CN112312339A

CN112312339A - Charging method, charging system and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN112312339A
Application number: CN201910702418.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 丁辉
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-31
Filing date: 2019-07-31
Publication date: 2021-02-02
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-31
Also published as: WO2021018021A1; CN112312339B

Abstract

The application provides a charging method, a charging system and a communication device, which can realize the charging of user granularity. Specifically, a session management function network element obtains a subscription permanent identifier and a user identifier, and a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; then, requesting a charging rule corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier together from a policy control function network element, wherein the charging rule comprises a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier; the charging rules are then executed.

Description

Charging method, charging system and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a charging method, a charging system, and a communication apparatus.

Background

The following scenarios exist in a communication network: multiple users share the same equipment to access to specific business/application service, and as multiple users in the same game application access to a game server through the same terminal equipment via a core network; multiple user devices are accessed through the same home gateway (equivalent to a terminal device) and access to a specific service through a core network. In a scenario similar to the above scenario, the core network needs to support the implementation of actual user granularity charging, rather than terminal device granularity charging.

Therefore, how to implement charging at the actual user granularity is an urgent problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a charging method, a charging system and a communication device, which can realize the charging of user granularity.

In a first aspect, a charging method is provided, including: a session management function network element acquires a subscription permanent identifier and a user identifier, and a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; the session management function network element sends a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the policy association request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier; the session management function network element receives a charging rule which is sent by the policy control function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier together, wherein the charging rule comprises a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier; the session management function network element executes the charging rule.

Illustratively, the subscription permanent identifier may be a user permanent identifier (SUPI), or a public subscription identifier (GPSI), or information obtained by renaming SUPI as a protocol evolves. Illustratively, the user identity may be defined and managed by a third party or may also be defined and managed by an operator.

Optionally, the policy association request message may be a policy association establishment request message or a policy association update request message.

According to the method provided by the application, after the session management function network element obtains the charging key value corresponding to the user identifier from the policy control function network element, the session management function network element can provide the usage information corresponding to the charging key value to the charging function network element, so that the user identifier or the user granularity corresponding to the user identifier can be charged.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the obtaining, by the session management function network element, a user identifier includes: the session management function network element receives an authentication response message sent by a Data Network (DN), where the authentication response message includes the user identifier.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the obtaining, by the session management function network element, a user identifier includes: the session management function network element receives a session establishment request message sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message comprises the user identification; or, the session management function network element receives a session modification request message sent by the terminal device, where the session modification request message includes the user identifier.

Through the two modes, the session management function network element can obtain the user identification.

Alternatively, the "session" described in this application may be a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, but this application is not limited thereto.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the session management function network element may obtain the permanent subscription identity from a session establishment request message, a session modification request message, or a session management request message sent by the access and mobility management function network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the executing, by the session management function network element, the charging rule includes: the session management function network element acquires charging information from the charging function network element, wherein the charging information comprises one or more items of authorized service quota, reporting threshold and triggering event; the session management function network element generates a Packet Detection Rule (PDR) and a Usage Reporting Rule (URR) according to the charging information, the charging rule and the local configuration; the session management function network element sends the PDR and the URR to a user plane function network element, and the PDR and the URR are used for the user plane function network element to report the usage information obtained according to the PDR and the URR; and the session management function network element receives the usage information reported by the user plane function network element and obtained according to the PDR and the URR.

Further, the method may further include: and the session management function network element generates a usage report according to the usage information and the charging information and/or the local configuration.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the session management function network element generates a usage report, wherein the usage report comprises the charging key value, the subscription permanent identifier and usage information, and the usage information is usage information corresponding to the charging key value and the subscription permanent identifier together; and the session management function network element sends the usage report to a charging function network element, wherein the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

Optionally, the usage report is generated by the session management function network element according to the usage information and according to charging information and/or local configuration.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the executing, by the session management function network element, the charging rule includes: the session management function network element sends a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the charging key value; the session management function network element receives charging information which is sent by the charging function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event, and the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

In a second aspect, a charging method is provided, including: a session management function network element receives a session establishment request message or a session modification request message, wherein the session establishment request message is used for establishing a session of equipment corresponding to a signing permanent identifier, and the session modification request message is used for modifying the session of the equipment corresponding to the signing permanent identifier; a session management function network element acquires a user identifier and a charging rule of the session, and a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signed permanent identifier; the network element of the session management function executes the charging rule of the session to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identification; the session management function network element sends the usage report to a charging function network element, the usage report includes the user identifier, and the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

According to the method provided by the application, the session management function network element can acquire the user identifier corresponding to the current session, and the charging function network element can generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identifier by sending the usage information corresponding to the user identifier to the charging function network element, so that the charging of the user identifier granularity is realized.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the obtaining, by the session management function network element, a user identifier includes: the session management function network element receives an authentication response message sent by the DN, wherein the authentication response message comprises the user identification; or,

the session management function network element receives a session establishment request message sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message comprises the user identification; or,

and the session management function network element receives a session modification request message sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the session modification request message comprises the user identification.

By the method, the session management function network element can acquire the user identification.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the obtaining, by the session management function network element, the charging rule of the session includes: the session management function network element sends a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the policy association request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier, and the policy association request message is used for requesting a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier; the session management function network element receives the charging rule of the session sent by the policy control function network element, and the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

Optionally, the charging rule corresponding to the user identifier includes a charging key, and the charging key is a charging key corresponding to the user identifier. Therefore, the session management function network element can count the usage information corresponding to the charging key value corresponding to the user identifier.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the performing, by the session management function network element, the charging rule for the session includes: the session management function network element sends a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the user identifier and is used for requesting charging information corresponding to the user identifier; the session management function network element receives charging information corresponding to the user identifier sent by the charging function network element, where the charging information includes one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold, and a trigger event, and the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the session management function network element executes the charging rules for the session: the method comprises the following steps: the session management function network element sends a usage reporting rule to a user plane function network element, wherein the usage reporting rule comprises the user identifier; receiving the usage information corresponding to the user identifier sent by the user plane functional network element; and generating the usage report according to the usage information and the charging information.

In a third aspect, a charging system is provided, which includes: a session management function network element and a policy control function network element; the session management function network element is used for acquiring a subscription permanent identifier and a user identifier, and a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; sending a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the policy association request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier; the policy control function network element is configured to send, to the session management function network element, a charging rule corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier together, where the charging rule includes a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier; the session management function network element is further configured to execute the charging rule.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the charging system further includes a charging function network element; and the session management function network element is configured to execute the charging rule, and includes: the session management function network element sends a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the charging key value; and receiving charging information which is sent by the charging function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event.

It is to be understood that the charging system may implement the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a charging system is provided, which includes: the system comprises a session management function network element and a charging function network element;

the session management function network element is configured to receive a session establishment request message or a session modification request message, where the session establishment request message is used to establish a session of a device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier, and the session modification request message is used to modify the session of the device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; acquiring a user identifier and a charging rule of the session, wherein a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signed permanent identifier; executing the charging rule of the conversation to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identification; sending the usage report to a charging function network element; the charging function network element is used for generating the ticket information corresponding to the user identification according to the usage report.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the charging system further includes a policy control function network element, configured to: receiving a policy association request message sent by the session management function network element, where the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier, and the policy association request message is used to request a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier; and sending the charging rule of the session to the network element of the session management function, wherein the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the system further includes a user plane function network element, configured to: receiving a usage reporting rule sent by the session management function network element, wherein the usage reporting rule comprises the user identifier; sending the usage information corresponding to the user identifier to the session management function network element; and the session management function network element is further configured to: and generating the usage report according to the usage information and the charging information.

It is to be understood that the charging system may implement the second aspect or the method in any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the apparatus may be a session management function network element or a chip. The apparatus has the function of implementing a session management function network element in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of any one of the first aspect to the second aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

It should be understood that the communication device may also be a policy control function network element, a charging function network element, or a user plane function network element, and the communication device may be configured to implement the functions of the corresponding network elements in any one of the above first to second aspects or any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects.

In a sixth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor is coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The memory is for storing instructions, the processor is for executing the instructions, and the transceiver is for communicating with other network elements under control of the processor. The processor, when executing the instructions stored in the memory, performs the method of the session management function network element in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner in any one of the above aspects.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integral to the processor or provided separately from the processor.

In a specific implementation process, the memory may be a non-transitory (non-transitory) memory, such as a Read Only Memory (ROM), which may be integrated on the same chip as the processor, or may be separately disposed on different chips, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the memory and the arrangement manner of the memory and the processor

In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a transceiver. The processor is connected with the transceiver. The processor is used for executing the instructions, and the transceiver is used for communicating with other network elements under the control of the processor. The processor, when executing the instructions, performs the method of the session management function network element in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects and the first to second aspects.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a communication chip having instructions stored thereon, which when run on a computer device, cause the communication chip to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of any of the first to second aspects described above.

A tenth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the first and second aspects described above, or any possible implementation thereof.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system architecture to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another system architecture to which embodiments of the present application may be applied;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a 5G system to which the present application is applied;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a home roaming architecture to which embodiments of the present application may be applied;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a home routing roaming architecture to which embodiments of the present application may be applied;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a service architecture of a 5G system to which the present application is applied;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a computer device to which embodiments of the present application are applied;

fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a charging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart diagram of another charging method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a billing system provided in the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the system 100 includes a session management function network element 110 and a policy control function network element 120. Optionally, the system 100 may further include a charging function network element 130. The system 100 may be used to perform a billing method of embodiments of the present application.

The session management function network element 110 is configured to: acquiring a signing permanent identifier and a user identifier, wherein a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signing permanent identifier; sending a policy association request message to the policy control function network element 120, where the policy association request message includes a subscription permanent identifier and a user identifier, and the policy association request message is used to request a charging rule corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier together; receiving the charging rule sent by the policy control function network element 120, where the charging rule includes a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier; the charging rule is executed.

Accordingly, the policy control function network element 120 is configured to: receiving the policy association request message sent by the session management function network element 110; and sending a charging rule corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier requested by the policy association request message to the session management function network element 110, where the charging rule includes a charging key corresponding to the user identifier.

The policy association request message may be a policy association establishment request message or a policy association modification request message.

In one possible implementation manner, the session management function network element 110 is configured to obtain a user identifier, and includes: the session management function network element 110 is configured to receive an authentication response message sent by a Data Network (DN), where the authentication response message includes the user identifier.

In another possible implementation manner, the session management function network element 110 is configured to obtain a user identifier, and includes: and the session management function network element receives a session establishment request message sent by the terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message comprises the user identification.

Alternatively, the "session" may be a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, which is not limited in this application.

In another possible implementation manner, the session management network element 110 is configured to obtain a user identifier, and includes: and the session management network element receives a session modification request message sent by the terminal, wherein the session modification request message comprises the user identification.

In one possible implementation, the session management function network element 110 is further configured to: generates a usage report and sends the usage report to the charging function network element 130. Wherein, the usage report includes the charging key, the subscription permanent identifier and the usage information. The usage report is used for the charging function network element 130 to generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identifier. Correspondingly, the charging function network element 130 is further configured to receive the usage report, and generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier according to the usage report.

Optionally, the session management function network element 110 is configured to execute the charging rule, and further includes: the session management function network element 110 is configured to send a charging request message to the charging function network element 130, where the charging request message includes the permanent subscription identifier and the charging key, the charging request message is configured to request charging information that corresponds to the charging key corresponding to the permanent subscription identifier and the user identifier, and the charging information includes one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold, and a trigger event; the session management function network element 110 receives the charging information sent by the charging function network element 130. And the session management function network element 110 is configured to generate the usage report including: the session management function network element 110 is configured to generate a usage report according to the charging information.

Accordingly, the charging function network element 130 is further configured to send the charging information to the session management function network element 110.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another billing system to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. As shown in fig. 2, the system 200 includes: a session management function network element 210 and a charging function network element 220. Optionally, the system 200 may further include a policy control function network element 230. The system 200 may be used to perform another billing method of the embodiments of the present application.

The session management function network element 210 is configured to receive a session establishment request message or a session modification request message, where the session establishment request is used to establish a session of a device corresponding to the permanent subscription identifier, and the session modification request message is used to modify the session of the device corresponding to the permanent subscription identifier; acquiring a user identifier and a charging rule of the session, wherein a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signed permanent identifier; executing the charging rule of the conversation to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identification; and sending the usage report to the charging function network element 220, where the usage report includes the user identifier, and the usage report is used for the charging function network element 220 to generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

Correspondingly, the charging function network element 220 is configured to receive the usage report, and generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier according to the usage report.

In a possible implementation manner, the session management function network element 210 is configured to obtain a user identifier, and includes: the session management function network element 210 is configured to receive an authentication response message sent by a Data Network (DN), where the authentication response message includes the user identifier.

In another possible implementation manner, the session management function network element 210 is configured to obtain a user identifier, and includes: the session management function network element 210 receives a session establishment request message sent by the terminal device, where the session establishment request message includes the user identifier.

In another possible implementation manner, the session management network element 210 is configured to obtain a user identifier, and includes: the session management function network element 210 receives a session modification request message sent by the terminal device, where the session modification request message includes the user identifier.

In a possible implementation manner, the session management function network element 210 is configured to obtain the charging rule of the session, and includes: the session management function network element 210 is configured to send a policy association request message to the policy control function network element 230, where the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier; receiving the charging rule of the session sent by the policy control function network element 230, where the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

Accordingly, the policy control function network element 230 is configured to receive the policy association request message and send the charging rule of the session to the session management function network element 210.

In another possible implementation manner, the session management function network element 210 is configured to obtain the charging rule of the session, and includes: the session management function network element 210 is configured to send a policy association update request message to the policy control function network element 230, where the policy association update request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier; receiving the charging rule of the session sent by the policy control function network element 230, where the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

Accordingly, the policy control function network element 230 is configured to receive the policy association update request message, and send the charging rule of the session to the session management function network element 210.

In one possible implementation, the session management function network element 210 is configured to execute the charging rule, and includes: the session management function network element 210 is configured to send a charging request message to the charging function network element 220, where the charging request message includes the user identifier, the charging request message is used to request charging information corresponding to the user identifier, and the charging information includes one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold, and a trigger event; receiving the charging information sent by the charging function network element 220, wherein the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

Accordingly, the charging function network element 220 is configured to receive the charging request message and send the charging information to the session management function network element 210.

It should be noted that the policy control function network element, the session management function network element, the charging function network element, and the like, referred to herein are only names, and the names do not limit the device itself. In the 5G network and other future networks, the policy control function network element, the session management function network element, the charging function network element, and the like may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the policy control function network element may also be replaced by a Policy Control Function (PCF) or a PCF entity, the session management function network element may be replaced by a Session Management Function (SMF) or an SMF entity, the charging function network element may be replaced by a charging function (CHF) or a CHF entity, and the like.

Optionally, the functions of the policy control function network element, the session management function network element, and the charging function network element may be implemented by a single device, or may be integrated on one or two devices, or may be implemented by one or more functional modules, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the functions implemented by the network elements may be implemented by network elements in hardware devices, or may be software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

It should be understood that the charging system described in fig. 1 and 2 above may also include other network elements interacting with or communicating with the network elements in the figures, which is not limited in this respect.

A terminal (terminating) device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal in V2X communication, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal device, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and the like, which are not limited in this embodiment. The terminal may also include a V2X device, such as a vehicle or an On Board Unit (OBU) in a vehicle.

In the embodiment of the present application, a terminal device is connected to a Radio Access Network (RAN) device in a wireless manner, and the RAN device is connected to a core network device in a wireless or wired manner. The core network device and the radio access network device may be separate physical devices, or the function of the core network device and the logical function of the radio access network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a physical device may be integrated with a part of the function of the core network device and a part of the function of the radio access network device. The terminals may be fixed or mobile.

The radio access network device is an access device in which the terminal device is accessed into the mobile communication system in a wireless manner, and may be a base station NodeB, an evolved node b, a base station (gbnodeb, gNB) in the 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an access node in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) system, or the like, and may also be a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or the access network device may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in the future 5G network, a network device in the future evolved PLMN network, or the like.

The core network device includes, for example, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC), or may also include corresponding functional entities in the 5G system, such as a core network Control Plane (CP) or a User Plane (UP) network function, for example, SMF, access and mobility management function (AMF), and the like. The core network control plane may also be understood as a core network Control Plane Function (CPF) entity.

Alternatively, the system 100 shown in fig. 1 or the system 200 shown in fig. 2 may be applied to a 5G network and other possible networks in the future, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

When the system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3 or fig. 6, the session management function network element may be an SMF in 5G, the policy control function network element may be a PCF in 5G, and the charging function network element may be a CHF in the 5G system. When the system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 4, the session management function network element may be an SMF of a visited location in 5G, and the policy control function network element may be a visited-policy control function (V-PCF) in 5G. When the system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 5, the session management function network element may be a home session management function (H-SMF) in 5G, and the policy control function network element may be a home-policy control function (H-PCF) in 5G.

The following will illustrate the 5G system in different scenarios with reference to fig. 3 to 6. It should be understood that the 5G system described herein is an example only and should not be construed as limiting the present application in any way.

Fig. 3 shows a basic architecture diagram of a 5G system 300. As shown in fig. 3, the system 300 includes: access and mobility management function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Radio Access Network (RAN), Unified Data Management (UDM), Policy Control Function (PCF), Data Network (DN), User Plane Function (UPF), UE, Application Function (AF), unified data storage (UDR), and charging function (CHF). Optionally, the following functions (not shown in fig. 3) may also be included in fig. 3: a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), an authentication server function (AUSF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), and a network storage function (NRF).

The main functions of each network element are described as follows:

AF: it can be understood as the naming of the application function network element in the 5G architecture. The application function network element mainly transfers requirements of an application side on a network side, such as quality of service (QoS) requirements and the like. The AF may be a third party functional entity, or may be an application service deployed by an operator, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) voice call service.

UDM: it can be understood as the naming of the unified data management network element in the 5G architecture. The unified data management network element mainly comprises the following functions: unified data management, support authentication credential processing in 3GPP authentication and key agreement mechanisms, user identity processing, access authorization, registration and mobility management, subscription management, short message management and the like.

UDR: it can be understood as the naming of the unified data storage network element in the 5G architecture. The unified data storage network element mainly comprises the following functions: and the access function of the type data such as subscription data, strategy data, application data and the like.

PCF: it can be understood as the naming of the policy control function network element in the 5G architecture. The policy control function network element is mainly responsible for performing policy control functions such as charging, quality of service (QoS) bandwidth guarantee, mobility management, and UE policy decision for a session and a service flow level. In the system, PCFs connected to the AMF and the SMF are an access and mobility control PCF (AM PCF) and a session management PCF (SM PCF) respectively, and the AM PCF and the SM PCF may not be the same PCF entity in actual deployment.

SMF: it can be understood as the naming of the session management network element in the 5G architecture. The session management network element mainly performs functions of session management, execution of control strategies issued by PCF, selection of UPF, allocation of UE IP addresses and the like.

AMF: it can be understood as the naming of the mobility management network element in the 5G architecture. The mobility management network element mainly comprises the following functions: connection management, mobility management, registration management, access authentication and authorization, reachability management, security context management, and other access and mobility related functions.

UPF: it can be understood as the naming of the user plane functional network elements in the 5G architecture. The user plane functional network element mainly comprises the following functions: routing and transmission of data packets, packet detection, service usage reporting, QoS processing, lawful interception, uplink packet detection, downlink data packet storage and other user plane related functions.

(R) AN: the (wireless) access network corresponds to different access networks in the 5G, and has various modes such as wireless access, wireless base station access and the like.

DN: a data network for identifying an operator network access point name. In this application, the DN may also include authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server functions, which are responsible for performing secondary authentication on the user.

CHF: and (4) a charging function. And the system is responsible for reporting the charging state information to the PCF and interacting with the SMF to realize quota management and charging control.

Wherein, each interface function is described as follows:

n7: and the interface between the PCF and the SMF is used for transmitting the PDU session granularity and the service data flow granularity control strategy.

N15: and the interface between the PCF and the AMF is used for issuing the UE strategy and the access control related strategy.

N5: and the interface between the AF and the PCF is used for issuing the application service request and reporting the network event.

N4: the interface between the SMF and the UPF is used for transmitting information between the control plane and the user plane, and comprises the control of issuing of forwarding rules, QoS control rules, flow statistic rules and the like facing the user plane and the information reporting of the user plane.

N11: and the interface between the SMF and the AMF is used for transmitting PDU session tunnel information between the RAN and the UPF, transmitting control information sent to the UE, transmitting radio resource control information sent to the RAN and the like.

N2: and the interface between the AMF and the RAN is used for transmitting radio bearer control information from the core network side to the RAN and the like.

N1: the interface between the AMF and the UE, access independence, is used to deliver QoS control rules to the UE, etc.

N8: and the interface between the AMF and the UDM is used for acquiring the subscription data and the authentication data related to access and mobility management from the UDM by the AMF, registering the current mobility management related information of the UE from the UDM by the AMF and the like.

N10: and the interface between the SMF and the UDM is used for acquiring the subscription data related to the session management from the SMF to the UDM, registering the related information of the current session of the UE from the SMF to the UDM, and the like.

N35: and the interface between the UDM and the UDR is used for acquiring the user subscription data information from the UDR by the UDM.

N36: and the interface between the PCF and the UDR is used for the PCF to acquire the subscription data related to the strategy and the application data related information from the UDR.

N3: an interface between the RAN and the UPF for transferring user plane data between the RAN and the UPF.

N6: and the interface between the UPF and the DN is used for transmitting the user plane data between the UPF and the DN.

N9: the interface between the UPFs, such as the interface between a visited-policy control function (V-PCF) and a home-policy control function (H-PCF), or the interface between the UPF connected to the DN and the UPF connected to the RAN, is used to transfer user plane data between the UPFs.

N28: the interface between the PCF and the CHF is used for the PCF to subscribe to charging state (Policy Counter) information, such as user balance state, remaining traffic state, etc., to the UDR.

N40: and the interface between the SMF and the CHF is used for reporting Charging information (Charging data) to the CHF by the SMF and acquiring a quota (Credit) threshold from the CHF.

The third generation partnership project (3 GPP) standard defines two roaming modes for a user to access at a visited location, namely, a local roaming mode (local roaming) mode and a home-roaming mode (home-roaming) mode, which correspond to the systems shown in fig. 4 and 5, respectively.

Fig. 4 shows an architectural diagram of a 5G system 400 for local access roaming. As shown in fig. 4, the system 400 includes: AMF, SMF, (R) AN, UDM, visited-policy control function (V-PCF), home-policy control function (H-PCF), DN, UPF, UE, AF, CHF, and UDR. Wherein the interface between the V-PCF and the H-PCF is N24. It should be understood that in fig. 4, other network elements are located on the visited public land mobile network (V-PLMN) side, except that the UDM, UDR, CHF and H-PCF are located on the home public land mobile network (H-PLMN) side.

Referring to fig. 4, in the roaming architecture, the AMF and the SMF are both located at the visited place, and at this time, the session management function is executed by the SMF function entity at the visited place. In addition, the V-PCF connected to the AMF and the V-PCF connected to the SMF correspond to an AM PCF and an SM PCF, respectively, and the AM PCF and the SM PCF may not be the same PCF entity in an actual scene. The charging rules referred to in the present application are provided to the SMF by the V-PCF in the architecture.

Fig. 5 shows an architectural diagram of a 5G system 500 for home (or "home") access roaming. FIG. 5 differs from FIG. 4 in that a home user plane function (H-UPF) and a home session management function (H-SMF) are added to system 500. That is, both the V-PLMN side and the H-PLMN side contain UPFs and SMFs. The UPF of the V-PLMN side is connected with the UPF of the H-PLMN side through an N9 interface, and the UPF of the H-PLMN side is connected with the DN through an N9 interface; the V-SMF on the V-PLMN side is connected with the H-SMF on the H-PLMN side through an N11 interface, the H-SMF is connected with the UPF on the H-PLMN side through an N4 interface, and the H-SMF is connected with the UDM through an N10 interface. The H-PCF interfaces with the AF via an N5 interface.

Referring to fig. 5, in the roaming architecture, the AMF is located at a visited place, and the session management function is performed by the H-SMF. In addition, the H-PCF connected with the V-PCF and the H-PCF connected with the H-SMF respectively correspond to the AM PCF and the SMPCF in the application, and the AM PCF and the SM PCF may not be the same PCF entity or may be the same PCF entity in an actual scene. The charging rules referred to in the present application may be provided to the H-SMF by the H-PCF in the architecture.

It should be understood that the SM PCF is a policy control function entity connected to the SMF, responsible for performing the session management policy rule decision function. The AM PCF is a policy rule decision function in charge of executing an access control policy and a UE policy by a policy control function entity directly connected to the AMF.

It should be noted that the name of each network element (such as V-PCF, H-PCF, AMF, etc.) included in fig. 3, fig. 4 or fig. 5 is only a name, and the name does not limit the function of the network element itself. In the 5G network and other networks in the future, the network elements may also be given other names, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above network elements may use the terminology in 5G, or may use other nomenclature, and so on, which are described herein in a unified manner and will not be described again below.

Those skilled in the art can understand that the network elements in fig. 3 to fig. 5 are only described by way of example, and in practice, the 5G system may further include other network elements interacting with the network elements illustrated in the figures, which are not described herein again.

It should be further noted that, the communication between the network elements of the control plane function in fig. 3 to fig. 5 is described by taking an unserviceable interface as an example, but the scope of the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art can understand that each network element of the control plane functions in fig. 3 to fig. 5 may also communicate through a service interface, for example, the service interface provided by the AMF to the outside may be Namf; the service interface provided by the SMF can be Nsmf; the serving interface provided by the UDM can be Nudm, and the serving interface provided by the AF can be Naf; the serving interface provided by the PCF to the outside may be Npcf and the like.

The network elements in fig. 3 to fig. 5 are based on a reference point architecture, and do not limit the embodiments of the present application. Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of an architecture based on a servitization interface. As shown in fig. 6, the per-architecture 600 includes: NSSF, AUSF, UDM, NEF, NRF, PCF, AF, AMF, SMF, UE, RAN, UPF, DN, and CHF. In fig. 6, the external service interface provided by the NSSF may be NSSF, the external service interface provided by NEF may be Nnef, the external service interface provided by NRF may be nrrf, and the external service interface provided by AMF may be Namf; the service interface provided by the SMF can be Nsmf; the serving interface provided by the UDM can be Nudm, and the serving interface provided by the AF can be Naf; the service interface externally provided by the PCF may be Npcf, the service interface externally provided by the AUSF may be Nausf, and the service interface externally provided by the CHF may be Nchf; the interface between the control plane functions and the RAN and UPF is a non-serving interface. The UE is connected with the AMF through an N1 interface, and the UE is connected with the RAN through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol; the RAN is connected with the AMF through an N2 interface, and the RAN is connected with the UPF through an N3 interface; the UPF is connected to the DN through the N6 interface, while the UPF is connected to the SMF through the N4 interface. For the related description, reference may be made to a 5G system architecture (5G system architecture) in the standard, and for brevity, the connection relationship of the architecture 600 is not described herein again.

The specific operation process and beneficial effects of the network elements in the systems of fig. 1 to 5 can be referred to the description of the method embodiments below.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic block diagram of a computer device 700 to which embodiments of the present application apply. The session management function network element, the policy control function network element, the charging function network element, and the like in the foregoing description may all be implemented by the computer device in fig. 7. It should be understood that the computer device may be a physical device, may be a component of a physical device (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.), and may be a functional module in a physical device.

As shown in fig. 7, the computer apparatus includes: one or more processors 701. The processor 701 may store execution instructions for performing the methods of embodiments of the present application. Alternatively, an interface may be called in the processor 701 to implement the receiving and transmitting functions. The interface may be a logical interface or a physical interface, which is not limited in this regard. For example, the interface may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuitry, or interface circuitry, used to implement the receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit or the interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code/data, or the transceiver circuit or the interface circuit may be used for transmitting or transferring signals.

Alternatively, the interface may be implemented by a transceiver. Optionally, the computer device 700 may further comprise a transceiver 703. The transceiver 703 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiving circuit, a transceiver, or the like, and is used for implementing a transceiving function.

Optionally, the computer device may also include a memory 702. The embodiment of the present application does not specifically limit the specific deployment location of the memory 702, and the memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent of the processor. For the case where the computer device does not include memory, the computer device may be processing-enabled, and the memory may be deployed elsewhere (e.g., a cloud system).

The processor 701, memory 702, and transceiver 703 communicate control and/or data signals with each other via internal connection paths.

It will be appreciated that although not shown, the computer device 700 may also include other means, such as input means, output means, batteries, etc.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the memory 702 may store instructions for performing the methods of embodiments of the present application. The processor 701 may execute the instructions stored in the memory 702 to perform the steps of the method described below in combination with other hardware (e.g., the transceiver 703), and the specific working process and beneficial effects can be referred to the description of the method embodiment below.

The method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to the processor 703 or implemented by the processor 703. The processor 703 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM, an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, or other storage media that are well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads instructions in the memory and combines hardware thereof to complete the steps of the method.

It will be appreciated that the memory 702 can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory ROM, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory, RAM, which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The computer device 700 described above may be a general purpose computer device or a special purpose computer device. In a specific implementation, the computer device 700 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 7. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of the computer device 700.

In addition, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

In the following, the charging method provided by the present application is described by taking the application of the method provided by the present application to a 5G system as an example. It is to be understood that the method can also be applied to other systems and that correspondingly also network elements should be replaced by functionally identical or similar network elements in the system. It should also be noted that the signaling involved in the interaction between the network elements described herein is the corresponding signaling in the prior art or in the existing protocol, and in practice, these signaling may be replaced by other names as long as the corresponding functions are realized. In addition, the following describes each method by taking "session" in the present application as an example of a PDU session, and practically, the PDU session may be replaced by another session.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic flow chart of a charging method 800 according to an embodiment of the application. The charging method 800 is described in detail below with reference to various steps.

S801, the SMF acquires a subscription permanent identifier and a user identifier.

Specifically, during the process of establishing or modifying the PDU session, the SMF may obtain a permanent subscription identity and a subscriber identity corresponding to the PDU session, that is, the SMF may obtain a subscriber identity and a permanent subscription identity corresponding to the currently requested PDU session to be established or modified. The user corresponding to the user identifier accesses the network through the device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier, or the subscription permanent identifier refers to an identifier of a device requesting to establish or modify the PDU session, the user identifier refers to a user actually requesting to establish or modify the PDU session, and the service flow corresponding to the PDU session established by the PDU session establishment request message is the service flow under the user identifier.

Illustratively, the subscription permanent identifier may be a user permanent identifier (SUPI), or a public subscription identifier (GPSI), or information obtained by renaming SUPI as a protocol evolves. Illustratively, the user identity may be defined and managed by a third party or may also be defined and managed by an operator. For example, the user ID may be Apple ID managed/assigned by a third party, a micro signal, or a telecom wing account number managed/assigned by an operator, a medium mobile And account number, etc. As another example, the user identifier may be a data network Specific identifier (DN-Specific identity), or may be information (information representation a user in a Specific context) defined in the current protocol and indicating the user in a Specific context.

In order to make the difference between the subscriber identity and the subscription permanent identity better understood by the skilled person, this is explained below in connection with three scenarios.

Scene one: multiple users access the network through the same UE in a time-sharing manner

In this scenario, the permanent subscription identity may be a permanent subscription identity (e.g., SUPI) subscribed by the UE in the operator network, and the user identity is an account Identity (ID) of a user accessing to the corresponding UE at different times, for example, different users access to a game service through the same game client on the terminal with respective account IDs.

Scene two: multiple applications on the same UE or multiple users behind the same UE access the network through the UE

In this scenario, the permanent subscription identifier may be a permanent subscription identifier of the UE subscribed in the operator network, and the user identifier may be an application ID of different applications or a user ID corresponding to different users, such as a parent-child system account ID.

Scene three: a plurality of terminal devices access the network through a UE, such as a home Gateway (Residential Gateway).

In this scenario, the permanent subscription identifier is a permanent subscription identifier of the home gateway in the operator network, and account IDs respectively allocated by the third party to the plurality of terminal devices may be respectively used as one user identifier. For example, the plurality of terminal devices are respectively a notebook, a smart watch, a tablet computer, and the like, and the user identifier may be a device ID corresponding to the terminal device, or an Apple account ID logged in the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the SMF may obtain the user identifier from a PDU session setup request message or a PDU session modification request message sent by the UE.

Specifically, when the UE requests to establish or modify a PDU session, the UE may carry the UE identity in a PDU session establishment or modification request message sent to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF may obtain the subscriber identity from a PDU session setup or modification request message sent by the UE.

After receiving the PDU session setup or modify request message, the SMF may perform a session configuration action. The session configuration action package may include: (1) determining session configuration parameters, such as Session and Service Continuity (SSC) mode (mode), quality of service (QoS) parameters, etc.; (2) the method includes determining whether a user identifier carried by the UE is authentic by interacting with the UDM/AUSF, for example, by sending an authentication request message including the user identifier and a subscription permanent identifier to the UDM/AUSF to determine whether the UE is allowed to initiate a PDU session with the user identifier. If the subscriber identity is authentic, the SMF may then perform S802.

In another possible implementation, the SMF may obtain the subscriber identity from an authentication response message sent by the DN. That is, the authentication response message sent by the DN to the SMF includes the subscriber identity. The DN may be an AAA server in a data network deployed by a third party, or may be an ordinary authentication server, which is not limited in this application.

Specifically, for UE authentication, in addition to the authentication procedure performed by the operator network to the UE during registration, the DN may perform secondary authentication to the user during PDU session establishment. If the UE passes the DN authentication, the DN finishes the authentication process by sending an authentication response message to the SMF, and the authentication response message may carry the user identifier, so that the SMF may obtain the user identifier from the authentication response message. After that, the SMF may then perform S802.

It should be understood that, in addition to the user identity, the authentication response message may also carry a DN Authorization profile index (Authorization profile index) and an Authorized Session AMBR (Authorized Session-AMBR) parameter, which is an aggregated maximum bit rate (aggregated maximum bit rate), in accordance with the prior art. The DN Authorization profile index is used to index to a specific policy rule in the policy data, such as a user policy subscription rule of a specific level, and the Authorized Session-AMBR is used to describe an upper limit of an aggregated bandwidth allowed by the Session, which corresponds to an upper limit of a bandwidth that can be reached by all Non-Guaranteed Bit (Non-GBR) services in the Session.

For example, the second authentication process may be that the third party service needs to authenticate whether the user is allowed to access the current service, such as controlling the user access by a specific website, a VPN server, or a game server.

In one possible implementation, the SMF may obtain the permanent subscription identity from a PDU session setup request message or a PDU session modification request message or a session management request message sent by the AMF. That is to say, the PDU session establishment request message or the PDU session modification request message may carry the permanent subscription identifier, and in addition, the session management request message sent by the AMF may also carry the permanent subscription identifier.

S802, the SMF sends a policy association request message to the PCF. Accordingly, the PCF receives the policy association request message sent by the SMF.

If the SMF receives the PDU session establishment request, the strategy association request message sent by the SMF is a strategy association establishment request message; and if the SMF receives the PDU session modification request, the SMF sends a time policy association update request.

The policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier, and is used to request a charging rule corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier, or the policy association request message is used to request a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier under the subscription permanent identifier. The subscription permanent identity and the subscriber identity will be used as input information for the PCF to perform policy decisions.

It should be understood that, if the PCF receives the policy association establishment request message, in addition to the above, the policy association establishment request message may further include single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), and a Data Network Name (DNN) in accordance with the prior art. The content carried by the request message for establishing the policy association can be used as the input information for the PCF to execute the policy decision.

It should be understood that if the PCF receives a policy association update request message, in addition to the above, referring to the prior art, the policy association update request message may further include a quality of service (QoS) parameter requested by the UE, service flow description information requested by the UE, and a charging rule corresponding to the service flow description information, which is used for the SMF to request the PCF for the service flow description information.

S803, the PCF sends the charging rules to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the charging rule sent by the PCF. Wherein, the charging rule includes a charging key corresponding to the user identifier.

Specifically, after receiving the policy association request message sent by the SMF, the PCF may execute the policy decision according to the user policy subscription information stored in the UDR, the locally stored operator configuration information, and the policy decision input information provided by the SMF, and generate the charging rule. The charging rule includes a charging key corresponding to the user identifier. The charging key corresponding to the user identifier may have two meanings: (1) generating a charging key value according to the user identification and a charging key corresponding to the service requested by the PDU session; (2) the charging key value allocated to the user identifier, under the meaning, when the same service is accessed through different user identifiers, the corresponding charging key values may be different.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the charging key is used for CHF to decide a corresponding charging rate according to the charging key, and is equivalent to the concept of a charging group (rating group), and the description is mainly given in this document.

It should be understood that the charging rule may include the following in addition to the charging key corresponding to the user identifier:

charting method: the charging mode is online charging or offline charging;

measurement method: a statistical mode, which is a corresponding statistical mode according to time length, a flow statistical mode, or a statistical mode of time length plus flow, or an event triggering statistical mode, such as triggering based on a UE position area change event, an access mode change event, and the like;

charging address: and the cell only supports the charging bill generated by the whole PDU session to be reported to the same CHF. The SMF may also obtain the CHF billing address by other means, such as by the NRF performing a network element discovery to select an available CHF.

S804, the SMF executes the charging rule.

After receiving the charging rule, the SMF may execute the charging rule or perform charging control according to the charging rule.

In summary, according to the method provided by the present application, a core network, such as SMF, PCF, etc., can realize the sensing of the user identifier, and SMF can realize the charging of the user identifier granularity according to the charging rule of the user identifier granularity.

A possible implementation manner of S804 is described below with reference to an online charging scenario and an offline charging scenario.

1. In the online charging scenario, the SMF executing the charging rule may include:

a1, SMF sends a charging request message to CHF. Accordingly, the CHF receives the charging request message sent by the SMF.

Wherein, the charging request message includes the charging key value corresponding to the user identifier and the subscription permanent identifier. The charging request message is used for requesting the charging information which is commonly corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the charging key value corresponding to the user identifier. Illustratively, the charging information includes one or more of authorized Service quota (Granted Service Unit), reporting threshold (threshold), and triggering events (triggers).

And (3) authorized service quota: primarily to characterize the available credit that CHF provides to SMF. This parameter may be carried to the SMF at the same time as the reporting threshold parameter for the CHF decision. The Granted Service quota (Granted Service Unit) may also be referred to as a Granted usage, gu, (Granted Unit).

Reporting a threshold value: that is, CHF is provided to SMF or SMF is provided to UPF to indicate the time when UPF triggers usage reporting, that is, UPF reports usage information to SMF after determining that the usage statistics reaches the reporting threshold. Typically the reporting threshold is less than or equal to the authorized traffic quota.

a2, the CHF sends the billing information to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the charging information.

a3, the SMF sends Packet Detection Rule (PDR) and Usage Reporting Rule (URR) to the UPF.

a4, the UPF performs usage statistics and, under certain conditions, sends usage information to the SMF.

Specifically, the SMF generates a PDR and a URR corresponding to the subscriber identity (or corresponding to the charging key corresponding to the subscriber identity) according to the charging rule received from the PCF, the charging information received from the CHF, and the local configuration information, and provides the PDR and the URR to the UPF. The PDR mainly includes a PDR ID, packet detection information (quintuple, port number, tunnel information, etc.), a URR ID (used to indicate that charging control defined in the URR corresponding to the URR ID is performed on the service flow that conforms to the packet detection information), and the like. The URR indicates what charging control is used for these traffic flows, such as statistics by time/traffic, reporting thresholds, available quotas, triggering events, etc.

After receiving the PDR and the URR, the UPF matches the service flow in the PDU conversation according to the priority of the received PDR, if the specific service flow is matched with the flow description information in the current PDR, the UPF searches the corresponding URR according to the URR ID contained in the PDR, and carries out the usage statistics according to the URR. When the usage statistics reaches a reporting threshold (where the reporting threshold is determined by the SMF according to a reporting threshold provided by the CHF and/or an authorized service quota and provided to the UPF, and may be less than or equal to the reporting threshold provided by the CHF to the SMF), or a trigger event requested by the SMF occurs, the UPF reports the current usage information to the SMF. The usage information may include a charging key corresponding to the user identifier, timestamp information, and Used usage (Used Unit), and optionally, the usage information may further include content such as trigger event information.

2. In the offline charging scenario, the SMF executing the charging rule may include:

b1, SMF sends offline charging request message to CHF. Accordingly, the CHF receives the offline charging request message.

The offline charging request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key corresponding to the user identifier. The offline charging request message is used for requesting a trigger event corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier.

b2, the CHF sends the trigger event to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the trigger event.

b3, the SMF sends the PDR and the URR to the UPF.

b4, the UPF performs usage statistics and, under certain conditions, sends usage information to the SMF.

Specifically, unlike the online charging scenario, in the offline charging scenario, the SMF is the PDR and URR generated according to the charging rules provided by the PCF, the triggering events provided by the CHF, and the local configuration. After the SMF generates the PDR and URR, the PDR and URR are provided to the UPF. After receiving the PDR and the URR, the UPF matches the service flow in the PDU conversation according to the priority of the received PDR, if the specific service flow is matched with the flow description information in the current PDR, the UPF searches the corresponding URR according to the URR ID contained in the PDR, and carries out the usage statistics according to the URR. When the usage statistics reaches a reporting threshold (where the reporting threshold is determined by the SMF according to the locally preconfigured authorized service quota and/or the locally preconfigured reporting threshold and provided to the UPF, and may be smaller than or equal to the locally preconfigured reporting threshold of the SMF), or a trigger event requested by the SMF occurs, the UPF reports the current usage information to the SMF. The usage information may include a charging key corresponding to the user identifier, timestamp information, and Used usage (Used Unit), and optionally, the usage information may further include content such as trigger event information.

It should be noted that, in both the online charging scenario and the offline charging scenario, in S801, when the user identifier is obtained through the PDU session modification request message, the UPF actually counts the usage amount corresponding to one or more QoS flows that are established or modified and triggered by the PDU session modification request message.

After S804, the method may further include: s805 to S807.

S805, the SMF generates a usage report.

S806, the SMF sends the usage report to the CHF.

In an online charging scenario, the SMF may count usage information corresponding to a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier reported by the UPF, and when the usage corresponding to the charging key value corresponding to the user identifier reaches an authorized service quota or reaches a reporting threshold or an event corresponding to a trigger event occurs, the SMF generates a usage report, and the SMF sends the usage report to the CHF. The usage report includes a charging key corresponding to the user identifier, the subscription permanent identifier, and usage information generated by a user corresponding to the user identifier corresponding to the charging key, or the usage information in the usage report is the usage information corresponding to the user identifier or the charging key and the subscription permanent identifier together.

In an offline charging scenario, the SMF may count usage information corresponding to a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier reported by the UPF, generate a usage report when the usage corresponding to the charging key value corresponding to the user identifier reaches a locally preconfigured authorized service quota or reaches a locally preconfigured reporting threshold or triggers an event corresponding to an event, and send the usage report to the CHF. The usage report includes a charging key corresponding to the user identifier, the subscription permanent identifier, and usage information generated by a user corresponding to the user identifier corresponding to the charging key.

And S807, generating the call ticket information corresponding to the user identifier by the CHF according to the usage report.

Illustratively, the action of generating the ticket information by the CHF may include sorting the usage report reported by the SMF and storing the sorted usage report to a ticket file corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier or a third-party application, where the ticket file includes the user identifier, and generating a corresponding billing system according to the ticket file. The specific storage of the ticket file to the ticket file corresponding to the permanent subscription identifier or the ticket file corresponding to the third party application mainly depends on the actual charging subject, i.e. whether the device or the account corresponding to the permanent subscription identifier is charged or the third party application is charged. If the current equipment pays, the call ticket file is saved to the call ticket file corresponding to the signing permanent mark, if the third party application pays, the call ticket file is saved to the call ticket file corresponding to the third party application. As can be understood by those skilled in the art, if the CHF is required to store the ticket file to the ticket file corresponding to the third-party application, the corresponding relationship between the user identifier and the third-party application identifier may also need to be configured in advance in the CHF. Specifically, the action of the CHF sorting the ticket file to the corresponding account system may also involve interaction with other Charging nodes, for example, the CHF reports the ticket file to a Charging Domain/Charging Gateway (Charging Gateway) to realize the ticket sorting to the corresponding device account or the third party application account.

In summary, according to the method provided by the present application, after acquiring the charging key corresponding to the user identifier from the PCF, the SMF may provide the CHF with usage information corresponding to the charging key, thereby implementing the charging of the user identifier or the granularity of the user corresponding to the user identifier.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic flow chart of a charging method 900 according to an embodiment of the application. The charging method 900 will be described in detail with reference to the steps.

S901, the SMF receives a PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message sent by the UE.

The PDU session establishment request message is used to establish a session of a device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier. The PDU session modification request message is used to modify the session of the device corresponding to the subscription permanent identity.

S902, SMF obtains user identification and charging rule of PDU conversation.

The meaning of the subscription permanent identity and the user identity is as described above and will not be described herein.

It should be understood that the service flow corresponding to the PDU session established by the PDU session establishment request message is the service flow under the user identifier. And the service flow corresponding to the PDU session modified by the PDU session modification request message is the service flow under the user identification.

Alternatively, the SMF may obtain the user identifier through the three manners described above, which are specifically described above and not detailed here.

In addition, the SMF may request the PCF to provide the charging rules for the PDU session by sending a policy association request message to the PCF. After receiving the policy association request message sent by the SMF, the PCF determines the charging rule of the PDU session and sends the charging rule to the SMF.

The content carried in the policy association request message may refer to the prior art, and may include parameters such as a subscription permanent identifier, a DN policy index, a DNN, and an S-NSSAI. The charging rule of the PDU session includes a charging key value corresponding to the service corresponding to the PDU session.

Optionally, the SMF may also carry the user identifier in the policy association request message sent to the PCF. Accordingly, the charging rule of the PDU session determined by the PCF may be considered as the charging rule corresponding to the user identifier. For example, the charging key included in the charging rule of the PDU session may be the charging key corresponding to the subscriber identity.

S903, the SMF executes the charging rule of the PDU conversation to generate the usage report corresponding to the user identification.

A possible implementation manner of S903 is described below with reference to an online charging scenario and an offline charging scenario.

c1, the SMF sends a charging request message to the CHF. Accordingly, the CHF receives the charging request message sent by the SMF.

Wherein the charging request message includes the subscriber identity. The charging request message is used for requesting the charging information corresponding to the user identification. Illustratively, the charging information includes one or more of authorized Service quota (Granted Service Unit), reporting threshold (threshold), and triggering events (triggers). The Granted Service quota (Granted Service Unit) may also be referred to as a Granted usage, gu, (Granted Unit).

c2, the CHF sends the SMF the requested charging information. Accordingly, the SMF receives the charging information.

c3, the SMF sends the PDR and URR to the UPF.

c4, the UPF performs usage statistics and, under certain conditions, sends usage information to the SMF.

The steps c3 and c4 can be referred to in the prior art and are not described in detail herein.

d1, the SMF sends an offline charging request message to the CHF. Accordingly, the CHF receives the offline charging request message.

Wherein the offline charging request message includes the user identifier. The offline charging request message is used for requesting a trigger event corresponding to the user identifier.

d2, the CHF sends the trigger event to the SMF. Accordingly, the SMF receives the trigger event.

d3, the SMF sends the PDR and URR to the UPF.

d4, the UPF performs usage statistics and, under certain conditions, sends usage information to the SMF.

The steps d3 and d4 can be referred to in the prior art and are not described in detail herein.

Optionally, in an implementation manner, the URR sent by the SMF to the UPF may further include a user identifier, so that in a case that the user identifier is obtained from the PDU session modification request message, the UPF may count usage information of the user identifier corresponding to one or more QoS flows that are triggered by the PDU session modification request message to be established or modified. And S904, the SMF sends the usage report to the CHF, and the usage report is used for the CHF to generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identification.

And S905, generating the ticket information corresponding to the user identification by the CHF according to the usage report.

The usage report may include, among other things, user identification and usage information. Optionally, the usage report may also include a subscription permanent identification. It should be understood that the usage information may also include a charging key corresponding to the service corresponding to the currently established PDU session.

In an online charging scenario, the SMF may count usage information corresponding to a charging key value corresponding to a service corresponding to a current PDU session reported by the UPF, generate a usage report when the SMF determines that the usage corresponding to the charging key value reaches a reporting threshold, or an authorized service quota is used up, or an event corresponding to a trigger event occurs, and send the usage report to the CHF.

In an offline charging scenario, the SMF may count usage information corresponding to a charging key value corresponding to a service corresponding to a current PDU session reported by the UPF, generate a usage report when the usage corresponding to the charging key value reaches a locally preconfigured reporting threshold or an event corresponding to a trigger event occurs, and send the usage report to the CHF.

The actions of generating the ticket information by the CHF may refer to the above description, and are not described here again.

In summary, according to the method provided by the present application, the SMF can obtain the user identifier corresponding to the current PDU session, and send the usage information corresponding to the user identifier to the CHF, so that the CHF can generate the ticket information corresponding to the user identifier, thereby implementing the charging of the user identifier granularity. The charging method according to the embodiment of the present application is described above, and the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application will be described below. It should be understood that the technical features described in the method embodiments are equally applicable to the following apparatus embodiments.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the specific form of the communication apparatus 1000 may be a general-purpose computer device or a chip in a general-purpose computer device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the communication device 1000 includes a transceiver 1010 and a processing unit 1020.

Specifically, the communication apparatus 1000 may be any network element related to the present application, and may implement the functions that can be implemented by the network element. It is understood that the communication apparatus 1000 may be a physical device, a component (e.g., an integrated circuit, a chip, etc.) of the physical device, or a functional module in the physical device.

In one implementation, the communications apparatus 1000 may be configured to implement the functionality of a session management function network element (e.g., SMF) in the present application. Exemplarily, the processing unit 1010 is configured to obtain a permanent subscription identifier and a user identifier, where a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through a device corresponding to the permanent subscription identifier; a transceiver unit 1020, configured to send a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, where the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier; the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to receive a charging rule that the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier sent by the policy control function network element jointly correspond to each other, where the charging rule includes a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier; the processing unit 1010 is further configured to execute the charging rule.

It should be understood that, in this implementation manner, the apparatus 1000 may correspond to the SMF in the foregoing method embodiment, and the above and other management operations and/or functions of each module in the communication apparatus 1000 are respectively for implementing corresponding steps of the SMF in the method 800 shown in fig. 8, so that beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiment may also be implemented, and for brevity, no repeated description is provided here.

In another implementation, the communication apparatus 1000 may be used to implement the functions of a session management function network element (e.g., SMF) in this application. Illustratively, the transceiver unit 1020 is configured to receive a protocol data unit PDU session establishment request message or a PDU session modification request message, where the PDU session establishment request message is used to establish a PDU session of a device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier, and the PDU session modification request message is used to modify the PDU session of the device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; a processing unit 1010, configured to obtain a user identifier and a charging rule of the PDU session, where a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through a device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; the processing unit 1010 is further configured to execute a charging rule of the PDU session to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identifier; the transceiver unit 1020 is further configured to send the usage report to a charging function network element, where the usage report includes the user identifier, and the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

It should be understood that, in this implementation manner, the apparatus 1000 may correspond to the SMF in the foregoing method embodiment, and the above and other management operations and/or functions of each module in the communication apparatus 1000 are respectively for implementing corresponding steps of the SMF in the method 900 shown in fig. 9, so that beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiment may also be implemented, and for brevity, no repeated description is provided here.

It should also be understood that the apparatus 1000 may also be used to implement the functions of the network elements such as PCF, UPF, SMF, UE, etc. in the foregoing method embodiments, where the transceiver unit 1020 may be used to implement operations related to receiving and transmitting, and the processing unit 1010 may be used to implement operations other than receiving and transmitting, which may specifically refer to the descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments and are not listed here.

In addition, in the present application, the communication apparatus 1000 is presented in the form of a functional module. As used herein, a "module" may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the device 1000 may take the form shown in FIG. 7. The processing unit 1010 may be implemented by the processor 701 shown in fig. 7. Alternatively, if the computer device shown in fig. 7 includes the memory 702, the processing unit 1010 may be implemented by the processor 701 and the memory 702. The transceiver unit 1020 may be implemented by the transceiver 703 shown in fig. 7. The transceiver 703 includes a receiving function and a transmitting function. In particular, the processor is implemented by executing a computer program stored in the memory. Alternatively, when the apparatus 1000 is a chip, the functions and/or implementation processes of the transceiver unit 1020 can also be implemented by pins or circuits, etc. Alternatively, the memory may be a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, or the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit in the computer device that is located outside the chip, such as the memory 702 in fig. 7, or may also be a storage unit disposed in another system or device, which is not in the computer device. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

Various aspects or features of the disclosure may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer-readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, etc.), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), card, stick, or key drive, etc.). In addition, various storage media described herein can represent one or more devices and/or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" can include, without being limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and/or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.

The present application also provides a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a computer, performs the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

The present application also provides a computer program product which, when executed by a computer, implements the functionality of any of the above-described method embodiments. 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 on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (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 can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Thus, the various embodiments are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment throughout the specification. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that, in the present application, "when …", "if" and "if" all refer to the fact that the UE or the base station will perform the corresponding processing under certain objective conditions, and are not limited time, and do not require the UE or the base station to perform certain judgment actions, nor do they mean that there are other limitations.

Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

Herein, the term "at least one of … …" or "at least one of … …" means all or any combination of the listed items, e.g., "at least one of A, B and C", may mean: there are six cases of a alone, B alone, C alone, a and B together, B and C together, and A, B and C together.

In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more, unless otherwise specified.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a, from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

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 ways. 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 functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units 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 or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including 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: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A charging method, comprising:

a session management function network element acquires a signing permanent identifier and a user identifier, wherein a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signing permanent identifier;

the session management function network element sends a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the policy association request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier;

the session management function network element receives a charging rule which is sent by the policy control function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier together, wherein the charging rule comprises a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier;

and the session management function network element executes the charging rule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining of the subscriber identity by the session management function network element comprises:

and the session management function network element receives an authentication response message sent by a data network, wherein the authentication response message comprises the user identification.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the obtaining of the subscriber identity by the session management function network element comprises:

the session management function network element receives a session establishment request message sent by terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message comprises the user identifier; or,

and the session management function network element receives a session modification request message sent by terminal equipment, wherein the session modification request message comprises the user identification.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

the session management function network element generates a usage report, wherein the usage report comprises the charging key value, the signing permanent identifier and usage information, and the usage information is usage information corresponding to the charging key value and the signing permanent identifier together;

and the session management function network element sends the usage report to a charging function network element, wherein the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the session management function network element executing the charging rules comprises:

the session management function network element sends a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the charging key value;

and the session management function network element receives charging information which is sent by the charging function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event, and the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

6. A charging system, comprising: a session management function network element and a policy control function network element;

the session management function network element is used for acquiring a subscription permanent identifier and a user identifier, and a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; sending a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the policy association request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier;

the policy control function network element is configured to send, to the session management function network element, a charging rule corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier together, where the charging rule includes a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier;

the session management function network element is further configured to execute the charging rule.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the charging system further comprises a charging function network element;

and the session management function network element is configured to execute the charging rule, and includes:

and receiving charging information which is sent by the charging function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event.

8. A communications apparatus, comprising:

the processing unit is used for acquiring a signing permanent identifier and a user identifier, and a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signing permanent identifier;

a receiving and sending unit, configured to send a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, where the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier;

the receiving and sending unit is further configured to receive a charging rule jointly corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier sent by the policy control function network element, where the charging rule includes a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier;

the processing unit is further configured to execute the charging rule.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said processing unit for obtaining a user identification comprises:

receiving an authentication response message sent by a data network, wherein the authentication response message comprises the user identification; or,

receiving a session establishment request message sent by terminal equipment, wherein the session establishment request message comprises the user identifier; or,

and receiving a session modification request message sent by a terminal device, wherein the session modification request message comprises the user identification.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 8 or 9, said processing unit to further:

generating a usage report, wherein the usage report comprises the charging key value, the signing permanent identifier and usage information, and the usage information is usage information corresponding to the charging key value and the signing permanent identifier together;

the receiving and sending unit is further configured to send the usage report to a charging function network element, where the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processing unit is configured to execute charging rules, comprising:

sending a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the subscription permanent identifier and the charging key value;

and receiving charging information which is sent by the charging function network element and corresponds to the subscription permanent identifier and a charging key value corresponding to the user identifier, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event, and the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

12. A charging method, comprising:

a session management function network element receives a session establishment request message or a session modification request message, wherein the session establishment request message is used for establishing a session of equipment corresponding to a signing permanent identifier, and the session modification request message is used for modifying the session of the equipment corresponding to the signing permanent identifier;

a session management function network element acquires a user identifier and a charging rule of the session, wherein a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signed permanent identifier;

the network element of the session management function executes the charging rule of the session so as to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identification;

and the session management function network element sends the usage report to a charging function network element, wherein the usage report comprises the user identifier, and the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the obtaining of the subscriber identity by the session management function network element comprises:

the session management function network element receives an authentication response message sent by a data network, wherein the authentication response message comprises the user identification; or,

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the obtaining of the charging rules for the session by the session management function network element comprises:

the session management function network element sends a policy association request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier, and the policy association request message is used for requesting a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier;

and the session management function network element receives the charging rule of the session, which is sent by the policy control function network element, wherein the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

15. The method according to any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the session management function network element performs charging rules for the session, comprising:

the session management function network element sends a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the user identifier, and the charging request message is used for requesting charging information corresponding to the user identifier;

and the session management function network element receives charging information corresponding to the user identifier, which is sent by the charging function network element, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event, and the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

16. The method according to any of claims 12 to 15, wherein the session management function network element performs charging rules for the session, comprising:

the session management function network element sends a usage reporting rule to a user plane function network element, wherein the usage reporting rule comprises the user identifier;

receiving the usage information corresponding to the user identifier sent by the user plane function network element;

and generating the usage report according to the usage information and the charging information.

17. A charging system is characterized by comprising a session management function network element and a charging function network element;

the session management function network element is configured to receive a session establishment request message or a session modification request message, where the session establishment request message is used to establish a session of a device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier, and the session modification request message is used to modify the session of the device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier; acquiring a user identifier and a charging rule of the session, wherein a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through equipment corresponding to the signing permanent identifier; executing the charging rule of the session to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identifier; sending the usage report to a charging function network element;

and the charging function network element is used for generating call ticket information corresponding to the user identification according to the usage report.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the charging system further comprises a policy control function network element to:

receiving a policy association request message sent by the session management function network element, where the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier, and the policy association request message is used to request a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier;

and sending the charging rule of the session to the network element with the session management function, wherein the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

19. The system according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the system further comprises a user plane function network element for:

receiving a usage reporting rule sent by the session management function network element, wherein the usage reporting rule comprises the user identifier;

sending the usage information corresponding to the user identification to the session management function network element;

and the session management function network element is further configured to: and generating the usage report according to the usage information and the charging information.

20. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a session establishment request message or a session modification request message, where the session establishment request message is used to establish a session of a device corresponding to a subscription permanent identifier, and the session modification request message is used to modify the session of the device corresponding to the subscription permanent identifier;

a processing unit, configured to obtain a user identifier and a charging rule of the session, where a user corresponding to the user identifier accesses a network through a device corresponding to the signed permanent identifier;

the processing unit is further configured to execute a charging rule of the session to generate a usage report corresponding to the user identifier;

the receiving and sending unit is further configured to send the usage report to a charging function network element, where the usage report includes the user identifier, and the usage report is used for the charging function network element to generate ticket information corresponding to the user identifier.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein said processing unit for obtaining a user identification comprises:

22. The apparatus according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to obtain the charging rule for the session, and includes:

sending a policy association request message to the policy control function network element, where the policy association request message includes the subscription permanent identifier and the user identifier;

and receiving the charging rule of the session, which is sent by the policy control function network element, wherein the charging rule of the session is a charging rule corresponding to the user identifier.

23. The apparatus according to any of claims 20 to 22, wherein the processing unit is configured to execute charging rules for the session, including:

sending a charging request message to the charging function network element, wherein the charging request message comprises the user identifier and is used for requesting charging information corresponding to the user identifier;

and receiving charging information corresponding to the user identifier sent by the charging function network element, wherein the charging information comprises one or more of an authorized service quota, a reporting threshold and a triggering event, and the usage report is generated according to the charging information.

24. The apparatus according to any of claims 20 to 23, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

sending a usage reporting rule to a user plane function network element, wherein the usage reporting rule comprises the user identifier;

and the processing unit is further configured to: