: the account balance of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is greater than or equal to a preset account balance; or, the service access permission type of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is an authorization type, and the service access permission type includes an authorization type and a restriction type.

In a specific implementation, a specific implementation manner of the OCS detecting that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition may be: the OCS detects that the account balance of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is less than a preset account balance. For example, the OCS detects that the account balance of the data service account of the UE is-15 yuan (i.e., the defaulting is 15 yuan), and if the preset account balance of the data service account of the UE is-10 yuan (i.e., the maximum defaulting value is 10 yuan), the OCS sends a service freeze request message to the PCEF device.

The specific implementation manner of the OCS detecting that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition may also be: the OCS detects that the service access permission type of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is a restricted type. For example, when the OCS detects that the service access right type of the QQ music clear-listening traffic packet of the UE is the restriction type, the OCS sends a service freezing request message for freezing the service of the QQ music clear-listening traffic packet of the UE to the PCEF device.

By implementing the method described in fig. 4, after receiving the charging quota request message sent by the PCEF device, the OCS detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition, and sends a service freezing request message to the PCEF device, and the PCEF device modifies the service state of the data service account of the UE from the unfreezing state to the freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE. And under the condition that the PCEF equipment rejects the PDP context request of the UE, the PCEF equipment cannot send a charging quota request message to the OCS, so that the repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF equipment are reduced, the pressure of a data link between the PCEF equipment and the OCS is relieved, and the performance loss of the OCS is reduced.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the OCS may further receive an account recharging message carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the backend IT system, and send a service unfreezing request message to the PCEF device according to the account recharging message, so that the PCEF device modifies the service state of the data service account of the UE from the frozen state to the unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message.

It can be seen that, in the above optional embodiment, the OCS may notify the PCEF device of updating the service state of the data service account of the UE in real time according to the UE recharge message, which is beneficial for the PCEF device to receive the PDP context request of the UE in time, and execute the traffic tariff operation after obtaining the charging quota response message of the OCS, so as to shorten the time for waiting for reconnection of the data path after the user recharges, thereby improving the data communication efficiency and improving the user experience.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a data service charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method described in fig. 5 is described from the UE, PCEF device, and OCS multiple sides. As shown in fig. 5, the method may include the steps of:

s501, the UE sends a PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE to the PCEF equipment.

S502, when the PCEF detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request.

After the PCEF device receives the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the UE, the PCEF device directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE when detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and the PCEF device does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS under the condition that the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request of the UE, so that it is beneficial to reduce repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF device, thereby reducing the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS and reducing the performance loss of the OCS.

As shown in fig. 6, after the step S501UE sends the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE to the PCEF device, optionally, the data service charging method in this embodiment may further include the following steps:

s601, the PCEF device detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the unfreezing state.

In this embodiment of the present invention, a specific implementation manner of the PCEF device detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the unfreezing state may include: the PCEF device detects that the service status identifier of the data service account of the UE is the unfreezing status identifier, or the PCEF device detects that the service access permission type of the data service account of the UE is the authorization type, and so on.

S602, the PCEF device sends a charging quota request message to the online charging system OCS.

S603, the OCS receives the charging quota request message, and detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition.

S604, the OCS sends a service freeze request message to the PCEF device.

And S605, the PCEF equipment receives the service freezing request message, and changes the service state of the data service account of the UE from a unfreezing state to a freezing state.

S606, the UE initiates the PDP context request to the PCEF device again.

S607, the PCEF device receives the PDP context request initiated again by the UE, detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and rejects the PDP context request of the UE.

S608, the UE sends an account recharging request of the data service account of the UE to the back-end IT system.

And S609, the back-end IT system receives the account recharging request and sends an account recharging message to the OCS.

S610, the OCS receives the account number recharging message and sends a service unfreezing request message to the PCEF equipment.

S611, the PCEF device receives the service unfreezing request message, and modifies the service state of the data service account of the UE from the frozen state to the unfreezing state.

S612, the UE initiates the PDP context request to the PCEF device again.

S613, the PCEF device detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the unfreezing state.

S614, the PCEF device sends the charging quota request message to the OCS again.

S615, the OCS receives the charging quota request message initiated again by the PCEF device, and detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message satisfies a preset condition.

S616, the OCS sends a charging quota response message to the PCEF device.

S617, the PCEF device establishes a data path between the UE and the server, and determines a traffic tariff according to the charging policy in the charging quota response message and the traffic consumed by the UE.

It can be seen that, by implementing the method described in fig. 6, the OCS may notify the PCEF device of updating the service state of the data service account of the UE in real time according to the UE charging message, which is beneficial for the PCEF device to receive the PDP context request of the UE in time, and perform the traffic tariff operation after obtaining the charging quota response message of the OCS, so as to shorten the time for waiting for reconnection of the data service communication link after the user charges, thereby improving the data communication efficiency and enhancing the user experience.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a PCEF device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the PCEF device may include a receiving module 701, a request rejecting module 702, wherein:

the receiving module 701 is configured to receive a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE sent by the UE;

in the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module 701 may receive a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE, which is sent by the UE through the wireless base station, where the operation of sending the PDP context request by the UE may be triggered by a data service access operation (such as web browsing, video viewing, content downloading, instant messaging interaction message, and the like) of the UE by a user, or may be triggered by a data interaction request (such as hundred-degree map background update, song recommendation pushed by a music player in the sky, and the like) of an application program running in a background of the UE.

The request rejecting module 702 is configured to reject the PDP context request when detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is a frozen state.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a state list including a data service account of a UE and a service state identifier of the data service account is stored in the PCEF device, where the service state identifier includes a frozen state identifier and a thawed state identifier; the request rejection module 702 is specifically configured to:

inquiring the state list stored in the PCEF equipment, and inquiring that a service state identifier of the data service account corresponding to the unique index information is a frozen state identifier by taking the unique index information of the data service account of the UE as an inquiry basis;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the PCEF device stores an authority list including a data service account of UE and a service access authority type of the data service account, wherein the service access authority type includes an authorization type and a restriction type; the request rejection module 702 is specifically configured to:

and querying the authority list stored in the PCEF device, and querying that the service access authority type of the data service account corresponding to the unique index information is a limited type by taking the unique index information of the data service account of the UE as a query basis.

It can be seen that, after the receiving module 701 of the PCEF device shown in fig. 7 receives the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE sent by the UE, the request rejecting module 702 of the PCEF device detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE, and under the condition that the request rejecting module 702 rejects the PDP context request of the UE, the PCEF device does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS, so that it is beneficial to reduce repeated charging interaction authentication messages between the OCS and the PCEF device, thereby relieving the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS and reducing the performance loss of the OCS.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the PCEF device may further include:

and the sending module is used for detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is in a unfreezing state after the receiving module receives the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE and sent by the UE, and sending a charging quota request message to the OCS.

In an embodiment, the response message is a charging quota response message, and the receiving control module is specifically configured to: and determining a flow rate charge according to a charging policy in the charging quota response message and the flow consumed by the UE, wherein the charging quota response message is sent to the receiving control module by the OCS when the OCS detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message meets a preset condition.

In another embodiment, the response message is a service freeze request message, and the reception control module is specifically configured to: and modifying the service state of the data service account of the UE from a unfreezing state to a freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and rejecting the PDP context request, wherein the service freezing request message is sent to the receiving control module by the OCS when the OCS detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not meet the preset condition.

In a specific implementation, a specific implementation manner of the receiving control module receiving the response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message may be: receiving a response message sent by the OCS through a standard Gy interface in response to the charging quota request message; or receiving a response message sent by the OCS through the Web Service interface in response to the charging quota request message.

and the unfreezing request receiving module is used for receiving a service unfreezing request message sent by the OCS, wherein the service unfreezing request message is sent after the OCS receives an account number recharging message which is sent by a back-end IT system and carries a data service account number of the UE.

And the unfreezing module is used for modifying the service state of the data service account of the UE from a frozen state to an unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message.

In the above optional embodiment, the receiving control module of the PCEF device may modify the service state of the data service account of the UE from the unfreezing state to the freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and the unfreezing module of the PCEF device may modify the service state of the data service account of the UE from the freezing state to the unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message, which is beneficial to implement accurate service access control.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic modular diagram of an OCS according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is used to implement the data service charging method according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, an OCS disclosed in the embodiment of the present invention includes a receiving module 801, a sending module 802:

the receiving module 801 is configured to receive a charging quota request message sent by a PCEF device.

The charging quota request message is sent to a receiving module by the PCEF device when receiving a PDP context request which is sent by the UE and carries a data service account of the UE, and detecting that the service state of the data service account of the UE is a unfreezing state;

the sending module 802 is configured to send a service freezing request message to a PCEF device when detecting that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message received by the receiving module does not satisfy a preset condition, where the service freezing request message is used to instruct the PCEF device to modify a service state of the data service account of the UE into a frozen state, so as to reject a PDP context request initiated by the UE before the data service account satisfies the preset condition.

Wherein, the preset conditions include: the account balance of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is greater than or equal to a preset account balance; or, the service access permission type of the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message is an authorization type, and the service access permission type includes an authorization type and a restriction type.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, a specific implementation manner of the message sending module 802 sending the service freezing request message to the PCEF device may include: sending a service freezing request message to PCEF equipment through a standard Gy interface; or sending a Service freezing request message to the PCEF equipment through the Web Service interface.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the OCS may further include:

the charging message receiving module is used for receiving account charging messages which are sent by a back-end IT system and carry the data service account of the UE;

and the unfreezing request sending module is used for sending a service unfreezing request message to the PCEF equipment according to the account number recharging message received by the recharging message receiving module, so that the PCEF equipment can modify the service state of the data service account number of the UE from a frozen state to an unfreezing state according to the service unfreezing request message.

After receiving the charging quota request message sent by the PCEF device, the OCS shown in fig. 8 detects that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition, and sends a service freezing request message to the PCEF device, and the PCEF device modifies the service state of the data service account of the UE from the unfreezing state to the freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and rejects the PDP context request. And under the condition that the PCEF equipment rejects the PDP context request of the UE, the PCEF equipment cannot send a charging quota request message to the OCS, so that the repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF equipment are reduced, the pressure of a data link between the PCEF equipment and the OCS is relieved, and the performance loss of the OCS is reduced.

In addition, the OCS can notify the PCEF equipment of updating the service state of the data service account of the UE in real time according to the UE recharging message, the PCEF equipment is favorable for receiving the PDP context request of the UE in time, and the flow rate charging operation is executed after the charging quota response message of the OCS is obtained, so that the time for waiting for reconnection of a data service communication link after the user recharges is shortened, the data communication efficiency is improved, and the user experience is improved.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a data service charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention, configured to execute a data service charging method according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 9, the data service charging system includes a UE, a PCEF device, and an OCS device. Wherein:

the UE is used for sending a PDP context request carrying a data service account of the UE to the PCEF equipment;

the PCEF device is configured to detect that a service state of the data service account of the UE is a frozen state, and reject the PDP context request.

In an embodiment, the PCEF device stores a status list including a data service account of the UE and a service status identifier of the data service account, where the service status identifier includes a frozen status identifier and a unfreezed status identifier; the PCEF device is specifically configured to:

in another embodiment. The PCEF device stores an authority list including a data service account of UE and a service access authority type of the data service account, wherein the service access authority type includes an authorization type and a restriction type; the PCEF device is specifically configured to:

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the PCEF device is further configured to detect that a service state of the data service account of the UE is an unfreezing state, and send a charging quota request message to the OCS.

The OCS is configured to detect that the data service account of the UE in the charging quota request message does not satisfy the preset condition, and send a service freezing request message to the PCEF device.

The PCEF device is further configured to modify the service state of the data service account of the UE from the unfreezing state to the freezing state according to the service freezing request message, and reject the PDP context request.

In the data service charging system shown in fig. 9, after the UE sends the PDP context request carrying the data service account of the UE to the PCEF device, the PCEF device detects that the service state of the data service account of the UE is the frozen state, and directly rejects the PDP context request of the UE, and under the condition that the PCEF device rejects the PDP context request of the UE, the PCEF device does not send a charging quota request message to the OCS, so that it is beneficial to reduce repeated charging authentication interaction messages between the OCS and the PCEF device, thereby reducing the pressure of a data link between the PCEF device and the OCS and reducing the performance loss of the OCS.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments may be implemented by associated hardware instructed by a program, which may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: flash disks, Read-Only memories (ROMs), Random Access Memories (RAMs), magnetic or optical disks, and the like.

The data service charging method, the PCEF device, the OCS, and the system disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention are introduced in detail above, and a specific embodiment is applied in this document to explain the principle and the implementation of the present invention, and the description of the above embodiments is only used to help understanding the method and the core idea of the present invention; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for charging for data services, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that the PCEF equipment detects that the service state of a data service account of the terminal equipment is a frozen state, the PCEF equipment rejects the PDP context request, wherein under the condition that the PDP context request is rejected, the PCEF equipment does not send a charging quota request message to an OCS (online charging system), wherein the service state of the data service account comprises the frozen state and the unfrozen state, when the service state of the data service account is in the frozen state, the balance of the data service account is insufficient or the service access authority type of the data service account is a limited type, and when the service state of the data service account is in the unfrozen state, the balance of the data service account is sufficient or the service access authority type of the data service account is an authorized type;

a message interface for transmitting a service freezing Request message and a service unfreezing Request message is established between the OCS and the PCEF device, a Re-Auth-Request-Type field in the RAR message can be specifically used for identifying a service freezing state or a service unfreezing state, and a Subscription-Status AVP is specifically added in the RAR message for transmitting the service freezing Request message or the service unfreezing Request message based on the data service account;

the AVP is the unit of the message body part of the Diameter message, and the Diameter encapsulates various information related to one message by using the AVPs one by one and then connects the AVPs head to tail one by one; the AVP Code is a category of AVP, and the AVP Code is used to identify the AVP.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a status list including a data service account of the terminal device and a service status identifier of the data service account is stored in the PCEF device, wherein the service status identifier includes a frozen status identifier and a thawed status identifier; the detecting, by the PCEF device, that the service state of the data service account of the terminal device is the frozen state includes:

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein after the PCEF device receives a PDP context request carrying a data service account of a terminal device sent by the terminal device, the method further comprises:

4. The method of claim 3,

5. The method of any of claims 1 or 2, further comprising:

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the PCEF device receiving a response message sent by the OCS in response to the charging quota request message comprises:

7. A method for charging for data services, comprising:

the OCS receives a charging quota request message sent by the PCEF equipment;

the OCS detects that a data service account of the terminal equipment in the charging quota request message does not satisfy a preset condition, and sends a service freezing request message to the PCEF equipment, wherein the service freezing request message is used for indicating the PCEF equipment to modify the service state of the data service account of the terminal equipment into a frozen state so as to reject a PDP context request initiated by the terminal equipment before the data service account satisfies the preset condition, and under the condition of rejecting the PDP context request, the PCEF equipment does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS, wherein the service state of the data service account comprises the frozen state and a unfrozen state, when the service state of the data service account is in the frozen state, the balance of the data service account is insufficient or the service access permission type of the data service account is a limit type, and when the service state of the data service account is in the unfrozen state, the balance of the data service account is sufficient or the service access authority type of the data service account is an authorization type;

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the preset conditions include:

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

9. A PCEF device, comprising:

a request rejection module, configured to detect that a service state of a data service account of the terminal device is a frozen state, and reject the PDP context request, where the PCEF device does not send a charging quota request message to an OCS under a condition that the PDP context request is rejected, where the service state of the data service account includes the frozen state and a unfrozen state, and when the service state of the data service account is in the frozen state, a balance of the data service account is insufficient or a service access permission type of the data service account is a restricted type, and when the service state of the data service account is in a unfrozen state, a balance of the data service account is sufficient or the service access permission type of the data service account is an authorized type;

10. The PCEF device of claim 9,

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

11. The PCEF device of any of claims 9 or 10, further comprising:

12. The PCEF device of claim 11,

13. An OCS, comprising:

a sending module, configured to send a service freezing request message to the PCEF device when detecting that the data service account of the terminal device in the charging quota request message received by the receiving module does not satisfy a preset condition, where the service freezing request message is used to instruct the PCEF device to modify a service state of the data service account of the terminal device to a frozen state, so as to reject a PDP context request initiated by the terminal device before the data service account satisfies the preset condition, where, under a condition that the PDP context request is rejected, the PCEF device does not send the charging quota request message to the OCS, the service state of the data service account includes the frozen state and the unfrozen state, and when the service state of the data service account is in the frozen state, a balance of the data service account is insufficient or a service access permission type of the data service account is a restricted type, when the service state of the data service account is in a unfreezing state, the balance of the data service account is sufficient or the service access authority type of the data service account is an authorization type;

14. The OCS of claim 13, wherein the preset condition comprises:

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

15. A data service charging system comprising a terminal device, a PCEF device according to any of claims 9 to 12, and an OCS according to any of claims 13 to 14,

16. The data service charging system of claim 15,

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

17. The data service charging system according to any one of claims 15 or 16,