KR100684314B1 - A method for maintaining accounting information of a high-speed portable internet system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for storing and managing charging information in a packet access router (PAR) of a high speed portable Internet system (HPi). A billing information management method according to the present invention is a billing information management method of a portable internet system comprising an access terminal (AT), an access point (AP), a packet access router (PAR), and an AAA server, comprising: a) a portable internet subscriber; Starting the charging information collection when the AT initially accesses the portable Internet network; b) Intermediate billing information is managed so that the PAR manages the billing information item and billing information managed by the PAR into sessions and sub-sessions and obtains billing information at predetermined intervals according to the billing policy. Transmitting; And c) terminating collection of charging information when the service for the AT, which has been in service, is terminated. According to the present invention, a packet access router in a portable Internet system can perform charging for an appropriate charging service or access terminal according to a user's request, and further, charging is performed for each service flow in the portable Internet system, and retransmission of charging information is performed. Mechanisms can be used to establish more reliable charging policies.

Mobile Internet System, Packet Access Router, PAR, Billing Information, Billing Server

Description

{A method for maintaining accounting information of a high-speed portable internet system}

1 is a block diagram of a portable Internet network to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

2 is a diagram illustrating a billing information item in a portable Internet system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of initiating collection of billing information in a billing information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an operation flowchart of an intermediate charging transmission in the charging information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for terminating collection of billing information in a billing information management method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a charging information management method of a portable Internet system, and more particularly, to store and manage charging information in a packet access router (PAR) of a high-speed personal Internet (HPi). It is about how to do it.

As a prior art, Korean Patent Application No. 2003-5919 (filed Jan. 29, 2003) discloses an invention entitled "General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Call Processing Method in WCDMA System".

Specifically, the foregoing invention relates to a general packet radio service call processing method in a WCDMA system for providing a prepaid mobile telephone service among intelligent network services in a mobile telephone network using GPRS. If the trigger condition is satisfied, a GPRS call is transmitted, which transmits a predetermined message including a parameter, and after determining whether to subscribe to a service according to the message, it is determined whether the call proceeds by determining whether the balance is sufficient. Accordingly, the above-described invention determines whether a call is provided in a WCDMA system according to whether a service is subscribed and whether a balance is satisfied, so that a prepaid mobile phone service using a PP card can be provided even in a mobile phone network using GPRS.

On the other hand, as a prior art, Korean Patent Application No. 2002-79159 (filed December 12, 2002) discloses an invention entitled "Method of operating a Radius billing client in a wireless LAN billing system."

Specifically, the prior invention, when implemented in an access point (AP) of the wireless LAN system, the operation of a stable and efficient Radius billing client to send billing data to the billing server (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting: AAA) Method to retransmit the charging packet until the response packet from the charging server arrives in order to guarantee the transmission of the Radius charging packet, and the charging packet is stored in the memory buffer without losing the charging packet even if a temporary network failure occurs. The above-described present invention not only manages accurate charging data through interworking with an authentication module of an access point, but also provides reliable charging data through storage and retransmission using a memory buffer. Can guarantee the transmission of The user terminal may manage and process it at the same time when the connection request hayeoteul efficiently.

On the other hand, the existing systems compared to the mobile Internet system includes a mobile communication system and a wireless LAN system, the mobile communication system and the wireless LAN system managed the charging information through the charging server, generally in the AAA server or adjacent Management was done.

Unlike other systems, the portable internet system manages billing by performing a management on a PAR connected to an AP to which the terminal is connected before the billing server, and adds a billing information retransmission function for reliable delivery of billing information.

Such a portable Internet system can be said to be a complementary system while taking advantage of a mobile communication system and a wireless LAN system. In other words, the WLAN system provides a high speed transmission rate, but has a disadvantage in that service coverage and mobility are not supported. The mobile communication system supports a wide range of service coverage and mobility, but has a disadvantage in that the transmission speed is low. However, the portable Internet system provides a high transmission speed and supports the wide coverage and mobility of the mobile communication system.

However, as described above, the portable Internet system is a compromise between the advantages of the existing system, but the billing information items and management methods defined for the portable Internet system are not defined yet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a charging information management method of a portable internet system in which a packet access router in a portable internet system can charge an appropriate charging service or access terminal according to a user's request. will be.

In addition, another object of the present invention for solving the above problems, the billing of the mobile Internet system to make the billing for each service flow in the portable Internet system, and to establish a more reliable billing policy using the billing information retransmission mechanism It is to provide a method of information management.

As a means for achieving the above object, the charging information management method of the portable Internet system according to the present invention,

In the charging information management method of a portable Internet system comprising an access terminal (AT), an access point (AP), a packet access router (PAR) and an AAA server,

a) when the AT, the portable Internet subscriber, initially accesses the portable Internet network, starting to collect charging information;

b) managing the billing information items and billing information managed by the PAR into sessions and sub-sessions and managing intermediate billing information so as to obtain billing information at predetermined intervals according to the billing policy. Transmitting; And

c) terminating the collection of charging information when the service for the AT which is being served is terminated;

Characterized in that it comprises a.

On the other hand, as another means for achieving the above object, the portable Internet system capable of managing the charging information according to the present invention,

An access terminal (AT) which is a portable internet terminal;

An access point (AP) performing a base station function;

A packet access router (PAR) that performs a packet access routing function and an external agent function of Mobile IP; And

AAA server for authentication, authorization verification and billing

Including but not limited to:

The packet access router PAR divides and manages the charging information item and the charging information into sessions and subsessions.

According to the present invention, a packet access router in a portable Internet system can perform charging for an appropriate charging service or access terminal according to a user's request, and further, charging is performed for each service flow in the portable Internet system, and retransmission of charging information is performed. Mechanisms can be used to establish more reliable charging policies.

Hereinafter, a charging information management method of a portable internet system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Since the portable Internet system can establish a plurality of data connections for each user, and can support various service classes for each connection setting, a plurality of services can be created for each user, and different policies for each service can be applied. This is because each service can be managed for each service flow. By appropriately applying the service flow, it is possible to provide a plurality of differentiated services for one user.

Accordingly, as an embodiment of the present invention, a method of defining a charging information collection method for a subscriber using a variety of services, and discloses a method for managing so that the charging service can be performed smoothly. That is, the embodiment of the present invention discloses how the billing item should be defined and managed for the portable Internet service in the packet access router of the portable Internet system.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, charging is performed at the packet access router, not the access point, in the portable Internet system, and uses a real-time DB that is more stable than memory.

As described above, in the portable Internet system, unlike an existing wireless LAN environment or a mobile communication environment, an access network includes an access point (AP) and a packet access router (PAR). The billing information in the portable Internet system is collected per flow from the AP, the collected billing information is stored and managed in the PAR, and is periodically transmitted to the billing server (AAA). In addition, by managing the billing information in the PAR for a predetermined time for reliable delivery of the billing information, if the billing information delivery fails, it is possible to retransmit the previously stored billing information.

1 is a block diagram of a portable Internet network to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the portable Internet network 110 includes an access terminal (AT) 117a, 117b, and 117c, which is a portable internet terminal, and an access point (AP) 115a and 115b that performs a base station function. , 115c, 115d), Packet Access Router (PAR) 113a, 113b that performs packet access routing functions and external agent functions of Mobile IP, and AAA server that performs authentication, authorization verification, and billing functions ( 111).

The portable Internet network 110 may interoperate with another Internet network 120 through the AAA server 111 using a diameter protocol in progress of Internet standardization. The other Internet network 120 may be an AAA server ( 121, the AP 125, and the AT 127a and 127b, and are connected to the Internet network 130 through routers 140a and 140b, respectively, and are connected to the portable Internet network 110.

In the wireless Internet network 120, it is common to store the charging information in the AAA server 121, but in the high-speed portable Internet network 110, the packet access routers 113a and 113b play an intermediate role to transfer the charging information to the AP 115a. , 115b, 115c, and 115d), and serves as the AAA server 111, and stores the billing information for a predetermined time in case the billing information transmission fails. Resend. Through this charging information retransmission mechanism, more accurate and reliable charging is realized.

In the network configuration of FIG. 1 to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, charging information is transferred between the AAA server 111 and the PARs 113a and 113b, and periodically the intermediate charging information is transmitted.

In addition, as described above, the portable Internet network 110 interworks with other Internet networks 120 through the access points 115a, 115b, 115c, and 115d, the packet access routers 113a and 113b, and the AAA server 111. For this purpose, the Internet Protocol standard Diameter protocol is used. In this case, each service may be managed in a packet access router for each service flow, billing may be independently managed for each service flow, and a reliable charging policy may be applied using a billing information retransmission mechanism.

2 is a diagram illustrating a charging information item in the portable Internet system according to an embodiment of the present invention, which shows the charging information item managed by the PARs 113a and 113b of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, billing information items according to an embodiment of the present invention are collected for each flow. In this case, time points for collecting billing information are session start and end, and interim time.

The billing information item is an index 201, which is a unique identifier between the APs 115a, 115b, 115c, and 115d and the PARs 113a and 113b of FIG. 1, and whether the user's Internet address type is Mobile Internet Protocol (MIP). IP allocation scheme 202 to distinguish between DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).

In an embodiment of the present invention, the PAR charging information is generated for each flow, and periodically transfers the charging information to the AAA server according to the charging policy. Currently, billing information is managed separately according to address acquisition through Mobile IP (MIP) and address acquisition through DHCP. Here, DHCP refers to a protocol that automatically provides a client with an IP address of the host and basic TCP / IP protocol settings.

The charging information item may include a terminal address 203 which is an address of a terminal to be charged, a session ID 204 which is a session identifier, a source host name 205 which is name information of a terminal, and a source region which is terminal information. A name 206, a destination area name 207 that is destination area information, a billing information type 208 that distinguishes whether the billing information starts, ends, interims, a billing record delimiter that enables to distinguish between billing information records 209.

In addition, the billing information items, the billing information octets 210 delivered from the AP, the billing information octets 211 to be delivered to the billing server, the billing information packets 212 delivered from the AP, billing server The number of billing information packets to be transmitted to the service provider (213), the multi-session ID that is a separator that distinguishes multiple sessions, the session duration (216) that is the duration of the session, the MIP vector (217) that is MIP-related information, and the home agent of the MIP. It includes HA address 218, which is (Home Agent) information.

In addition, the billing information item, the wireless billing information octet number 219 transmitted from the AP, the wireless billing information octet number 220 to be delivered to the billing server, the application ID 221 which is a separator of the currently executed application, the user It may include a representative user name 222 and a sub-session ID 223 for dividing the session in detail.

In addition, the billing information item, the time for sending billing information 224 periodically, whether or not to operate in real time (225), the state ID 226 means the starting state, the event occurs when the first event occurred A time 227, a destination host name 228 that is name information for the destination host, a service flow type 229 that indicates the type of service flow, and a reserved uplink 230 that indicates a prescheduled uplink and downlink size. It may include a reserved downlink 231, a service class name 232 indicating a class type to be serviced.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the billing information items for managing billing information in the PAR are as described above, and the point of time at which the billing information items are collected is a session start and end and an interim time. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of initiating collection of billing information in a billing information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a procedure of starting a billing session in the portable Internet.

3, the initial HPi connection is used when the access terminal (AT) is connected to the HPi network, IP address assignment or MIP initial registration procedure by DHCP is performed at the end of the initial connection, the DHCP When the successful address assignment or MIP registration is completed, the billing procedure is started. After that, the PAR 113 collects the billing information collected by the AP 115 for each flow and periodically collects the billing information. The AAA server is a billing server. To 111.

Specifically, when the HPi initial access procedure is completed (S301), the charging control in the PAR 113 is started for each subscriber.

At this time, the PAR 113 requests the charging information collected by the AP 115 to transmit the charging start information, and stores the charging information reflecting the result in the PAR 113 (S302).

Thereafter, a charging request message (HPiAccountingRequest) is generated and the charging information for starting charging is transmitted to the AAA server 111 (S303). In this case, the charging request message HPiAccountingRequest may include a session ID.

Thereafter, the AAA server 111 transmits a billing response message HPiAccountingAnswer to the PAR 113 as a response to the billing start (S304). At this time, the billing response message HPiAccountingAnswer is a billing intermediate reporting cycle and Because it contains policy information, it can be used for future billing information transmission.

On the other hand, Figure 4 is a flow chart of the operation of the intermediary billing transmission in the billing information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a procedure in the middle of the billing information transmission on the portable Internet.

Referring to FIG. 4, the procedure for intermediate transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention is to acquire charging information at predetermined intervals according to the charging policy. Acquisition of such charging information occurs for each sub-session, and when the charging information transmission for each session is completed, the charging information transmission for the entire session occurs.

Specifically, the charging information transmission for each session and the entire session is started by the PAR 113 transmits a charging information request message (AGI-req) to the AP 115 (S401). In this case, the AGI request message (AGI-req) may include interim and status ID (ContextID) information.

Next, the AP 115 receiving the AGI request message (AGI-req) transmits charging information for the related session through an AGI response message (AGI-rep) (S402). In this case, the AGI response message (AGI-rep) may include the number of octets transferred and the number of octets to be transmitted (in / out octet) in addition to interim and status ID (ContextID) information.

Next, the PAR 113 stores the AGI response message (AGI-rep) information in a storage space in the PAR 113 (S403), and then charges the AGI response message (AGI-rep) with a charging request message ( It delivers to the AAA server 111 through the HPiAccountingRequest (S404). In this case, the charging request message HPiAccountingRequest may include a session ID and a subsession ID.

Finally, the result of the charging request is transferred to the PAR 113 through a charging response message HPiAccountingAnswer (S405). At this time, it is determined whether to retransmit according to the result of the response.

Meanwhile, FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart for terminating collection of charging information in the charging information management method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a procedure of terminating charging information collection.

Referring to FIG. 5, the charging information collecting end procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention is a procedure for terminating the charging information collection when the service for the AT 115 which is receiving the service is terminated.

First, the AGI request message (AGI-req) for terminating the charging is transmitted (S501), and then the AP 115 sends an AGI response message (AGI-req) to the PAR 113 in response thereto (S502). . Here, the AGI request message (AGI-req) and the AGI response message (AGI-req) may include Stop and Status ID (ContextID) information.

Next, the PAR 113 having received the AGI response message (AGI-req) stores the relevant charging information (S503), and then loads the charging termination information in a charging request message (HPiAccountingRequest) to AAA server 111 In step S504). In this case, the charging request message HPiAccountingRequest may include a stop and session ID information.

Finally, the AAA server 111 responds to the PAR 113 through the charging response message HPiAccountingAnswer whether the normal charging information is received (S505).

While the invention has been shown and described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as indicated by the claims. Anyone who owns it can easily find out.

According to the present invention, a packet access router in a portable Internet system can perform charging for an appropriate charging service or access terminal according to a user's request.

In addition, according to the present invention, in the portable Internet system, charging is performed for each service flow and a more reliable charging policy is established using the charging information retransmission mechanism, thereby easily defining a service for a user.

Claims (17)

In the charging information management method of the PAR in a portable Internet system having an access terminal (AT), an access point (AP), a packet access router (PAR) and an AAA server, a) when the AT, the portable Internet subscriber, initially accesses the portable Internet network, the PAR starts collecting charging information; b) the PAR collects the billing information items and billing information managed by the PAR into sessions, multi-sessions and sub-sessions and collects them from the AP, and collects the billing information at predetermined intervals according to the billing policy. Transmitting charging information to the AAA server; And c) terminating the collection of charging information by the PAR when the service for the AT under service is terminated; Billing information management method comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein step a) comprises: a-1) completing an initial access procedure and starting charging control by the PAR for each subscriber; a-2) requesting, by the PAR, the charging information collected from the AP, and storing the charging information reflecting the result; a-3) generating, by the PAR, a charging request message (HPiAccountingRequest) and transmitting charging information for starting charging to an AAA server; And a-4) receiving, by the PAR, a charging response message (HPiAccountingAnswer) from the AAA server as a response to the charging start; Billing information management method comprising a. The method of claim 2, In step a-1), when the initial access procedure is completed, IP address allocation or MIP initial registration procedure is performed by using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), and successful address allocation by DHCP is performed. Or when the MIP registration is completed, starting the charging procedure. The method of claim 2, The billing request message (HPiAccountingRequest) of step a-3) comprises a session identifier (ID). The method of claim 2, The billing response message (HPiAccountingAnswer) of step a-4) has a billing interim reporting cycle and policy information to be used in the subsequent billing information transmission method. The method of claim 1, Acquiring the charging information of step b) occurs for each sub-session, and when the charging information transmission for each session is completed, the charging information management method characterized in that the charging information transmission for the entire session occurs. The method of claim 1, wherein b), b-1) the PAR transmitting a billing information (AGI) request message (AGI-req) to the AP; b-2) transmitting, through an AGI response message, billing information for the session associated with the AP receiving the AGI request message (AGI-req); b-3) storing, by the PAR, the AGI response message (AGI-rep) information in a storage space within the PAR; b-4) transmitting, by the PAR, to the AAA server through a charging request message (HPiAccountingRequest) corresponding to the AGI response message (AGI-rep); And b-5) the AAA server transmitting a result of the charging request to the PAR through a charging response message (HPiAccountingAnswer) Billing information management method comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein The AGI request message (AGI-req) of step b-1) includes interim and status ID (ContextID) information. The method of claim 7, wherein The AGI response message (AGI-rep) of step b-2) includes Interim and Status ID information, In Octet information transmitted, or Out Octet information delivered. Billing information management method characterized in that. The method of claim 7, wherein The billing request message (HPiAccountingRequest) of step b-4) comprises a session ID and a subsession ID. The method of claim 7, wherein And determining retransmission according to the response result of step b-5). The method of claim 1, wherein c) is c-1) the PAR transmitting a charging information request message (AGI-req) for terminating the charging to the AP; c-2) the AP sending an AGI response message (AGI-req) to the PAR in response to the request; c-3) storing the related billing information by the PAR receiving the AGI response message (AGI-req); c-4) delivering, by the PAR, the charging end information to an AAA server by loading the charging request message (HPiAccountingRequest); And c-5) the AAA server responding to the PAR through a charging response message (HPiAccountingAnswer) whether or not normal charging information is received; Billing information management method comprising a. The method of claim 12, And the AGI request message (AGI-req) and the AGI response message (AGI-req) of step c-2) include Stop and Status ID (ContextID) information. The method of claim 12, The billing request message (HPiAccountingRequest) of step c-4) comprises the Stop (Stop) and session ID information. An access terminal (AT) which is a portable internet terminal; An access point (AP) performing a base station function; A packet access router (PAR) that performs a packet access routing function and an external agent function of Mobile IP; And AAA server for authentication, authorization verification and billing Including but not limited to: The packet access router (PAR) manages billing information, wherein the billing information item and billing information managed by the packet are divided into sessions, multi-sessions and subsessions, collected, and the collected billing information is transmitted to the AAA server. Portable Internet System. The method of claim 15, The PAR collects billing information for each flow, periodically transfers the collected billing information to the AAA server according to a billing policy, and retransmits the billing information when the delivery of the collected billing information fails. Manageable mobile Internet system. The method of claim 15, The billing information item may include an index, an IP allocation method, a terminal address, a session ID as a session identifier, a source host name, a source region name, a destination region name, a billing information type, a billing record identifier, a billing information octet, and a billing information to be transferred. Octets, billing information packets delivered, billing information packets delivered, multi-session ID, session duration, MIP vector, HA address, radio billing information octets delivered, radio billing information octets delivered, Application ID, User Name, Subsession ID, Periodic Send Time, Real-Time Status, Status ID, Event Occurrence When First Event Occurred, Destination Host Name, Name Information for Destination Host, Service Flow Type, Scheduled Uplink Portable to manage billing information, wherein the billing information is selected from a group including a scheduled downlink, and a service class name. Internet system.

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