JP2002354007A - Billing system and packet dividing apparatus in packet transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a billing system in packet transmission, which does not charge on user-unrelated information such as control information that is included in a packet and transmitted with data. SOLUTION: A first terminal device 101 transmits a packet and this packet is received by a second terminal device 102. A packet dividing device 110 is provided midway in this transmission system, and a billing route 105 and a free-of-charge route 106 are formed between the packet dividing device 110 and the second terminal device 102. Based on a billing policy, the packet dividing device 110 divides the inputted packet into a section for billing and a section out of billing, and sends the section for billing to the billing route 105 and the section out of billing to the free-of-charge route 106. A recording device 104 provided in the billing route 105 measures the length of a packet passing through the recording device, and conducts recording for billing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a packet (packet)
t) The present invention relates to a charging system and a packet division device in transmission, and more particularly, to a charging system and a packet division device in packet transmission for preventing information other than user data from being charged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In packet transmission in a network system, when communication is completed, the communication amount is measured and charging is performed based on the communication amount. Not considered. For example,
In the future, IPv6 (Inte
In rnet Protocol Version 6), control information relating to position information is attached to an IP header, and this is transmitted together with user data as an IP packet. Therefore,
The charging in the IP packet is performed for the entire packet including the user data and the control information.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional billing system, the current IPv4 is replaced by the future IPv6.
As a result, it is expected that packets containing user data and control information will be transmitted, and that the amount of control information transmitted will also increase. For such a packet, charging is performed for the entire packet. For this reason, there is an irrationality that the user is directly involved only in the user data, but the control information is also charged. As described above, the reason why charging is performed on the entire packet including the control information is that charging is not performed separately between the user data of the packet being transmitted and the control information.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging system in packet transmission in which information not involving the user, such as control information included in one packet and transmitted together with data, is not charged. is there.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a packet division apparatus for dividing and distributing information to be charged included in one packet and information not to be charged to facilitate charging processing. I do.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has, as a first feature, a first terminal device for transmitting a packet and a first terminal device for receiving the packet from the first terminal device. A second terminal device, and a charging route and a free route are provided between the first terminal device and the second terminal device to form a charging route and a free route with the second terminal device. A packet dividing device that divides the packet from the first terminal device into a chargeable portion and a non-chargeable portion based on a policy and sends the packet to the charging route or the free route; A charging system for packet transmission characterized by comprising a recording device for measuring the length of a passing packet and performing charging. According to this system, a packet division device divides a packet including a data part and other information (control information and the like) in a transmission system into a part to be charged and a part not to be charged, and Sends to the charging route. The recording apparatus measures the length of the packet for the portion to be charged, and enables the charging. As described above, it is possible to prevent the user from being charged for information such as data other than the information by the user. As a result, the details of the charging can be satisfied by the user, and the irrationality associated with the charging is eliminated. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has, as second features, a packet check unit for checking the contents of an input packet, a judgment unit for judging whether or not to charge each part of the packet, A packet dividing unit for dividing the packet by the packet dividing unit based on a charging policy; a storage unit for storing a division position of the packet; and a charging or non-charging by the determining unit for the packet divided by the packet dividing unit. And a packet allocating means for selectively transmitting the packet to a dedicated path for charging or non-charging in accordance with the judgment of (1). According to this configuration, each information portion constituting the input packet is inspected by the packet check unit, and the individual information portion found by the inspection is determined by the determination unit as to whether the individual information portion is to be charged or not charged. Judge,
The packet input based on this determination result is divided by the packet dividing means, and each of the divided information is sent out by the packet allocating means to a dedicated path for charging or a dedicated path for non-charging. Therefore, when the user wants to charge only the information relating directly, only the information to be charged can be extracted, and the charging process can be easily performed.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a charging system for packet transmission according to the present invention.

The billing system according to the present invention includes a first terminal device 10 for transmitting a packet to a corresponding transmission line 120.
1 (or a transmitting device), a second terminal device 102 (or a receiving device) that receives the packet from the first terminal device 101, and a packet dividing device 110-112 connected to a charging policy (charging) in the system. Management device 103 that manages rules), a recording device 104 that measures and records the length of a packet, is connected to the first terminal device 101 via a transmission line 120, and distributes the packet based on a charging policy. Packet division device 110
~ 112. A charging route 105 (first route) and a free route 106 (second route) are formed between the packet division devices 110 to 112 and the second terminal device 102, and the recording device 104 is allocated to the charging route 105. Has been established. First terminal device 101 and second terminal device 10
Reference numeral 2 is used by an end user, and a personal computer, a mobile phone having an i-mode, or the like can be used. The packet division devices 110 to 112 are operated by a telephone company or the like, have a server or router function, and have a packet division function according to the presence or absence of charging, as described later. Packet dividing devices 110-1
12, only three are shown here, but in reality, a required number corresponding to a plurality of networks is installed, and one of them is selected according to the destination network. FIG.
In FIG. 1, only one of the first terminal device 101 and the second terminal device 102 is shown for convenience of explanation, but there are actually many devices. Also, the route from the first terminal device 101 to the second terminal device 102 does not always pass through the packet division device 110 and the recording device 104, but may also pass through another packet division device and the recording device. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the packet division device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG.
0 to 112 are packet checking means 201 for checking the contents of the packet from the first terminal device 101, judging means 202 for judging whether to charge, packet dividing means 203 for dividing the packet, and which part of the packet to divide. Storage means 204 for storing a packet in a charging route 105 or a free route 106 based on a charging policy.
And a packet allocating unit 205 for outputting the packet to the network.
Next, the operation of the charging system having the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 3 shows the processing of the present invention. In the figure, S represents a step. Here, the first terminal device 101
Sends a packet to the second terminal device 102 from
It is assumed that the packet branching process is performed by the packet division device 110. From the first terminal device 101, the second terminal device
Is transmitted to the terminal device 102 of the
301). Before arriving at the second terminal device 102, the packet is sorted by the packet division device 110 into a chargeable portion and a non-chargeable portion of the packet. This distribution is performed based on a charging policy. In the packet division device 110, the first terminal device 10
The packet transmitted from 1 is divided by recognizing the portion to be charged and the unnecessary portion. The determination as to whether or not to charge is made by the determination means 20 in the packet division device 110.
2 is performed. In one system (or a telephone company or the like), the management is performed by one management device 103, so that the charging process in the system is performed according to the same criterion, and the charging is fairly imposed. I have.
In the packet dividing device 110, the packet dividing unit 203 and the packet allocating unit 2
05, the packet is transmitted to the charging route 105 (S302), the non-charging portion is transmitted to the free route 106 (S304), and the packet data transmitted to the charging route 105 (and the charging target) is transmitted. (S303).
The length (communication amount) of the packet passing through the charging route 105 is measured by the recording device 104, and the value is stored in the recording device 104 as charging information. Billing route 1
05 and the free route 106
It is received by the second terminal device 102. FIG. 4 shows a packet input to the packet division device (110 to 112) and a packet after passing. Here, the packet division device 1
Only 10 will be described. Here, the packet input to the packet division device 110 is composed of a packet portion A to be charged, a packet portion B not to be charged, a packet portion C to be charged, and a packet portion D not to be charged. Suppose you have In this case, what should be charged are the packet parts A and C. Therefore, the packet division device 110 sends the packet portions A and C to be charged to the charging route 105, and transmits the packet portions B and D that do not need to be charged to the free route 106. FIG. 5 shows a process in the branching device. Since the packet division devices 110 to 112 have the same configuration, here, the packet division device 11
Only 0 will be described. The packet dividing device 110
When a packet as shown in FIG. 4 is received from the first terminal device 101 (S501), the packet checking means 20
In step 1, the contents of the received packet are checked, and a determination unit 202 determines from which part of the packet to start dividing. Here, information indicating that the data should be divided as shown in the output part of FIG. Based on the information from the storage unit 204, the packet dividing unit 203 divides the packet (packet portions A and C to be charged and packet portions B and D that do not need to be charged).
The packet divided as shown in the right part (output) of FIG. 4 is distributed to the charging route 105 and the free route 106. In the above embodiment,
An example has been described in which the packet dividing device 110 divides the charge into two, a charge route 105 and a free route 106, depending on the presence or absence of a charge. Is set, a plurality of charging routes may be provided in accordance with the fee setting, and different charging may be imposed on each route. As described above, by providing a plurality of charging routes, it becomes possible to set charging finely.

[0011]

As is clear from the above, according to the billing system of the present invention, a packet dividing device and a recording device are provided, and the packet dividing device is configured to charge a packet including data and other information. And a portion not to be charged, and the portion to be charged is transmitted to a charging route. The recording device measures the length of the packet data for the portion to be charged from the packet division device and records the charge, so that the control information other than the information by the user is not charged. Can be Therefore, if one packet contains information having different charging policies, the packet is divided according to the information, and the charging process is performed according to the result. The irrationalities associated with billing are eliminated. Further, according to the packet dividing device of the present invention, the packet checking means for checking the individual information parts constituting the input packet, and the individual information parts found by the inspection are charged or non-charged. Determining means for determining whether there is a packet, packet dividing means for dividing an input packet based on the determination result, and transmitting the divided individual information to a dedicated path for charging or a dedicated path for non-charging. Since the configuration is provided with the packet allocating means, when the user wants to charge only the information relating directly, only the information to be charged can be extracted, and the charging process can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a charging system in packet transmission according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the branching device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the overall processing of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a branching process in the branching device according to the present invention depending on whether or not a packet is charged;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of the branching device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 first terminal device 102 second terminal device 103 management device 104 recording device 105 charging route (first route) 106 free route (second route) 110-112 packet division device 120 transmission line 201 packet check means 202 Judging means 203 Packet dividing means 204 Storage means 205 Packet allocating means

Claims (6)

[Claims] A first terminal for transmitting a packet; and a second terminal for receiving the packet from the first terminal.
A first route and a second route provided between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and a second route between the first terminal device and the second terminal device.
And divides the packet from the first terminal device into a portion to be charged and a portion not to be charged based on a predetermined charging policy, and the portion to be charged is A packet dividing device for transmitting to the first route and excluding the portion to be charged to the second route; and a packet dividing device provided in the first route for measuring the length of a passing packet and performing charging. A charging system for packet transmission, comprising a recording device. 2. The packet division device according to claim 1, further comprising: a packet check unit configured to check the contents of the packet from the first terminal device; and determining whether to charge each part of the packet from the first terminal device. A packet dividing unit that divides the packet by the packet dividing unit based on the charging policy; a storage unit that stores a division position of the packet; and the packet that is divided by the packet dividing unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a packet allocating unit that transmits the packet to the first route or the second route according to a determination of charging or non-charging by the unit.
A charging system for packet transmission as described above. 3. The part of the packet to be charged,
2. A charging system for packet transmission according to claim 1, wherein the control data is user data or a part of control information determined by a charging policy and user data. 4. The accounting system in packet transmission according to claim 1, wherein said packet division device comprises a plurality of devices, and these are managed by a management device. 5. The charging system for packet transmission according to claim 1, wherein said charging route includes a plurality of charging routes in accordance with charging fee settings. 6. A packet checking means for checking the contents of an input packet; a judging means for judging whether or not each part of the packet should be charged; and the packet dividing means for dividing the packet based on a charging policy. Packet dividing means for dividing, a storing means for storing a dividing position of the packet, and a dedicated packet for charging or non-charging according to the charging or non-charging judgment by the judging means for the packet divided by the packet dividing means. And a packet allocating means for selectively transmitting the packet to the path.