CN113067906B

CN113067906B - Addressing method, device and equipment of online charging system

Info

Publication number: CN113067906B
Application number: CN202010000598.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 秦鹏太; 董嘉; 魏彬; 吴玲
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2020-01-02
Filing date: 2020-01-02
Publication date: 2023-10-27
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-02
Also published as: CN113067906A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an addressing method, an addressing device and addressing equipment of an online charging system. The OCS side method comprises the following steps: the OCS sends a registration request to a network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data; and the OCS receives the registration feedback information fed back by the NRF. The scheme of the invention can realize the efficient dynamic addressing of the OCS by the CHF.

Description

Addressing method, device and equipment of online charging system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to an addressing method, apparatus, and device for an online charging system.

Background

As shown in fig. 1, a network architecture is defined for the 5GC standard, the control plane adopts a service SBI interface, and according to the 3GPP definition, the CCS is composed of CHF (Charging Function ) and OCS (Online Charging System, online charging system), but because of different existing node layout conditions of each operator, there may be a situation that CHF and OCS are deployed separately, so that the interface between CHF and the OCS on the BOSS side is also exposed in the networking. In 3GPP, nchf interface is defined to provide SBI service interface of charging function for CHF at network side, then OCS at BOSS side is analogically defined to provide Nchf' SBI service interface of charging function as well, CHF at network side is used for charging message transmission, and CHF provides file interface for BOSS. The 5GC network side SMF (Session Management Function ) acts as a converged billing service user for Nchf. The SMF transmits PDR (Packet Detection Rule, message detection rule) packet detection rule and URR (usage reporting rule, usage report rule) usage reporting rule to UPF (User plane Function ) through N4 interface, UPF reports usage to SMF according to received or preconfigured PDR and URR at N4 interface, and supports online/offline charging and charging information reporting of content charging.

According to the architecture described above, the network functions and charging support capabilities are summarized as follows:

CHF supports AGF (Access Gateway Function ), CDF (Charging Data Function, charging data function) and CGF (Charging Gateway Function ) functions, the AGF receives charging information sent by the SMF side, the CDF collects the charging information, generates a corresponding CDR (Charging Data Report ) and sends the CDR to the CGF, and the CGF processes the CDR to generate a ticket file for the BOSS to collect through a file interface; meanwhile, CHF supports forwarding charging request messages sent by SMF to BOSS and forwarding BOSS responses to SMF:

SMF supports charging triggering function and charging information collection as user of Nchf service interface; support selection of CHF; as a service user, supporting the charging session flow of the Nchf_ConvergedCyarging interface; requesting and receiving a quota; tracking and recording service usage according to quota or threshold; reporting quota usage and service usage reports to CHF; processing quota re-authorization triggering conditions and reporting the quota re-authorization triggering conditions to CHF correspondingly; processing the notification; processing fault/anomaly scenarios; the method supports the PDR and URR rule issuing and charging quantity collection of an N4 interface between UPF and the PCF, and supports the charging policy control of an N7 interface between PCF and PCF.

CHF is used as a forwarding node for charging messages, and there are the following scenarios in which charging message forwarding is required:

for online charging, after CHF receives an Nchf message of converged charging from SMF, it identifies an online charging scenario according to CC identification, analyzes SUPI (Subscription Permanent Identifier) user permanent identifier)/GPSI (Generic Public Subscription Identifier, general public user identifier) in the message, obtains a home OCS interface address according to SUPI/GPSI segment, then sends the Nchf message to OCS in the home BOSS system for processing, sends an Nchf response message to SMF, and generates CDR by CDF.

For converged charging, after CHF receives the converged charging Nchf message from SMF, resolving SUPI/GPSI in the message, obtaining the home OCS interface address according to SUPI/GPSI section, then forwarding the Nchf message to home BOSS, returning an Nchf response message to SMF, and generating CDR by CDF.

In view of the above scenario, CHF nodes need to have addressing capability to OCS. In view of the above requirements, considering the direction of 4G to 5G evolution, there are the following schemes:

CHF is responsible for routing billing messages generated by SMF to the BOSS of the home location according to routing rules.

For session class messages (nchf_convergedcharg_create, nchf_convergedcharg_update, nchf_convergedcharg_release) sent by the SMF, CHF routes to the BOSS of the home location according to the SUPI/GPSI (IMSI) in the charging request message. The routing key information is as follows:

the relevant information that CHF needs to configure a BOSS node is:

the mapping relation between the configuration SUPI/GPSI and the BOSS (OCS) is as follows:

after the CHF receives the response message of the BOSS, the response message is forwarded to the corresponding SMF according to the original path.

The proposal needs CHF to maintain global user code segment information locally and statically designates the corresponding relation between code segments and OCS, and has the limitation that if the OCS of the existing network is too much or the code segment information of the user is high in dispersion, the static configuration data amount is huge, the requirement on node performance is high, the subsequent code number information needs to be updated, the OCS side needs to inform all CHF, and the CHF side needs to manually update and configure synchronous user data change.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides an addressing method, an addressing device and addressing equipment of an online charging system. Efficient dynamic addressing of the OCS by CHF can be achieved.

In order to solve the technical problems, the embodiment of the invention provides the following scheme:

an addressing method of an online charging system, applied to an online charging system OCS, the method comprising:

The OCS sends a registration request to a network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data;

and the OCS receives the registration feedback information fed back by the NRF.

Optionally, the user number segment information includes at least one of the following: an instance identifier; a newly added type; a new state; supporting a PLMN list; a domain name; an IP address; a priority; current capability; OCS specific data; NF service;

the OCS-specific data includes at least one of: group identification; supporting public land mobile PLMN lists.

Optionally, the addressing method of the online charging system further comprises:

the OCS sends a parameter update request to the NRF; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request;

and the OCS receives a parameter update response fed back by the NRF, wherein the parameter update response carries an update configuration file.

Optionally, the addressing method of the online charging system further includes:

the OCS sends a deregistration request to the NRF;

the OCS receives a deregistration response fed back by the NRF, wherein the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable mark.

Optionally, if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs with different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, the OCS initiates connection with a first NRF with a priority higher than a preset value.

Optionally, if the connection with the OCS first NRF is abnormal, the OCS is connected with a second NRF with a priority lower than that of the first NRF;

and if the abnormal first NRF is recovered, the OCS recovers the connection with the first NRF.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an addressing method of the online charging system, which is applied to the network element data warehouse function NRF, and comprises the following steps:

the NRF receives a registration request sent by an online charging system OCS, wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data;

the NRF feeds back registration feedback information to the OCS.

the OCS-specific data includes at least one of: OCS corresponds to the group identifier; a PLMN list is supported.

The NRF receives a parameter update request sent by the OCS; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request;

and the NRF feeds back a parameter update response to the OCS, wherein the parameter update response carries an update configuration file.

the NRF receives a de-registration request sent by the OCS;

and the NRF sends a deregistration response to the OCS, wherein the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable mark.

Optionally, if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs with different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, a first NRF with a priority higher than a preset value is connected to the OCS.

Optionally, if the first NRF connected to the OCS is abnormal, the OCS is connected to a second NRF with a priority lower than that of the first NRF;

Optionally, when the registration request carries OCS private data, the NRF sets a group identifier, and configures a corresponding relationship between the group identifier and the user number segment; or,

and the NRF synchronizes the user number segments from the primary office data center BDC, obtains OCS numbers corresponding to the user segments, and determines group identification according to the OCS numbers.

the NRF receives an OCS discovery request sent by a charging function CHF, wherein the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment;

and the NRF sends a discovery result to the CHF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and capability parameters.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an addressing method of an online charging system, which is applied to a charging function CHF, and comprises the following steps:

the CHF sends an OCS discovery request to a network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment;

and the CHF receives a discovery result sent by the NRF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and current capability parameters.

and selecting an OCS (OCS) by the CHF according to the discovery result, and reselecting a backup OCS corresponding to the OCS when the selected OCS fails.

Optionally, if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs with different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, the CHF initiates the OCS discovery request with the first NRF having a priority higher than a preset value.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an addressing device of the online charging system, which is applied to the OCS of the online charging system, and the device comprises:

The receiving and transmitting module is used for sending a registration request to the network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data; and receiving registration feedback information of the NRF feedback.

the OCS-specific data includes at least one of: OCS corresponds to the group identifier; supporting public land mobile PLMN lists.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: sending a parameter update request to the NRF; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request; and receiving a parameter updating response fed back by the NRF, wherein the parameter updating response carries an updating configuration file.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: transmitting a de-registration request to the NRF; and receiving a deregistration response fed back by the NRF, wherein the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable mark.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an addressing device of an online charging system, which is applied to a network element data warehouse function NRF, and the device includes:

The receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a registration request sent by an Online Charging System (OCS), wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data; and feeding back registration feedback information to the OCS.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a parameter update request sent by the OCS; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request; and a parameter update response fed back to the OCS, wherein the parameter update response carries an update configuration file.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive a deregistration request sent by the OCS; and sending a deregistration response to the OCS, wherein the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable mark.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to receive an OCS discovery request sent by the charging function CHF, where the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment; and sending a discovery result to the CHF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and capability parameter.

An embodiment of the present invention also provides an addressing device of an online charging system, applied to a charging function CHF, the device including:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for sending an OCS discovery request to the network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment; and receiving a discovery result sent by the NRF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and current capability parameters.

The embodiment of the invention also provides addressing equipment of the online charging system, which comprises: a processor, a memory storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor, performs the method as described above.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method as described above.

The scheme of the invention at least comprises the following beneficial effects:

according to the scheme, the OCS sends a registration request to a network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data; and the OCS receives the registration feedback information fed back by the NRF. So that the OCS supports registering the OCS instance and the service with the NRF. Transmitting an OCS discovery request to a network element data warehouse function NRF through CHF, wherein the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment; receiving a discovery result sent by the NRF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and current capability parameters; CHF is enabled to support service discovery to NRF. Efficient dynamic addressing of the OCS by CHF can be achieved based on the existing network architecture.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5GC standard definition network architecture;

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of an addressing method of an OCS-side online charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a registration flow of an OCS according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a parameter update procedure of an OCS according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a deregistration procedure of an OCS according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of an addressing method of an NRF-side online charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a network frame in which an OCS registration request carries OCS specific data during OCS registration according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture in which an OCS registration request carries OCS specific data and obtains SUPI/GPSI from BDC during OCS registration in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an addressing method of an online charging system on the CHF side according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an OCS module according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a module of an NRF of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a CHF module according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

As shown in fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides an addressing method of an online charging system, applied to an OCS of the online charging system, where the method includes:

Step 21, the OCS sends a registration request to the network element data warehouse function NRF, where the registration request carries user number segment information (such as SUPI/GPSI) or OCS specific data;

in step 22, the OCS receives the registration feedback information of the NRF feedback.

This embodiment enables the OCS to support registration of OCS instances and services with the NRF and CHF to support service discovery with the NRF.

In the parameters carried when the OCS registers with the NRF, nfType value "OCS" and OCS service specific data ocsffo outside the standard definition are introduced.

the OCS-specific data includes at least one of: group identification; supporting public land mobile PLMN lists. The group identifier here may be a group identifier corresponding to the OCS.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the addressing method of the online charging system may further include:

step 23, the OCS sends a parameter update request to the NRF; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request;

In step 24, the OCS receives a parameter update response fed back by the NRF, where the parameter update response carries an update configuration file.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the addressing method of the online charging system further includes:

step 25, the OCS sends a deregistration request to the NRF;

in step 26, the OCS receives a deregistration response fed back by the NRF, where the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable flag.

Optionally, if the connection with the OCS first NRF is abnormal, the OCS is connected with a second NRF with a priority lower than that of the first NRF; and if the abnormal first NRF is recovered, the OCS recovers the connection with the first NRF.

When the embodiment of the invention is concretely implemented, the OCS carries the report of the total information such as SUPI/GPSI and the like when registering to the NRF; the OCS should support registration of the OCS instance and service with the NRF, and the registration flow is shown in fig. 3.

nfInstanceId, nftype, nfstatus, plmnlist, FQDN, IP address, priority, capacity, ocsInfo, nfservices parameters must be carried in NFProfile (NF user profile) at registration, for detailed service and ocsfnfo information definitions see the following table:

Parameter name	Data type	Parameter attributes	Parameter description
				nfInstanceId	NfInstanceId	M	Instance ID
nfType	NFType	M	NF type (New type)
				nfStatus	NFStatus	M	NF State
plmnList	array(PlmnId)	C	Supporting PLMN lists
				fqdn	Fqdn	C	Domain name
ipv4Addresses	array(Ipv4Addr)	C	IPV4 Address
				ipv6Addresses	array(Ipv6Addr)	C	IPV6 Address
priority	integer	O	Priority level
				capacity	integer	O	Current capability
load	integer	O	Load conditions
				ocsInfo	OcsInfo	O	OCS special data (New)
nfServices	array(NFService)	O	NF service

Wherein the energy nfType is defined as follows:

enumerating values	Parameter description
		"OCS"	Network function OCS

Parameters of the ocsInfo are defined as follows:

newly adding OCS service names in nfServices:

service name	Description of the invention
		Nocs_ConvergedCharging	Converged billing

Further, the OCS should support NFProfile and nfServices parameter changes including addition, deletion, change, and other operations, and support an update manner of full update or partial update. Normally, NFProfile and nfService parameter changes should be immediately reported to NRF. The OCS should support the addition, change, and deletion of services, and not affect the normal operation of other services. The flow is shown in fig. 4.

Further, the OCS should support initiating deregistration to the NRF in the scenarios such as network deployment adjustment, and the flow is shown in fig. 5.

Further, the OCS should support configuration of NRF information based on different IP addresses, and different NRFs may configure priorities. If the NRF priorities are different, it is preferable that the high priority NRF initiates service registration, update, deregistration. The OCS should support maintaining a link with the NRF, and may interact with the standby NRF to continue the service when a link with the primary NRF is abnormal. After the first priority NRF is abnormally recovered, the OCS should resume using the first priority NRF and continue the service.

As shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an addressing method of an online charging system, applied to a network element data warehouse function NRF, where the method includes:

step 61, the NRF receives a registration request sent by an OCS, where the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS specific data;

in step 62, the NRF feeds back registration feedback information to the OCS.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the user number segment information includes at least one of the following: an instance identifier; a newly added type; a new state; supporting a PLMN list; a domain name; an IP address; a priority; current capability; OCS specific data; NF service;

step 63, the NRF receives a parameter update request sent by the OCS; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request;

in step 64, the NRF feeds back a parameter update response to the OCS, where the parameter update response carries an update configuration file.

step 65, the NRF receives the de-registration request sent by the OCS;

step 66, the NRF sends a deregistration response to the OCS, where the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable flag.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs having different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, a first NRF having a priority higher than a preset value is connected to the OCS.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, if the first NRF connected to the OCS is abnormal, the OCS is connected to a second NRF with a priority lower than that of the first NRF;

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, when the registration request carries OCS private data, the NRF sets a group identifier, and configures a correspondence between the group identifier and a user number segment; or,

Step 67, the NRF receives an OCS discovery request sent by the charging function CHF, where the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment;

step 68, the NRF sends a discovery result to the CHF, where the discovery result carries at least one of the discovered OCS priority and capability parameter.

When the embodiment of the invention is realized, when the registration request carries OCS special data, NRF configures number segment information and associates groupID (group identifier), NRF side plans and sets group identifier, and configures the corresponding relation between the group identifier and user number segment, the corresponding relation is consistent with the number segment information corresponding to each OCS, the group identifier appointed for NRF is carried when OCS is registered, SUPI/GPSI information is not carried for uploading, and the parameters of ocsInfo are defined as follows when OCS is registered:

parameter name	Data type	Parameter attributes	Parameter description
				groupID	NfGroupId	O	OCS corresponds group identification
plmnRangeList	array(PlmnRange)	O	Supporting PLMN lists

The network framework is shown in fig. 7.

Furthermore, the NRF may synchronize the number segment information from the office data side, and the NRF synchronizes or uses the OCS number corresponding to the first level of the user number segment information from the first level office data center, which may directly refer to the number as the group identifier, or may set other flow requirements of the group identifier to be consistent with the second method based on the number correspondence. The NRF side does not need to plan the group identifier, static configuration number segments and association of the group identifier. The network framework is shown in fig. 8.

By applying the scheme, the operations of adding and deleting OCS nodes, adding number segments and the like are automatically reported to the office data center by the OCS, the office data center is updated and then synchronized to the NRF, and the NRF side does not need to statically maintain OCS information any more, so that closed loop dynamic of data can be realized.

As shown in fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an addressing method of an online charging system, applied to a charging function CHF, the method including:

step 91, the CHF sends an OCS discovery request to the network element data warehouse function NRF, where the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment;

step 92, the CHF receives a discovery result sent by the NRF, where the discovery result carries at least one of a discovered OCS priority and a current capability parameter.

in step 93, the CHF selects an OCS according to the discovery result, and reselects a backup OCS corresponding to the OCS when the selected OCS fails.

In a specific implementation of this embodiment, CHF discovers OCS via NRF, and CHF initiates an OCS discovery request to NRF, CHF shall support configuring NRF information based on different IP addresses, different NRFs may configure priorities. If the NRF priorities are different, a high priority NRF is preferred to initiate OCS service discovery.

CHF should support the discovery of OCS with a request to NRF carrying generic discovery parameters and OCS-specific discovery parameters.

Generic discovery parameters 3gpp TS 29.510 protocol defines all service discovery attributes. The OCS-specific discovery parameters include: SUPI/GPSI.

CHF is further selected based on the priority, capability, and other parameters carried in each NFProfile in the discovery result. Meanwhile, CHF supports reselection of the backup OCS usage corresponding to the selected OCS when the OCS fails.

As shown in fig. 10, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an addressing device 100 of an online charging system, applied to an OCS of the online charging system, where the device 100 includes:

a transceiver module 101, configured to send a registration request to a network element data warehouse function NRF, where the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS dedicated data; and receiving registration feedback information of the NRF feedback.

It should be noted that the device is a device corresponding to the method shown in fig. 2, and all implementation manners in the method embodiment are applicable to the device embodiment, so that the same technical effects can be achieved. The apparatus may further comprise a processing module 102, where the processing module 102 is configured to process information sent by the transceiver module 101, etc. It should be noted that, the above device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

As shown in fig. 11, an embodiment of the present invention provides an addressing device 110 of an online charging system, which is applied to a network element data warehouse function NRF, the device 110 includes:

a transceiver module 111, configured to receive a registration request sent by an online charging system OCS, where the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS specific data; and feeding back registration feedback information to the OCS.

the NRF receives a de-registration request sent by the OCS;

It should be noted that, the device is a device corresponding to the method shown in fig. 6, and all implementation manners in the method embodiment are applicable to the device embodiment, so that the same technical effects can be achieved. The apparatus may further comprise a processing module 112, where the processing module 112 is configured to process information sent by the transceiver module 111, etc. It should be noted that, the above device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

As shown in fig. 12, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an addressing device 120 of an online charging system, applied to a charging function CHF, the device 120 comprising:

a transceiver module 121, configured to send an OCS discovery request to a network element data warehouse function NRF, where the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment; and receiving a discovery result sent by the NRF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and current capability parameters.

Optionally, the addressing device of the online charging system further includes:

And the processing module is used for selecting the OCS according to the discovery result, and reselecting the backup OCS corresponding to the OCS when the selected OCS fails.

It should be noted that, the device is a device corresponding to the method shown in fig. 9, and all implementation manners in the method embodiment are applicable to the device embodiment, so that the same technical effects can be achieved. The apparatus may further include a processing module 122, where the processing module 122 is configured to process the information sent by the transceiver module 121, and so on. It should be noted that, the above device provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, OCS is adopted to dynamically register to NRF, which accords with the development direction of dynamic automation of the traffic network architecture, and the information of the user SUPI/GPSI does not need to be statically configured at CHF side. The OCS is found based on the NRF to finish CHF, so that the defects of large data size, high maintenance difficulty and the like of the original static configuration are overcome.

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 solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

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

In the embodiments provided in the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown 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 may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in 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 this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.

Furthermore, it should be noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that the components or steps may be disassembled and/or assembled. Such decomposition and/or recombination should be considered as equivalent aspects of the present invention. Also, the steps of performing the series of processes described above may naturally be performed in chronological order in the order of description, but are not necessarily performed in chronological order, and some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that all or any of the steps or components of the methods and apparatus of the present invention may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this description of the invention.

The object of the invention can thus also be achieved by running a program or a set of programs on any computing device. The computing device may be a well-known general purpose device. The object of the invention can thus also be achieved by merely providing a program product containing program code for implementing said method or apparatus. That is, such a program product also constitutes the present invention, and a storage medium storing such a program product also constitutes the present invention. It is apparent that the storage medium may be any known storage medium or any storage medium developed in the future. It should also be noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that the components or steps may be disassembled and/or assembled. Such decomposition and/or recombination should be considered as equivalent aspects of the present invention. The steps of executing the series of processes may naturally be executed in chronological order in the order described, but are not necessarily executed in chronological order. Some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention, and such modifications and adaptations are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An addressing method for an online charging system, applied to an online charging system OCS, the method comprising:

the OCS receives registration feedback information fed back by the NRF;

when the registration request carries OCS special data, the NRF sets a group identifier and configures the corresponding relation between the group identifier and a user number section; or, synchronizing the user number segment from the primary office data center BDC by the NRF to obtain the OCS number corresponding to the user segment, and determining the group identification according to the OCS number.

2. The method for addressing an online charging system according to claim 1, wherein,

the user number segment information comprises at least one of the following: an instance identifier; a newly added type; a new state; supporting a PLMN list; a domain name; an IP address; a priority; current capability; OCS specific data; NF service;

3. The method for addressing an online charging system of claim 1, further comprising:

4. The method for addressing an online charging system of claim 1, further comprising:

the OCS sends a deregistration request to the NRF;

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs having different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, the OCS initiates the connection with the first NRF having a priority higher than a preset value.

6. The method for addressing an online charging system according to claim 5, wherein,

if the connection with the OCS first NRF is abnormal, the OCS is connected with a second NRF with a priority lower than that of the first NRF;

7. An addressing method of an online charging system, applied to a network element data warehouse function NRF, the method comprising:

the NRF feeds back registration feedback information to the OCS;

the NRF sends a discovery result to the CHF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and capability parameters;

the method further comprises the steps of:

when the registration request carries OCS special data, the NRF sets a group identifier and configures the corresponding relation between the group identifier and a user number segment; or,

8. The method for addressing an online charging system according to claim 7, wherein,

9. The method for addressing an online charging system of claim 7, further comprising:

10. The method for addressing an online charging system of claim 7, further comprising:

the NRF receives a de-registration request sent by the OCS;

11. The method according to claim 7, wherein if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs having different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, a first NRF having a priority higher than a predetermined value is connected to the OCS.

12. The method for addressing an online charging system according to claim 11, wherein,

If the first NRF connected with the OCS is abnormal, the OCS is connected with a second NRF with a priority lower than that of the first NRF;

13. An addressing method for an online charging system, applied to a charging function CHF, the method comprising:

the CHF receives a discovery result sent by the NRF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and current capability parameters;

wherein, the OCS sends a registration request to the NRF, when the registration request carries OCS special data, the NRF sets a group identifier and configures the corresponding relation between the group identifier and a user number segment; or, synchronizing the user number segment from the primary office data center BDC by the NRF to obtain the OCS number corresponding to the user segment, and determining the group identification according to the OCS number.

14. The method for addressing an online charging system of claim 13, further comprising:

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein if the NRF includes a plurality of NRFs having different IP addresses and the NRFs have different priorities, the CHF initiates the OCS discovery request with the first NRF having a higher priority than a predetermined value.

16. An addressing device for an online charging system, applied to an online charging system OCS, the device comprising:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for sending a registration request to the network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data; receiving registration feedback information fed back by the NRF, wherein when the registration request carries OCS special data, the NRF sets a group identifier and configures a corresponding relation between the group identifier and a user number segment; or, synchronizing the user number segment from the primary office data center BDC by the NRF to obtain the OCS number corresponding to the user segment, and determining the group identification according to the OCS number.

17. The addressing mechanism of an online charging system of claim 16, wherein,

18. The addressing mechanism of an online charging system of claim 16, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to: sending a parameter update request to the NRF; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request; and receiving a parameter updating response fed back by the NRF, wherein the parameter updating response carries an updating configuration file.

19. The addressing mechanism of an online charging system of claim 16, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to: transmitting a de-registration request to the NRF; and receiving a deregistration response fed back by the NRF, wherein the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable mark.

20. An addressing device for an online charging system, applied to a network element data warehouse function NRF, said device comprising:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a registration request sent by an Online Charging System (OCS), wherein the registration request carries user number segment information or OCS special data; feeding back registration feedback information to the OCS;

The receiving-transmitting module is further configured to receive an OCS discovery request sent by the charging function CHF, where the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment; sending a discovery result to the CHF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and capability parameters;

when the registration request carries OCS special data, the NRF sets a group identifier and configures the corresponding relation between the group identifier and a user number segment; or the NRF synchronizes the user number segments from the primary office data center BDC, obtains OCS numbers corresponding to the user segments, and determines group identification according to the OCS numbers.

21. The addressing mechanism of an online charging system of claim 20, wherein,

22. The addressing mechanism of an online charging system according to claim 20, wherein said transceiver module is further configured to receive a parameter update request sent by the OCS; the parameter update request includes: at least one of a parameter addition request, a parameter deletion request, and a parameter change request; and a parameter update response fed back to the OCS, wherein the parameter update response carries an update configuration file.

23. The addressing mechanism of an online charging system according to claim 20, wherein said transceiver module is further configured to receive a de-registration request sent by the OCS; and sending a deregistration response to the OCS, wherein the deregistration response carries a consumer unavailable mark.

24. An addressing device for an online charging system, characterized by being applied to a charging function CHF, said device comprising:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for sending an OCS discovery request to the network element data warehouse function NRF, wherein the OCS discovery request carries a user number segment; receiving a discovery result sent by the NRF, wherein the discovery result carries at least one of discovered OCS priority and current capability parameters;

25. An addressing device for an online charging system, comprising: a processor, a memory storing a computer program which, when run by the processor, performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, or the method of any one of claims 7 to 12, or the method of any one of claims 13 to 15.

26. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 6, or the method of any one of claims 7 to 12, or the method of any one of claims 13 to 15.