KR100621201B1 - Method and system for collecting billing data in Push-To-Talk service - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention receives first charging information on a service usage time, a service usage frequency, and the like from a session managing apparatus managing a PTT session, and a second corresponding to the amount of speech data received and processed from an arbitrary user terminal from the data processing apparatus. After receiving the charging information, the first CDR data and the second CDR data are respectively generated using the received plurality of charging information, and the integrated CDR data based on the PTT session or the user is generated using the generated CDR data. The present invention relates to a method and a system for collecting billing information in a PTT service that is generated and transmitted to a billing system. In addition to packet charging in a PTT service environment, various conditions such as billing policy and system implementation environment (for example, packet billing, Selective charging is possible depending on the time billing, etc.).

Billing, PTT, packet, SIP,

Description

Method and system for collecting billing information in PPT service {Method and system for collecting billing data in Push-To-Talk service}             

1 is a system configuration diagram schematically showing a PTT service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a charging information collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of an aggregator (AG) of an apparatus for collecting billing information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram showing information element (AVP: Attribution Value pairs) of charging information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a synchronization unit (CR) of a charging information collecting device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6 illustrates a CDR data format according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a view showing a billing information transmission and reception process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method and system for collecting billing information in a PTT service, and more particularly, to a method and system for collecting billing information in a PTT service that enables accurate charging according to various billing standards in various communication environments.

Mobile communication systems have been developed for transmitting and receiving voice data, but have recently been developed to enable various packet data transmission and reception as well as voice data. That is, the mobile communication service subscriber can receive multimedia data using the wireless Internet in addition to a telephone call with a remote party located at a remote location.

In addition, the development of the mobile communication system has developed from the conventional concept of using a communication service in a 1: 1 relationship to using a communication service in a 1: n relationship. A service using this concept may be a Push-To-Talk service. The PTT service allows any subscriber to use voice data transmission / reception services simultaneously with subscribers in a specific group. That is, when using a PTT service, a plurality of parties receive voice data transmitted by a certain subscriber using a dedicated broadcast channel after pressing a PTT button provided on a user terminal. Such PTT services may be applied in workgroup communications, security communications, construction site communications, and localized military communications.

To use this PTT service, subscribers have to pay per minute or over time. That is, the charging method in the conventional PTT service charges all subscribers who want to use the PTT service, and has a problem of limiting general use of the PTT service.

In addition, the charging method in the conventional PTT service has a limitation that the selective charging method cannot be applied according to various conditions such as a system implementation environment and a charging policy.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention for solving the above problems is not only packet charging in a PTT service environment, but also selection according to various conditions (eg, packet charging, time charging, etc.) such as a charging policy and a system implementation environment. It is to provide a charging information collection method and system in the PTT service that can be charged automatically.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for collecting billing information in a PTT service capable of receiving subscriber-based billing as well as outgoing subscriber-based billing.

Another object of the present invention is to improve the accuracy of billing data by interworking between various communication devices, and in a PTT service that can be universally applied to various wireless communication schemes (for example, CDMA, WCDMA, WLAN, etc.) To provide a method and system for collecting billing information.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the method for collecting billing data for the use of the PTT service through a PTT session established between a plurality of user terminals for the use of push-to-talk (PTT) service (a) receiving first charging information corresponding to at least one of a service usage time and a service usage number from a session managing apparatus managing the PTT session; (b) receiving second charging information corresponding to the amount of speech data received and processed from any user terminal for use of the PTT service from a data processing apparatus; (c) repeating step (a) and step (b) until the end of the PTT session to generate first CDR data and second CDR data, respectively, using the received plurality of charging information; (d) generating unified CDR data based on the PTT session or user using the first CDR data and the second CDR data; And (e) transmitting the generated integrated CDR data to a billing system, wherein the system, apparatus, and recording medium for performing the billing data collection method are provided. Is provided.

The session management device and the data processing device are respectively coupled to a call control server by using a call processing protocol (SIP), and the call control server transmits the recipient designation information received from the user terminal to the session management device. The PTT session for the user terminals corresponding to the receiver designation information is set up, and the speech data received from the user terminal is transmitted to the data processing apparatus.

In the step (a) and the step (b) of the charging data collection method, the charging information is received using a diameter protocol.

The charging information may include a session ID (ID), a user name (AVP), an IMS charging identifier (ICID: AVS), an accounting-record-type AVP, and a charging identifier (ID). Accounting-Record-Number AVP, Act-Interim-Interval AVP, Start-Time AVP, End-Time AVP, PacketSignal-body-size-uplink AVP, Packet-body-size-downlink AVP, Content-size-uplink AVP, Content-size-downlink AVP, RTP Uplink (RTP-) size-uplink) AVP, RTP downlink amount (RTP-size-downlink) AVP, and the like.

In the charging data collection method, the step (c) may include determining the type of the received charging information using the accounting-record-type AVP; (f) generating and storing a new charging record when the charging information is charging start information; (g) updating and storing a previously stored charging record when the charging information is intermediate charging information; (h) generating the first CDR data or the second CDR data by updating a previously stored charging record when the charging information is charging termination information; And (i) performing at least one of steps (f) to (h) corresponding to the received plurality of charging information until the first CDR data and the second CDR data are generated. can do. In this case, the charging record or the CDR data may be generated based on a Session-Id AVP or a User-Name AVP.

In the charging data collection method, step (d) may include determining whether the first CDR data and the second CDR data have the same IMS charging identifier AVP value; In case of having the same IMS charging identifier AVP value, the packet uplink amount AVP value, packet downlink amount AVP value, content uplink amount AVP value, content downlink amount AVP value, RTP uplink amount included in the second CDR data. Updating a corresponding AVP value in the first CDR data by using an AVP value and an RTP downlink amount AVP value; And integrating the first CDR data and the second CDR data to generate unified CDR data.

In the step (a) of the charging data collection method, the first charging information may be charging information generated for each recipient.

The data processing apparatus notifies the session management apparatus of processing schedule information, receives user terminal information of a receiver connected to the PTT session from the session managing apparatus, and then receives the user terminal information from the user terminal in correspondence with the received user terminal information. Characterized in that the broadcast data using the RTP / RTCP protocol.

The charging data collecting method may further include receiving additional service charging information from the session managing device, wherein the additional service charging information is charging information corresponding to the use of at least one of a chat service and a file transfer service. ; Generating third CDR data using the additional service charging information; And transmitting third CDR data to the charging system.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, the same reference numerals will be used for the same means regardless of the reference numerals in order to facilitate the overall understanding.

1 is a system configuration diagram schematically showing a PTT service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the PTT service system 110 according to the present invention includes a BTS 115, a BSC / RNC 120, a data service device 125, and a call / session control server (CSCF) 130. , A session managing device 135, a data processing device 140, a charging information collecting device 145, a charging system 150, and an access point 155. The user terminals 105a, 105b, and 105c shown in FIG. 1 illustrate types of terminals that are commonly used recently for wireless data service use, but are not limited thereto. In addition, although each user terminal may operate as a sender terminal or a receiver terminal in the PTT service, it will be described on the assumption that 105a is the user terminal of the initial caller.

The BTS 115 receives the recipient designation information and the speech data (ie, the PTT data) from the user terminal 105a and transmits it to the BSC / RNC 120, and the speech data to be transmitted to the user terminal 105a is the BSC / When received from the RNC 120 transmits the received speech data to the user terminal 105a.

The BSC / RNC 120 performs a switching function of delivering the received speech data to an appropriate node. When the BSC / RNC 120 receives the recipient specification information and the speech data from the user terminal 105a, the BSC / RNC 120 transmits the received speech data to the data service apparatus 125. When the speech data to be transmitted from the data service device 125 to the user terminal 105 is received, the received speech data is transmitted to the corresponding BTS / RNC 120.

The data service device 125 is a device that enables the provision and use of data services in addition to a voice call network, and includes an interworking function (IWF), a packet data serving node (PDSN), and a gateway. It may include at least one of a GPRS Supporting Node (GGSN). The network interworking device (IWF) is a wireless data service device in a 2G network, and performs PPP connection with the user terminal 105a and NO7 / ISUP interworking with a switch (not shown). A packet data serving node (PDSN) is a wireless data service device in a synchronous 3G network. The packet data serving node (PDSN) is a RP interface with a packet controller (PCF) (not shown), a PPP interface with a user terminal 100, and a home agent (HA: Home Agent (not shown), responsible for the mobile IP interface. In addition, the gateway GPRS supporting node (GGSN) means a wireless data service device in an asynchronous 3G network. Of course, it is obvious that other devices that perform similar functions may be applied in the same manner as the above-described devices.

CSCF (130) is a device that performs the basic functions for SIP-based multimedia session control, using the billing information collection device and the Diameter protocol for registration, authentication, download of subscriber profile, etc. of IP multimedia subscribers Communicate with the session management device 135 and the data processing device 140 via a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The CSCF 130 transmits the recipient designation information received from the caller's user terminal 105 to the session managing device 135 using the call-processing protocol to PTT between the caller's user terminal 105 and the receiver's user terminals. The session is established, and when the PTT session is established, the speech data received from the caller's user terminal 105 is transmitted to the data processing device 140 to be broadcasted.

The session managing device 135 is a device for performing a session management function. The session managing device 135 checks the recipient designation information received via the CSCF 130 from any user terminal 105a, 105b, 105c (hereinafter referred to as 105). The PTT session connection request signal (for example, SIP) is transmitted to the receiver terminals, and when the PTT session is established, the PTT session establishment information is transmitted to the data processing device 140 to enable the processing of the speech data. The session managing device 135 may generate, for example, charging information about time charging (for example, charging for any user's speaking time), charging per case, and the like, and transmit the charging information to the charging information collecting device 145. That is, when the PTT service request is received from the user terminal 105 of the initial caller, the session managing device 135 generates charging start information (for example, Accounting Request [Start]) corresponding to the caller, After the call is established with the receiver terminal, charging start information (for example, Accounting Request [Start]) is generated for each receiver and transmitted to the charging information collecting device 145. In addition, after the charging start information for the current PTT session user after the interim interval (interim), the intermediate charging information (for example, ACR [Interim]) is transmitted to the charging information collecting device 145, the intermediate charging The information is repeatedly transmitted at predetermined time intervals until the transmission time of the charging end information (for example, ACR [Stop]) transmitted at the end of the PTT session. In addition, in the PTT session, users can use additional services such as file transfer and chat, and when using the additional service, the session managing device 135 may provide additional service billing information for each corresponding user (for example, Accounting Request [Event]). Generates and transmits to the charging information collecting device 145.

The data processing device 140 is a device for transmitting speech data received from any user terminal 105 via the CSCF 130 to the user terminal of the receiver. Speaking data from the caller's user terminal 105 may be received by the data processing device 140 using the RTP / RTCP protocol, and the data processing device 140 is included in the PTT session established by the session managing device 135. Broadcast the speech data to the user terminals of the intended recipients using the RTP / RTCP protocol. In this case, the data processing device 140 may optionally transmit information related to the RTP protocol to the session management device 135 through the call processing protocol. The data processing apparatus 140 notifies the session managing apparatus 135 before broadcasting the speaking data to the user terminal of the plurality of receivers for generating charging information or the like. In addition, the data processing apparatus may generate charging information regarding the amount of speech data (eg, packet size, call charge, etc.) of any user in the PTT session and transmit the charging information to the charging information collecting device 145. The data processing unit 140 may include a multimedia resource function processor (MRFP) that performs media mixing and transformation (trans coding) for a multiparty service, and a CSCF 130 and a session managing device 135 for a multiparty call control function. It may include an MRFC (Multimedia Resource Function Controller) for interworking and managing and controlling multimedia resources in the MRFC.

The billing information collecting device 145 receives billing information for each session and / or user while interworking with the session managing device 135 and the data processing device 140 independently, and processes the received billing information according to a predetermined method. The billing data (CDR data) is transferred to the billing system 150. According to the network environment, the charging information collecting device 145 may receive charging information only from the session managing device 135, and all charging information generating devices (that is, the session managing device 135, the data processing device 140, and Charging information may be received from the CSCF 130. A detailed configuration and operation process of the charging information collecting device 145 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 2.

The billing system 150 is a device for billing a corresponding user by using the CDR data received from the billing information collection device 145.

The AP 155 performs the functions of the wireless LAN specified in IEEE802.11, such as a bridge function, a router function, a roaming function, a hub function, a DHCP function, etc., connecting the user terminals 105b and 105c to the PTT service system 110. Device.

In addition, the PTT service system 110 according to the present invention manages MGCF (Media Gateway Control Function), user profile information, authentication, and location related data for signaling conversion for interworking an All-IP network and a legacy network. Obviously, it may further include a home subscriber server (HSS).

2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for collecting billing information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an aggregator (AG) of the apparatus for collecting billing information according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a diagram illustrating Attribution Value Pairs (AVP) of charging information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a synchronization unit (CR) of a charging information collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a CDR data format according to an embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a view showing a charging information transmission and reception process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, charging information is collected from the CSCF 130, the session managing device 135, and the data processing device 140 by a diameter protocol to generate CDR data in a predetermined format. The charging information collecting device 145 transmitted to the 150 includes a charging information receiver 210, a mediation engine 220, and a distributor 230. The mediation engine 220 includes a collector AG (240) and a synchronizer (CR) 220. Of course, in addition to the billing information collection device 145 standardizes the billing data collected according to the method or rule (Rule) of the service provider's desired form (for example, rearranged in a key order specified according to the Standardization Rule) The standardization module may further include a prepaid subscriber rating unit for checking call usage of the prepaid subscribers in real time for processing of prepaid subscribers and enabling call control.

The billing information receiving unit 210 is assigned by a peer for each node (that is, the CSCF 130, the session managing device 135, and the data processing device 140) according to a diameter base protocol standard. Each peer receives charging information from a corresponding node and transmits the charging information to the collection unit 240. In addition, each peer of the billing information receiver 210 transmits an account answer to the corresponding node when billing information is received from any node. At this time, each peer includes a redundancy check and retransmission function by a diameter protocol.

Collecting unit 240 is a module that collects the billing information for the session that provides the PTT service, a key value (eg, Session ID) to distinguish the call and record type (eg, included in the collected billing information) For example, charging information is collected using a Start, Interim, Stop, or Event) value. That is, the collector 240 generates CDR data capable of billing processing based on a specific key and / or a specific rule (eg, an Aggregation Rule, an Operator Rule) using the billing data received from the plurality of nodes.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 3, a process of generating CDR data by using the charging information received from the charging information receiver 210 by the collector 240 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step 310, the collection unit 240 receives from an arbitrary node (ie, the CSCF 130, the session managing device 135, and the data processing device 140) from the charging information receiving unit 210. Receive accounting request (ACR). In this case, the collection unit 240 may further determine whether the received charging information corresponds to an accounting request (ACR) among various basic command messages (eg, CER, DPR, DWR, etc.).

In FIG. 4, information elements (AVPs) of charging information received through the charging information receiver 210 of the charging information collecting device 145 are illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 4, the billing information includes a Session-Id AVP 401, an Origin-Host AVP 402, an Origin-Realm AVP 403, and a Destination. Domain Name (Destination-Realm) AVP 404, Accounting-Record-Type AVP 405, Accounting-Record-Number AVP 406, Act-Interim-Interval AVP 407, Origin-State-Id AVP 408, Event-Timestamp AVP 409, User-Name AVP 410, IMS Billing Identifier (ICID: IMS-Charging-Identifier AVP 411, Start-Time AVP 412, End-Time AVP 413, Charging-Duration AVP 414, Packet Up CallSignal-body-size-uplink AVP 415, Packet-body-size-downlink AVP 416, Content-size-uplink AVP 417, Content-size-downlink AVP 418, Message-count AVP 419, RTP-size-uplink AV P 420, RTP downlink amount (RTP-size-downlink) AVP 421, Receive-count AVP 422, Service-Type AVP 423, Global Session ID ( Global-session-Id AVP 424, Calling-party-address AVP 431, Called-party address AVP 432, Charging-party-address AVP 433, Origin-flag AVP 435, and the like.

The Session-Id AVP 401 is a basic key value for distinguishing a call. The key-bone key value may be a User-name AVP 410 according to a type of service.

Origin-Host AVP 402 indicates the host name of the source where the message was generated, and Origin-Realm AVP 403 indicates the domain name of the source where the message was generated.

Destination-Realm AVP 404 indicates the domain name of the last stage that the message should be received.

Accounting-Record-Type AVP 405 has a value of any one of Start, Interim, Stop, Event, whether the subscriber has started using the current PTT service (Start), whether the service is still in use (Interim), service It is a value for determining whether the use is terminated (Stop) or a request for use of another additional service (Event).

The Accounting-Record-Number AVP 406 is used as a delimiter for classifying billing data generated for a specific service and session, and has a value increasing by one. The Accounting-Record-Number AVP 406 may be used as one of key values for distinguishing each input time point, and another key value for distinguishing an input time point may be a Session-Id AVP.

Acct-Interim-Interval AVP 407 is information indicating a period in which billing information is transmitted. For example, when the Acct-Interim-Interval value is 60, it means that billing information is transmitted every 60 seconds.

The Origin-State-Id AVP 408 is a value for checking the counterpart and is incremented by 1 upon system reboot.

The event-timestamp AVP 409 means a time when the charging information collecting device 145 receives an event related to the charging information.

The User-Name AVP 410 is a key value (ID) for identifying a subscriber who is currently using a PTT service, for example, a network access identifier (NAI), for example, joshua@ntels.com, 0111234567@sktelecom.com. Information may have the same meaning as).

 The IMS-Charging-Identifier (ICID) AVP 411 is an essential element of the synchronization unit 220-see FIG. 2, and the CSCF 130, the session managing device 135, and the data processing according to the characteristics of the service call. It may be generated by at least one of the devices 140. For example, the CSCF 130 may generate an ICID AVP for a call that originates from the user terminal 105 for the first time, and the session management device 135 for a call originating from the session management device 135. It is common to create an ICID AVP.

Start-Time AVP 412 and End-Time AVP 413 are for specifying the start and end times of speech. Of course, the AVP may be applied differently according to the type of service. For example, when a chat service is performed in a PTT session, a start and end time of the chat service may be specified.

Charging-Duration AVP 414 may be used as the primary key for charging. If the service nodes (i.e., the CSCF 130, the session management device 135, and the data processing device 140) can calculate the duration of the corresponding service, if the corresponding duration value is entered in the Charging-Duration AVP, If not, the duration may be calculated and input for each service in the charging information collecting device 145.

CallSignal-body-size-uplink AVP 415 and CallSignal-body-size-downlink AVP 416 are the default values for packet (volume) charging. Therefore, every call-protocol transmission for the call, the call-to-protocol length transmitted and received on a terminal basis is specified. This is necessary for the volume charging for packet-based call charges spent on the service.

The Content-size-uplink AVP 417 and the Content-size-downlink AVP 418 are basic values for charging a target packet (volume) in the content, and specify the length of contents transmitted and received on a terminal basis in the call. This is required for charging packets (volumes) for specific content in addition to the call charges for basic calls.

The message-count AVP 419 is a field for specifying the number of messages sent during the chat service.

The RTP-size-uplink AVP 420 and the RTP-size-downlink AVP 421 represent the size of the RTP protocol actually transmitted in the PTT service, and the size of the speaker's voice is converted into a packet and includes compressed size information.

The Global-session-Id AVP 424 is an identifier (ID) for conceptually connecting PTT sessions, and is a key value for knowing which user talked to which user in which session. The calling-party-address AVP 431 may include a user ID that originally started the corresponding PTT session, and the called-party-address AVP 432 may include an ID of the user who received the corresponding PTT remark.

Meanwhile, the charging-party-address AVP 433 includes the ID of the user who is the actual billing target regardless of any service, and other values may be provided according to various charging policies. For example, if all PTT services are charged for the speaker, the Charging-party-address contains the speaker's ID, but if the recipient-based account is charged, the user's ID is received.

The Origination-flag AVP 435 may be used as a basis for determining whether the corresponding service is for the current sender or the receiver.

Of course, the format (eg, format, information elements) of the charging information for the input data is not limited to the form shown in FIG. 5, and may be variously modified and modified according to the purpose of the service provider. Self-explanatory

Referring again to FIG. 3, in step 315, the collection unit 240 receives the charging information received using the Accounting-Record-Type AVP (405 to FIG. 4) from the charging start information (for example, Accounting Request [Start]). Or not). In the case of charging start information, the process proceeds to step 320 where a new charging record session is created and the process ends. Of course, if new charging information is received, the process proceeds again from step 310.

However, if it is not the charging start information, the flow proceeds to step 325 to determine whether the charging information is intermediate charging information (for example, ACR [Interim]). In the case of the intermediate billing information, the process proceeds to step 330 to extract an existing billing record corresponding to the Session-Id AVP 401 or the User-name AVP 410 of the billing information, and then relates to the volume included in the intermediate billing information. Information (e.g., CallSignal-body-size-uplink AVP 415, CallSignal-body-size-downlink AVP 416, Content-size-uplink AVP 417, Content-size-downlink AVP 418, At least one of the RTP-size-uplink AVP 420 and the RTP-size-downlink AVP 421) is added or updated.

However, if the charging information is not the intermediate charging information, the process proceeds to step 335 to determine whether the charging end information (for example, ACR [Stop]). If the billing information is billing termination information, the billing information is recognized as the last billing information of the corresponding billing record and the process proceeds to step 340 to generate CDR data.

However, if the charging information is not the intermediate charging information, it is recognized as additional service charging information (for example, ACR [Event]) and the process proceeds to step 345 to generate new CDR data. That is, if the Accounting-Record-Type AVP (405-FIG. 4) is an Event, independent CDRs can be generated one by one according to service characteristics. Of course, the collection unit 240 may perform an independent processing process according to the service type (eg, PTT service, chat service, or file transfer service).

So far, referring to FIG. 3, the collector 240 has been described in the form of sequentially determining whether the collected billing information is billing start information, intermediate billing information, billing end information, or the like. Referring to Accounting-Record-Type AVP (405-FIG. 4), it is natural that the operation 240 determines whether charging information is performed at the same time and performs a corresponding operation.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the synchronization unit 250 performs a function of collecting billing data when a particular subscriber uses various types of wireless data services or the billing data generation location is different even though the same service type is used. That is, the CDR data generated by completing the operation of the collecting unit 240 is synchronized by the synchronization unit 250 (that is, synchronization of charging data generated in various ways for the use of a wireless data service of a specific subscriber).

Hereinafter, a process of generating integrated CDR data using the CDR data received from the collector 240 by the synchronizer 250 will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, in step 510, the synchronizer 250 receives CDR data from the collector 240. The CDR data is data generated by using charging information received from a plurality of nodes (ie, the CSCF 130, the session managing device 135, and the data processing device 140).

In step 515, the synchronization unit 250 determines whether a record with the same reference key value (eg, IMS-Charging-Identifier (ICID) AVP-see 411 in FIG. 4) already exists for synchronization of the CDR data. do.

If there is a record with the same reference key value, the flow proceeds to step 520 to extract the record and then to specify a predetermined field value (for example, CallSignal-body-size-uplink AVP 415, CallSignal-body-size-downlink). Correction process for AVP 416, Content-size-uplink AVP 417, Content-size-uplink AVP 418, RTP-size-uplink AVP 420, RTP-size-downlink AVP 421, etc. Do this. Step 520 is, for example, the value of the RTP-size-uplink AVP 420 corresponding to the charging information received from the data processing device 140 to the value of the RTP-size-uplink AVP 420 corresponding to the session managing device 135. It can be a replacement.

In operation 525, the synchronizer 250 is generated and collected from the session managing device 135 and the data processing device 140 according to the user's use of a wireless data service (eg, PTT service, chat service, file transfer service, etc.). The CDR data collected by the unit 240 are integrated into one unified CDR data. This means that even if the node that manages the PTT service is the session management device 135, since only the data processing device 140 knows the actual voice size, the CDR data corresponding to both nodes is integrated.

Then, the integrated CDR data generated in step 530 is transmitted to the charging system 150. In FIG. 6, the CDR format transmitted by the synchronization unit 250 to the charging system 150 is illustrated. Each field in the CDR format records processing results by the collecting unit 240 and the synchronization unit 250, and includes statistical data together with basic charging processing result values.

However, if the CDR data received from the billing information collection device 145 is due to the billing information generated and transmitted from the CSCF 130, the synchronization unit 250 may perform other nodes (ie, the session management device 135 and the data). It is not necessary to generate integrated CDR data by integrating with the CDR data generated by using the charging information generated by the processing device 140. This is because the CSCF 130 separates the receiver designation information and / or the speech data received from the user terminal 105 into the session managing device 135 and the data processing device 140 and transmits the same.

As described above, the present invention has a feature capable of performing selective charging regarding the subject of charging information generation, the selection of the charging target, etc. according to the charging policy or the network-environment. Briefly focusing on the two billing processing method according to the network-applicable in the present invention as follows.

First, when the billing information collecting device 145 is linked only with the session managing device 135, since there is only one billing information generating entity, all billing processing may be performed by the collecting unit 240 and final CDR data may be generated. have.

Next, when the charging information collecting device 145 is interlocked with the session managing device 135 and the data processing device 140 (or the CSCF 130), the charging information received from the plurality of nodes is collected by the collecting unit 240. And final CDR data is generated by the synchronization unit 250.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the CDR data generated by the collection unit 240 and the synchronization unit 250 is transferred to the charging system 150 through the distribution unit 230. In this case, various billing systems may exist according to a service condition (for example, general service or content service) or a customer characteristic (for example, a general user or a prepaid subscriber), and the dispersion unit 230 may be configured as a corresponding billing system. Deliver the CDR data.

FIG. 7 illustrates a general sequence of charging information received by the charging information collecting device 145 as a charging information transmitting / receiving process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, session related data starts from charging start information (ie, ACR [Start]) and ends with charging end information (ie, ACR [Stop]). On the other hand, in addition to the session or for a specific service is received as additional service billing information (ie, ACR [Event]), which may vary in various ways depending on the service or billing policy. As described above, the division of the charge start information, the intermediate charge information, the charge end information or the additional service charge information may be determined by the Accounting-Record-Type AVP 405. In addition, intermediate charging information (ie, ACR [Interim]) is transmitted periodically, and their reception intervals may vary according to the Acct-Interim-Interval AVP 407 value included in the charging response (ACA).

As described above, the collecting unit 240 may collect the charging information based on a specific AVP value (for example, any one of the Session-Id AVP 401, the User-name AVP 410, and the like). have. In this case, the collection unit 240 may generate separate CDR data only for the additional service in an arbitrary session, or generate CDR data per case for the additional service such as file transfer.

The synchronization unit 250 may synchronize the CDR data using a specific AVP value (for example, the ICID AVP 411 and the event-timestamp AVP 409) as a reference key.

 As described above, the method and system for collecting billing information in the PTT service according to the present invention is not only capable of charging a packet in a PTT service environment, but also various conditions such as a charging policy and a system implementation environment (for example, packet charging and time charging). Selective charging is possible.

In addition, the present invention is capable of receiving subscriber-based charging as well as originating subscriber-based charging.

In addition, the present invention can achieve the accuracy of billing data by interworking with various communication devices, and can be applied to various wireless communication schemes (for example, CDMA, WCDMA, WLAN, etc.).

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below It will be appreciated that modifications and variations can be made.

Claims (15)

In a Push-to-Talk (PTT) service system including a session management device, a data processing device, and a billing information collecting device, the billing information collecting device collects billing data for using a PTT service through a PTT session established between a plurality of user terminals. In the collecting method, (a) receiving first charging information corresponding to at least one of a service usage time and a number of service usage times from the session management apparatus managing the PTT session; (b) receiving second charging information corresponding to the amount of speech data received and processed from any user terminal for use of the PTT service from the data processing apparatus; (c) repeating step (a) and step (b) until the end of the PTT session to generate first CDR data and second CDR data, respectively, using the received plurality of charging information; (d) generating unified CDR data based on the PTT session or user using the first CDR data and the second CDR data; And (e) transmitting the generated integrated CDR data to a charging system. The method of claim 1, The session management device and the data processing device are respectively coupled to a call control server by using a call processing protocol (SIP), and the call control server transmits the recipient designation information received from the user terminal to the session management device. And setting up the PTT session for the user terminals corresponding to the receiver designation information, and transmitting the speech data received from the user terminal to the data processing device. The method of claim 1, And in said step (a) and said step (b), said charging information is received using a diameter protocol. The method of claim 1, The charging information may include a session ID (ID), a user name (AVP), an IMS charging identifier (ICID: AVS), an accounting-record-type AVP, and a charging identifier (ID). Accounting-Record-Number AVP, Act-Interim-Interval AVP, Start-Time AVP, End-Time AVP, PacketSignal-body-size-uplink AVP, Packet-body-size-downlink AVP, Content-size-uplink AVP, Content-size-downlink AVP, RTP Uplink (RTP-) size-uplink) AVP, RTP downlink amount (RTP-size-downlink) AVP method comprising the AVP. The method of claim 4, wherein Step (c) is, Determining the type of the received charging information using the accounting-record-type AVP; (f) generating and storing a new charging record when the charging information is charging start information; (g) updating and storing a previously stored charging record when the charging information is intermediate charging information; (h) generating the first CDR data or the second CDR data by updating a previously stored charging record when the charging information is charging termination information; And (i) performing at least one of steps (f) to (h) corresponding to the plurality of received charging information until the first CDR data and the second CDR data are generated; , The charging record or the CDR data is generated based on the session ID (Session-Id) AVP or the User Name (User-Name) AVP characterized in that the charging data collection method. The method of claim 4, wherein Step (d) is, Determining whether the first CDR data and the second CDR data have the same IMS charging identifier AVP value; In case of having the same IMS charging identifier AVP value, the packet uplink amount AVP value, packet downlink amount AVP value, content uplink amount AVP value, content downlink amount AVP value, RTP uplink amount included in the second CDR data. Updating a corresponding AVP value in the first CDR data by using an AVP value and an RTP downlink amount AVP value; And And integrating the first CDR data and the second CDR data to generate unified CDR data. The method of claim 1, In the step (a), the first billing information is billing data collection method, characterized in that the billing information generated for each recipient. The method of claim 1, The data processing apparatus notifies the session management apparatus of processing schedule information, receives user terminal information of a receiver connected to the PTT session from the session managing apparatus, and then receives the user terminal information from the user terminal in correspondence with the received user terminal information. Billing data collection method characterized in that the broadcasted speech data using the RTP / RTCP protocol. The method of claim 1, Receiving additional service charging information from the session management device, wherein the additional service charging information is charging information corresponding to the use of at least one of a chat service and a file transfer service; Generating third CDR data using the additional service charging information; And And transmitting third CDR data to the charging system. In the system for collecting billing data for the use of the PTT service through the PTT session established between a plurality of user terminals for the use of PTT (Push-to-Talk) service A plurality of first billing information corresponding to at least one of a service use time and a service use number from a session managing device managing the PTT session and received from an arbitrary user terminal for use of the PTT service from a data processing device; A charging information receiver configured to receive a plurality of second charging information corresponding to the amount of speech data; A collector configured to generate first CDR data and second CDR data, respectively, using the first charging information and the second charging information received from the charging information receiver; A synchronization unit generating integrated CDR data based on the PTT session or the user by using the first CDR data and the second CDR data; And And a distributed processor configured to transmit the generated integrated CDR data to a charging system. The method of claim 10, The charging information may include a session ID (ID) AVP, a user-name AVP, an IMS charging ID (ICID) AVP, an accounting-record-number AVP, a charging interval ( Acct-Interim-Interval AVP, Start-Time AVP, End-Time AVP, CallSignal-body-size-uplink AVP, Packet Downlink Amount size-downlink) AVP, Content-size-uplink AVP, Content-size-downlink AVP, RTP-size-uplink AVP, RTP Downlink amount (RTP) -size-downlink) billing data collection system comprising an AVP. The method of claim 11, The collection unit, Determining means for determining the type of the received charging information using the accounting-record-number AVP, wherein the type of the charging information is at least one of charging start information, intermediate charging information, and charging end information; Corresponding to; And Processing means for performing a process corresponding to the determined type of charging information, The processing means generates a new charging record when the charging information is charging start information, updates a previously stored charging record when the charging information is intermediate charging information, and stores the previously stored charging record when the charging information is charging ending information. And update the first CDR data or the second CDR data to generate a billing data collection system. The method of claim 11, The synchronization unit, Determining means for determining whether the first CDR data and the second CDR data have the same IMS charging identifier AVP value; In case of having the same IMS charging identifier AVP value, the packet uplink amount AVP value, packet downlink amount AVP value, content uplink amount AVP value, content downlink amount AVP value, RTP uplink amount included in the second CDR data. Updating means for updating respective corresponding AVP values in the first CDR data using an AVP value and an RTP downlink amount AVP value; And And generating means for integrating said first CDR data and said second CDR data to generate unified CDR data. The method of claim 10, The session management device and the data processing device are respectively coupled to a call control server by using a call processing protocol (SIP), and the call control server transmits the recipient designation information received from the user terminal to the session management device. And the PTT session for the user terminals corresponding to the receiver designation information is set, and transmits the speech data received from the user terminal to the data processing device. The method of claim 10, And the charging information is received using a diameter protocol.

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