EP2011325A1

EP2011325A1 - Subscriber fee management method and server

Info

Publication number: EP2011325A1
Application number: EP07726806A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Rainer Falk; Christian GÜNTHER
Original assignee: Siemens AG
Current assignee: Siemens AG
Priority date: 2006-04-26
Filing date: 2007-03-12
Publication date: 2009-01-07
Also published as: DE102006019465A1; CN101449570A; CN101449570B; JP2009534965A; US20090094142A1; JP4773559B2; DE102006019465B4; WO2007124974A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a fee management server (6) for managing subscriber fees. Said fee management server (6) manages an actual fee credit TG and an available fee credit VG for every subscriber. Upon receipt of a fee accounting message by a servers (ACS) for accounting fees for a communication service desired by the subscriber, the fee management server (6) transmits a recall message for recalling communication units already allocated for another communication service if the available fee credit TG of the subscriber is lower and if an actual fee credit TG is higher than an amount specified in the fee accounting message for the desired communication service.

Description

description

Procedures and server for managing subscription fees

The invention relates to a method and a server for

Management of subscriber fees, especially for subscribers with prepaid charge credit.

Prepaid systems or system with pre-payment is for subscribers or customers the ability to communication ^¬ services and application services, such as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), SMS (Short Message Service), SIP (Session Initiati ^¬ on Protocol) or downloading to pay in advance of data or making telephone calls in order to receive a charge credit from a provider or communications service provider. Is from a subscriber to a communication service or application service in claim genome ^¬ men, the charge credit corresponding to the consumed communication units KE is reduced. In the communication units KE is conventionally it to time ^¬ units which specify a time duration of a communication link or data volume units, which specify an amount of transferable data. For example, one charge unit per minute of telephone call or one charge unit per 1 MB of data transferred is subtracted from the subscriber's charge credit. With prepaid systems, the billing of charges is done while the communication is in progress so that the available charge credit of the subscriber is not overstated.

In mobile networks, a subscriber can communicate simultaneously over multiple communication links or links and, in particular via different access networks, insbeson ^¬ particular via a 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project), a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) and WiMax

(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) access ^¬ net. In a conventional communication system, a charge management server or AAA server (Authen- tication Authorization and Accounting) the access network server to a contingent of communication units KE or a time and / or volume quota. When the assigned quota of communication units is consumed by using the service or the desired communication service, a new contingent of communication units is assigned by the conventional fee management server with a sufficient fixed fee credit of the subscriber.

Utilizes a subscriber parallel multiple links or subscriber simultaneously communicates via a plurality of separate access ^¬ networks of different network operators, as the available credit balance must on the one hand of the user not to be coated, but at the same time of each link is to be maintained at a remaining available charge credit. When a member of the same variety of communication services to complete, is weils previously provided to him by the known charge management server for the various communication services per ^¬ a certain quota of communication units. Hence, there is often the situati ^¬ on one that a communication service maintains he can no longer hold ^¬ or a newly requested communication service is not offered because the available Restgebüh ^¬ renguthaben of participant for a continuation of the communi- or for cation service to newly registered communications ^¬ service is not enough, although still remaining quotas on verge ^¬ surrounded communication units are available for other communications services that are not exhausted by the subscriber.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method and a fee management server for managing subscriber fees, which allocate communication units to the access network servers in such a way that the subscriber's charge balance is sufficient for maintaining existing communication services and existing ones as long as possible. This object is achieved by a method having the features specified in claim 1 and by a fee management server with the features specified in claim 14.

The invention provides a method for assigning communication units to access network servers by a charge management server that manages a charge credit for each subscriber, wherein the charge management server upon receipt of a billing message for billing

Fees for a desired by a subscriber communication service to an access network server sends a callback message for calling back already assigned communication units, if an available charge credit VG of the subscriber less and an actual charge credit TG of the subscriber higher than the fee specified in the billing ^¬ message for the desired communication service fee amount is.

The inventive method has is that it avoids coating a prepaid charge credit while allowing, paral to use multiple communication services ^¬ lel, taking fully into use the advantage of the prepaid charge credit.

A further advantage of the inventive method is that the signaling overhead for the charge female ^¬ administration particularly at low charges remaining credit of a participant is minimized.

A further advantage of the method according to the invention is that the number of interactions of the subscriber with the charge management server for charging the prepaid charge credit is reduced.

In the method according to the invention, the fee management server reclaims unused communication units KE as needed in order to make them available for another communication unit. new service. For this purpose, the fee management ^server queries the already actually used part of the communication units KE consumed by a communication service and allocates the still unused portion of the communication units to another or a new communication service if necessary. This is particularly advantageous when a first charge credit of a subscriber comes to an end and for a link or another communication service, a new contingent of communication units must be assigned or a single event, beispielswei ^¬ se downloading a ringtone, should be charged. The charge management server then weighs up how far the quotas already granted were already exhausted of communication units, he who by them for the toll technical settlement of a Einzelereig ^¬ Nisses not excise or unencumbered communication units th reassigns example, another access network or used.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the charge management server after receiving a service registration message for registering a subscriber for a desired communication service to the subscriber a given quota of usable Kommunikationseinhei- th in an allocation message available and reduces the available charge credit VG of the subscriber to Dieje ^¬ nigen fees incurred for the provided communication units KE.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the charge management server is reduced after receiving a billing message to the billing of charges for a running to a subscriber communications service, the actual charge credit TG of the partial transferee by those charges, the reduction units for the consumed during the execution of the communication service Kommunikati ^¬ KE attack. In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the toll management server, after receiving the billing message billing message for a communication service carried out for a subscriber, increases the available charge credit VG of the subscriber by those charges which are for a difference between the communications provided for the communication service ^¬ tion units and incurred during the execution of the communication service communication units incurred.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the charge management server after receiving a billing message to the billing of GebüH ^¬ ren for a running to a subscriber communication onsdienst the subscriber in an allocation message, a new quota of usable communication units available and reduces the available charge credit VG of the subscriber those fees that apply to the communication units made available.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the charge management server sends an allocation message for allocating a specific quota of consumable communication units to the access network server from which the charge management server has received a service login message.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the fee management server receives the service registration messages and the charging billing messages respectively from one or more access network servers of different access networks.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the charge management server sends the Zuwei ^¬ sungsnachrichten and the callback messages respectively to one or more access network servers of different access networks. The access networks are preferably each formed by a mobile radio network ^¬.

The mobile networks are preferably a 3GPP network, a WLAN network or a WiMax network.

In one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the communication units KE are formed by data volume units which indicate a quantity of transferable data.

In one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the communication units KE are formed by time-duration units which specify a time duration of a communication connection.

In a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, the actual charge credit TG and the available charge credit VG of a subscriber are initialized to an initial value after payment of a charge amount by the subscriber.

The invention further provides a charge management server for managing subscriber fees, the charge management server upon receipt of a billing message from an access network server for billing charges for a desired by a subscriber communication service a callback message to the recall of already ren for a ande ^¬ communication service allocated communication units KE sends , the subscriber is, if an available charge credit VG part ^¬ taker lower and an actual charge credit TG higher than a specified in the billing message for the desired communication service fee amount.

In the following, preferred embodiments of the method according to the invention and the fee management server according to the invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. ren for explaining features essential to the invention described. Show it:

FIG. 1 shows a communication system with a charge management server according to the invention, which has a plurality of access networks;

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a possible embodiment of the method according to the invention for assigning communication units;

FIG. 3 shows a diagram for explaining the mode of operation of the method according to the invention for assigning communication units by means of an example;

FIG. 4 shows a table for displaying a charge credit list for different subscribers managed by a charge management server according to the invention.

1 shows a communication system 1 is shown, in which a subscriber maintains gear networks 2 different parallel via a mobile terminal 3 bi-directional communication links to To ^¬. In the illustrated example, the communication system 1 has three access networks 4A, 4B, 4C, each having an access network server. In the illustrated example, the first access network 4A is a 3GPP network, for example a UMTS or GSM access network. The second access network 4B is a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) and the third access network 4C is a WiMax (World Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access) network. The transit network server to ^¬ access networks 4A, 4B, 4C are respectively connected to a charge management server 6 via a data connection 5A, 5B, 5C. The charge management server 6 manages the charge credits of a plurality of subscribers 2. The charge management server 6 is preferably via a data line 7 to a SIP server (Session Initiation Protocol) 8 and via a data line 9 to a download server 10 connected. The SIP server 8 is used for instant messaging or voice over IP. The download server 10 is for downloading data by the subscriber. The SIP server 8 and the download server 10 exchange billing data with the charge management server 6.

In the charge management server 6, the charge credits are managed by a plurality of subscribers. The charge management server 6 assigns communication units KE to the various access network servers of the access networks 4A, 4B, 4C depending on the charge credit of the respective subscriber.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of a possible embodiment of the method according to the invention for allocating communication units KE for different access network servers by the fee management server 6 as a function of a charge credit of a subscriber.

After a start step S0, the charge credit of the subscriber is first initialized in step S1.

In the method according to the invention, the charge credit of a subscriber consists of a tuple which comprises two values, namely an actual charge credit TG of the subscriber and a currently available charge credit VG of the subscriber. The available credit VG is a Ge ^¬ fees credits for unassigned communication units KE.

The available credit VG of a participant resulting from the difference between the actual charge credit TG and the sum of fees for all communications services zugesi ^¬ cherten communication units KE:

p N

VG = TGy k • KE, (1)

KE tri ¹ where G is the fee per communication unit KE, ki. the allocated quota of communication units KE for the respective communication service,

N the number of communication services for the communication units KE are assigned represent.

As can be seen from equation (1), the available charge credit VG is always less than or equal to the actual charge credit TG of the subscriber. A user receives a fee by paying a fee to the service provider or provider, for example 25 € for 25 charge units. In practice, for example, an access code on a prepaid card is freububbled and the corresponding amount is credited to the subscriber after receipt of the access code by the provider. The actual charge credit TG or the available charge credit VG of the subscriber is initially initialized to the same value in a step Sl.

As soon as the charging management server 6 receives a service log-on message from the subscriber in a step S2 for logging on of the subscriber for a desired communication service, the subscriber is provided in advance for this communication service a certain quota k of consumable communication units KE in a step S3. The communication units KE are time units which indicate a period of a communication connection, or data volume units which specify a quantity of transferable data. For example, a communication unit KE is one minute a Sprechverbin ^¬ dung or the communication unit KE for example consists of one megabyte of transferable or downloadable data. In one possible embodiment, the amount of communication units KE made available in the quota K is subtracted from the actual charge credit TG of the subscriber. After the fee management server has provided a Kon ^¬ tingent of communication units KE for the requested communication service in step S3, the available charge credit VG of the subscriber is updated in step S4. After the subscriber has received the contingent of ^usable communication units KE in an assignment message, the available charge credit VG of the subscriber is reduced by those fees that are incurred for the communication units KE provided:

C

VG: = VG • K • KE. (2)

KE

Subsequently, the fee management server 6 checks in step S5 whether it has received a billing message from an access network server of the access network 4. The GebüH ^¬ renabrechnungsnachricht includes a charge amount to ^¬ From statement of fees for the executed communication ^¬ service.

First, the charge management server 6 checks in step S6 whether the available credit VG participant for lot • ^¬ derten fee amount is sufficient.

If this is the case, the actual charge credit TG and the available charge credit VG of the

Updated participant. For this, the actual GebüH ^¬ is renguthaben the participant reduced by those charges that are incurred for the consumed during the execution of the communication service communication units KE.

TG = TG - vKE, (3)

KE

where vKE represents the communication units KE consumed in the execution of the communication service. Furthermore, the available charge credit VG is increased subscriber by those charges after receiving the billing message, the cation units for a difference between the advance made for the communication service available communi- incurred KE and really during the execution of the communication service consumed Kommunikationseinhei ^¬ th KE:

G

VG: = VG + (K • KE - v • KE).

KE

If it is determined in step S6 that the subscriber's currently available charge credit VG is not sufficient to cover the amount required in the billing message, then in step S8 in the charge management server 6 it is checked whether at least the subscriber's actual charge credit TG is higher than the value specified in the billing message for the desired communication service Ge ^¬ fees amount. If this is the case, 6 sends the Gebührenverwal ^¬ management server a callback message to at least one ac- cess network server of an access network 4 to the recall of already made available communication units KE in step S9.

In step S10, the actual charge credit TG and the available charge credit of the subscriber VG are then updated in accordance with the number of communication units KE that can still be credited.

If it is determined in step S8 that the actual charge credit TG is not enough of the subscriber, ERS to the required in the charge accounting message amount ^¬ cover is made at step Sil error handling.

In step S12, the charge management server 6 checks whether the actual charge credit TG is greater than zero and can be performed with even so ^¬ communication services. Is the actual charge credit TG of the subscriber greater as zero, the process returns to step S2, that is, the charge management server 6 waits for the next service notification message of the subscriber. Conversely, if the charge completely depleted ^¬ credits TG of the subscriber, the process ends in step S13.

The sequence shown in Figure 2 of the method according to the invention is only one possible embodiment of the method and can be modified in many ways. For example, the charge management server 6 can automatically provide the subscriber in an allocation message, a new quota of usable communication units KE available and reduce the available charge credit VG accordingly after receiving the billing message by an access ^¬ network server for billing charges for an operation performed by a subscriber communication service.

The inventive method is illustrated below with reference to the example shown in Figure 3. The diagram shown in FIG. 3 shows a charge management server 6 or PACV (Prepaid Accounting Charging Server) which receives messages from three different access network servers or ACS servers (accounting charging source), which are provided, for example, for different access networks. In the example chosen in FIG. 3, a subscriber simultaneously communicates in parallel via three different links, for example a UMTS link, a WLAN link and a WiMax link. First, in the example, the subscriber's charge credit is initialized by paying a corresponding amount to a starting value of (25,25); H. the actual credit TG and the available credit VG of the participant is 25 at the beginning.

At time ti, the toll management server 6 receives from the access network server ACS1 a service logon message (INIT) for logging the subscriber on for a desired communication service, for example a telephone call. The fee renverwaltungsserver 6 provides a certain quota K of consumable communication units KE the access network server of the access network ACSl in an assignment message. In the example, the access network server ACSl receives ten time units as communication units KE indicating a ten minute period for a telephone communication connection, ie, the subscriber is initially able to telephone for ten minutes via the access network 4A. The available charge credit VG of the subscriber is reduced by those charges that are incurred for the provided communication units KE. In the example chosen, a fee per minute is charged. The available charge credit is accordingly reduced from 25 and 10 units to 15.

At the time t2, the access network server sends the ACSL Ge ^¬ fees management server 6 a charge accounting message indicating the resources actually used or communication units KE. In the example chosen, the subscriber has dialed eight minutes of the provided ten minutes. The actual charge credit TG of the subscriber is reduced by the fees charged for the communication units consumed during the execution of the communication service, ie by eight units, so that the actual charge credit TG is reduced from 25 to 17. The difference between the recorded for the communication service available communication ^¬ units KE and the actually consumed during the execution of the communication service communication units KE is the available charge credit VG credited to the subscriber's available credit VG ie the subscriber increases from 15 to on 17th The charge management server 6 provides after receiving the billing message to the time point t2 ^¬ the subscriber in an allocation message automatically a new quota of usable communication ^¬ units. In the illustrated example, the subscriber is given the opportunity to resume a telephone conversation of ten minutes. The available charge credit The participant's VG is accordingly reduced by ten units to seven.

At the time t ₃ , the user logs on in a second access network 4B via the access network server ACS2. The ACS

Server 2 sends a Dienstanmeldenachricht message to the charging ^¬ management server 6. The fee management server 6 granted in the example shown a quota or a volume of 5 MB for this communication service, ie the communication units KE consist of data volume units, which provide a set of transferable data specify. In the example chosen, a charging unit is equal to 1 MB of transferable data, so the subscriber's available credit VG is reduced from 7 to 2.

At time t ₄ , the subscriber now wants to download a content data element, for example a ringtone or a game, from the download server 10, this data content costing five charging units. The server belonging to the download server ACS3 sends a corresponding Gebüh ^¬ renabrechnungsnachricht to the fee management server 6. For the desired download incurred five fee units. In the example chosen, the participant's available credit VG is no longer sufficient for this download. In a conventional charge management server, this would result in an error message and the subscriber could not download the desired data content.

In the method according to the invention or in the case of the fee management server 6 according to the invention, however, in the example given, a callback message is sent by the charge management server 6 to the server ACS1 at the time ts (quota recall). A callback message sends the fee Enver ^¬ waltungsserver always then made if an available charge credit VG of a subscriber is less than one in the billing message for a desired communication ^¬ service specified charge amount and simultaneously the actual charge credit TG of the subscriber higher than the specified fee amount. With the recall message (quota_recall) of the charge management server 6 retrieves a previously granted rate or a frame already available ^¬ tes quota of communication units KE wholly or partially returned from the respective server. After the server

ACSl has received the callback message from the toll management server 6, it offsets the resources already consumed by it by sending a billing message back to the charge management server 6. In the example chosen, the server consumed four minutes from ACSl of ten minutes provided at time t2. The actual charge credit of the subscriber is reduced by four units from 17 to 13 corresponding to the ^¬. The remaining six minutes will be credited to the participant's available credit VG, increasing the available credit of the subscriber VG from 2 to 8. The server ACSL is provided as a new quota available a new volume of three minutes, so the available Gebührengutha ^¬ is ben VG reduced by three units of 8 on the 5th The quota provided in each case preferably depends on the amount of the actual fee credit TG still available. The larger the charge credit TG still available, the larger the contingent K available to communication units KE can be.

After the repayment of the communication units KE at the time ts, the available credit VG of the subscriber is increased to five units and is thus sufficient for the desired data download. The ACS server 3 is therefore the time t _6, a Okay message which indicates to the server 3 to ^¬ that the download can be performed now. Upon completion of the download, for example, downloading 5MB worth of five charging units, the actual charge credit TG and the available charge credit VG of the subscriber will each be reduced by five. At time t ₇ transmits in the selected example, the ACS Server 1, a billing message to the charge management server ^¬ 6 for the consumed communication units KE. In the example a conversation lasting three minutes is billed, which has a value of three fees Ge ^¬. The participant's actual charge credit TG will be reduced accordingly by three units. The ver ^{¬-availability} credit VG remains at the value zero since the tatsäch ^¬ Lich resources consumed previously at time t corresponding to ₅ conces- secured communication units. The access network server ACS1 can now no new quota or no new contingent of communication units KE are assigned, since the available charge credit VG of the subscriber is now zero. In a conventional charge management server 6, this may result in an error message because there is no more available charge balance and the connection to the first access network 4A would be terminated. In the method according to the invention or in the charge management server 6 according to the invention, a further recall message (quota recall) is sent to the ACS2 server at the time ts. At time t _{3, he received} a contingent of 5 MB of communication units that have not yet been completely used up. In the example chosen, the server ACS2 sends a billing message to the charge management server 6, the billing message containing fees for the resources actually consumed amounting to 1 MB. The actual charge credit TG of the subscriber is accordingly reduced from 5 to 4 and the unused charges are credited to the available credit VG. Due to the low fee level, the server ACS2 is now provided with a relatively small contingent of 1 MB corresponding to a charging unit, which reduces the available credit by 1. Then the server ACSl a quota of three minutes is provided corresponding to three charging units, whereby the available credit VG drops to zero. This makes it possible in the example shown, to maintain the communication connection with both access networks 4A, 4B and with the two servers ACS1, ACS2.

The process continues until the actual credit TG is completely consumed or zero.

Figure 4 shows an example of a management server by the Gebührenverwal ^¬ 6 managed subscriber fees list. For each mobile subscriber or for each subscriber mobile radio number T ₁ , a tuple of two values, namely an actual charge credit TG and a currently available charge ^{amount ¬} have managed VG.

In the method according to the invention, the transmission of the various messages takes place according to a predetermined data transmission protocol, for example according to the Diameter protocol. With this protocol, the fee management ^¬ server 6 can actively send messages on its own. The inventive method is suitable for the management of costs related to all communication systems where charges for multiple parallel-connected communication links anfal ^¬ len and are updated simultaneously. This is insbeson ^¬ the case in particular multi-access mobile radio systems or in cases where the network access and application or communication services separately toll technically billed ^¬ to.

Claims

claims

A method for assigning communication units (KE) to access network servers (ACS) by a charge management server (6) managing a charge balance for each subscriber, wherein the charge management server (6) upon receipt of a billing message bills fees for a subscriber desired one Communication service to an access network server (ACS) sends a callback message to call back already assigned communication units (KE), if an available charge credit (VG) of the subscriber ^¬ less and an actual charge credit (TG) of the subscriber higher than that in the billing message for the desired Is the fee charged.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the fee management server (6) upon receipt of a service login message for registering a subscriber for a desired communication service provides the subscriber with a certain contingent of consumable communication units (KE) in an assignment message and the available charge credit (VG reduced incurred the set for the total available communication units (KE)) of the subscriber to the ^¬ jenigen fees.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fee management server (6), after receiving a billing message for billing charges for a communication service carried out at a subscriber, reduces the subscriber's actual billing credit (TG) by the fees charged for during the ^{execution of the} billing Communication service consumed Kommunikati ^¬ onseinheiten (KE) incurred.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the fee management server (6) upon receipt of the billing message for charging fees for a communication service performed by a participant available charge credit (VG) increase of the subscriber to the ^¬ jenigen charges incurred for a difference between the for the communication service provided communication units and the consumed during the execution of the communication service communication units.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein after receiving a billing message for billing charges for a communication service performed at a subscriber, the billing management server (6) provides the subscriber with a new contingent of consumable communication units (KE) in an assignment message and the available one Charge credit (VG) of the

Participants reduced by the fees incurred for the provided communication units (KE).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the charge management server (6) sends an assignment message to assign a certain quota of usable communication units (KE) at those access network server (ACS) from which the Gebührenverwal ^¬ management server has received a service notification message (6).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the charge management server (6) receives the service login messages and the billing messages respectively from one or more access network servers (ACS) of different access networks.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the charge management server (6) each sends the assignment messages and the callback messages to one or more access network servers (ACS) of different access networks (4).

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the access networks (4) are each formed by a MobiIfunknetz.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the mobile radio network (4) is formed by a 3GPP network, a WLAN network or a WiMax network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication unit (KE) are formed by Datenvolumenein- units that specify a set of transferable data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication units (KE) are formed by units of time which indicate a time duration of a Kommunikati ^¬ onsverbindung.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the actual charge credit (TG) and the charge credit bare verfüg ^¬ (VG) are of a subscriber after receipt ei ^¬ nes fees amount initialized value by the subscriber to an initial ^¬.

14 charge management server for managing subscriber fees, the charge management server (6) upon receipt of a billing message from a server (ACS) for Abrech ^¬ voltage of fees for a desired by a subscriber communication service, a callback message to the recall of allocated already for another communication service communication units ( KE) sends, when an available credit balance (VG) of the subscriber is less and an actual charge credit (TG) of the subscriber service is higher than a cation in the billing message for the desired communica ^¬ a specified amount of the fee is.