CN109274507B

CN109274507B - Charging control method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN109274507B
Application number: CN201710583075.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙德奎
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-07-17
Filing date: 2017-07-17
Publication date: 2020-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 2037-07-17
Also published as: CN109274507A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a charging control method, a device and a system, which can realize the charging requirement of a carrier level by expanding OpenFlow and can avoid the hysteresis of data packet processing when a charging quota is exhausted. The method comprises the following steps: after the switch receives a first data packet from the terminal, the switch matches a bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with a bearer identifier in a flow table entry; if the matching is successful, the switch searches a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow table item; the switch carries out charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table and writes the charging statistical result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object of the charging table; and the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Description

Charging control method, device and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a charging control method, device, and system.

Background

A Software Defined Network (SDN) is an implementation manner of network virtualization, and a core technology OpenFlow separates a control plane and a data plane of a network device, so that flexible control of network traffic is realized, and a network becomes more intelligent as a pipeline.

On one hand, however, the current OpenFlow supports a few statistical types, and for some typical service scenarios of the telecommunication network, such as charging based on service duration, OpenFlow cannot be satisfied; on the other hand, although OpenFlow supports a threshold-based message reporting mechanism, when the charging quota is exhausted, the user plane must first notify the control plane that the user plane statistics has reached the threshold, and then the SDN controller receives the message and then refreshes the action of the relevant table entry to perform packet loss or forward the packet to a specific defaulting server. Clearly, there is some hysteresis in this mechanism.

Therefore, how to expand OpenFlow to realize the billing requirement of carrier, and avoid the hysteresis of packet processing when the billing quota is exhausted is a problem to be solved at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a charging control method, a device and a system, which can realize the charging requirement of a carrier level by expanding OpenFlow and can avoid the hysteresis of data packet processing when a charging quota is exhausted.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, a charging control method is provided, where the method includes: after the switch receives a first data packet from a terminal, the switch matches a bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with a bearer identifier in a flow table entry; if the matching is successful, the switch searches a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow entry, wherein the charging table comprises the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold value, a first action type and a statistical value of a charging quota object, and when the first charging quota threshold value is not determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage; the switch carries out charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table and writes the charging statistical result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object of the charging table; and the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. According to the method and the device, the corresponding action is directly indicated in the charging table, for example, when the first charging quota threshold value in the charging table is determined according to the last effective newly-added charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrearage, so that the processing hysteresis caused by the fact that the OpenFlow only supports a message reporting mechanism based on the threshold value at present can be avoided.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the switch receives a flow table item creation message from a Software Defined Network (SDN) controller, wherein the flow table item creation message is used for generating the flow table item; the switch generates a flow table entry from the flow table entry creation message. Since the flow table entry creation information is generated by the SDN controller according to the charging identifier and the bearer identifier, the flow table entry may point to the charging table corresponding to the charging identifier.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the switch receives a charging table establishing message from the SDN controller, wherein the charging table establishing message is used for generating the charging table; the switch generates the billing table according to the billing table creation message. Because the charging table creation information is generated by the SDN controller according to the charging information, and the charging information can be the charging information under various service scenes, the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the application can meet telecommunication charging requirements of various service scenes.

In one possible design, the performing, by the switch, charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table includes: when the first charging quota threshold is smaller than the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is larger than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the switch sends charging statistical information to the SDN controller, wherein the charging statistical information comprises the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; the switch receives a charging table updating message from the SDN controller, wherein the charging table updating message comprises the charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold value and a second action type, and when the second charging quota threshold value is not determined according to the last effective newly-added charging quota, the second action type is null; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage; after the switch finds the billing table according to the billing identifier, the switch updates the first billing quota threshold value in the billing table to the second billing quota threshold value; and the switch updates the first action type in the charging table to the second action type; and the switch performs charging control according to the second charging quota threshold value, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. Based on the scheme, charging control can be realized.

In one possible design, the switch performs charging control according to a first charging quota threshold value in the charging table, a first action type, and a statistic of the charging quota object, and includes: when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, the switch manages the received data packet according to the action type corresponding to the arrearage. Based on the scheme, charging control can be realized.

In one possible design, the charging quota object includes a service duration; the switch performs charging statistics according to the charging quota object, including: the switch determines whether idle time is greater than a preset value, wherein the idle time is an interval between the time when the switch receives the first data packet and the time when the switch receives a second data packet, and the second data packet is a previous data packet of the first data packet; if the idle time is larger than the preset value, the switch determines the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistic result of the service duration; if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the exchanger determines the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration. Based on the scheme, the charging statistics can be realized.

In a second aspect, a charging control method is provided, where the method includes: the method comprises the steps that a software-defined network (SDN) controller receives charging strategy information, first charging quota information and a bearing identifier from a control surface entity, wherein the first charging quota information comprises a first charging quota and a first action type, and when the first charging quota is not a last effective newly-added charging quota, the first action type is null; when the first charging quota is the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage; if the SDN controller determines that a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information, and sends the charging table creation message to a target switch, wherein the charging table creation message is used for generating a charging table, the charging table is used for charging control, and the charging table comprises the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold value, the first action type and a statistical value of the charging quota object; the SDN controller generates a flow table item creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and sends the flow table item creation message to the target switch, wherein the flow table item creation message is used for generating a flow table item used for searching the charging table, and the flow table item comprises the bearer identifier and the charging identifier; and the SDN controller stores the corresponding relation between the charging policy information and the charging identifier. Based on the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the application, on one hand, in the charging control method, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, so that the target switch can generate a charging table according to the charging table creation information sent by the SDN controller and perform charging statistics according to the charging table, and therefore telecommunication charging requirements of various service scenes can be met; on the other hand, in the embodiment of the present application, a corresponding action is directly indicated in the charging table, for example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrearage, so that processing hysteresis caused by that the OpenFlow only supports a message reporting mechanism based on the threshold at present can be avoided. In summary, the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirement of the carrier.

In one possible design, after the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information, and the bearer identification from the control plane entity, the method further includes: if the SDN controller determines to store the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information, the SDN controller generates a flow table entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and sends the flow table entry creation message to the target switch, where the flow table entry creation message is used to generate a flow table entry, and the flow table entry is used to search the charging table, where the flow table entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. Since the flow table entry creation information is generated by the SDN controller according to the charging identifier and the bearer identifier, the flow table entry may point to the charging table corresponding to the charging identifier.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the SDN controller receives charging statistical information from the target switch, wherein the charging statistical information comprises the charging identifier and a statistical value of the charging quota object; the SDN controller determines the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier and sends the charging policy information to the control plane entity; the SDN controller receives the charging policy information and second charging quota information from the control surface entity, where the second charging quota information includes a second charging quota and a second action type, and when the second charging quota is not a last valid newly-added charging quota, the second action type is null; when the second charging quota is the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage; the SDN controller determines a second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota; the SDN controller determines the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information; the SDN controller sends a charging table update message to the target switch, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold, and the second action type. Based on this scheme, the billing table may be updated.

In a third aspect, a switch is provided, where the switch has a function of implementing the method of the first aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a switch comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus, and a communication interface; the memory is used for storing computer execution instructions, the processor is connected with the memory through the bus, and when the switch runs, the processor executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory, so that the switch executes the charging control method according to any one of the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the charging control method of any one of the above first aspects.

A sixth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the charging control method of any one of the first aspects above.

In a seventh aspect, a chip system is provided, where the chip system includes a processor configured to look up a charging table according to a charging identifier in a flow table entry. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the switch. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

The technical effects brought by any one of the design manners in the third aspect to the seventh aspect may be referred to the technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect, and are not described herein again.

In an eighth aspect, an SDN controller is provided, where the SDN controller has a function of implementing the method of the second aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a ninth aspect, an SDN controller is provided, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus, and a communication interface; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the SDN controller runs, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the SDN controller to execute the charging control method according to any one of the second aspects.

A tenth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to execute the charging control method of any one of the second aspects described above.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the charging control method of any one of the second aspects above.

In a twelfth aspect, a chip system is provided, where the chip system includes a processor configured to support an SDN controller to implement the functions recited in the foregoing aspects, such as generating a charging table creation message according to charging policy information and first charging quota information, and sending the charging table creation message to a target switch. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the SDN controller. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

The technical effects brought by any one of the design manners of the eighth aspect to the twelfth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by different design manners of the second aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a thirteenth aspect, a charging control system is provided, where the service session establishment system includes the switch in any aspect and the SDN controller in any aspect.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging control system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic application diagram of a charging control system in a 4G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic application diagram of a charging control system in a 5G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a first flowchart of a charging control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a second flowchart of a charging control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging table and a flow entry provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a first schematic structural diagram of a switch according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a switch according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a first schematic structural diagram of an SDN controller according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a structural schematic diagram of a SDN controller according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Where in the description of the present application, "/" indicates an OR meaning, for example, A/B may indicate A or B; "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Also, in the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two unless otherwise specified. In addition, in order to facilitate clear description of technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance. For example, the first action type and the second action type in the embodiment of the present application may be the same action type or different action types, and this is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

As shown in fig. 1, for a charging control system 10 provided in an embodiment of the present application, the charging control system 10 includes a control plane entity 101, an SDN controller 102, and one or more switches 103.

The SDN controller 102 is configured to receive charging policy information, first charging quota information, and a bearer identifier from the control plane entity 101, where the first charging quota information includes a first charging quota and a first action type, and when the first charging quota is not a last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type is null; and when the first charging quota is the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrearage.

The SDN controller 102 is further configured to generate, if it is determined that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information, and send the charging table creation message to the target switch 103, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, where the charging table includes the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a statistical value of a charging quota object.

The SDN controller 102 is further configured to generate a flow table entry creating message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and send the flow table entry creating message to the target switch 103, where the flow table entry is used to generate a flow table entry, and the flow table entry is used to look up the charging table, where the flow table entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier.

The SDN controller 102 is further configured to store a corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier.

And a target switch 103, configured to receive the flow table entry creation message from the SDN controller 102, and generate a flow table entry according to the flow table creation message.

The target switch 103 is further configured to receive a charging table creation message from the SDN controller 102, and generate a charging table according to the charging table creation message.

The target switch 103 is further configured to, after receiving the first data packet from the terminal, match the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow entry, if the matching is successful, search the corresponding billing table according to the billing identifier in the flow entry, further perform billing statistics on the billing quota object in the billing table, and write the billing statistics result of the billing quota object in the statistics value of the billing quota object in the billing table.

The target switch 103 is further configured to perform charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

The destination switch in this embodiment may be any one of the switches in the charging control system 10 shown in fig. 1, and is determined by the SDN controller 102 according to a switch identifier sent by the control plane gateway 101, which is described herein in a unified manner and is not described in detail below.

Optionally, the switch in the embodiment of the present application may be an OpenFlow switch, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described in detail below.

Optionally, the control plane entity 101 and the SDN controller 102 in fig. 1 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other network devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Optionally, the switch 103 and the SDN controller 102 in fig. 1 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other network devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Based on the charging control system provided by the embodiment of the application, on one hand, in the charging control system, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, and the target switch can generate a charging table according to the charging table creation information sent by the SDN controller and perform charging statistics according to the charging table, so that the telecommunication charging requirements of various service scenes can be met; on the other hand, in the embodiment of the present application, a corresponding action is directly indicated in the charging table, for example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrearage, so that processing hysteresis caused by that the OpenFlow only supports a message reporting mechanism based on the threshold at present can be avoided. In summary, the charging control system provided in the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirement of the carrier.

Specifically, the charging control system 10 may be applied to the current fourth Generation (english: 4rd-Generation, abbreviated as 4G) network, and may also be applied to the future fifth Generation (english: 5rd-Generation, abbreviated as 5G) network and other networks, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

If the charging Control system 10 is applied to the current 4G network, as shown in fig. 2, a network element or an entity corresponding to the Control plane entity 101 may be a Gateway Control plane function (GW-C) entity; a network element or entity corresponding to the SDN controller 102 may be an SDN controller; the switch 103 may be configured to implement a Gateway User plane function (GW-U) entity. In addition, as shown in fig. 2, the 4G network may further include a terminal, a base station, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), an Online Charging System (OCS), an Offline Charging System (OFCS), and the like.

If the charging control system 10 is applied to a 5G network, as shown in fig. 3, a network element or an entity corresponding to the control plane entity 101 may be a Session Management Function (SMF) entity; a network element or entity corresponding to the SDN controller 102 may be an SDN controller; the switch 103 may be used to implement functions of a User Plane Function (UPF) entity. In addition, as shown in fig. 3, the 5G network may further include a terminal, an access device, an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, a Policy Control Function (PCF) entity, an OCS, an OFCS, and the like.

It should be noted that the access device, the AMF entity, the SMF entity, the PCF entity, the OCS, the OFCS, and the like in fig. 3 are only names, and the names do not limit the device itself. In the 5G network and other networks in the future, the access device, the AMF entity, the SMF entity, the PCF entity, the OCS, and the OFCS may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

For specific functions of each network element in fig. 2 and fig. 3, reference may be made to the following method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the terminal (terminal) referred to in the embodiments of the present application may include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, and may further include a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a cellular phone (cellular phone), a smart phone (smart phone), a wireless data card, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem (modem), a handheld device (hand held), a laptop computer (laptop), a cordless phone (cordless phone) or a wireless local loop (W LL) station, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal, a user equipment (user equipment, UE), a mobile station (mobile station, MS), a terminal device (terminal), and the like.

Optionally, the access device referred to in this embodiment of the present application refers to a device accessing a core network, and may be, for example, a base station, a broadband network service gateway (BNG), an aggregation switch, a non-3 GPP access device, and the like. The base stations may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, etc.

Optionally, the SDN controller 102 and the switch 103 in fig. 1 may be implemented by one entity device, may also be implemented by multiple entity devices together, and may also be a logic function module in one entity device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

For example, as shown in fig. 4, SDN controller 102 and switch 103 in fig. 1 may both be implemented by the network device in fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. Network device 400 includes at least one processor 401, a communication bus 402, a memory 403, and at least one communication interface 404.

The processor 401 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

Communication bus 402 may include a path that transfers information between the above components.

The communication interface 404 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), wireless local area networks (W L AN), etc.

The memory 403 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to these. The memory may be self-contained and coupled to the processor via a bus. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 403 is used for storing application program codes for executing the scheme of the application, and the processor 401 controls the execution. The processor 401 is configured to execute the application program codes stored in the memory 403, so as to implement the charging control method provided by the following embodiments of the present application.

In particular implementations, processor 401 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 4 as an example.

In particular implementations, network device 400 may include multiple processors, such as processor 401 and processor 408 in fig. 4, for example, as an embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, network device 400 may also include an output device 405 and an input device 406 as an example, output device 405 may communicate with processor 401 and may display information in a variety of ways, for example, output device 405 may be a liquid crystal display (L CD), a light emitting diode (L ED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like.

The network device 400 may be a general-purpose network device or a special-purpose network device. In a specific implementation, the network device 400 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a network server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 4. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the network device 400.

The following describes the charging control method provided in the embodiment of the present application in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 4.

First, with reference to the charging control system 10 shown in fig. 1, a flow diagram of a service control method provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown in fig. 5, and relates to interaction between a control plane entity 101, an SDN controller 102, and a destination switch 103, including the following steps:

s501, the control plane entity sends the charging policy information, the first charging quota information, and the bearer identifier to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information, and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity.

The first charging quota information comprises a first charging quota and a first action type, and when the first charging quota is not the last valid newly-added charging quota, the first action type is null; and when the first charging quota is the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrearage.

And S502, if the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information.

The charging table creation message in the embodiment of the application includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, and a first action type. The first charging quota threshold is determined according to the first charging quota in the first charging quota information.

S503, the SDN controller sends a charging table creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the charging table creation message from the SDN controller. The charging table creation message is used for generating a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, wherein the charging table comprises a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a statistical value of a charging quota object.

And S504, the SDN controller generates a flow table item creation message according to the bearing identifier and the charging identifier.

S505, the SDN controller sends a flow table item creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the flow table item creation message from the SDN controller. The flow table entry creation message is used to generate a flow table entry used to look up a charging table, wherein the flow table entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier.

And S506, the SDN controller stores the corresponding relation between the charging identifier and the charging policy information.

And S507, the target switch creates a flow table item according to the flow table item.

And S508, the target switch creates a charging table according to the charging table creation message.

So far, the creation of the charging table and the flow table item is completed, and further, the target switch can perform charging control according to the flow table item and the charging table, which is specifically as follows:

s509, after receiving the first data packet from the terminal, the target switch matches the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow entry.

And S510, if the matching is successful, the target switch searches a corresponding charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow table item.

S511, the target switch carries out charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics result of the charging quota object into the statistics value of the charging quota object of the charging table.

And S512, the target switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

The implementation of steps S501-S512 will be described in detail in the following embodiments, and will not be described herein again.

Based on the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the application, on one hand, in the charging control method, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, the target switch can generate a charging table according to the charging table creation information sent by the SDN controller, and charging statistics is carried out according to the charging table, so that telecommunication charging requirements of various service scenes can be met; on the other hand, in the embodiment of the present application, a corresponding action is directly indicated in the charging table, for example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrearage, so that processing hysteresis caused by that the OpenFlow only supports a message reporting mechanism based on the threshold at present can be avoided. In summary, the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirement of the carrier.

The actions of the SDN controller in steps S501 to S512 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in fig. 4 calling the application program code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

The actions of the target switch in steps S501 to S512 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in fig. 4 calling the application program code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

Next, the charging control method shown in fig. 5 will be described by taking as an example the application of the charging control system 10 shown in fig. 1 to the 4G network shown in fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 6, a flowchart of a charging control method provided in this embodiment relates to interaction between a GW-C entity, an SDN controller, a target switch, a PCRF, and an OCS, and includes the following steps:

s601, in the process of establishing the load, the PCRF sends charging policy information to the GW-C entity so that the GW-C entity receives the charging policy information from the PCRF entity.

Optionally, the charging policy information in this embodiment of the present application includes an Internet Protocol (IP) address, online charging information, or offline charging information of an interconnection between networks of the terminal, a charging group identifier, a charging quota object, and the like, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the charging quota object in the embodiment of the present application includes a flow or a service duration, that is, charging based on the flow or charging based on the service duration, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

S602, in the process of bearer establishment, the OCS sends charging quota information 1 to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives the charging quota information 1 from the OCS.

Optionally, the charging quota information 1 in this embodiment of the application includes a charging quota.

Optionally, the charging quota information 1 in this embodiment of the application may further include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, for example, when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 1 may further include a charging quota exhaustion identifier, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

S603, the GW-C entity sends the charging policy information, the charging quota information 2, the bearing identifier and the identifier of the target switch to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the charging quota information 2, the bearing identifier and the identifier of the target switch from the GW-C entity.

The charging quota information 2 in the embodiment of the present application includes a charging quota in the charging quota information 1.

Optionally, if the charging quota information 1 in step S602 further includes information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 2 in this embodiment further includes an action type corresponding to the information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted. For example, if the charging quota information 1 may further include a charging quota exhaustion identifier, the charging quota information 2 further includes an action type corresponding to the arrearage correspondingly. The action type corresponding to the arrearage may be, for example, packet loss or rerouting to an arrearage server, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. Or, for example, if the charging quota information 1 further includes information indicating that the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 2 further includes an idle action type, that is, an operation corresponding to the arrearage is not performed.

Of course, when the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 1 may not include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, but only when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 1 includes information indicating that the charging quota is exhausted, and the charging quota information 2 includes an action type corresponding to the arrearage.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the GW-C entity may select a target switch according to a function set required by the bearer and a load condition of the switch, and further, the GW-C entity may send the charging policy information, the charging quota information 2, the bearer identifier, and an identifier of the target switch to the SDN controller, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. An Interface between the GW-C entity and the SDN controller is an Application Programming Interface (API).

And S604, if the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the charging quota information 3. The charging table creation message is used for generating a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, wherein the charging table comprises a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a statistical value of a charging quota object.

The charging quota information 3 in this embodiment of the present application includes a first charging quota threshold and a first action type. The first charging quota threshold is the charging quota in the charging quota information 2.

The charging table creation message includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, and a first action type. The charging identifier is generated according to information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information, for example, the charging identifier may be generated according to a charging group identifier; the first charging quota threshold and the first action type are generated from charging quota information 3.

The first charging quota and the first action type correspond to each other, and when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last valid newly-added charging quota, the first action type is null; when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-added charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage.

S605, the SDN controller sends a charging table creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the charging table creation message from the SDN controller.

Optionally, if the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is stored, step S604 and step S605 do not need to be executed.

And S606, the SDN controller generates a flow table item creation message according to the bearing identifier and the charging identifier.

S607, the SDN controller sends the flow table item creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the flow table item creation message from the SDN controller. The flow table entry creation message is used to generate a flow table entry used to look up a charging table, wherein the flow table entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier.

Because the flow entry includes the charging identifier, the charging table can be found according to the flow entry. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a flow table entry and a charging table provided in the embodiment of the present application. The flow table entry includes a matching field, a priority field, a statistic field, an instruction field, and the like. In this embodiment of the present application, a charging identifier is written in an instruction field of a flow entry, that is, the flow entry points to a charging table corresponding to the charging identifier. The billing table includes a billing identification field, a billing quota threshold field, an action type field, and a statistics field. The action type in this embodiment of the present application may include an empty action type or an action type corresponding to an arrearage, and the action type corresponding to the arrearage may be, for example, a packet loss or rerouting to an arrearage server, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. The statistics value field in the embodiment of the present application includes a statistics value field of the charging quota object, such as a statistics field of service duration. Of course, the statistics field of the charging table may further include statistics fields of other parameters, such as a statistics field of traffic, a statistics field of input byte number, a statistics field of output byte number, and the like, so that the SDN controller views the statistics of the parameters and performs related operations, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the SDN controller may query the statistical information (stats) and the configuration information (desc) of the charging table through an OpenFlow Multipart message. The OpenFlow Multipart message includes a charging identifier, and whether to query statistical information or configure information is distinguished by a type in an OpenFlow Multipart message header, which is described in detail in the OpenFlow Multipart message header and is not described herein again.

And S608, the SDN controller stores the corresponding relation between the charging identifier and the charging policy information.

Therefore, when the charging table is updated subsequently, the charging identifier corresponding to the charging table can be obtained according to the corresponding relation.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the SDN controller further stores a corresponding relationship between the flow entry and the bearer identifier and an identifier of the target switch, so that when a subsequent SDN controller receives bearer modification information, the corresponding flow entry and switch may be identified by querying the corresponding relationship.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the SDN controller further stores a correspondence between the charging identifier and the identifier of the target switch, so that when the charging table is subsequently updated, the charging table update information may be sent to the target switch according to the correspondence.

And S609, the target switch creates a flow table item according to the flow table item.

S610, the target exchanger creates a charging list according to the charging list.

Fig. 7 may be referred to for a structure related to the flow table entry and the charging table, and details are not repeated here.

s611, after receiving the first data packet from the terminal, the target switch matches the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow entry.

Specifically, after the target switch receives the first data packet, the bearer identifier of the bearer where the first data packet is located may be obtained through bearer matching or the like, and then the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet may be matched with the bearer identifier of the flow entry in the target switch.

And S612, if the matching is successful, the target switch searches a corresponding charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow table item.

S613, the target switch performs charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics result of the charging quota object into the statistics value of the charging quota object of the charging table.

Optionally, the charging quota object includes a service duration. Correspondingly, the performing, by the target switch, charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table may specifically include: the target switch determines whether idle time is larger than a preset value, wherein the idle time is an interval between the time when the target switch receives a first data packet and the time when the target switch receives a second data packet, and the second data packet is a previous data packet of the first data packet; if the idle time is larger than the preset value, the target switch determines the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistic result of the service duration; and if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the target switch determines the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration.

Optionally, when the first charging quota threshold is smaller than the effective charging quota contracted by the terminal, the following steps S614 to S622 are performed;

when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota contracted by the terminal, the following step S623 is performed.

And S614, when the first charging quota threshold is smaller than the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is larger than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the target switch sends charging statistic information to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the charging statistic information from the target switch. The charging statistical information includes a charging identifier and a statistical value of the charging quota object, and the charging statistical information is used for requesting a second quota threshold and a second action type.

Optionally, the charging statistics information in this embodiment of the application may be reported to the SDN controller through an ofp _ charging _ stats message, where the ofp _ charging _ stats message includes the charging statistics information and a type of the charging statistics information, and the type of the charging statistics information is used to represent that the charging statistics information is the statistics information reported by the target switch.

S615, the SDN controller sends information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information from the SDN controller.

After receiving the charging statistical information from the target switch, the SDN controller may obtain charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier according to a pre-stored correspondence between the charging identifier and the charging policy information, and may further send information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information to the GW-C entity through the Restful API after determining the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information.

Optionally, the SDN controller may further send the statistical value of the charging quota object to the GW-C entity, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S616, the GW-C entity sends the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information to the OCS, so that the OCS receives the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information from the GW-C entity.

Optionally, the GW-C entity may also send the statistics of the charging quota object to the OCS, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S617, the OCS sends information corresponding to the charging identifier and charging quota information 4 in the charging policy information to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives information corresponding to the charging identifier and charging quota information 4 in the charging policy information from the OCS.

Optionally, the charging quota information 4 in this embodiment of the application includes a newly added charging quota.

Optionally, the charging quota information 4 in this embodiment of the application may further include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, for example, when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 4 may further include a charging quota exhaustion identifier, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

And S618, the GW-C entity sends information corresponding to the charging identifier and charging quota information 5 in the charging policy information to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the information corresponding to the charging identifier and the charging quota information 5 in the charging policy information from the GW-C entity.

The charging quota information 5 in the embodiment of the present application includes a newly added charging quota in the charging quota information 4.

Optionally, if the charging quota information 4 in step S617 further includes information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 5 in this embodiment further includes an action type corresponding to the information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted. For example, if the charging quota information 4 may further include a charging quota exhaustion identifier, the charging quota information 5 may further include an action type corresponding to the arrearage. The action type corresponding to the arrearage may be, for example, packet loss or rerouting to an arrearage server, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. Or, for example, if the charging quota information 4 further includes information indicating that the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 5 further includes an idle action type, that is, an operation corresponding to the arrearage is not performed.

Of course, when the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 4 may not include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, but only when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 4 includes information indicating that the charging quota is exhausted, and the charging quota information 5 includes an action type corresponding to the arrearage.

S619, the SDN controller generates a charging table updating message according to the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information and the charging quota information 6.

The charging quota information 6 in this embodiment of the present application includes a second charging quota threshold and a second action type. The second charging quota threshold is determined according to the charging quota newly added in the charging quota information 5, that is:

the second charging quota threshold is the first charging quota threshold + the newly increased quota threshold.

The second charging quota in the embodiment of the application corresponds to the second action type, and when the second charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last valid newly-added charging quota, the second action type is null; and when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage.

In this embodiment of the application, the SDN controller may determine, according to a correspondence between the charging policy information and the charging identifier, a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information, and may further generate a charging table update message according to the charging identifier and the charging quota information 6.

S620, the SDN controller sends a charging table update message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the charging table update message from the SDN controller, where the charging table update message includes a charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold, and a second action type.

The SDN controller may determine, according to a correspondence between the stored charging identifier and the identifier of the target switch, the target switch corresponding to the charging identifier, and may further send charging table update information to the target switch.

S621, after finding the billing table according to the billing identifier, the target switch updates the first billing quota threshold value in the billing table to a second billing quota threshold value; updating the first action type in the charging list to a second action type;

and S622, the target switch performs charging control according to the second charging quota threshold value, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Specifically, the step S614 to S622 may be referred to for specific implementation of the target switch performing charging control according to the second charging quota threshold, the second action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table, and details are not described here.

And S623, when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, the target switch manages the received data packet according to the action type corresponding to the arrearage.

For example, if the action type corresponding to the arrearage is packet loss, the target switch may drop the received data packet;

alternatively, if the action type corresponding to the arrear is rerouting to the arrear server, the destination switch may reroute the received packet to the arrear server.

The actions of the SDN controller in steps S601 to S623 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in fig. 4 calling an application program code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

The actions of the target switch in steps S601-S623 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in fig. 4 calling the application program code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

The embodiment shown in fig. 6 explains the charging control method shown in fig. 5 by taking the example that the charging control system 10 is applied to the 4G network shown in fig. 2, and of course, as described above, the charging control system 10 may also be applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3, and the corresponding charging control method may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and only the GW-C entity in the embodiment shown in fig. 6 needs to be replaced by the SMF entity in the 5G network, and the PCRF entity needs to be replaced by the PCF entity in the 5G network, which is not described herein again.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is to be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the target switch and the SDN controller include a hardware structure and/or a software module for performing each function. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the session management function entity and the control device may be divided into function modules according to the above method example, for example, each function module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

For example, in the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 8 shows a possible structural diagram of the switch 80 in the above embodiment. The switch 80 includes: a receiving module 801, a matching module 802, a lookup module 803, a statistics module 804, and a control module 805. A receiving module 801, configured to receive a first data packet from a terminal. A matching module 802, configured to match the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow entry. A searching module 803, configured to search, if the matching module 802 succeeds in matching, a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow entry, where the charging table includes the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a statistical value of a charging quota object, and where, when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to a last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type is null; and when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrearage. The statistic module 804 is configured to perform charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and write the charging statistical result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. The control module 805 is configured to perform charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 8, the switch 80 provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes: a generating module 806. The receiving module 801 is further configured to receive a flow table entry creation message from the SDN controller, where the flow table entry creation message is used to generate a flow table entry. A generating module 806, configured to generate a flow entry according to the flow entry creation message.

Optionally, the receiving module 801 is configured to receive a charging table creation message from the SDN controller, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table. A generating module 806, configured to generate the billing table according to the billing table creation message.

Optionally, the control module 805 is specifically configured to: when the first charging quota threshold is smaller than the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is larger than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, sending charging statistic information to the SDN controller, wherein the charging statistic information comprises a charging identifier and the statistic value of the charging quota object; receiving a charging table updating message from the SDN controller, wherein the charging table updating message comprises a charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold value and a second action type, and the second action type is null when the second charging quota threshold value is not determined according to the last effective newly-added charging quota; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrearage; after the billing table is found according to the billing identifier, updating the first billing quota threshold value in the billing table to be a second billing quota threshold value; updating the first action type in the charging list to a second action type; and performing charging control according to the second charging quota threshold value, the second action type and the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Optionally, the control module 805 is specifically configured to: and when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, managing the received data packet according to the action type corresponding to the arrearage.

Optionally, the charging quota object includes a service duration. The statistics module 804 is specifically configured to: determining whether idle time is greater than a preset value, wherein the idle time is an interval between the time when the receiving module 801 receives the first data packet and the time when the receiving module 801 receives a second data packet, and the second data packet is a previous data packet of the first data packet; if the idle time is larger than the preset value, determining the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistic result of the service duration; and if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, determining the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration.

In the case of dividing the functional modules in an integrated manner, fig. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the switch 90 according to the above embodiment, where the switch 90 includes: a processing module 902 and a communication module 901. The communication module 901 may be configured to perform the operations that can be performed by the receiving module 801 in fig. 8; the processing module 902 may be configured to execute operations that can be executed by the matching module 802, the searching module 803, the counting module 804, the control module 805, and the generating module 806 in fig. 8, which may specifically refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 8, and this embodiment of the present application is not described herein again.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

In the present embodiment, the switch is presented in a form of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, or the switch is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. As used herein, a module may refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic Circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an Integrated logic Circuit, and/or other devices that provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art will recognize that either switch 80 or switch 90 may take the form shown in FIG. 4. For example, the receiving module 801, the matching module 802, the searching module 803, the counting module 804, the controlling module 805, and the generating module 806 in fig. 8 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in fig. 4. Specifically, the receiving module 801, the matching module 802, the searching module 803, the counting module 804, the controlling module 805, and the generating module 806 may be executed by the processor 401 by calling application program codes stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Alternatively, for example, the processing module 902 and the communication module 901 in fig. 9 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in fig. 4. Specifically, the processing module 902 and the communication module 901 may be executed by the processor 401 by calling an application program code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in any way by the embodiment of the present application.

Since the switch provided in the embodiment of the present application may be used to execute the charging control method, the technical effect obtained by the switch may refer to the method embodiment, and will not be described herein again.

Alternatively, for example, in the case of dividing each functional module by corresponding functions, fig. 10 shows a possible structural diagram of the SDN controller 100 involved in the foregoing embodiment. The SDN controller 100 includes: a receiving module 1001, a determining module 1002, a generating module 1003, a transmitting module 1004, and a storing module 1005. A receiving module 1001, configured to receive charging policy information, first charging quota information, and a bearer identifier from a control plane entity, where the first charging quota information includes a first charging quota and a first action type, and when the first charging quota is not a last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type is null; and when the first charging quota is the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrearage. The determining module 1002 is configured to determine a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information that is not stored. The generating module 1003 is configured to generate a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information. The sending module 1004 is configured to send a billing table creation message to the target switch, where the billing table creation message is used to generate a billing table, the billing table is used for billing control, and the billing table includes a billing identifier, a first billing quota threshold, a first action type, and a statistical value of a billing quota object. The generating module 1003 is configured to generate a flow table entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. A sending module 1004, configured to send a flow table item creation message to the target switch, where the flow table item creation message is used to generate a flow table entry, and the flow table entry is used to search for the charging table, where the flow table entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier. The storage module 1005 is configured to store a corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier.

Optionally, the determining module 1002 is further configured to determine, after the receiving module 1001 receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information, and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity, to store the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information. The generating module 1003 is further configured to generate a flow table entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. The sending module 1004 is further configured to send a flow table item creation message to the target switch, where the flow table item creation message is used to generate a flow table entry, and the flow table entry is used to search the charging table, where the flow table entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier.

Optionally, the receiving module 1001 is further configured to receive charging statistical information from the target switch, where the charging statistical information includes a charging identifier and a statistical value of a charging quota object. The determining module 1002 is further configured to determine charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier. The sending module 1004 is further configured to send the charging policy information to the control plane entity. The receiving module 1001 is further configured to receive charging policy information and second charging quota information from a control plane entity, where the second charging quota information includes a second charging quota and a second action type, and when the second charging quota is not the last effectively newly added charging quota, the second action type is null; and when the second charging quota is the last effective newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrearage. The determining module 1002 is further configured to determine a second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota. The determining module 1002 is further configured to determine a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information. The sending module 1004 is further configured to send a charging table update message to the target switch, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold, and the second action type.

In a case where the functional modules are divided in an integrated manner, fig. 11 shows a possible structural diagram of the SDN controller 110 involved in the foregoing embodiment, where the session management functional entity 110 includes: a communication module 1101, a processing module 1102 and a storage module 1103. The communication module 1101 may be configured to execute operations that can be executed by the receiving module 1001 and the sending module 1004 in fig. 10, the processing module 1102 may be configured to execute operations that can be executed by the determining module 1002 and the generating module 1003 in fig. 10, and the storage module 1103 may be configured to execute operations that can be executed by the storage module 1005 in fig. 10, which may specifically refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 10, and this embodiment of the present application is not described herein again.

In the present embodiment, the SDN controller is presented in a form of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, or the SDN controller is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. As used herein, a module may refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic Circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an Integrated logic Circuit, and/or other devices that provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art may think that SDN controller 100 or SDN controller 110 may take the form shown in fig. 4. For example, the receiving module 1001, the determining module 1002, the generating module 1003, the transmitting module 1004, and the storing module 1005 in fig. 10 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in fig. 4. The specific receiving module 1001, the determining module 1002, the generating module 1003, the sending module 1004, and the storing module 1005 may be executed by the processor 401 by calling application program codes stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Alternatively, for example, the communication module 1101, the processing module 1102 and the storage module 1103 in fig. 11 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in fig. 4. Specifically, the communication module 1101, the processing module 1102 and the storage module 1103 may be executed by the processor 401 by calling application program codes stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Since the SDN controller provided in the embodiment of the present application may be configured to execute the charging control method, the technical effect obtained by the SDN controller may refer to the method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, configured to support a switch to implement the functions related in the foregoing aspects, for example, to search a charging table according to a charging identifier in a flow entry. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory. The memory is used for storing program instructions and data necessary for the switch. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, configured to support an SDN controller to implement the functions related in the foregoing aspects, for example, generate a charging table creation message according to charging policy information and first charging quota information, and send the charging table creation message to a target switch. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory. The memory is used for storing program instructions and data necessary for the SDN controller. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, e.g., from one website, computer, server, or data center, by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optics, Digital Subscriber line (Digital Subscriber line) L ine, DS L) or wirelessly (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) to another website, computer, server, or data center, may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, or data center via a wired (e.g., Digital Subscriber line (Digital Subscriber line) L ine, DS L) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) medium, which may be any Solid State storage medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk, optical Disk, magnetic Disk, optical Disk.

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A charging control method, characterized in that the method comprises:

after a switch receives a first data packet from a terminal, the switch matches a bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with a bearer identifier in a flow table entry;

if the matching is successful, the switch searches a charging table according to a charging identifier in the flow table item, wherein the charging table comprises the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold value, a first action type and a statistical value of a charging quota object, and when the first charging quota threshold value is not determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

the switch carries out charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table and writes the charging statistical result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object of the charging table;

and the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the switch receives a flow table item creation message from a Software Defined Network (SDN) controller, wherein the flow table item creation message is used for generating the flow table item;

and the switch generates the flow table item according to the flow table item creation message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the switch receives a charging table creating message from an SDN controller, wherein the charging table creating message is used for generating the charging table;

and the switch generates the charging list according to the charging list establishing message.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type, and the statistics of the charging quota object in the charging table, including:

when the first charging quota threshold is smaller than the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is larger than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the switch sends charging statistic information to an SDN controller, wherein the charging statistic information comprises the charging identifier and the statistic value of the charging quota object;

the switch receives a charging table update message from the SDN controller, wherein the charging table update message comprises the charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold value and a second action type, and when the second charging quota threshold value is not determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the second action type is null; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

after the switch finds the charging table according to the charging identifier, the switch updates the first charging quota threshold value in the charging table to the second charging quota threshold value; the switch updates the first action type in the charging table to the second action type;

and the switch performs charging control according to the second charging quota threshold value, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type, and the statistics of the charging quota object in the charging table, including:

when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, the switch manages the received data packet according to the action type corresponding to the arrearage.

6. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the charging quota object comprises a service duration;

the switch performs charging statistics according to the charging quota object, including:

the switch determines whether idle time is greater than a preset value, wherein the idle time is an interval between the time when the switch receives the first data packet and the time when the switch receives a second data packet, and the second data packet is a last data packet of the first data packet;

if the idle time is larger than the preset value, the switch determines the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistic result of the service duration;

and if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the switch determines the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration.

7. A charging control method, characterized in that the method comprises:

a Software Defined Network (SDN) controller receives charging policy information, first charging quota information and a bearing identifier from a control surface entity, wherein the first charging quota information comprises a first charging quota and a first action type, and when the first charging quota is not a last valid newly-added charging quota, the first action type is null; when the first charging quota is the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

if the SDN controller determines that a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information, and sends the charging table creation message to a target switch, wherein the charging table creation message is used for generating a charging table, the charging table is used for charging control, and the charging table comprises the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold value, the first action type and a statistical value of a charging quota object;

the SDN controller generates a flow table item creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and sends the flow table item creation message to the target switch, wherein the flow table item creation message is used for generating a flow table item which is used for searching the charging table, and the flow table item comprises the bearer identifier and the charging identifier;

the SDN controller stores the corresponding relation between the charging policy information and the charging identifier.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein after the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information, and the bearer identification from the control plane entity, further comprising:

if the SDN controller determines to store the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information, the SDN controller generates a flow table item creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and sends the flow table item creation message to the target switch, where the flow table item creation message is used to generate a flow table item, and the flow table item is used to search the charging table, where the flow table item includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the SDN controller receives charging statistical information from the target switch, wherein the charging statistical information comprises the charging identification and a statistical value of the charging quota object;

the SDN controller determines the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier and sends the charging policy information to the control plane entity;

the SDN controller receives the charging policy information and second charging quota information from the control surface entity, wherein the second charging quota information comprises a second charging quota and a second action type, and when the second charging quota is not a last valid newly-added charging quota, the second action type is null; when the second charging quota is the last valid newly-added charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

the SDN controller determines a second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota;

the SDN controller determines the charging identification corresponding to the charging policy information;

the SDN controller sends a charging table update message to the target switch, wherein the charging table update message comprises the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold value and the second action type.

10. A switch, characterized in that the switch comprises: the device comprises a receiving module, a matching module, a searching module, a counting module and a control module;

the receiving module is used for receiving a first data packet from a terminal;

the matching module is configured to match the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow table entry;

the searching module is configured to search a charging table according to a charging identifier in the flow table entry if the matching module is successfully matched, where the charging table includes the charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a statistical value of a charging quota object, where the first action type is null when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to a last valid newly added charging quota; when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

the statistic module is used for carrying out charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table and writing a charging statistic result of the charging quota object into a statistic value of the charging quota object of the charging table;

the control module is configured to perform charging control according to the first charging quota threshold value, the first action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

11. The switch of claim 10, further comprising: a generation module;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a flow table entry creation message from a software defined network SDN controller, where the flow table entry creation message is used to generate the flow table entry;

the generating module is configured to generate the flow table entry according to the flow table entry creation message.

12. The switch of claim 10, further comprising: a generation module;

the receiving module is configured to receive a charging table creation message from an SDN controller, where the charging table creation message is used to generate the charging table;

the generating module is used for generating the charging list according to the charging list establishing message.

13. The switch according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the control module is specifically configured to:

when the first charging quota threshold is smaller than the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is larger than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, sending charging statistic information to an SDN controller, wherein the charging statistic information comprises the charging identifier and the statistic value of the charging quota object;

receiving a charging table update message from the SDN controller, wherein the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold and a second action type, and when the second charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last valid newly added charging quota, the second action type is null; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

after the billing table is found according to the billing identifier, updating the first billing quota threshold value in the billing table to the second billing quota threshold value; updating the first action type in the charging table to the second action type;

and performing charging control according to the second charging quota threshold value, the second action type and the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

14. The switch according to any of claims 10-12, wherein the control module is specifically configured to:

when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota signed by the terminal, if the statistic value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, managing the received data packet according to the action type corresponding to the arrearage.

15. The switch of any of claims 10-12, wherein the charging quota object comprises a service duration; the statistics module is specifically configured to:

determining whether idle time is greater than a preset value, wherein the idle time is an interval between the time when the receiving module receives the first data packet and the time when the receiving module receives a second data packet, and the second data packet is a last data packet of the first data packet;

if the idle time is greater than the preset value, determining the statistic value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistic result of the service duration;

and if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, determining the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration.

16. A software defined network, SDN, controller, the SDN controller comprising: the device comprises a receiving module, a determining module, a generating module, a sending module and a storing module;

the receiving module is configured to receive charging policy information, first charging quota information, and a bearer identifier from a control plane entity, where the first charging quota information includes a first charging quota and a first action type, and when the first charging quota is not a last valid newly added charging quota, the first action type is null; when the first charging quota is the last valid newly-increased charging quota, the first action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

the determining module is configured to determine that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored;

the generating module is configured to generate a billing table creation message according to the billing policy information and the first billing quota information;

the sending module is configured to send the billing table creation message to a target switch, where the billing table creation message is used to generate a billing table, the billing table is used for billing control, and the billing table includes the billing identifier, a first billing quota threshold, the first action type, and a statistical value of a billing quota object;

the generating module is used for generating a flow table item creating message according to the bearing identifier and the charging identifier;

the sending module is configured to send the flow table item creation message to the target switch, where the flow table item creation message is used to generate a flow table item, and the flow table item is used to search the charging table, where the flow table item includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier;

and the storage module is used for storing the corresponding relation between the charging strategy information and the charging identifier.

17. The SDN controller of claim 16,

the determining module is further configured to determine to store a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information after the receiving module receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information, and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity;

the generating module is further configured to generate a flow table item creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier;

the sending module is further configured to send the flow table entry creation message to the target switch, where the flow table entry creation message is used to generate a flow table entry, and the flow table entry is used to search the charging table, where the flow table entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier.

18. SDN controller according to claim 16 or 17,

the receiving module is further configured to receive charging statistical information from the target switch, where the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and a statistical value of the charging quota object;

the determining module is further configured to determine the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier;

the sending module is further configured to send the charging policy information to the control plane entity;

the receiving module is further configured to receive the charging policy information and second charging quota information from the control plane entity, where the second charging quota information includes a second charging quota and a second action type, and when the second charging quota is not a last valid newly-added charging quota, the second action type is null; when the second charging quota is the last valid newly-added charging quota, the second action type is an action type corresponding to the arrearage;

the determining module is further configured to determine a second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota;

the determining module is further configured to determine the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information;

the sending module is further configured to send a charging table update message to the target switch, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold, and the second action type.

19. A switch, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus, and a communication interface;

the memory is used for storing computer execution instructions, the processor is connected with the memory through the bus, and when the switch runs, the processor executes the computer execution instructions stored by the memory so as to enable the switch to execute the charging control method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

20. A Software Defined Network (SDN) controller, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus, and a communication interface;

the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions, the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the SDN controller is running, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to cause the SDN controller to execute the charging control method according to any one of claims 7 to 9.

21. A charging control system, characterized in that the charging control system comprises a switch according to any of claims 10-15, and an SDN controller according to any of claims 16-18;

alternatively, the charging control system comprises the switch of claim 19 and the SDN controller of claim 20.