JP2013258585A - Small-sized radio base station, charging system, and charging method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small-sized radio base station which can determine a proper charge amount.SOLUTION: A communication unit 11 performs radio communication with a portable terminal to cause the portable terminal to communicate with a communication destination on a network via a broadband line. A communication amount measurement unit 12 measures a communication amount of radio communication. A communication mount notification unit 13 notifies a charging device corresponding to the broadband line of the communication amount.

Description

  The present invention relates to a small radio base station.

  In recent years, development of a femtocell system, which is a communication system using a femtocell base station, has been promoted. A femtocell base station is a small radio base station called a femtocell that has a narrow communication area with a radius of several tens of meters, and it is difficult to receive radio waves from a macrocell base station that is an existing radio base station. The purpose is to improve the communication quality of wireless communication performed indoors.

  By using the femtocell system, it is possible to improve the communication quality of wireless communication without constructing a costly communication infrastructure using a macrocell base station. In addition, since the femtocell system can function as a bypass that distributes the communication traffic of the core network for mobile phones using the macrocell base station, along with the recent spread of smart phones and LTE (Long Term Evolution) The increase in communication traffic can be mitigated and the occurrence of communication failures can be suppressed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a femtocell system. As shown in FIG. 7, in the femtocell system, a femtocell base station 101 that performs wireless communication with the mobile terminal 100 is a broadband line (IP (Internet Protocol) network) such as an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) or an optical cable. The network is connected to the service provider network via 102. The femtocell base station 101 is a mobile core that is a mobile phone core network (Core Network) via a RAN-GW (Radio Access Network-GateWay) 103 included in the service provider network. Connected to the network 104.

  The broadband line 102 includes a broadband modem 102A and a station-side broadband termination device 102B, which are line termination devices, and a transmission line 102C that connects the broadband modem 102A and the station-side broadband termination device 102B.

  Voice telephone communication in the femtocell system is performed by the RAN-GW 103 managing the location information of the mobile terminal 100. The RAN-GW 103 is a communication device for connecting the broadband line 102 and the mobile core network 104. When the mobile terminal 100 enters the communication area of the femtocell base station 101, the RAN-GW 103 stores the location information of the mobile terminal 100. When a call is made to the mobile terminal 100, a call from the mobile core network 104 is sent to the femtocell base station 101 where the mobile terminal 100 is located via the broadband line 102 based on the stored location information. send.

  Further, there are two communication methods for data communication in the femtocell system, and the femtocell system is classified into two types according to the communication method.

  One of the two communication methods is a method in which the mobile terminal 100 always connects to the Internet 105 via the mobile core network 104 to perform data communication, as shown in FIG. 8, and the other is shown in FIG. As described above, the mobile terminal 100 is capable of offload communication in which data communication is performed by connecting to the Internet 105 without passing through the mobile core network 104. In the latter method, the femtocell base station 101 has a built-in RNC (Radio Network Controller), and data communication via the mobile core network 104 is also possible.

  A security GW 106 is installed between the femtocell base station 101 and the mobile core network 104. The security GW 106 applies encrypted communication using IPsec (Security Architecture for Internet Protocol) to communication on the broadband line 102 when voice communication or data communication via the mobile core network 104 is performed. Ensure security. At this time, in encrypted communication, overhead information for encrypting data and voice information is added to the data and voice information, so the amount of communication on the broadband line 102 increases.

  In the femtocell system described above, the femtocell base station is normally operated by a subscriber of a broadband line to which the femtocell base station is connected, but users who can use the femtocell base station are: Not limited to broadband subscribers.

  However, since the cost associated with the operation of the femtocell base station is usually paid by the subscriber of the broadband line, unfairness occurs between the subscriber and other users. Furthermore, the contractor will use the broadband line that he / she has contracted for, and the other party will benefit, but the contractor will not. These have been obstacles to the spread of femtocell base stations.

  On the other hand, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose techniques that can provide a profit to a contractor.

  Specifically, Patent Document 1 detects whether or not the femtocell base station is used by a user other than the contractor, and if the femtocell base station is used by a user other than the contractor, A billing system is disclosed in which a fee is paid to a person.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a communication fee billing system in which, when a contractor uses a femtocell base station, a charge paid by a contractor to a mobile communication carrier operating a mobile core network is reduced.

JP 2011-0777735 A Reissue 2005/088953

  As described above, the femtocell system can reduce communication traffic of the mobile core network using a broadband line. However, since mobile carriers that operate mobile core networks are generally different from broadband operators that operate broadband lines, even if mobile operators have the benefit of reducing communication traffic, broadband operators cannot Suffers disadvantages because of increased communication traffic.

  For this reason, a fee is charged from the broadband line provider to the mobile communication provider, but there is no mechanism for appropriately determining the amount of the charge.

  In the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since it is only determined whether or not the femtocell base station has been used by a subscriber or a user different from the subscriber, billing from a broadband carrier to a mobile carrier The amount of charge cannot be determined appropriately.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a small radio base station, a charging system, and a charging method capable of determining an appropriate charge amount.

  A small wireless base station according to the present invention is a small wireless base station connected to a network via a broadband line, and performs wireless communication with a portable terminal, and the portable terminal is connected to the network via the broadband line. A communication unit that communicates with an upper communication destination, a measurement unit that measures the communication amount of the wireless communication, and a notification unit that notifies the charging device corresponding to the broadband line of the communication amount.

  A charging system according to the present invention is a charging system comprising the small wireless base station according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and the charging device, wherein the charging device is connected to the small wireless base station from the small wireless base station. A receiving unit that receives a communication amount, a billing fee determination unit that calculates a billing fee amount according to the communication amount, and a billing unit that notifies the billing device corresponding to a core network for a mobile phone And having.

  The billing method according to the present invention is a billing method performed by a small wireless base station connected to a network via a broadband line, which performs wireless communication with a portable terminal, and passes the portable terminal via the broadband line. Communicate with a communication destination on the network, measure the amount of wireless communication, and notify the billing apparatus corresponding to the broadband line of the amount of communication.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to determine an appropriate charge amount.

It is a figure which shows the charging system of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the base station for femtocells. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a broadband circuit provider billing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a mobile communication carrier payment apparatus. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the operation example of a charging system. It is a flowchart for demonstrating in detail the process which measures and memorize | stores traffic. It is a figure which shows the femtocell system of related technology. It is a figure for demonstrating one system of the data communication in the femtocell system of related technology. It is a figure for demonstrating the other system of the data communication in the femtocell system of related technology.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having the same function may be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof may be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a charging system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The billing system shown in FIG. 1 includes a femtocell base station 1, a broadband line provider billing device 2, and a mobile communication carrier payment device 3. The femtocell base station 1 is connected to each of the broadband line provider billing device 2 and the mobile carrier payment device 3 via the broadband line 4.

  The broadband line 4 includes a broadband modem 5 and a station side broadband termination device 6 which are line termination devices, and the broadband modem 5 and the station side broadband termination device 6 are connected to each other via a transmission line. The broadband line 4 is connected to a network (specifically, a cellular phone core network 7 and the Internet 8). Furthermore, the broadband line 4 and the network, and various communication devices (for example, a router, a security GW, a RAN-GW, etc.) are appropriately provided between them.

  The femtocell base station 1 is a small wireless base station called a femtocell having a narrow communication area with a radius of about several tens of meters, and is connected to a network via a broadband line 4.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the femtocell base station 1. In FIG. 2, the communication unit 11 includes a communication amount measurement unit 12, and a communication amount notification unit 13.

  The communication unit 11 performs wireless communication with the mobile terminal 9 located in the communication area of the femtocell base station 1 and causes the mobile terminal 9 to communicate with a communication destination on the network via the broadband line 4. The communication destination is on the Internet 8 when the wireless communication is data communication, and on the core network 7 when the wireless communication is voice telephone communication. The communication unit 11 may perform wireless communication simultaneously with the plurality of mobile terminals 9.

  Further, the communication unit 11 determines whether or not encrypted communication is used on the broadband line 4 in communication between the mobile terminal and the communication destination. Encrypted communication is, for example, encrypted communication using IPsec, and is used when the core network 7 is used. For this reason, the communication unit 11 determines whether or not the encrypted communication is used by determining whether or not the core network 7 is used.

  For example, when the communication between the mobile terminal and the communication destination is voice telephone communication, the communication unit 11 determines that the encrypted communication is used because the core network 7 is always used.

  If the communication between the mobile terminal and the communication destination is data communication, the communication unit 11 performs offload communication that connects the mobile terminal 9 directly to the Internet 8 from the broadband line 4 without using the core network 7. Judge whether or not. The communication unit 11 determines that the encrypted communication is not used when the offload communication is performed, and determines that the encrypted communication is used when the offload communication is performed. Whether or not offload communication is performed is determined according to the setting of the femtocell base station 1 or the like.

  The communication amount measurement unit 12 measures the communication amount of wireless communication performed by the communication unit 11, and accumulates and stores the communication amount. The communication amount is the communication amount of both voice information in voice telephone communication and data in data communication. The communication amount is a communication amount of both uplink communication and downlink communication.

  In addition, when encrypted communication on the broadband line 4 is used, overhead information for encrypting voice information by voice telephone communication or data by data communication is added to the voice information or data. The amount of communication corresponding to overhead information increases to the amount of communication above 4. For this reason, the communication volume measuring unit 12 stores the communication volume for the overhead information in addition to the measured communication volume as the overhead communication volume that increases due to the encrypted communication.

  The communication amount notification unit 13 notifies the broadband line provider billing device 2 and the mobile communication carrier payment device 3 of the communication amount accumulated by the communication amount measurement unit 12 for a predetermined period (for example, one month). To do.

  The broadband line provider billing device 2 is a billing apparatus corresponding to the broadband line 4 and is managed by a broadband line provider that operates the broadband line 4.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of the broadband line provider billing apparatus 2. In FIG. 3, the broadband line provider billing apparatus 2 includes a communication amount receiving unit 21, a billing charge determining unit 22, and a charge billing unit 23. .

  The communication amount receiving unit 21 receives the communication amount from the femtocell base station 1.

  The billing fee determination unit 22 calculates a billing fee amount that is the amount of the fee charged to the mobile communication operator that operates the core network 7 according to the communication amount received by the communication amount reception unit 21. For example, the billing fee determining unit 22 holds a relational expression or a lookup table indicating the relationship between the communication amount and the billing fee amount, and calculates the billing fee amount according to the communication amount based on the held information. To do. At this time, it is desirable that the billing fee increases as the communication amount increases.

  The fee billing unit 23 notifies the mobile communication carrier payment device 3 of the billing fee amount determined by the billing fee determination unit 22.

  The mobile telecommunications carrier payment device 3 is a billing device corresponding to the core network 7 and is managed by a mobile telecommunications carrier that manages the core network 7 and manages wireless communication.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of the mobile communication carrier payment device 3. In FIG. 4, the mobile communication carrier payment apparatus 3 includes a communication amount receiving unit 31, a bill receiving unit 32, and a fee collating unit 33.

  The communication amount receiving unit 31 is a billing receiving unit that receives the communication amount from the femtocell base station 1.

  The bill receiving unit 32 receives the billing fee amount from the broadband line provider billing device 2.

  The charge collation unit 33 determines whether or not the charge amount received by the charge reception unit 32 is appropriate based on the communication amount received by the communication amount reception unit 31.

  For example, the fee collating unit 33 holds a relational expression or a lookup table indicating the relationship between the communication amount and the billing fee amount, and calculates an amount corresponding to the communication amount based on the stored information. Then, the charge verification unit 33 determines that the charge amount is appropriate if the calculated amount matches the charge amount, and if the calculated amount does not match the charge amount Judge that the fee is not reasonable.

  Next, the operation of the communication system will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the operation of the communication system.

  First, when wireless communication by the communication unit 11 of the femtocell base station 1 occurs, the communication amount measurement unit 12 measures the communication amount of the wireless communication (step A), and accumulates and stores the communication amount. (Step B).

  The communication amount notification unit 13 acquires the communication amount stored in the communication amount measurement unit 12 from the communication amount measurement unit 12 every predetermined period, and the communication amount is obtained through the broadband line 4 via the broadband line operator. Notification is made to the charging device 2 and the mobile carrier payment device 3 (steps C and D).

  The communication amount receiving unit 21 of the broadband line provider billing apparatus 2 receives the communication amount and transmits the communication amount to the billing fee determining unit 22. The billing fee determining unit 22 receives the communication amount and calculates a billing amount based on the communication amount (step E). Then, the billing fee determining unit 22 transmits the billing amount to the fee billing unit 23. The fee billing unit 23 receives the billed amount and notifies the billed amount to the mobile carrier payment device 3 (step F).

  The communication amount receiving unit 31 of the mobile communication carrier payment device 3 receives the communication amount from the femtocell base station 1 and transmits the communication amount to the fee matching unit 33. Further, the bill receiving unit 32 receives the billing amount from the broadband line provider billing apparatus 2 and transmits the billing amount to the charge collating unit 33. The charge collation unit 33 receives the communication amount and the billing amount, and determines whether the billing amount is appropriate based on the communication amount (step G).

  If the charge amount is reasonable, the mobile carrier pays the charge for the charge amount to the broadband service provider (step H). Then, the broadband service provider returns a fee of the amount corresponding to the income from the mobile communication carrier to the user (Step I).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining in more detail the process of measuring and storing the traffic volume according to steps A and B.

  First, the communication unit 11 determines whether or not the data communication is an offload communication (step J).

  When the data communication is offload communication, the communication unit 11 sets the communication amount measurement unit 12 to make the data communication offload communication. In this case, the communication amount measurement unit 12 measures the type and communication amount of the wireless communication by the communication unit 11, stores the communication amount as it is when the wireless communication is data communication, and if the wireless communication is voice communication, The overhead communication amount is added to the communication amount and stored (step K).

  On the other hand, when the data communication is not offload communication, the communication unit 11 sets in the communication amount measurement unit 12 that the data communication is not offload communication. The communication amount measuring unit 12 measures the communication amount of the wireless communication by the communication unit 11, and stores the amount of overhead communication added to the communication amount regardless of whether the wireless communication is data communication or voice telephone communication (step J).

  The overhead communication amount is calculated by the communication unit 11 according to the measured communication amount of wireless communication.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the communication amount corresponding to the wireless communication performed by the femtocell base station 1 is notified to the broadband line provider billing device, an appropriate amount corresponding to the communication amount is determined. It becomes possible to charge the mobile carrier. Further, the broadband line company can return a part of the revenue from the mobile communication company to the subscriber of the broadband line 4.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when encrypted communication is used for the broadband line 4, the amount of overhead communication increased due to the encrypted communication is also notified, so that a more appropriate amount can be charged. It becomes possible.

  In the present embodiment, since it is determined whether or not the billing amount is appropriate, a fair transaction is possible.

  In each embodiment described above, the illustrated configuration is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base station for femtocells 2 Broadband line provider billing device 3 Mobile communication provider payment device 4 Broadband line 5 Broadband modem 6 Broadband termination device on the station 7 Core network 8 Internet 9 Mobile terminal 11 Communication unit 12 Traffic volume measurement unit 13 Traffic volume Notification unit 21 Traffic volume reception unit 22 Billing fee determination unit 23 Fee billing unit 31 Traffic volume reception unit 32 Billing reception unit 33 Fee verification unit

Claims (7)

A small wireless base station connected to a network via a broadband line,
A communication unit that performs wireless communication with a mobile terminal, and causes the mobile terminal to communicate with a communication destination on the network via the broadband line;
A measuring unit for measuring the communication amount of the wireless communication;
A small wireless base station comprising: a notification unit that notifies the billing apparatus corresponding to the broadband line of the communication amount. The communication unit determines whether or not encrypted communication is used on the broadband line in communication between the mobile terminal and the communication destination,
The small radio base station according to claim 1, wherein, when the encrypted communication is used, the measurement unit adds an overhead communication amount that increases due to the encrypted communication to the communication amount.   The communication unit determines whether or not a mobile phone core network in the network is used in communication between the mobile terminal and the communication destination, and if the core network is used, the encryption The small radio base station according to claim 2, wherein it is determined that communication is used, and if the core network is not used, it is determined that the encrypted communication is not used. The measuring unit accumulates and stores the communication amount,
The small wireless base station according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit notifies the communication amount accumulated for a certain period. A charging system comprising the small radio base station according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and the charging device,
The charging device is
A receiving unit that receives the communication amount from the small radio base station;
A billing fee determining unit for calculating a billing fee amount according to the communication amount;
And a billing unit that notifies the billing device corresponding to the core network for mobile phones. Further comprising the billing device;
The notification unit further notifies the billing apparatus of the communication amount,
The billing device is:
A bill receiving unit for receiving the communication amount from the small radio base station;
A bill receiving unit for receiving the billing fee amount from the billing device;
The billing system according to claim 5, further comprising: a collation unit that determines whether or not the billing fee amount received by the billing reception unit is appropriate based on a communication amount received by the billing reception unit. A billing method performed by a small wireless base station connected to a network via a broadband line,
Wireless communication with a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal to communicate with a communication destination on the network via the broadband line,
Measure the traffic of the wireless communication,
A charging method for notifying the communication amount to a charging device corresponding to the broadband line.

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