CN101296096B

CN101296096B - Method, device and system for implementing policy charging control in radio communication system

Info

Publication number: CN101296096B
Application number: CN2007101404233A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 顾亮; 吴建军; 何贤会; 张伟
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-04-27
Filing date: 2007-08-10
Publication date: 2012-04-18
Anticipated expiration: 2027-08-10
Also published as: CN101296096A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method, a device and a system for realizing policy charge control in a wireless communication system. The method mainly comprises the following steps: a policy charge rule function (PCRF) entity acquires information of a first PCEF entity positioned in a core network; and the PCRF sends determined policy charge rules to a first PCEF entity or the first PCEF entity and a second PCEF entity positioned in an access network, so that the network can carry out the policy charge control to the terminal of the access network. Therefore, in the invention, when the first policy charge executing entity is dynamically distributed, the corresponding policy charge rules can be sent to the first policy charge executing entity, so that the corresponding policy charge control can be normally performed.

Description

Method, device and system for realizing policy charging control in wireless communication system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of network communication, in particular to a policy charging control technology in a wireless communication system.

Background

With the development of wireless communication technology, WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access) networks based on IEEE 802.16 (the institute of electrical and electronics engineers' broadband wireless access air interface standard) have been introduced, which are capable of providing higher access rates.

The reference structure of the WiMax network may be as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, where fig. 1 is the reference structure of the WiMax network in the non-roaming case, and fig. 2 is the reference structure of the WiMax network in the roaming case. In the reference structure of the WiMax network, authentication and authorization of a user is implemented by an AAA (authentication, accounting) server in the home CSN (connectivity service network) of the user.

In the actual deployment process of the WiMax network, referring to fig. 2, NAP (network access provider), Visited NSP (Visited network service provider) and Home NSP (Home network service provider) may belong to different operators, and there may be multiple ASN (access service network) overlays in the same area, and each ASN may be connected to multiple NSP networks.

In the WiMax network, there are two main ways for the deployment of NAP and NSP: one way is that NAP and NSP are deployed in a one-to-one correspondence; another way is to use a roaming agreement between one ASN in NAP and multiple NSPs, that is, to deploy in a manner shared by multiple NSPs.

In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventor finds that the above prior art at least has a problem that the corresponding policy charging control cannot be implemented in a roaming scenario, and meanwhile, similar problems also exist in other similar wireless communication networks.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method, a device and a system for realizing policy and charging control in a wireless communication system, so that policy and charging control processing under roaming scenes can be realized in the wireless communication system.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for realizing policy charging control in a wireless communication system, which comprises the following steps:

a policy charging decision entity acquires information of a first policy charging execution entity;

and the policy charging decision entity sends the determined policy charging rule to a first policy charging execution entity, or sends the policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity which are arranged at different positions, and executes policy charging control.

The embodiment of the invention provides a distributing entity of a policy charging execution entity, which comprises the following steps:

the distribution processing unit is used for distributing a corresponding first policy charging execution entity for the currently accessed terminal equipment;

and the first information transmission unit is used for sending the information of the first policy and charging execution entity distributed by the distribution processing unit to the policy and charging decision entity.

The embodiment of the invention provides a policy charging decision entity, which comprises:

the information receiving unit is used for receiving the information of the first policy charging execution entity;

and the policy charging rule sending unit is used for sending the policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity according to the information of the first policy charging execution entity received by the information receiving unit, or sending the policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity arranged in the access network.

The embodiment of the invention provides a system for realizing policy charging control in a wireless communication system, which comprises:

the distribution entity of the policy charging execution entity is used for distributing a first policy charging execution entity for the currently accessed terminal and sending the information of the first policy charging execution entity to the policy charging decision entity of the attribution place;

and the policy charging decision entity is used for acquiring the information of the first policy charging execution entity and sending the determined policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity or sending the determined policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and the second policy charging execution entity which are arranged at different positions.

It can be seen from the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present invention that, in the embodiments of the present invention, when the first policy charging enforcement entity is dynamically allocated, the corresponding policy charging rule may be sent to the first policy charging enforcement entity, so that the corresponding policy charging control can be normally performed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a WiMax network structure under a non-roaming condition in the prior art;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a WiMax network structure under roaming in the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a policy charging framework in the prior art;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a first application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a second application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an application scenario three provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an application scenario four provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a first process diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a second schematic processing flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a third schematic processing flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a fourth schematic processing flow diagram of the method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a fifth schematic processing flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus and a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the process of implementing the embodiment of the invention, in order to implement policy and charging control, a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) framework is selected for policy and charging operation, and a policy and charging control function framework suitable for various IP connection access networks is specifically defined in the PCC framework. Wherein, the strategy Control comprises gateway Control and QoS Control; the Charging control is FBC (Flow Based Charging).

The structure of the PCC framework is shown in fig. 3, where the PCC framework mainly includes the following functional entities:

a PCRF (Policy Charging Control and Charging rules function) for Policy Control decisions and flow Charging based Control, which may specifically include a quality of service Policy decision function and/or a Charging Policy decision function, i.e. the Policy Charging rules determined by the PCRF include: a quality of service policy and/or a charging policy;

a PCEF (Policy Charging enforcement entity) for traffic data flow detection, Policy enforcement, and flow Charging based enforcement.

In the process of executing policy charging control under a PCC framework, a PCC Rule (policy charging Rule) to be applied CAN allocate a service data stream to an IP CAN (IP connection Access Network) bearer according to the PCC Rule; the specific content of the PCC Rule may include: rule ID (Rule identification), service data flow detection information, charging information, and policy control information.

Based on the PCC framework, the implementation scheme of the policy and charging control provided in the embodiment of the present invention in the roaming scenario includes: a policy charging and policy enforcement function (PCRF) entity acquires information of a first PCEF entity, wherein the first PCEF entity is used for providing policy charging execution operation for a terminal of a current access network; and the PCRF sends the determined policy and charging rules to the first PCEF entity, or sends the determined policy and charging rules to the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity which are arranged at different positions, so that the policy and charging control can be carried out on the terminal accessed to the network in the wireless communication system. The different positions of the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity may be: the first PCEF entity is disposed in the CSN network, and the second PCEF entity is disposed in the ASN, or the first PCEF entity may be disposed in the core network, and the second PCEF entity may be disposed in the access network, and so on.

In the embodiment of the present invention, if the PCRF entity is a home PCRF entity, the home PCRF entity directly obtains information of the first PCEF entity, for example, information of a location, an identifier, a domain name, and/or an address of the first PCEF entity, from an allocation entity of the first PCEF entity, where the location is in a home CSN or a visited CSN; and if the PCRF entity is the PCRF entity of the visited place, the PCRF entity of the visited place acquires the information of the first PCEF entity from the distribution entity of the first PCEF entity through the PCRF entity of the home place.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the processing procedure of the PCRF entity acquiring the information of the first PCEF entity specifically includes one or more of the following manners:

(1) the PCRF entity is a home PCRF entity, and the home PCRF entity can directly acquire the information of the first PCEF entity from a distribution entity of the first PCEF entity; or, the PCRF entity is a PCRF entity of the visited place, and the PCRF entity of the visited place can acquire the information of the first PCEF entity from the distribution entity of the first PCEF entity through the PCRF entity of the home place;

(2) the PCRF entity of the home location or the PCRF entity of the visited location may obtain the information of the first PCEF entity from the request for obtaining the policy charging rules sent by the second PCEF entity;

(3) the PCRF entity of the home location or the PCRF entity of the visited location may directly acquire the information of the first PCEF entity from the request for acquiring the policy and charging rules sent by the first PCEF entity, or the PCRF entity of the home location or the PCRF entity of the visited location may also receive registration information sent from the first PCEF entity through the policy distribution entity, and acquire the information of the first PCEF entity from the registration information;

(4) the PCRF entity of the home location can acquire the information of the first PCEF entity from the PCRF entity of the visited location;

(5) the PCRF entity of the visited place may obtain the information of the first PCEF entity from the PCRF entity of the home location;

in the foregoing manner, the information of the first PCEF entity refers to: and whether to use the information such as the indication of the first PCEF entity, the position, the identification, the domain name and/or the address of the first PCEF entity, and the like, wherein the position is in the CSN of the home location or the CSN of the visited location.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the processing procedure of sending the determined policy and charging rule to the first PCEF entity, or sending the determined policy and charging rule to the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity at the same time may adopt any one of the following implementation schemes:

(1) the PCRF entity of the home location sends the determined policy charging rules to the first PCEF entity directly or through a policy distribution entity, or the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity, and at the moment, the participation of the PCRF of the visited location is not needed, so the setting of the PCRF of the visited location can be omitted;

wherein, the policy distribution entity may be independently configured, or may be configured in the same device as the first PCEF entity;

(2) the policy charging decision entity of the visited place sends the policy charging rule to the first PCEF entity directly or through the policy distribution entity, or the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity;

(3) the PCRF entity of the home location sends the policy charging rules to the PCRF entity of the visited location, and the PCRF entity of the visited location performs corresponding cutting processing according to network resources and/or policies of the transmission network and then sends the cutting processing to the first PCEF entity, or the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity, wherein the first PCEF entity can be located in the CSN of the visited location or the CSN of the home location, and the policy charging rules in the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity can be kept consistent at the moment;

(4) the PCRF entity of the home location sends the policy charging rules to the PCRF entity of the visited location and the first PCEF entity, and the PCRF entity of the visited location cuts down the policy charging rules according to network resources and/or policies of the transmission network and then sends the policy charging rules to the second PCEF entity, so that the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity can both obtain the corresponding policy charging rules;

(5) and the PCRF entity of the home location sends the policy and charging rules to the PCRF entity of the visited location, the PCRF entity of the visited location cuts down the policy and charging rules according to network resources and/or policies of a transmission network and sends the policy and charging rules to the second PCEF entity and the PCRF entity of the home location, and the policy and charging entity of the home location sends the policy and charging rules cut down by the PCRF entity of the visited location to the first PCEF entity so as to ensure the consistency of the policy and charging rules stored in the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the first PCEF entity is dynamically allocated, the corresponding policy charging rule may be sent to the first PCEF entity. Furthermore, the consistency of the policy and charging rules on different policy and charging enforcement entities (the first PCEF entity, or the first PCEF entity and the second PCEF entity) and the consistency of the policy and charging rules stored by the PCRF of the home location can be further ensured.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the process of sending the determined policy and charging rule by the PCRF entity may specifically be triggered by any one of the following manners:

(1) a PCRF entity of a home location or a PCRF entity of a visited location receives a request for acquiring a policy and charging rule sent by a first PCEF entity or a second PCEF entity;

(2) the PCRF entity of the home location or the PCRF entity of the visited location determines that the policy charging rule needs to be sent to the first PCEF entity or the second PCEF entity according to the condition of the PCRF entity;

(3) the PCRF entity of the home location receives a request for acquiring the policy and charging rules sent by the PCRF entity of the visited location;

when the condition is met, the PCRF entity can send the policy and charging rule.

The following will take HA as the first PCEF, PCEF in ASN as the second PCEF, and AAA server as the HA allocation entity to explain the policy and charging control implementation process of HA dynamic allocation in roaming scenario in WiMax network; the implementation process for policy charging control in other wireless communication systems is similar to that of WiMax networks.

In roaming scene, the dynamic allocation of HA is completed by the interactive negotiation between H-AAA and V-AAA in the authentication stage of terminal network access. After the terminal successfully accesses the network, before the H-PCRF (PCRF of the home location) or V-PCRF (PCRF of the visited location) sends PCC Rules, the H-PCRF or V-PCRF must acquire the result of HA dynamic allocation, that is, the H-PCRF or V-PCRF needs to acquire that the HA corresponding to the IP-CAN Session of the terminal is located in the H-CSN or V-CSN.

The address of the HA located in the same CSN network may be pre-configured specifically on the PCRF. And when the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF learns that the HA is in the same network with the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF, the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF sends the generated PCC Rules to the HA according to the self-preconfigured HA address.

If the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF does not have the address of the pre-configured HA or the HA is not in the same CSN network as the PCRF which sends the PCCRules to the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF, the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF also needs to dynamically obtain the address of the HA so as to facilitate the transfer of the PCC Rules.

For facilitating understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the following describes a policy and charging control implementation scheme in a roaming scenario in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In a roaming scenario, an HA allocated to a terminal of an access network may be located in a V-CSN or an H-CSN, and the HA may obtain PCC Rules from a V-PCRF in the V-CSN or obtain corresponding PCC Rules from an H-PCRF in the H-CSN. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention can be specifically divided into the following application scenarios:

application scenario one

In the application scenario, the HA is located in the V-CSN, and the HA selects to obtain PCC Rules from the V-PCRF in the V-CSN.

As shown in fig. 4, when the HA allocated by the network to the terminal enters the network and is located in the V-CSN, the HA performs PCC Rules transfer through an interface set between the HA and the V-PCRF, that is: when the H-PCRF authorizes and generates PCC Rules to be sent to the V-PCRF, the V-PCRF can further make a decision and authorize (possibly cutting off the PCC Rules) according to a local policy, then the PCC Rules finally authorized are sent to a policy charging enforcement entity PCEF of the ASN, and meanwhile the PCC Rules are sent to the HA to be used as a basis for executing policy charging operation.

Application scenario two

In the application scenario, the HA is located in the H-CSN, and the HA also chooses to obtain PCC Rules from the V-PCRF in the V-CSN.

As shown in fig. 5, when the terminal enters the network and the HA allocated to the terminal by the network is located in the H-CSN, the HA still selects to obtain the PCC Rules from the V-PCRF in order to keep the PCC Rules obtained by the HA and the PCC Rules obtained by the policy and charging enforcement entity PCEF located on the ASN consistent.

In the application scenario, since the V-PCRF needs to directly send the final PCC Rules to the HA located in the H-CSN, the V-PCRF needs to know the address of the HA.

Application scenario three

In the application scenario, the HA is located in the H-CSN, and the HA selects to obtain the PCC Rules from the H-PCRF in the H-CSN.

As shown in fig. 6, when the H-PCRF sends the PCC Rules generated by authorization to the V-PCRF, the H-PCRF also sends the PCC Rules to the HA.

Application scenario four

Similar to the third application scenario, in the application scenario, the HA is still located in the H-CSN, and the HA still selects to obtain the PCC Rules from the H-PCRF in the H-CSN, but in the application scenario, the H-PCRF in the H-CSN directly sends the corresponding PCC Rules to the policy and charging enforcement entity PCEF in the ASN.

As shown in fig. 7, the following may be specifically mentioned: when the HA is located in the H-CSN, the service plane data is directly transmitted to the HA located in the H-CSN by the ASN without passing through any service plane entity of the V-CSN, and at this time, the PCC Rules is directly transmitted to the policy and charging enforcement entity PCEF in the ASN by the H-PCRF without passing through the V-PCRF.

In the application scenario, the policy charging control system is simplified, and the policy charging enforcement entity PCEF in the HA and the ASN can be ensured to adopt the consistent PCC Rules.

Based on the above various application scenarios, the following describes a process for implementing policy charging control in different application scenarios.

And (I) under the application scene I and the application scene II, a policy and charging control process triggered by a policy and charging control entity PCRF.

In the first application scenario and the second application scenario, as the HA always acquires PCC Rules from the V-PCRF, the consistency between the PCC Rules acquired by the policy charging enforcement entity HA and the policy charging enforcement entity located in the ASN can be ensured; in addition, in the process of executing service triggering by the V-PCRF, the interaction with the H-PCRF may not be needed, and only local processing (such as free service and the like) is performed, namely, the interaction processes of all the V-PCRF, the H-PCRF and the H-AAA are omitted, PCC Rules are directly generated by the V-PCRF, and the PCC Rules are sent;

taking the example that the V-PCRF acquires the PCC Rules from the H-PCRF, as shown in fig. 8, a specific policy and charging control processing procedure includes the following steps:

step 1: the V-PCRF initiates a PCC Rules request to the H-PCRF;

based on the requirement of an application server AF or the requirement of a policy of the H-PCRF or the V-PCRF, the PCC Rules configuration process is initiated aiming at the IP-CAN Session of the terminal; the configuration process may include: creation, modification and/or deletion of PCC Rules; for a PCCRules configuration process triggered by the V-PCRF, the V-PCRF firstly needs to initiate a PCC Rules request process to the H-PCRF;

step 2 and step 3: the H-PCRF requests user subscription information from the H-AAA, and the H-AAA informs the H-PCRF of the user subscription information and simultaneously informs whether the HA corresponding to the IP-CAN Session currently used by the terminal is located in the H-CSN or the V-CSN (if the HA is indicated to be Home or Visited);

if the H-AAA knows the address of the HA, the H-AAA can inform the H-PCRF of the address of the HA at the same time, or only informs the H-PCRF of the address of the HA;

and 4, step 4: the H-PCRF saves at least one of the position of the HA and the address of the HA related to the IP-CAN Session, executes policy decision processing according to the user subscription information and the policy requirement of the H-PCRF, authorizes and generates corresponding PCC Rules;

and 5: the H-PCRF sends the generated PCC Rules to the V-PCRF, and simultaneously informs the V-PCRF of at least one of the current HA position and the HA address;

step 6: after receiving the PCC Rules, the V-PCRF stores at least one of the HA position and the HA address related to the IP-CAN Session of the terminal, and further authorizes and modifies the PCC Rules according to a local policy;

optionally, in this step, PCC Rules may be further pruned according to network resources and/or policies of the local transport network;

step 7, step 8: the V-PCRF sends the finally authorized PCC Rules to a policy charging execution entity in the ASN where the terminal is located, and meanwhile, the finally authorized PCC Rules are sent to the HA according to the position of the HA (optionally including the address information of the HA);

and step 9: the policy charging execution entity in the HA stores corresponding PCC Rules and returns a configuration result to the V-PCRF, namely PCC Rules confirmation information;

step 10, step 11: in the ASN network, an IP-CAN bearer is created, modified or deleted according to the requirement of PCC Rules, and a configuration result, namely PCC Rules confirmation message, is returned to the V-PCRF;

step 12: the V-PCRF saves corresponding PCC Rules according to the returned result and returns a PCC Rules configuration result to the H-PCRF;

optionally, in this step, the PCC Rules finally authorized by the V-PCRF may also be notified to the H-PCRF, so that the H-PCRF stores the corresponding PCC Rules, and the consistency of the PCC Rules of the H-PCRF and the V-PCRF is ensured.

And (II) under the third application scene and the fourth application scene, triggering a policy and charging control process by a policy and charging control entity PCRF or a policy and charging execution entity.

In the application scenario three and the application scenario four, the corresponding policy charging control processes in the three embodiments will be specifically described.

Example one

In this embodiment, a policy and charging control entity PCRF triggers a corresponding policy and charging control process, and the HA always obtains PCC Rules from the H-PCRF.

As shown in fig. 9, a specific policy and charging control process in the first embodiment includes the following steps:

step 1: the H-PCRF initiates a PCC Rules configuration process aiming at the IP-CAN Session of the terminal based on the requirement of an application server AF or the requirement of a self strategy or the request of a V-PCRF;

the configuration process may include: creation, modification and/or deletion of PCC Rules, etc.;

step 2 and step 3: the H-PCRF requests user subscription information from the H-AAA, and the H-AAA informs the H-PCRF of the user subscription information and also informs the position (such as Home or Visited) of the HA corresponding to the IP-CAN Session currently used by the terminal;

in the step, if the address of the HA is known by the H-AAA, the H-PCRF can also be informed of the address of the HA at the same time, or only informed of the address of the HA;

and 4, step 4: the H-PCRF stores the position of the HA and/or the address of the HA related to the IP-CAN Session, executes policy decision according to the user subscription information and the policy requirement of the H-PCRF, authorizes and generates PCC Rules;

and 5: the H-PCRF sends the generated PCC Rules to the V-PCRF and simultaneously informs the current HA position and/or HA address;

step 6, step 7: the H-PCRF sends the authorized PCCRules to the HA according to the position of the HA and/or the address of the HA, and the HA stores and responds to the PCC Rules configuration result;

and 8: after the V-PCRF receives the PCC Rules, the position of the HA and/or the address of the HA related to the IP-CAN Session of the terminal are/is stored, and the PCC Rules are further authorized and modified according to a local strategy, for example, the PCC Rules CAN be further cut down according to the network resources and the strategy of a local transmission network;

and step 9: the V-PCRF sends the finally authorized PCC Rules to a policy charging execution entity in the ASN where the terminal is located;

step 10, step 11: and creating, modifying or deleting the IP-CAN bearer in the ASN according to the requirement of the PCC Rules, storing the corresponding PCC Rules in a policy charging execution entity in the ASN, and returning a configuration result to the V-PCRF.

Step 12: and the V-PCRF saves corresponding PCC Rules according to the returned result, optionally informs the H-PCRF of the PCCRules finally authorized by the V-PCRF while returning the PCC Rules configuration result to the H-PCRF, and the H-PCRF saves the corresponding PCC Rules.

In this embodiment, the above step 6 and step 7 may also be performed after step 12, so that it can be ensured that the policy and charging enforcement entity located in the HA and the policy and charging enforcement entity located in the ASN have PCC Rules consistent.

Example two

In the second embodiment, the policy and charging enforcement entity PCEF triggers the corresponding policy and charging control process, and the HA still obtains the PCC Rules from the H-PCRF.

As shown in fig. 10, the corresponding policy charging control process specifically includes the following steps:

step 1: the HA serving as a policy enforcement entity or the policy enforcement entity positioned in the ASN triggers a PCC Rules configuration process related to the IP-CAN Session according to the bearing requirement of the IP-CAN Session of the terminal; the configuration process may include: creation, modification and/or deletion of PCC Rules;

step 2: the HA serving as the policy charging enforcement entity PCEF or the policy enforcement entity positioned in the ASN informs the H-PCRF of the bearing requirement of the IP-CAN Session; if the policy execution entity in the ASN triggers, the request needs to be sent to the H-PCRF through the V-PCRF;

step 3 to step 11, the H-PCRF obtains the corresponding user subscription information from the H-AAA, and at the same time obtains an indication of whether to use the PCEF located in the HA, and the location of the HA and/or the address of the HA, and informs the V-PCRF of the indication, the H-PCRF further generates corresponding PCC Rules, and a sending operation processing procedure for the PCC Rules may be specifically the same as the processing procedures of step 2 to step 10 in the first embodiment, and is not described in detail herein.

EXAMPLE III

The third embodiment is still a policy and charging control process triggered by the policy and charging enforcement entity PCEF, and the HA always obtains the PCC Rules from the V-PCRF.

As shown in fig. 11, the corresponding policy charging control process specifically includes the following steps:

step 1 or step 1': a policy charging enforcement entity PCEF located in the HA or the ASN triggers a PCC Rules configuration process related to the IP-CAN Session according to a bearer requirement of the terminal IP-CAN Session, where the configuration process specifically may include: creation, modification and/or deletion of PCC Rules;

step 2 or step 2', and step 3: a policy charging enforcement entity PCEF located in HA or ASN informs the V-PCRF of the bearing requirement of the IP-CAN Session, and the V-PCRF sends the bearing requirement to the H-PCRF;

step 4 to step 11: the H-PCRF obtains the corresponding user subscription information from the H-AAA, and at the same time obtains an indication of whether to use the PCEF located in the HA, and the location of the HA and/or the address of the HA, and informs the V-PCRF that the H-PCRF further generates corresponding PCC Rules, and a sending operation processing procedure for the PCC Rules may be specifically the same as the processing procedures of step 2 to step 10 in the first embodiment, and is not described in detail herein.

In the third embodiment, step 8 may also occur after step 2 or step 2', before step 3, that is, first, the V-PCRF authorizes and cuts down the policy and charging requirement, and then, step 3 sends the H-PCRF authorization to generate the PCC Rules, so that the consistency of the PCC Rules finally stored in the H-PCRF and the V-PCRF can be ensured.

Example four

The fourth embodiment is a policy and charging control process triggered by the PCEF located in the HA, from which the H/V-PCRF learns the location information of the PCEF located in the CSN; the policy information of whether to use the PCEF is determined by the policy of the H-PCRF or the PDF or acquired from the H-AAA by the H-PCRF.

As shown in fig. 12, the corresponding policy charging control process specifically includes the following steps:

step 1: HA receives mobile IP register request message;

step 2: the HA informs the H-AAA whether the H-AAA HAs the capability of the PCEF and requests a policy message;

and step 3: the H-AAA issues a policy message whether to use the PCEF positioned at the HA to the HA;

and 4, step 4: if the HA learns that the PCEF function is required to be used, triggering the PCEF to request PCC Rules from the H-PCRF through the PDF of the policy distribution entity;

and if the HA is positioned in the visiting CSN, the PDF also needs to request PCC Rules from the H-PCRF through the V-PCRF. PDF and/or H/V-PCRF acquires the information of PCEF positioned in HA according to the information;

and 5: the H-PCRF stores the position of the HA and/or the address of the HA related to the IP-CAN Session and whether the policy information of the PCEF positioned in the HA is used or not, executes policy decision according to the user subscription information and the policy requirement of the H-PCRF, authorizes and generates PCC Rules;

step 6: the H-PCRF sends the authorized PCC Rules to the HA through PDF according to the position of the HA and/or the address of the HA; if the HA is in the V-CSN, the H-PCRF also needs to send PCCRules to PDF through the V-PCRF and then sends the PCCRules to the HA;

and 7: after the HA receives the PCC Rules, the PCC Rules are stored and a mobile IP registration response message is replied.

In the embodiment of the invention, the Gx interface between the PCRF entity and the PCEF entity does not support mobility, and meanwhile, the policy execution entity in the ASN can migrate. Therefore, the process of interactively distributing PCC Rules between the V-PCRF and the policy enforcement entity is also provided on the basis of the embodiment.

In order to shield the mobility of the policy enforcement entity within the ASN, a Proxy-PCEF (Proxy PCEF) needs to be added between the V-PCRF and the policy enforcement entity as a policy distribution entity, and the Proxy-PCEF has an interface conversion function in addition to a policy distribution function.

The different processing functions of the Proxy-PCEF when in CSN and ASN respectively will be described below.

(1) Proxy-PCEF is located in CSN

The distribution process of PCC Rules between policy executors in the V-PCRF and the ASN is carried out by taking the proxy-PCEF as an intermediate;

meanwhile, if the HA is considered to be also one of the policy enforcement points, if the HA is in the home, the PCC RULES of the H-PCRF is also distributed to the HA through the H-Proxy PCEF in the above embodiment; if the HA is at the visit place, the PCC RULES of the V-PCRF is also distributed to the HA through the V-Proxy PCEF;

(2) Prxoy-PCEF is located in ASN

On one hand, it can exist as an independent network element entity, and can also be implemented in a specific ASN GW in NAP or ASN, one or some entities in NAP or ASN only serve all terminals entering the NAP or ASN;

on the other hand, the Proxy PCEF is terminal-based, and the Proxy-PCEF of each terminal may be located on a different ASN GW. The Anchor Proxy PCEF of the terminal is the ASN GW when the terminal accesses the network, and may be migrated with an Anchor authenticator (Anchor authenticator) of the terminal or with an Anchor DPF or Anchor SFA of the terminal.

Moreover, the distribution process of PCC RULES between the policy executors in the V-PCRF and the ASN is carried out by taking the proxy-PCEF as an intermediate;

meanwhile, if the HA is considered as one of the policy enforcement points, the distribution manner between the PCRF and the PCC enforcement point where the HA is located in the above embodiment is still the same.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a system for implementing policy and charging control in a wireless communication system, where a specific implementation structure of the system is shown in fig. 13, and the system includes:

(1) distributing entity of policy charging executing entity

The policy charging decision entity is used for sending information of a first policy charging execution entity located in a connection service network and allocated for a currently accessed terminal to a policy charging decision entity of a home location, for example, the information may be an AAA server, or a home subscription server HSS, or a subscription information database SPR, and the like;

the allocating entity device of the policy and charging enforcement entity may specifically include:

the distribution processing unit is used for distributing a first policy charging execution entity positioned in a connection service network for the currently accessed terminal equipment;

(2) Policy charging decision entity

The system comprises a first policy charging execution entity, a second policy charging execution entity and a policy charging management entity, wherein the first policy charging execution entity is used for acquiring information of the first policy charging execution entity sent by a distribution entity of the policy charging execution entity and sending a determined policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and the second policy charging execution entity positioned in an access service network;

in the system, the policy charging decision entity may include a home policy charging decision entity and a visited policy charging decision entity, and the processing procedure of correspondingly sending the determined policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and the second policy charging execution entity located in the access service network may specifically adopt any one of the following implementation manners:

the first method is as follows: the policy charging decision entity of the home location directly or through a policy distribution entity sends the policy charging rule to a first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity; the policy distribution entity may be set independently, or may be set in the same device as the first policy charging execution entity;

the second method comprises the following steps: the strategy charging decision entity of the visited place directly sends the strategy charging rule to the first strategy charging execution entity or sends the strategy charging rule to the first strategy charging execution entity and the second strategy charging execution entity;

the third method comprises the following steps: and the policy charging decision entity of the home location sends the policy charging rules to the policy charging decision entity of the visited location, and the policy charging decision entity of the visited location processes the policy charging rules and sends the policy charging rules to a first policy charging execution entity, or sends the policy charging rules to the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity, wherein the first policy charging execution entity is positioned in a connection service network of the visited location or the connection service network of the home location.

The method is as follows: the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rule to a strategy charging decision entity and a first strategy charging execution entity of the visited location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rule and sends the strategy charging rule to a second strategy charging execution entity;

the fifth mode is as follows: the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules to the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location, the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rules and then sends the cut down strategy charging rules to the second strategy charging execution entity and the strategy charging decision entity of the home location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules cut down by the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location to the first strategy charging execution entity;

still referring to fig. 13, a specific implementation structure of the policy charging decision entity may include the following processing units:

the information receiving unit is used for receiving the information of a first policy charging execution entity distributed for the current access terminal sent by a distribution entity of the policy charging execution entity;

and the policy charging rule sending unit is used for sending the policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity according to the information of the first policy charging execution entity received by the information receiving unit.

The policy charging decision entity may further be provided with an interface for communicating with a distribution entity of the first policy charging enforcement entity or a second policy charging enforcement entity, and the information receiving unit obtains information of the first policy charging enforcement entity through the interface; or, an interface communicating with the first policy and charging enforcement entity directly or through a policy distribution entity may be further provided, and the information receiving unit obtains the information of the first policy and charging enforcement entity from the registration information sent by the first policy and charging enforcement entity through the interface.

Optionally, the entity may further include a first policy charging rule delivery unit and a policy charging rule processing unit, where:

the first policy charging rule transfer unit is used for sending a policy charging rule to a policy charging decision entity of a visited place when the device is used as the policy charging decision entity device of the home place;

and the policy charging rule processing unit is used for cutting down the policy charging rules sent by the policy charging decision entity of the home location according to local policies and/or network resources when the device is used as the policy charging decision entity device of the visited location.

Optionally, in order to transfer the policy and charging rules between the home location and the policy and charging decision entity in the visited location, the entity may further include a second policy and charging rule transfer unit, configured to send the policy and charging rules subjected to the deduction operation by the policy and charging rule processing unit to the policy and charging decision entity in the home location when the device is used as the policy and charging decision entity device in the visited location.

Optionally, to ensure that the policy and charging decision entity at the visited place can obtain the information (such as the location and/or the address) of the first policy and charging execution entity, the entity may further include a second information transfer unit, configured to send the information of the first policy and charging execution entity, obtained by the information receiving unit, to the policy and charging decision entity at the visited place when the device is used as the policy and charging decision entity device at the home place, so that the policy and charging decision entity at the visited place can send the policy and charging rule to the first policy and charging execution entity.

Optionally, in the system, if the second policy and charging enforcement entity is a mobile entity, the system further includes a proxy policy and charging enforcement entity, and the second policy and charging enforcement entity obtains the policy and charging rule through the proxy policy and charging enforcement entity disposed in the access service network, so as to shield mobility of the policy and charging enforcement entity in the access service network.

Optionally, in the system, the first policy charging enforcement entity may specifically, but not limited to, be located in a home agent or a packet data gateway for mobile internet protocol; the second policy charging enforcement entity may specifically, but not exclusively, be located in an access network gateway or a base station.

In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide a scheme for implementing policy and charging control in a wireless communication network in a roaming scenario, in which a policy and charging control system can obtain a result of HA dynamic allocation, and an HA can obtain a correct policy and charging rule; in addition, the embodiment provided by the invention can also ensure that the policy charging rule decision point of each policy charging rule is consistent with the policy charging rule of the policy charging execution point.

The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for implementing policy charging control in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

the policy charging decision entity obtains information of a first policy charging execution entity, wherein the information of the first policy charging execution entity comprises: an indication of whether to use the first policy charging enforcement entity and/or at least one of a location, an identity, a domain name and an address of the first policy charging enforcement entity, wherein the location is a home location or a visited location;

the policy charging decision entity sends the determined policy charging rule to a first policy charging execution entity, or sends the policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity which are arranged at different positions, and executes policy charging control;

if the policy charging decision entity is the home policy charging decision entity, the home policy charging decision entity directly acquires the information of the first policy charging execution entity from the distribution entity of the first policy charging execution entity; and if the policy charging decision entity is the policy charging decision entity of the visited place, the policy charging decision entity of the visited place acquires the information of the first policy charging execution entity from the distribution entity of the first policy charging execution entity through the policy charging decision entity of the home place.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the policy charging decision entity obtains information of a first policy charging enforcement entity from a distribution entity of the policy charging enforcement entity or a second policy charging enforcement entity; or, the policy charging decision entity receives the information directly sent by the first policy charging execution entity and acquires the information of the first policy charging execution entity; or, the policy charging decision entity receives registration information sent by the first policy charging enforcement entity through a policy distribution entity, and acquires information of the first policy charging enforcement entity from the registration information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein prior to registering the first policy charging enforcement entity with the policy charging decision entity, further comprising:

the first policy charging enforcement entity obtains an indication of whether to use the first policy charging enforcement entity from a distribution entity of the policy charging enforcement entity.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocating entity of the first policy charging enforcement entity comprises: an authentication, accounting, AAA server, or a home subscription server HSS, or a subscription information database SPR.

5. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first policy charging enforcement entity is located in a visited network or a home network, and the sending of the determined policy charging rule by the policy charging decision entity specifically comprises:

the policy charging decision entity of the home sends the policy charging rule to a first policy charging execution entity directly or through a policy distribution entity, or the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity;

or,

the policy charging decision entity of the visited place sends the policy charging rule to a first policy charging execution entity directly or through a policy distribution entity, or the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rule to the strategy charging decision entity of the visit location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the visit location performs cutting processing according to the network resource and/or the strategy of the transmission network and then sends the cut result to the first strategy charging execution entity, or sends the cut result to the first strategy charging execution entity and the second strategy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rule to the strategy charging decision entity and a first strategy charging execution entity of the visited location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rule according to the network resource and/or the strategy of the transmission network and then sends the strategy charging rule to a second strategy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules to the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location, the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rules according to the network resources and/or strategies of the transmission network and then sends the strategy charging rules to the second strategy charging execution entity and the strategy charging decision entity of the home location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules processed by the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location to the first strategy charging execution entity.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein if the second policy charging enforcement entity is a mobile entity, the second policy charging enforcement entity obtains the policy charging rule through a proxy policy charging enforcement entity disposed in the access network.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein before the policy charging decision entity sends the determined policy charging rule, the method further comprises:

the policy charging decision entity receives a request for acquiring a policy charging rule sent by a first policy charging execution entity or a second policy charging execution entity; or,

the policy charging decision entity determines that the policy charging rule needs to be sent to a first policy charging execution entity or a second policy charging execution entity; or,

and the policy charging decision entity of the home location receives a request for acquiring the policy charging rule sent by the policy charging decision entity of the visited location.

8. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the policy charging rules determined by the policy charging decision entity comprise: quality of service policies and/or charging policies.

9. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first policy charging enforcement entity is located in a home agent or a packet data gateway for mobile internet protocol; the second policy charging enforcement entity is located in an access network gateway or a base station.

10. An allocation entity of a policy charging enforcement entity, comprising:

a first information transfer unit, configured to send, in a roaming scenario, information of a first policy and charging enforcement entity allocated by the allocation processing unit to a policy and charging decision entity, where the information of the first policy and charging enforcement entity includes: an indication of whether to use the first policy charging enforcement entity and/or at least one of a location, an identity, a domain name and an address of the first policy charging enforcement entity, wherein the location is a home location or a visited location;

if the policy charging decision entity is a policy charging decision entity of a home location, the first information transfer unit is specifically configured to send information of a first policy charging execution entity allocated by the allocation processing unit to the policy charging decision entity of the home location; if the policy charging decision entity is a policy charging decision entity of the visited place, the first information transfer unit is specifically configured to send the information of the first policy charging execution entity allocated by the allocation processing unit to the policy charging decision entity of the home place, so that the policy charging decision entity of the home place forwards the information of the first policy charging execution entity to the policy charging decision entity of the visited place.

11. A policy charging decision entity, comprising:

an information receiving unit, configured to receive information of a first policy and charging enforcement entity in a roaming scenario, where the information of the first policy and charging enforcement entity includes: an indication of whether to use the first policy charging enforcement entity and/or at least one of a location, an identity, a domain name and an address of the first policy charging enforcement entity, wherein the location is a home location or a visited location;

a policy charging rule sending unit, configured to send the policy charging rule to the first policy charging enforcement entity according to the information of the first policy charging enforcement entity received by the information receiving unit, or send the policy charging rule to the first policy charging enforcement entity and a second policy charging enforcement entity disposed in an access network;

if the policy charging decision entity is a home policy charging decision entity, the information receiving unit is specifically configured to directly obtain information of a first policy charging execution entity from a distribution entity of the first policy charging execution entity; if the policy charging decision entity is a policy charging decision entity of the visited place, the information receiving unit is specifically configured to obtain, by the policy charging decision entity of the home place, information of the first policy charging execution entity from the allocation entity of the first policy charging execution entity.

12. The entity according to claim 11, wherein the policy charging decision entity is further provided with an interface for communicating with a distribution entity of the first policy charging enforcement entity or a second policy charging enforcement entity, and the information receiving unit obtains the information of the first policy charging enforcement entity through the interface; or, the policy and charging decision entity is further provided with an interface for communicating with the first policy and charging enforcement entity directly or through a policy distribution entity, and the information receiving unit obtains the information of the first policy and charging enforcement entity from the registration information sent by the first policy and charging enforcement entity through the interface.

13. The entity according to claim 11, wherein the policy charging decision entity further comprises:

and the first policy charging rule transmission unit is used for sending the policy charging rule to the policy charging decision entity of the visited place when the policy charging decision entity is used as the policy charging decision entity equipment of the home place.

14. The entity according to claim 11, 12 or 13, wherein the policy charging decision entity further comprises:

the policy charging rule processing unit is used for cutting down the policy charging rules sent by the policy charging decision entity of the home location according to local policies and/or network resources when the policy charging decision entity is used as the policy charging decision entity equipment of the visited location;

and the second policy charging rule transmission unit is used for sending the policy charging rules subjected to the reduction processing operation by the policy charging rule processing unit to the policy charging decision entity of the home location when the policy charging decision entity is used as the policy charging decision entity equipment of the visited location.

15. The entity according to claim 11, 12 or 13, wherein the policy charging decision entity further comprises:

and the second information transmission unit is used for sending the information of the first policy charging execution entity acquired by the information receiving unit to the policy charging decision entity of the visited place when the policy charging decision entity is used as the policy charging decision entity equipment of the home place.

16. A system for implementing policy charging control in a wireless communication system, comprising:

the distribution entity of the policy charging enforcement entity is used for distributing a first policy charging enforcement entity to a currently accessed terminal in a roaming scene and sending the information of the first policy charging enforcement entity to a policy charging decision entity of a home location;

the policy charging decision entity is used for acquiring information of the first policy charging execution entity and sending the determined policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity or sending the determined policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity which are arranged at different positions;

the information of the first policy charging enforcement entity comprises: an indication of whether to use the first policy charging enforcement entity and/or at least one of a location, an identity, a domain name and an address of the first policy charging enforcement entity, wherein the location is a home location or a visited location;

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the first policy charging enforcement entity is located in the connection service network of the visited place or in the connection service network of the home place, and the policy charging decision entity comprises a policy charging decision entity of the home place and a policy charging decision entity of the visited place, wherein,

the policy charging decision entity of the home sends the policy charging rule to a first policy charging execution entity directly or through a policy distribution entity, or sends the policy charging rule to the first policy charging execution entity and a second policy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the visited place directly sends the strategy charging rule to the first strategy charging execution entity or sends the strategy charging rule to the first strategy charging execution entity and the second strategy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules to the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rules and sends the strategy charging rules to the first strategy charging execution entity, or sends the strategy charging rules to the first strategy charging execution entity and the second strategy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rule to a strategy charging decision entity and a first strategy charging execution entity of the visited location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rule and sends the strategy charging rule to a second strategy charging execution entity;

or,

the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules to the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location, the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location cuts down the strategy charging rules and then sends the cut down strategy charging rules to the second strategy charging execution entity and the strategy charging decision entity of the home location, and the strategy charging decision entity of the home location sends the strategy charging rules cut down by the strategy charging decision entity of the visited location to the first strategy charging execution entity.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein if the second policy charging enforcement entity is a mobile entity, the system further comprises a proxy policy charging enforcement entity, and the second policy charging enforcement entity obtains the policy charging rule through the proxy policy charging enforcement entity disposed in the access network.

19. The system according to claim 16, 17 or 18, wherein the first policy charging enforcement entity is located in a home agent or a packet data gateway for mobile internet protocol; the second policy and charging enforcement entity is located in the access network gateway or the base station.