KR100583177B1 - Method of processing charging message to prevent double charging, and server therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a charging message processing method and a charging server for preventing duplicate charging. The charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) receiving a charging message from a client; (b) extracting a charging key value for identification of the charging message from the charging message; (c) searching for a billing database in which a plurality of billing key values are stored and determining whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value has been stored; And (d) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the charging database, determining that the charging key is a duplicate charging message. According to the present invention, by implementing a duplicate check function for the billing information received from the client in the AAA server that performs the generation / collection function of the billing information, not the billing system for the check for duplicate billing that may occur in the billing process In addition, the reliability of the generated billing information can be increased, and the load reduction of the billing system and the process simplification can be achieved.

Description

Method of processing charging message to prevent double charging, and server therefor}

1 is a schematic diagram of a system for wireless internet service and billing,

2 is a view for explaining a process for data call and billing processing according to the system shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block diagram of an AAA server according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a view for explaining an example of various applications required for the operation of the AAA server shown in FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a view showing an example of a structure of a charging key value according to the present invention;

7 is a diagram showing another example of a block diagram of an AAA server according to the present invention;

8A and 8B are flowcharts of a charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to billing processing for service usage through a communication network, and more particularly, to a billing message processing method and a billing server for preventing duplicate billing when billing for service usage over a communication network.

As communication networks such as mobile communication networks or the Internet have become widespread, users can enjoy various services provided through these communication networks using communication terminals. The service provider through the communication network collects billing information from various clients constituting the communication network and charges the user for the use of the service.

There is always the possibility of multiple charges due to various factors. For example, in the case of charging for a wireless Internet service provided through a mobile communication network, the AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) server collects billing messages generated by a plurality of clients, which are network components that perform data call processing.

If the AAA server does not receive the charging message normally, the AAA server sends an abnormal response signal to the client that sent the charging message. The client then resends the charging message to the AAA server. In this process, duplicate billing information may occur due to a problem of the client itself generating the billing message, a problem on the network, or a problem of the AAA server itself.

In addition, the conventional AAA server performs only a function of error processing a later received billing message if the same billing message is repeatedly received from the same client. In addition, since only the billing system generates the billing information required by the billing system and delivers the billing message, the billing system charges the subscriber monthly for error verification or billing. It is done together in the process of calculating. Therefore, in view of the total amount of billing information to be processed in the billing system, a large amount of processing resources are required for the redundant billing process with a relatively low frequency of occurrence.

Therefore, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to determine whether the billing information is a duplicate billing message in the billing information collection step rather than to reduce the information throughput of the billing system, or to reduce the occurrence of duplicate billing reliability of the billing The present invention provides a method and a billing server for preventing duplicate billing that can improve the billing rate.

In order to achieve the above object, a billing message processing method for preventing duplicate billing according to an aspect of the present invention,

(a) receiving a charging message from a client; (b) extracting a charging key value for identification of the charging message from the charging message; (c) searching for a billing database in which a plurality of billing key values are stored and determining whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value has been stored; And (d) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the charging database, determining that the charging key is a duplicate charging message.

Furthermore, the step (a) includes determining whether the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message, and if the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message, It is preferable to perform the steps (b) to (d).

In order to achieve the above object, the charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to another aspect of the present invention,

A billing message processing method for preventing duplicate billing using a multiplex billing server having a plurality of member systems, the method comprising: (a) receiving a billing message from a client through a network by one member system of the plurality of member systems; ; (b) the member system extracting a charging key value for identification of the charging message from the charging message; (c) searching a billing database in which a plurality of billing key values provided in the member system are stored, and determining whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value is stored; And (d) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the charging database, determining that the charging key is a duplicate charging message.

Furthermore, the step (a) may include determining whether the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message, and if the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message. Preferably, the steps (b) to (d) are performed.

In order to achieve the above object, the billing server according to an aspect of the present invention,

A billing server for processing a billing message received from a client via a network, the billing server comprising: a billing database for storing a plurality of billing information; A network interworking unit receiving a charging message from the client; And extracting a billing key value for identification of the billing message from the received billing message, searching the billing database and storing a billing key value identical to the billing key value extracted from the billing message, and is a duplicate billing message. It includes a control unit for determining.

Further, if the received billing message includes information called a re-transmitted billing message, the controller extracts the billing key value from the received billing message, and a billing key value equal to the billing key value extracted from the billing message is displayed. It is desirable to search the billing database to see if it is stored.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment according to the present invention;

1 is a schematic diagram of a system for wireless internet service and charging. In the present embodiment, a billing message processing method for preventing duplicate billing when a mobile subscriber is provided with a wireless Internet service using the mobile communication terminal 10 will be described. However, it is not limited to the billing processing method of the wireless Internet service, and can be used for billing processing at the time of using a service through various networks such as wired Internet service.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system for wireless Internet service and billing includes a subscriber station 10, an access network (AN) 20, a network access server (NAS) 30, a data core network 40, and content provision. A server 50, an IP Accounting Server (IPAS) 60, an AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) server 70, a billing information database 80, and a billing system server 90.

Subscriber terminal 10 is a mobile terminal capable of wireless Internet through a mobile communication network corresponds to a mobile phone or a PDA.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process for data call and billing processing according to the system shown in FIG. 1.

1. The subscriber attempts to make a data call for the wireless Internet by operating the subscriber terminal 10. 2. The AN 20 sends a session establishment request for data service to the NAS 30. 3. NAS 30 requests subscriber profile and authentication process for call setup to AAA server 70, 4.AAA server 70 sends subscriber profile and authentication result to NAS 30, 5. The NAS 30 sets up a data call for the subscriber terminal 10. Since the subscriber station 10 cannot directly access the network by IP, the subscriber terminal 10 first creates a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session, and then uses an IP using a Link Control Protocol (LCP), an IP Control Protocol (IPCP), or the like. Set up a session.

6. The NAS 30 transmits a message to start the charging collection to the IPAS 60, 7. The IPAS 60 sends a response to the NAS 30 in response to the charge collection start request, 8. The subscriber terminal ( 10) accesses the desired content providing server 50 receives a data service.

9. When the subscriber station 10 transmits a data call termination command, 10. The AN 20 sends a session release request for data service termination to the NAS 30, and 11. The NAS 30 receives an IPAS ( 60) send a message to end the billing collection.

12. The IPAS 60 transmits a response to the charge collection end request to the NAS 30, and 13. The IPAS 60 transmits a charge message including the collected charge information to the AAA server 70. The billing information includes network usage history and location information of the subscriber station 10.

14. The AAA server 70 transmits the normal response message to the IPAS 60 after performing a predetermined process for charging if the charging message transmitted by the IPAS 60 is not a duplicate charging message. However, if the received billing message is a duplicate billing message, the received billing message is processed without failure without performing a predetermined operation for billing, and then an abnormal response message is transmitted to the IPAS 60.

15. The AAA server 70 records the collected billing information in a file of a predetermined format, stores it in the billing information database 80, and transmits the billing system server 90 at a predetermined time point. 16. The billing system server 90 transmits a response to the received billing file to the AAA server 70. The billing system server 90 calculates a fee to be billed to the subscriber based on the received billing file, generates a bill, and then sends the bill to the subscriber. In the present invention, the AAA server 70 performs a predetermined process for preventing duplicate charging, but in order to improve the reliability of the duplicate charging problem, the billing system server 90 performs a process of checking whether the duplicate charging is conventional. You may.

Processes 13 and 14 indicated by dotted boxes in FIG. 2 correspond to a billing message processing process for preventing duplicate billing according to the present invention. This is described in more detail later.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block diagram of the AAA server 70 according to the present invention shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, the AAA server 70 includes a network interworking unit 71, a control unit 73, a memory 75, and a database interworking unit 77.

 The network interworking unit 31 performs an interworking function with the data core network 40. The control unit 73 processes the charging message to prevent duplicate charging according to the present invention.

The database interlocking unit 77 performs interworking with the charging information database 80 under the control of the control unit 73.

The memory 75 stores various applications necessary for the operation of the AAA server 70 and a main memory data base (MMDB) 75a. The MMDB 75a is a database present in the memory 75 for temporarily storing the charging information collected from the client such as the IPAS 60 before storing it in the charging information DB 80.

4 is a diagram for describing an example of various applications required for the operation of the AAA server 70 stored in the memory 75. Referring to FIG. 4, the applications required for the operation of the AAA server 70 may include an application related to collecting billing information, an application for interworking with the billing system server 90, an application related to authorization of a subscriber who attempted a data call, and authentication. Application, DB interface, billing information DBMS (Data Base Management System) for interworking with the DB, cluster and operating system (OS) and the like.

A cluster is an application for the AAA server 70 to multiplex the plurality of member systems to increase the availability of the server. Clusters allow a plurality of member systems to operate in conjunction with each other.

Hereinafter, a charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to the present invention will be described based on the structure of the AAA server 70 shown in FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The network interworking unit 71 receives a charging message from the client (step 110). In this embodiment, the client transmitting the charging message corresponds to the IPAS 60.

The controller 73 checks whether a retransmission field exists in the charging message received by the network interworking unit 71 (step 120). If the retransmission field is present, this indicates that the received charging message is a retransmitted charging message.

If the AAA server 70 performs the task of checking whether the AAA server 70 is a duplicate billing message for all billing messages received, the AAA server 70 degrades the performance. Therefore, when the client sends the first billing message, the AAA server 70 If a normal response is not received from), a field value indicating that the message is to be retransmitted is added to the charging message to check whether the charging message is a duplicate charging message only. However, if the data processing capability of the AAA server 70 is high performance, step 120 may be omitted. That is, step 120 is not necessarily required in the present invention and may be selectively employed.

If there is no retransmission field in the received charging message, the controller 73 extracts and stores the charging information and the charging key value for identification of the charging message in the MMDB 75a (step 130). The billing key value is a unique value for identifying each billing message to another billing message.

The billing key value includes at least one of the subscriber number included in the billing message, the IP address of the client that sent the billing message, the session ID used by the call processing equipment to recognize any call, the call start time and the end time. .

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a billing key value according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the charging information or the charging key value is configured in the form of Adelson-Velskii and Landis (AVL) tree in order to maintain a constant search rate for the charging key value in the MMDB 75a. However, in order to store all the billing information corresponding to the maximum processing capacity of the AAA server 70 for a certain time, if the AVL tree node is configured with the AND combination of all the fields constituting the billing key, the size of the tree may be too large, As a result, the search speed may decrease.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the tree is constructed with the subscriber number and session ID as the primary key and the transmission equipment IP address, call start time, and call end time as secondary keys. In addition, the time when the key is inserted into the tree is stored as additional information. The key insertion time is to automatically delete the billing information after a certain period of time to reduce unnecessary retrieval and to increase the availability of the MMDB.

After operation 130, the controller 73 transmits a normal response signal to the client (operation 140).

If there is a retransmission field in the received billing message, the control unit 73 extracts a billing key value for identification of the billing message (step 150), and there is a billing key value equal to the extracted billing key value. In step 160, the MMDB 75a is searched to determine whether or not it is checked.

When configuring the tree node of the MMDB in the form as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 73 first checks whether there is a charging key value identical to the charging key value extracted from the received charging message. Search for nodes with Then, the key is searched again in the order of the transmitting equipment IP address, the call start time, and the call end time in the node list.

The control unit 73 determines whether the received billing message is a duplicate billing message according to whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value extracted from the received billing message exists (step 170), and the duplicate billing If it is determined that the message is not stored in the charging information contained in the received charging message in the MMDB (75a) without fail processing and transmits an abnormal response signal to the client (step 180). However, if it is not a duplicate charging message, steps 130 and 140 are performed.

Although not shown in the figure, even if the charging message processing process by the AAA server 70 is restarted abnormally, the information stored in the MMDB 75a is retained in order to keep the contents of the MMDB 75a in a previous state. The billing information database 80 is stored / managed as a file of a predetermined format. That is, the files stored in the MMDB 75a and the billing information database 80 are automatically synchronized.

In addition, the controller 73 checks a node of the MMDB 75a in real time or periodically to delete unnecessary billing information after a predetermined time has elapsed, and when the insertion time of the node passes the reference time. The node is deleted from the MMDB 75a. When unnecessary nodes are deleted for the entire MMDB 75a in real time or periodically, since the load on the system increases due to the periodic deletion operation, it affects other functions. It is desirable to allow the operation to proceed in a range unit of the entire MMDB 75a so as not to affect the system load.

7 is a diagram illustrating another example of the block diagram of the AAA server 70 according to the present invention. The AAA server 70 shown in FIG. 7 has a multiplexed structure including a plurality of member systems.

In the case of a server such as the AAA server 70, a plurality of member systems are often implemented in a multiplexed structure by using software such as a cluster to improve server availability.

In the multiplexed AAA server 70 structure implemented by a plurality of member systems, the client may transmit a charging message to each member system. That is, in a multiplexed server environment, since a duplicate charging message that is retransmitted may be transferred to another member system other than the member system that initially received the message, a procedure for handling duplicate charging between cluster member systems is required. In this embodiment, when each member system uses RPC (Remote Procedure Call), when the retransmission field is included in the charging message, the corresponding charging information is retrieved not only from its own MMDB but also from another member system's MMDB.

By using RPC, cluster member systems act as servers and clients between each other. The member system serving as the server has a server module, and the member system serving as the client has a client module capable of calling the server module, and then the client module calls the server module for checking the billing redundancy. In other words, the RPC is used to call a duplicate check routine of another member system and process the received billing according to the result.

Referring to FIG. 7, the AAA server 70 according to the present embodiment includes a first member system 70a and a second member system 70b. As shown in FIG. 3, the first member system 70a or the second member system 70b includes a network interlocking unit, a control unit, a memory, and a database interlocking unit.

The first member system 70a and the second member system 70b are implemented on hardware in which clustering is configured using a redundant memory channel, and each member system can access the billing information DB 80 by the cluster function. . In addition, the AAA server 70 is an active-active structure, and the result is the same even if any member system receives / processes an authentication or billing request, and another member system performs a service when a specific member system fails.

Meanwhile, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, the AAA server 70 having two member systems is taken as an example, but it is also possible to include two or more member systems.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of a charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to the present invention will be described based on the structure of the AAA server 70 shown in FIG. 7.

8A and 8B are flowcharts of a charging message processing method for preventing duplicate charging according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a process of processing a charging message by the first member system 70a when the first member system 70a receives a charging message from a client, and FIG. 8B is a second member system 70b. Is a diagram illustrating a process of processing a charging message.

When the first member system 70a receives the charging message from the client (step 310), the first member system 70a checks whether a retransmission field exists in the received charging message (step 315). Step 315 is not necessarily required in the present embodiment and may be selectively employed.

If there is no retransmission field in the received billing message, the first member system 70a extracts and stores the billing information and the billing key value for identification of the billing message in the MMDB of the first member system 70a. Step 320). The charging key value may be implemented to have a key value and a tree structure as shown in FIG. 6.

After operation 320, the first member system 70a transmits a normal response signal to the client (operation 325).

If there is a retransmission field in the received billing message, the first member system 70a extracts the billing key value for identification of the billing message (step 330), and then the billing key value equal to the extracted billing key value. In step 335, the MMDB of the first member system 70a is searched for whether or not it exists.

The first member system 70a determines whether the received billing message is a duplicate billing message according to whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value extracted from the received billing message exists (step 340), If it is determined that the charging message is a duplicate, the charging information included in the received charging message is not stored in the MMDB of the first member system 70a and failed, and an abnormal response signal is transmitted to the client (step 355).

However, as a result of searching the MMDB of the first member system 70a, if there is no charge key value identical to the charge key value extracted from the received billing message, the second member system 70b requests the message redundancy check. Step 345). At this time, the charging key value extracted from the received charging message is transmitted to the second member system 70b.

When the second member system 70b receives the charging key value extracted from the charging message received with the message duplication check request from the first member system 70a (step 510), the charging key equal to the extracted charging key value is received. In order to check whether a value exists, the MMDB of the second member system 70a is searched (step 530), and the search result is transmitted to the first member system 70a.

The first member system 70a determines whether the search result received from the second member system 70b indicates a duplicate billing message (step 350), and if it indicates the duplicate billing message, step 355. do. However, if it is not a duplicate charging message, steps 320 and 325 are performed.

On the other hand, although not shown in the figure, even if the billing message processing process by each member system (70a, 70b) is restarted after abnormally terminated, it is stored in each MMDB to maintain the contents of the MMDB of each member system to the previous state The information is stored / managed in the billing information database 80 in a file of a predetermined format. That is, the MMDB of each member system 70a, 70b and the file stored in the billing information database 80 are automatically synchronized.

In addition, the control unit of each member system (70a, 70b) of the member system (70a, 70b) in real time or periodically, in order to delete unnecessary billing information after a certain time has passed from the MMDB of each member system (70a, 70b) Examine the node of MMDB and if the insertion time of the node has passed the reference time, delete the node from the MMDB.

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the billing information received from the client in the AAA server that performs the generation / collection function of the billing information, not the billing system to check for duplicate billing that may occur in the billing process By implementing the redundancy check function, the reliability of the generated billing information can be increased, and the load reduction of the billing system and the process simplification can be achieved.

Claims (16)

delete In the billing message processing method for preventing duplicate billing, (a) receiving a charging message from a client; (b) extracting a charging key value for identification of the charging message from the charging message; (c) searching for a billing database in which a plurality of billing key values are stored and determining whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value has been stored; And (d) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the charging database, determining that it is a duplicate charging message, In step (a), Determining whether the received billing message includes information called a retransmitted billing message; And if the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message, performing steps (b) to (d). In the billing message processing method for preventing duplicate billing, (a) receiving a charging message from a client; (b) extracting a charging key value for identification of the charging message from the charging message; (c) searching for a billing database in which a plurality of billing key values are stored and determining whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value has been stored; And (d) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the charging database, determining that it is a duplicate charging message, The accounting key value includes at least one of subscriber identification information, session identification information, address information of the client, start time, and end time extracted from the accounting message. The method of claim 3, wherein (e) If the same charging key value as the charging key value is not stored in the charging database, it is determined that it is not a duplicate charging message, and the charging information included in the received charging message together with the charging key value is charged. Further comprising storing in a database, The charging information further comprises storing time information stored in the charging database in the charging key value. The method of claim 4, wherein (f) deleting the charging key value and the charging information including the storage time information that has passed a predetermined reference time from the charging database. In a billing server that processes billing messages received from clients over a network, A billing database for storing a plurality of billing information; A network interworking unit receiving a charging message from the client; And Extracting a billing key value for identification of the billing message from the received billing message, searching the billing database and if a billing key value identical to the billing key value extracted from the billing message is stored, it is determined that the billing message is a duplicate billing message. Server comprising a control unit. The method of claim 6, The controller extracts the charging key value from the received charging message if the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message, and stores the same charging key value as the charging key value extracted from the charging message. Server for searching the billing database to see if there is. The method of claim 6, The accounting key value comprises at least one of subscriber identification information, session identification information, address information of the client, start time and end time extracted from the accounting message. The method of claim 8, If the charging key value is not stored in the charging database and the same charging key value is not stored, the controller determines that it is not a duplicate charging message, and the charging information included in the received charging message together with the charging key value. In the database, The billing information server further comprises storing time information stored in the billing database to the billing key value. The method of claim 9, And the controller deletes the charging key value and the charging information including the storage time information that has passed a predetermined reference time from the charging database. In the billing message processing method for preventing duplicate billing using a multiplex billing server having a plurality of member systems, (a) receiving, by a member of one of said plurality of member systems, a charging message from a client over a network; (b) the member system extracting a charging key value for identification of the charging message from the charging message; (c) searching a billing database in which a plurality of billing key values provided in the member system are stored, and determining whether a billing key value identical to the billing key value is stored; And (d) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the charging database, determining that it is a duplicate charging message. The method of claim 11, wherein In step (a), Determining whether the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message; And if the received charging message includes information called a retransmitted charging message, performing steps (b) to (d). The method of claim 11, wherein The accounting key value includes at least one of subscriber identification information, session identification information, address information of the client, start time, and end time extracted from the accounting message. The method of claim 13, (e) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is not stored in the charging database, requesting confirmation of whether the charging key value is a duplicate charging message by transmitting the charging key value to another member system; (f) the other member system searching for another charging database provided in the other member system to determine whether the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored; And (g) if the same charging key value as the charging key value is stored in the other charging database, determining that it is a duplicate charging message. The method of claim 14, (h) If the same billing key value as the billing key value is not stored in the other billing database, the member system determines that the billing key message is not a duplicate billing message, and the billing information included in the billing message is received. Storing in the billing database along with a value; The charging information further comprises storing time information stored in the charging database in the charging key value. The method of claim 15, and (i) deleting the charging key value and the charging information including the storage time information that has passed a predetermined reference time from the charging database included in the plurality of member systems.

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