CN108632775B

CN108632775B - Method and device for processing flow data

Info

Publication number: CN108632775B
Application number: CN201710163895.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马春燕; 王聚荟
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-03-17
Filing date: 2017-03-17
Publication date: 2021-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 2037-03-17
Also published as: CN108632775A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a method for processing flow data, which comprises the following steps: and the PCRF acquires the authorized flow quota of the terminal user from the OCS, judges whether the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, and sends a first policy instruction to the PCEF if the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, wherein the first policy instruction is used for indicating that the PCEF distributes flow to the terminal user and does not start a function of online charging with the OCS. Therefore, before the authorized flow signed by the terminal user is used up, the PCEF and the OCS do not need to establish session connection through the Gy interface, so that the load of the Gy interface is reduced, and the OCS does not need to frequently issue smaller flow fragments to the PCEF, so that the expense of the OCS is reduced.

Description

Method and device for processing flow data

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of flow control, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for processing flow data.

Background

In a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) architecture, a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) and a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) are connected with each other through Gx, Gy and Sy interfaces respectively. Policy management is performed between the PCEF and the PCRF through a Gx interface, quota state synchronization is performed between the PCRF and the OCS through a Sy interface, and traffic usage reporting and authorization management are performed between the PCEF and the OCS through a Gy interface.

The end user has successfully signed the service with quota flow, and for quota management, the OCS and the PCEF need to realize usage collection in a Gy interface refinement mode. When the terminal user is on line, the PCEF interacts with the PCRF through the Gx interface, and the PCRF issues a PCC control strategy and an online charging identifier. The PCEF requests the OCS for use authorization through the Gy interface according to the requirement of opening the online charging identifier, and the OCS issues use authorization flow fragmentation (Granted-Service-Unit) to the PCEF. After the PCEF finishes using the current traffic fragmentation, it applies for a new authorization fragmentation.

In the existing interactive process, the PCEF interacts with the OCS through a Gy interface to create a Gy session connection for applying for traffic fragmentation and charging authorization management. Because the OCS is related to charging authorization, generally, the authorization for traffic fragmentation is relatively small due to the requirement of fine control, for example, the traffic fragmentation sent each time is 2M, then, for example, the subscription authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is 100M, the OCS at least needs to send 50 times of traffic fragmentation to the PCEF through the Gy interface, so that frequent interaction is required between the PCEF and the OCS through the Gy interface, thereby increasing the message burden of the Gy interface, and meanwhile, the overhead for the OCS is relatively large.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a method and a device for processing flow data, which are used for reducing the overhead of an OCS (online charging system) and the message burden of a Gy interface.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing traffic data, including:

the PCRF receives a traffic acquisition request of a terminal user sent by the PCEF, wherein the traffic acquisition request is a network access request of the terminal user, and if the terminal user needs to surf the Internet, the traffic needs to be acquired from the PCEF. The method comprises the steps that a PCRF sends a first request for obtaining an authorized flow quota of a terminal user to an OCS according to a flow obtaining request, the PCRF receives the first authorized flow quota of the terminal user sent by the OCS, the PCRF locally stores the authorized flow quota after receiving the first authorized flow quota and judges whether the first authorized flow quota of the terminal user is larger than 0, and if yes, the PCEF is instructed to distribute flow to the terminal user, and the function of online charging with the OCS is not started. I.e. instructs the PCEF to allocate traffic within the authorized traffic for the end user without performing online charging. For example, the terminal user signs a 100M traffic package, and before the 100M traffic is exhausted, the terminal user does not need to enter the PAYG state, so that the PCEF and the OCS do not need to establish a Gy interface session connection, and the OCS does not need to frequently send traffic fragments to the PCEF, thereby reducing the overhead of the OCS and reducing the burden of the Gy interface.

In one possible implementation, the method may further include:

the method comprises the steps that a PCRF sends an authorized flow quota updating request of a terminal user to an OCS according to a preset period, receives a current authorized flow quota of the terminal user sent by the OCS, judges the current authorized flow quota and a residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF, and indicates that the terminal user newly signs a flow packet if the current authorized flow quota sent by the OCS is inconsistent with the residual authorized flow quota stored by the PCRF, and the residual authorized flow quota of the PCRF needs to be updated at the moment.

In another possible implementation manner, the method may further include:

and the PCRF receives a change instruction of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS, wherein the change instruction comprises a new authorized flow quota of the terminal user. And when the OCS detects that the terminal user signs a new flow packet, actively sending a change instruction to the PCRF, sending the new authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF, and updating the PCRF into the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user according to the new authorized flow quota. Therefore, the residual authorized flow quota stored in the PCRF at the terminal user is more accurate.

In another possible implementation manner, the method may further include:

and the PCRF updates the authorized flow quota in real time according to the flow use condition of the terminal user, and when the authorized flow quota is less than or equal to 0, the PCRF does not indicate the PCEF and the OCS to establish a Gy interface session connection, but directly sends an acquisition request of the flow fragments to the OCS, namely, the PAYG function is executed with the OCS, and the flow fragments acquired from the OCS are sent to the PCEF. Therefore, the flow fragments issued by the OCS are forwarded to the PCEF through the PCRF, the Gy interface session connection does not need to be established between the PCEF and the OCS, and the burden of the Gy interface is reduced.

A second aspect of the present application provides a method for processing traffic data, including:

the method comprises the steps that a PCEF sends a flow obtaining request of a terminal user to the PCRF, the PCRF stores an authorized flow quota of the terminal user, when the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is larger than 0, the PCEF receives a first policy instruction of the PCRF, the PCEF is instructed to distribute flow to the terminal user, the function of online charging with an online charging system entity OCS is not started, and the PCEF distributes the flow to the terminal user according to the first policy instruction.

the OCS receives a first request of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user sent by the PCRF, and the OCS sends the first authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF according to the first request, so that when the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is larger than 0, the PCRF indicates that the PCEF does not start a function of online charging with the OCS.

A fourth aspect of the present embodiment provides a device for processing traffic data, including:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a traffic acquisition request of a terminal user sent by a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF;

a sending unit, configured to send a first request for obtaining an authorized traffic quota of the terminal user to an online charging system entity OCS according to the traffic obtaining request;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a first authorized traffic quota of the end user, which is sent by the OCS;

a judging unit, configured to judge whether an authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0;

the sending unit is further configured to send a first policy indication to the PCEF when the authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, where the first policy indication is used to indicate that the PCEF distributes traffic to the end user, and does not enable a function of online charging with the OCS.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a device for processing traffic data, including:

a sending unit, configured to send a traffic acquisition request of a terminal user to a policy and charging rules function entity PCRF, where an authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is stored in the PCRF;

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first policy indication of the PCRF when an authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, where the first policy indication is used to indicate that the PCEF distributes traffic to the end user, and does not enable a function of online charging with an online charging system entity OCS;

and the distribution unit is used for distributing the flow for the terminal user according to the first strategy instruction.

A sixth aspect of the present embodiment provides an apparatus for processing traffic data, including:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first request for an authorized traffic quota of a terminal user, where the first request is sent by a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCRF;

a sending unit, configured to send, to the PCRF according to the first request, a first authorized traffic quota of the end user, so that when the authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, the PCRF instructs a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF not to enable a function of online charging with the OCS.

A seventh aspect of the present embodiment provides a device for processing traffic data, where the device includes: the system comprises a processor, a memory and a transceiver, wherein the processor, the memory and the transceiver are connected through a bus, the memory stores computer instructions, and the processor is used for realizing the following method by executing the computer instructions:

receiving a flow acquisition request of a terminal user sent by a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) entity;

the flow obtaining request sends a first request for obtaining the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to an Online Charging System (OCS);

receiving a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS;

and judging whether the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, if so, sending a first policy instruction to the PCEF, wherein the first policy instruction is used for indicating that the PCEF distributes flow to the terminal user and does not start a function of online charging with the OCS.

An eighth aspect of the present application provides a device for processing traffic data, where the device includes: the system comprises a processor, a memory and a transceiver, wherein the processor, the memory and the transceiver are connected through a bus, the memory stores computer instructions, and the processor is used for realizing the following method by executing the computer instructions:

sending a flow acquisition request of a terminal user to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), wherein the PCRF stores an authorized flow quota of the terminal user;

when the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, receiving a first policy instruction of the PCRF, wherein the first policy instruction is used for indicating that the PCEF distributes traffic to the terminal user and does not enable a function of online charging with an online charging system entity (OCS);

and distributing the flow for the terminal user according to the first strategy instruction.

receiving a first request of an authorized flow quota of a terminal user sent by a policy and charging enforcement function (PCRF);

and sending a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF according to the first request, so that when the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, the PCRF indicates that a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) does not enable a function of online charging with the OCS.

A ninth aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the method for traffic data processing in the first to third aspects.

A tenth aspect of the present embodiment provides a computer program product, where the computer program product includes computer software instructions, and the computer software instructions may be loaded by a processor to implement the flow in the method for processing traffic data in any one of the implementations of the first aspect to the third aspect.

An eleventh aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a computer program product, where the computer program product includes computer software instructions, and the computer software instructions are loadable by a processor to implement a flow in a method for processing flow data according to any one of the first to third aspects.

According to the technical scheme, the embodiment of the application has the following advantages:

in the embodiment of the application, PCRF acquires the authorized flow quota of the terminal user from OCS, and judges whether the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, if so, sends a first policy instruction to PCEF, wherein the first policy instruction is used for indicating that the PCEF distributes flow to the terminal user, and does not start the function of online charging with OCS. Therefore, before the authorized flow signed by the terminal user is used up, the PCEF and the OCS do not need to establish session connection through the Gy interface, so that the load of the Gy interface is reduced, and the OCS does not need to frequently issue smaller flow fragments to the PCEF, so that the expense of the OCS is reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which a method for traffic data processing is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an apparatus for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an apparatus for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an apparatus for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an apparatus for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of an apparatus for traffic data processing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the apparatus for processing traffic data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which a method for processing traffic data is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system architecture comprises three functional entities, namely a PCRF, a PCEF and an OCS, wherein the PCRF is configured to generate a policy decision, such as adjusting a bandwidth of a terminal user. The PCRF is connected with the PCEF through a Gx interface, and the PCEF is used for receiving a policy decision sent by the PCRF and executing flow distribution and bandwidth distribution to a terminal user according to the policy decision. The PCEF is connected to the OCS through a Gy interface, and the OCS is configured to implement payg (pay as you go) charging processing, specifically, accumulate usage traffic of the end user and perform online charging. I.e. how much traffic the end user uses, corresponding charging is performed according to the used traffic value. In this embodiment of the present invention, the PCRF is further configured to obtain, from the OCS, an authorized traffic quota of the end user, where the authorized traffic quota is an authorized traffic quota specified when the end user signs a subscription service, and is, for example, 100M traffic. After the PCRF obtains the authorized flow quota of the terminal user from the OCS, the local storage is carried out, the locally stored flow quota is updated in real time according to the flow use condition of the terminal user, the residual flow value is recorded, before the residual flow of the terminal user locally stored by the PCRF is exhausted, the PCRF indicates that the PCEF does not establish session connection with the OCS through a Gy interface, namely, an online charging function is not started, and the PCEF distributes corresponding bandwidth and flow to the terminal user according to a policy decision issued by the PCRF. Optionally, after the residual traffic locally stored in the PCRF is exhausted, the PCRF instructs the PCEF and the OCS to establish a session connection through the Gy interface, that is, the online charging function is enabled, the PCEF obtains the traffic fragment from the OCS for the terminal to use, and the OCS deducts the real-time fee once per issuing of the traffic fragment, for example, the fee deduction standard of the traffic is 0.1 yuan/M, if the issuing of the traffic fragment is 2M, then deducts 0.2 yuan.

In the System architecture, the System further includes a user attribute storage (full english: description Profile Repository, abbreviated english: SPR), an RCAF, an AF, an SCEF, a TSSF, a PFDF, an Offline Charging System (full english: Offline Charging System, abbreviated english: OFCS), a TDF, and a BBERF, where Sp, Np, Rx, Nt, Nu, Sy, Gxx, Gx, Sd, St, Gw, Gwn, Gy, Gyn, Gzn, and Gz in the drawing are connection interfaces between the functional entities, and a specific connection manner is shown in fig. 1. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the PCEF may be an independent functional entity, or may be a functional unit deployed on a Gateway (Gateway) entity.

Referring to fig. 2, an embodiment of a method for processing traffic data according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

101. the policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF sends a traffic acquisition request of the terminal user to the policy and charging rules function entity PCRF.

102. The PCRF receives a flow acquisition request of the terminal user sent by the PCEF.

When a terminal user is online, the terminal user can surf the internet only by acquiring flow from the PCEF, the PCEF initiates a Gx request to the PCRF, the Gx request carries the flow acquisition request, and the flow and bandwidth are requested to be allocated so that the terminal user can surf the internet.

103. And the PCRF sends a first request for acquiring the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to an Online Charging System (OCS) according to the flow acquisition request.

104. The OCS receives a first request of the PCRF for sending the authorized flow quota of the terminal user.

In the embodiment of the invention, the PCRF has the function of storing the authorized flow quota of the terminal user, so that the PCRF can request the authorized flow quota of the terminal user from the OCS so as to perform local storage. Before the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is used up, the OCS does not need to perform online charging, and the expense of the OCS is reduced.

105. And the OCS sends a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF according to the first request.

106. And the PCRF receives a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS.

After receiving the first request sent by the PCRF, the OCS determines subscription data of the terminal user, and sends an authorized traffic quota of the terminal user to the PCRF if the terminal user has a traffic quota on subscription and the authorized traffic quota is not used up. For example, if the subscription traffic of the terminal user is 100M, the 100 value is sent to the PCRF, and the quota authorization traffic before the terminal user does not enter the PayG state is sent to the PCRF. Optionally, the subscription traffic value may be sent to the PCRF by being carried in a response message with the package name. If the end user has used the subscription traffic, what the OCS sends is the remaining subscription traffic quota for the end user.

After receiving the response message sent by the OCS, the PCRF matches the package name of the terminal user carried in the response message with a mapping table stored locally, if the matching is successful, updates the remaining authorized traffic quota stored locally, and if the matching is failed, indicates that the terminal user is a new contracted user, locally stores the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user and the package name and establishes a mapping relationship.

107. And the PCRF judges whether the first authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, if so, performs step 108, and if not, performs step 109.

After receiving the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user sent by the OCS, the PCRF determines whether the quota is greater than 0, if so, it indicates that the authorized traffic of the terminal user is not used up, the terminal user may continue to use the authorized traffic, and if not, it indicates that the authorized traffic of the terminal user is used up, and the terminal user needs to use online charging, that is, how much traffic is used up for performing corresponding charging.

108. And the PCRF sends a first policy instruction to the PCEF, wherein the first policy instruction is used for indicating that the PCEF distributes flow to the terminal user and does not start a function of online charging with the OCS.

Before the authorized traffic of the end user is not used up, the PCEF and the OCS are not required to perform the online charging function, and thus, the PCRF instructs the PCEF to distribute the traffic to the end user and does not perform the online charging function. Therefore, in the process of using the flow in the authorization, the OCS does not need to frequently send the flow fragments to the PCEF through the Gy interface, the expense of the OCS is reduced, and the burden of the Gy interface is also reduced.

109. The PCRF instructs the PCEF to enable functionality for online charging with the OCS.

If the authorized traffic of the terminal user is used up, the PCRF needs to instruct the PCEF to start the online charging function, for example, instruct the PCEF to establish a Gy interface session connection with the OCS, thereby implementing the PAYG function.

Optionally, referring to fig. 3, the method for processing traffic data in the embodiment of the present invention may further include the following steps:

steps 201-209 refer to steps 101-109 in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

210. And the PCRF updates the first authorized traffic quota in real time according to the traffic use condition of the terminal user.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the PCRF accumulates the authorized traffic consumption in real time, and updates the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user, for example, if the initial authorized traffic quota of the end user is 100M, and the traffic used by the end user in the past period is 20M, the PCRF updates the remaining authorized quota traffic of the end user to 80M.

211. When the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, the PCRF sends a second policy indication to the PCEF, where the second policy indication is used to indicate the PCEF to start an online charging function, so that the PCEF obtains traffic fragmentation from the OCS, thereby performing online charging.

212. And the PCEF receives a second policy instruction of the PCRF, wherein the second policy instruction is used for indicating the PCEF to start an online charging function.

213. And the PCEF establishes online charging connection with the OCS according to the second strategy indication and acquires flow fragments.

The details are described with reference to step 109.

214. And when the terminal user is on-line again, the PCRF sends a second request of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the OCS.

215. And the PCRF receives a second authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS.

When the end user comes online again, the PCEF needs to establish a context session to the PCRF through the Gx interface, and at this time, the authorized quota condition of the end user needs to be updated, because the end user may re-sign a new authorized traffic in an offline stage. For example, the end user newly signs a 100M authorized traffic, so that the remaining authorized quota traffic of the end user stored by the PCRF is inaccurate, and a new authorized traffic quota needs to be acquired from the OCS.

216. And the PCRF judges whether the second authorized traffic quota is consistent with the residual authorized traffic quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF, and if not, sets the second authorized traffic quota as the residual authorized traffic quota of the terminal user.

After acquiring the new authorized traffic quota, the PCRF may determine whether the new authorized traffic quota is consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota stored by the PCRF, if so, indicate that the terminal user is not signing new traffic at the offline stage, and if not, indicate that the terminal user is signing new traffic at the offline stage, and need to update the remaining authorized traffic of the terminal user.

217. The PCRF sends an authorized flow quota updating request of the terminal user to the OCS according to a preset period;

218. and the OCS receives an authorized flow quota updating request of the terminal user, which is sent by the PCRF according to a preset period.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the PCRF may further obtain, according to a preset period, an authorized traffic quota update request of the terminal user from the OCS. In practical applications, an end user may sign a new traffic by himself during the internet access process, for example, add a traffic packet. In order to distribute the traffic of the end user more accurately, the PCRF may update the authorized traffic quota of the end user according to a preset period. For example, an update request is initiated to the OCS every hour.

219. And the OCS sends the current authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF.

220. And the PCRF receives the current authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS.

If the end user does not sign a new flow packet within the period, the current authorized flow quota is the remaining authorized flow quota of the end user. If the end user newly signs a terrestrial good package within the period, the current authorized traffic quota is the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user plus the newly signed authorized traffic quota.

221. And the PCRF judges whether the current authorized flow quota is consistent with the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF, and if not, the current authorized flow quota is set as the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user.

Details are described with reference to step 216.

Optionally, the embodiment of the present invention may further include the following steps:

222. and when the authorized flow subscription of the terminal user is changed, the OCS sends a change instruction of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF.

223. And the PCRF receives a change instruction of the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS, wherein the change instruction comprises a new authorized traffic quota of the terminal user.

In the foregoing, the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user may be updated for the PCRF according to a preset period, but if the period is too long, for example, several hours, a new subscription of the end user with the traffic packet may be caused, but the PCRF is not updated, so that the PCRF may instruct the PCEF and the OCS to perform the online charging function, and a loss of the end user may be caused. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, as long as the authorized traffic subscription of the end user is changed, that is, the OCS receives the change of the subscription data, the change instruction is actively sent to the PCRF, where the change instruction includes a new authorized traffic quota of the end user, for example, the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user is 20M, a new subscription is made for a 100M traffic packet, and at this time, the new authorized traffic quota of the end user is 120M.

224. And the PCRF updates the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user according to the new authorized flow quota.

And the PCRF updates the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is locally stored, according to the new authorized flow quota, further continuously accumulates the flow use condition of the terminal user, and judges whether to indicate the PCEF to start the online charging function.

Optionally, referring to fig. 4, another embodiment of the method for processing traffic data in the embodiment of the present invention includes:

steps 301-308 are illustrated with reference to steps 101-108 of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

309. And the PCRF updates the first authorized traffic quota in real time according to the traffic use condition of the terminal user.

310. And when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, the PCRF sends an acquisition request of the traffic fragments to the OCS.

311. And the OCS receives an acquisition request of the flow fragments sent by the PCRF.

312. And the OCS sends the flow fragments to the PCRF according to the acquisition request.

When the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is accumulated and exhausted on the PCRF, the Gy interface is still kept closed. PayG capability continues to be implemented over the Gx + Sy interface. Specifically, when the authorized quota is exhausted, the PCRF notifies the OCS of the exhaustion state of the specified authorized quota through the Sy interface, and at this time, the OCS continues to return the PayG traffic fragment of the authorized quota to the PCRF.

313. And the PCRF receives the traffic fragments sent by the OCS and sends the traffic fragments to the PCEF.

314. And the PCEF receives the flow fragments sent by the PCRF and carries out online charging on the terminal user according to the received flow fragments.

And for the quota of the authorized fragments provided by the OCS, the PCRF issues to the PCEF according to the authorized fragments, and when the fragments are exhausted, the OCS is informed through the Sy interface, and then the OCS continues to distribute new authorized fragments. Gy interface interaction is no longer needed for the authorized quotas, so that the burden of the Gy interface is reduced.

Referring to fig. 5, an embodiment of the apparatus for processing traffic data according to the embodiment of the present invention includes:

a receiving unit 401, configured to receive a traffic obtaining request of a terminal user sent by a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF;

a sending unit 402, configured to send a first request for obtaining an authorized traffic quota of the terminal user to an online charging system entity OCS according to the traffic obtaining request;

the receiving unit 401 is further configured to receive a first authorized traffic quota of the end user, which is sent by the OCS;

a determining unit 403, configured to determine whether an authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0;

the sending unit 402 is further configured to send a first policy indication to the PCEF when the first authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, where the first policy indication is used to indicate that the PCEF distributes traffic to the end user, and does not enable a function of online charging with the OCS.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

an updating unit 404, configured to update the first authorized traffic quota in real time according to a traffic usage of the end user;

the sending unit 402 is further configured to send a second policy indication to the PCEF when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, where the second policy indication is used to indicate the PCEF to start an online charging function, so that the PCEF obtains traffic fragmentation from the OCS, and thus performs online charging.

Optionally, the sending unit 402 is further configured to:

when the terminal user is on-line again, sending a second request of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the OCS;

the receiving unit 401 is further configured to receive a second authorized traffic quota of the end user, which is sent by the OCS;

the determining unit 403 is further configured to determine whether the second authorized traffic quota is consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF;

the device further comprises:

a setting unit 405, configured to set the second authorized traffic quota as the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user when the second authorized traffic quota is not consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user recorded by the PCRF.

Optionally, the sending unit 402 is further configured to:

sending an authorized flow quota updating request of the terminal user to the OCS according to a preset period;

the receiving unit 401 is further configured to receive a current authorized traffic quota of the end user, which is sent by the OCS;

the determining unit 403 is further configured to determine whether the current authorized traffic quota is consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF;

a setting unit 405, configured to set the current authorized traffic quota as the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user when the current authorized traffic quota is not consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user recorded by the PCRF.

Optionally, the receiving unit 401 is further configured to:

receiving a change instruction of the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS, wherein the change instruction comprises a new authorized traffic quota of the terminal user;

the updating unit 404 is configured to update the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user according to the new authorized traffic quota.

Optionally, the updating unit 404 is configured to update the first authorized traffic quota in real time according to the traffic usage of the end user;

an obtaining unit 406, configured to send an obtaining request of a traffic segment to the OCS when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0;

the sending unit 402 is further configured to send the traffic segment obtained from the OCS to the PCEF.

The detailed description of the functions of each unit in the embodiment of fig. 5 and the optional embodiment of fig. 5 refers to the detailed description of the traffic data processing method in fig. 2 to fig. 4, and is not repeated here.

Referring to fig. 6, another embodiment of the apparatus for processing traffic data according to the embodiment of the present invention includes:

a sending unit 501, configured to send a traffic obtaining request of a terminal user to a policy and charging rules function entity PCRF, where an authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is stored in the PCRF;

a receiving unit 502, configured to receive a first policy indication of the PCRF, when an authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, where the first policy indication is used to indicate that the PCEF distributes traffic to the end user, and does not enable a function of online charging with an online charging system entity OCS;

an allocating unit 503, configured to allocate traffic to the end user according to the first policy instruction.

Optionally, the receiving unit 502 is further configured to:

when the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is less than or equal to 0, receiving a second policy instruction of the PCRF, wherein the second policy instruction is used for instructing the PCEF to start an online charging function;

the device further comprises:

a connection unit 504, configured to establish an online charging connection with the OCS according to the second policy indication, and obtain a traffic segment.

Optionally, the receiving unit 502 is further configured to:

and when the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is less than or equal to 0, receiving the traffic fragments sent by the PCRF, wherein the traffic fragments are obtained by the PCRF from the OCS.

The detailed description of the functions of each unit in the embodiment of fig. 6 and the optional embodiment of fig. 6 refers to the detailed description of the traffic data processing method in fig. 2 to fig. 4, and is not repeated here.

Referring to fig. 7, another embodiment of the apparatus for processing traffic data according to the embodiment of the present invention includes:

a receiving unit 601, configured to receive a first request for an authorized traffic quota of a terminal user, where the first request is sent by a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCRF;

a sending unit 602, configured to send, to the PCRF according to the first request, a first authorized traffic quota of the end user, so that when the authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, the PCRF instructs a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF to not enable a function of online charging with the OCS.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a connection unit 603, configured to establish an online charging connection with the PCEF when the authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0;

the sending unit 602 is further configured to send the traffic slice to the PCEF.

Optionally, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to:

receiving an authorized flow quota updating request of the terminal user, which is sent by the PCRF according to a preset period;

the sending unit 602 is further configured to send the current authorized traffic quota of the terminal user to the PCRF, where the PCRF updates the remaining authorized traffic quota of the terminal user.

Optionally, the sending unit 602 is further configured to:

when the authorized flow subscription of the terminal user is changed, sending a change instruction of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF, wherein the change instruction contains a new authorized flow quota of the terminal user, so that the PCRF updates the remaining authorized flow quota of the terminal user according to the new authorized flow quota.

Optionally, the receiving unit 601 is further configured to:

when the authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, receiving an acquisition request of the traffic fragment sent by the PCRF;

the sending unit 602 is further configured to send a traffic fragment to the PCRF according to the acquisition request, so that the PCRF sends the traffic fragment acquired from the OCS to the PCEF.

The detailed description of the functions of each unit in the embodiment of fig. 7 and the optional embodiment of fig. 7 refers to the detailed description of the traffic data processing method in fig. 2 to fig. 4, and is not repeated here.

The apparatus of the embodiment of fig. 5 has yet another form of embodiment, shown with reference to fig. 8, comprising: the processor 701, the memory 702, and the transceiver 703 are connected by a bus 704, the transceiver 703 may include a transmitter and a receiver, the memory 702 stores computer instructions, and the processor 701 is configured to implement the functions performed by the PCRF in the method for processing traffic data in the embodiments of fig. 2 to 4 by executing the computer instructions. Various flexible design modes can be adopted for specific implementation, and the corresponding functions of each device can be further referred to the embodiment of the method, which is not limited by the invention.

The apparatus of the embodiment of fig. 6 has yet another form of embodiment, shown with reference to fig. 9, comprising: a processor 801, a memory 802, and a transceiver 803, wherein the processor 801, the memory 802, and the transceiver 803 are connected by a bus 804, the transceiver 803 may include a transmitter and a receiver, the memory 802 stores computer instructions, and the processor 801 executes the computer instructions to implement the functions performed by the PCEF in the method for data processing in the embodiments of fig. 2 to 4. Various flexible design modes can be adopted for specific implementation, and the corresponding functions of each device can be further referred to the embodiment of the method, which is not limited by the invention.

The apparatus of the embodiment of fig. 7 has yet another form of embodiment, shown with reference to fig. 10, comprising: a processor 901, a memory 902, and a transceiver 903, where the processor 901, the memory 902, and the transceiver 903 are connected by a bus 904, the transceiver 903 may include a transmitter and a receiver, the memory 902 stores computer instructions, and the processor 901 implements the functions performed by the OCS in the method for data processing in the embodiments of fig. 2 to 4 by executing the computer instructions. Various flexible design modes can be adopted for specific implementation, and the corresponding functions of each device can be further referred to the embodiment of the method, which is not limited by the invention.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product.

The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can store or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that is integrated with one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed to by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

Claims

1. A method of traffic data processing, the method comprising:

a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) entity receives a flow acquisition request of a terminal user sent by a Policy and Charging Execution Function (PCEF);

the PCRF sends a first request for acquiring the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user to an Online Charging System (OCS) according to the traffic acquisition request;

the PCRF receives a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS;

the PCRF judges whether a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user is greater than 0, and if so, sends a first policy instruction to the PCEF, wherein the first policy instruction is used for indicating the PCEF to distribute flow in the first authorized flow quota to the terminal user and not starting a function of online charging with the OCS;

the method further comprises the following steps:

the PCRF updates the first authorized traffic quota in real time according to the traffic use condition of the terminal user;

when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, the PCRF sends a second policy indication to the PCEF, where the second policy indication is used to indicate the PCEF to start an online charging function, so that the PCEF obtains traffic fragmentation from the OCS, thereby performing online charging.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

when the terminal user is on-line again, the PCRF sends a second request of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the OCS;

the PCRF receives a second authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS;

and the PCRF judges whether the second authorized traffic quota is consistent with the residual authorized traffic quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF, and if not, sets the second authorized traffic quota as the residual authorized traffic quota of the terminal user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the PCRF sends an authorized flow quota updating request of the terminal user to the OCS according to a preset period;

the PCRF receives the current authorized flow quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS;

and the PCRF judges whether the current authorized flow quota is consistent with the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF, and if not, the current authorized flow quota is set as the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the PCRF receives a change instruction of the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS, wherein the change instruction comprises a new authorized traffic quota of the terminal user;

and the PCRF updates the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user according to the new authorized flow quota.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, the PCRF sends an acquisition request of traffic fragments to the OCS, and sends the traffic fragments acquired from the OCS to the PCEF.

6. A method of traffic data processing, the method comprising:

a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) entity sends a flow acquisition request of a terminal user to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) entity, wherein the PCRF entity stores an authorized flow quota of the terminal user;

when the authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, the PCEF receives a first policy instruction of the PCRF, wherein the first policy instruction is used for instructing the PCEF to distribute traffic within the authorized traffic quota to the end user and not enabling a function of online charging with an online charging system entity (OCS);

the PCEF distributes flow to the terminal user according to the first strategy indication;

the method further comprises the following steps:

when the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is less than or equal to 0, the PCEF receives a second policy indication of the PCRF, wherein the second policy indication is used for indicating the PCEF to start an online charging function;

and the PCEF establishes online charging connection with the OCS according to the second strategy indication and acquires flow fragments.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

and when the authorized traffic quota of the terminal user is less than or equal to 0, the PCEF receives the traffic fragment sent by the PCRF, wherein the traffic fragment is obtained by the PCRF from the OCS.

8. A method of traffic data processing, the method comprising:

an Online Charging System (OCS) entity receives a policy and charging execution function (PCRF) entity and sends a first request of an authorized flow quota of a terminal user;

the OCS sends a first authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF according to the first request, so that when the authorized flow quota of the terminal user is larger than 0, the PCRF instructs a policy and charging enforcement function entity (PCEF) to distribute flow in the first authorized flow quota to the terminal user, and a function of online charging with the OCS is not enabled;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and when the first authorized flow quota is less than or equal to 0, the OCS establishes online charging connection with the PCEF and sends the flow fragment to the PCEF.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

the OCS receives an authorized flow quota updating request of the terminal user, which is sent by the PCRF according to a preset period;

and the OCS sends the current authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF, and the current authorized flow quota is used for updating the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user by the PCRF.

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

when the authorized flow subscription of the terminal user is changed, the OCS sends a change instruction of the authorized flow quota of the terminal user to the PCRF, wherein the change instruction contains a new authorized flow quota of the terminal user, so that the PCRF updates the remaining authorized flow quota of the terminal user according to the new authorized flow quota.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, the OCS receives an acquisition request of a traffic fragment sent by the PCRF;

and the OCS sends the traffic fragments to the PCRF according to the acquisition request, so that the PCRF sends the traffic fragments acquired from the OCS to the PCEF.

12. An apparatus for traffic data processing, the apparatus comprising:

the sending unit is further configured to send a first policy indication to the PCEF when a first authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, where the first policy indication is used to indicate that the PCEF allocates, to the end user, traffic within the first authorized traffic quota, and does not enable a function of online charging with the OCS;

the device further comprises:

the updating unit is used for updating the first authorized flow quota in real time according to the flow use condition of the terminal user;

the sending unit is further configured to send a second policy indication to the PCEF when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0, where the second policy indication is used to indicate the PCEF to start an online charging function, so that the PCEF obtains traffic fragmentation from the OCS, thereby performing online charging.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second authorized traffic quota of the end user, which is sent by the OCS;

the judging unit is further configured to judge whether the second authorized traffic quota is consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user recorded by the PCRF;

the device further comprises:

and a setting unit, configured to set the second authorized traffic quota as the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user when the second authorized traffic quota is not consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the end user recorded by the PCRF.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a current authorized traffic quota of the terminal user, which is sent by the OCS;

the judging unit is further configured to judge whether the current authorized traffic quota is consistent with the remaining authorized traffic quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF;

and the setting unit is used for setting the current authorized flow quota as the remaining authorized flow quota of the terminal user when the current authorized flow quota is not consistent with the remaining authorized flow quota of the terminal user recorded by the PCRF.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

and the updating unit is used for updating the residual authorized flow quota of the terminal user according to the new authorized flow quota.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

an obtaining unit, configured to send an obtaining request of a traffic segment to the OCS when the first authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0;

the sending unit is further configured to send the traffic segment obtained from the OCS to the PCEF.

17. An apparatus for traffic data processing, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a first policy indication of the PCRF when an authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, where the first policy indication is used to indicate that the PCEF allocates, to the end user, traffic within the authorized traffic quota, and does not enable a function of online charging with an online charging system entity OCS;

the distribution unit is used for distributing flow to the terminal user according to the first strategy instruction;

the receiving unit is further configured to:

the device further comprises:

and the connection unit is used for establishing online charging connection with the OCS according to the second policy instruction and acquiring flow fragmentation.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

19. An apparatus for traffic data processing, the apparatus comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send, to the PCRF according to the first request, a first authorized traffic quota of the end user, so that when the authorized traffic quota of the end user is greater than 0, the PCRF instructs a policy and charging enforcement function entity PCEF to allocate, to the end user, traffic within the first authorized traffic quota, and does not enable a function of online charging with the OCS;

the device further comprises:

a connection unit, configured to establish an online charging connection with the PCEF when the authorized traffic quota is less than or equal to 0;

the sending unit is further configured to send the traffic segment to the PCEF.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

the sending unit is further configured to send the current authorized traffic quota of the terminal user to the PCRF, where the PCRF updates the remaining authorized traffic quota of the terminal user.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the sending unit is further configured to:

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to:

the sending unit is further configured to send the traffic fragment to the PCRF according to the acquisition request, so that the PCRF sends the traffic fragment acquired from the OCS to the PCEF.