KR101564640B1 - Mobile Communication System For To Provide Differential Service By Time And Service Providing Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A mobile communication system for providing a time-based differential service according to the present invention includes: a user terminal; A policy and billing rule function for generating a credit control message including a PCC rule including a specified rate or designated transmission rate information, which is a service provided for the user terminal; And a packet data network gateway relaying data communication between the user terminal and the packet data network according to the PC seed rule defined by the credit control message for the user terminal connected by relaying the base station .

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile communication system and a service providing method using the same,

The present invention relates to a mobile communication system for providing a differential service over time and a service providing method using the mobile communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mobile communication system for providing a personalized rate and service at different rates, The present invention relates to a mobile communication system for providing a time-based differential service that minimizes the burden on the system and enables efficient service provision, and a service providing method using the same.

The voice call service using the mobile communication system replaces the existing wired telephone service and is becoming a mandatory service that is always used by more and more users. In addition, as the mobile communication technology develops, the data communication provided increases the communication speed and the data transmission amount to a level comparable to that of the wired communication, and shares much of the area occupied by the wired data communication.

Particularly, as the number of users using the mobile communication system increases and the performance of the terminals that can use the mobile communication system increases, users tend to compare the wired data communication with the mobile communication data service and demand higher performance.

In view of this trend, operators who build and operate a mobile communication system are trying to meet the needs of users by installing better performance equipment and installing and operating many system devices.

However, there is a limit to additionally expanding the equipment to meet the needs of users. For example, users want to have a desired level of data transmission / reception speed, data transmission rate, and continuous data transmission at the time of their use, and this is also true for voice communication. In order to do this, operators need to expand equipment to meet this demand, but they are not enough to meet all users' needs and provide sufficient services.

Particularly, voice or data communication service using mobile communication system is clearly distinguished from busy mode and best mode during a day, and there is a great difference in service utilization due to such busy mode and peak mode even during weekdays and monthly. In the case of the busy hour, the use of the service by many users causes a decrease in the data communication speed, a decrease in the data transmission amount, and a discontinuity in the data transmission. In particular, when the number of concurrent users increases in a specific base station or region, The deterioration occurs more greatly.

There is a problem in that the degree of the feeling of improvement of the quality felt by the users is not improved compared to the cost required when the equipment is expanded through the expansion of the equipment, resulting in low cost efficiency.

To overcome this, mobile operators are offering high data rate services that are discounted at certain times or due to fewer users, or are encouraging more data at the same rate. Through this, operators are trying to increase the quality improvement effect while minimizing the equipment addition by making the utilization rate of the users evenly distributed. Especially, in order to distribute the usage time, the most frequent usage fee is set at a relatively high price and the minimum time charge is set at a low price. .

These services have been provided in a similar fashion to voice call services. Specifically, in the past, when a specific plan subscription was made, a method of increasing the utilization rate at a certain time was applied by imposing the call rate of the other plan according to the time zone designated by the plan.

Recently, mobile communication systems and services provide a data communication service which has a much higher system load than voice communication, and operators are seeking a method for applying a differential charge system for such data communication services for the reasons described above. However, recently, the number of subscribers of the mobile communication system has greatly increased, and in addition to the voice communication, the use of data communication has increased so much that it is difficult to apply discounts of the time period as in the past. In particular, since the data communication occupies a large portion of the load on the system, it is not possible to designate the entire time of night time as a discount time, such as a voice call service.

Therefore, there is a need for a method of increasing the quality of the mobile communication service experienced by the user while selecting the charge application time by the user so that the load on the system is small, or further finely dividing the time.

However, if the conventional billing server provides data discount based on the billing information used in a specific time zone, if all the customers select any other time zone, the number of cases for the billing time is greatly increased, But the implementation is complicated. In particular, the billing server is almost impossible to implement when providing maximum rate control to a user along with a fee.

More specifically, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining a CDR-based data fee discount in a conventional mobile communication system.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional mobile communication system generates a CDR (charge information) in a PGW in units of a specific value with respect to data used by a user in a mobile communication network. In this case, the CDR includes the customer information (IMSI, MSISDN), data information (source IP address, destination IP address, uplink data byte, downlink data byte) (Service ID, rating group) information and time information (data connection time, CDR generation time). Based on the time information included in the CDR information, the billing server performs a billing discount if the corresponding time zone is a discount time zone.

However, as described above, when the discount time zone applicable to the user is varied and the user can change at any time, the operation for charging the billing server becomes complicated and the processing speed of the billing server deteriorates due to the processing of a large amount of charges This will require the expansion of additional facilities. In particular, in the case of maximum speed control, there is a problem that a QoS control request is added to the SPR, which increases the processing burden for the QoS request separately from the billing operation.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2002-0004321 (Jan. 16, 2002)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for providing personalized rates and services at different rates at different rates in a discounted time zone designated by an individual, while minimizing the burden on the system due to charging, A mobile communication system for providing a service, and a service providing method using the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication system for providing a time-based differential service, including: a user terminal; A policy and billing rule function for generating a credit control message including a PCC rule including a specified rate or designated transmission rate information, which is a service provided for the user terminal; And a packet data network gateway relaying data communication between the user terminal and the packet data network according to the PC seed rule defined by the credit control message for the user terminal connected by relaying the base station .

The credit control message may further include an activation time at which the application of the PCC rule starts, and a deactivation time at which the application of the PCC rule is terminated.

And the service is divided into at least one time zone.

Wherein the credit control message includes a credit control request message transmitted from the packet data network to the policy and billing rule function to request a PCC rule for providing the service, And a credit control response message including an activation time and the inactivation time, and transmitted to the packet data network gateway through the policy and charging rule function unit that has received the credit control request message.

Wherein the credit control message comprises an initialization credential that is exchanged between the packet data network gateway and the policy and billing rules functionality when the user terminal is first connected to the packet data network gateway via the base station, A control message, a new service, and an update credit control message for defining a provision time of the service.

A subscriber information unit connected to the policy and billing function unit and configured to store and manage subscriber information including at least one of a service provision time, a rate and a transmission rate to which the rate or the transmission rate for the user terminal is applied, And further comprising a profile repository.

The packet data network gateway generates an initialization credit control request message including an international mobile subscriber identity or an access point name of the user terminal, and transmits the initialization credit control request message to the policy and charging rule function unit.

The policy and billing rule function unit requests the subscriber information to the subscriber profile storage to the user terminal when the initialization credit control request message is received and transmits the initialization credit control request message And transmits an initialization credit control response message to the packet data network gateway in response to the initialization credit control response message.

And the credit control message includes an update time at which the update of the PCC rule is performed to define the service in the next time zone of the time zone.

Wherein the update of the PPC rule in the next time slot is performed by exchanging the update credit control message with the packet data network gateway and the policy and billing rule function at the update time included in the credit control message of the previous time zone .

And the policy and billing rule function unit requests the packet data network gateway to delete the credit control message in the previous time zone when transmitting the update credit control message.

And the update time is added with a delay time arbitrarily given to the user terminal.

And the delay time is selected within the predetermined time value from the inactivation time.

Also, a method for providing a time-based differential service using a mobile communication system according to the present invention includes the steps of storing information on a service providing a specified rate or a specified transmission rate for a user terminal in a subscriber profile storage; Connecting the user terminal to a packet data network gateway through a base station; Transmitting to the packet data network gateway a credit control message including a policy and an accounting rule function including a PCC rule including the rate or the transmission rate; And providing a service for the packet data network gateway to relay data communication between the user terminal and the packet data network according to a PCC rule included in the credit control message.

The credit control message may further include an activation time at which the application of the PCC rule starts, and a deactivation time at which the application of the PCC rule is terminated.

And the service is divided into at least one time zone.

Wherein forwarding the credit control message comprises: forwarding a credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function to request the PCS rule for provision of the service by the packet data network gateway; And transmitting a credit control response message including the PC seed rule, the activation time, and the deactivation time, to the packet data network gateway, wherein the policy and the billing rule function are applied in the time zone. do.

The packet data network gateway may further include a determination step of determining whether the connection is established for the first time when the connection is established or whether the service is applied for the first time.

Wherein the step of delivering the credit control message comprises: when the packet data network gateway transmits an initial credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function unit; And the policy and billing rule function transmitting the initialization credit control response message to the packet data network gateway in response to the initialization credit control request message.

Wherein the policy and billing rule function sends the initialization credit control response message to the packet data network gateway, the policy and billing rule function requesting information about the service in the subscriber profile store; And the subscriber profile repository transmitting information on the service to the policy and billing rule function in response to the request.

Wherein the initialization credit control request message includes an international mobile subscriber identity or an access point name of the user terminal.

If it is determined that the initialization is not necessary at the initialization decision step, the packet data network gateway transmits an update credit control request message for defining the service of the next time zone and the providing time of the service, To the billing rule functional unit; And the policy and billing rule function transmitting an update credit control response message to the packet data network gateway in response to the update credit control request message.

Wherein the credit control message, the credit control response message, the initialization credit control response message, or the update control response message includes an update time at which the update of the PC seed rule is performed to define the service in the next time zone in the time zone .

The packet data network gateway may further include determining whether the update time included in the credit control message of the previous time zone has arrived.

The packet data network gateway transmits the update credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function unit when the update time comes, and the policy and billing rule function unit transmits the update credit control response message To the first antenna.

The policy and billing rule function further comprises requesting the packet data network gateway to delete the credit control message in the previous time zone when the update credit control response message is delivered.

And the update time is added with a delay time arbitrarily given to the user terminal.

And the delay time is selected within a predetermined time value from the inactivity time.

A mobile communication system for providing time-based differential service according to the present invention and a service providing method using the same provide personalized rates and services at different rates at different rates in a discounted time zone designated by an individual, And it is possible to provide efficient services.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a CDR-based data fee discount in a conventional mobile communication system; FIG.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a mobile communication system.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a Qos and a billing control method for each subscriber according to the present invention; FIG.
4 is an exemplary diagram for explaining update congestion handling according to the present invention;
5 is a diagram for explaining a service providing method using a mobile communication system for providing a time-based differential service according to the present invention;

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. It should be noted that the drawings denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same reference numerals whenever possible, in other drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. And certain features shown in the drawings are intended to be illustrative, not limiting, or reduced, or simplified, and the drawings and elements thereof are not necessarily drawn to scale. However, those skilled in the art will readily understand these details.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile communication system according to the present invention.

2, the mobile communication system according to the present invention includes a base station (eNB) 110, a serving gateway 130, a packet data network gateway 140, an application function unit 150, a subscription profile storage 160, an AN A gateway 170, a traffic detection function unit 180, a policy and billing rule function unit 200, a packet data network 210, and a billing unit 220.

A user equipment (UE) 10 is connected to a network 100 of a mobile communication system through a base station (eNB) 110 and is connected to a packet data network 210 to provide a voice call service and a data communication service to a user. Lt; / RTI > The user terminal 10 may include a mobile device such as a personal computer or a notebook, a cell phone, a smart phone, a personal multimedia device, and is capable of communicating with another device via the network 100.

The base station 110 forms a communication channel with the user terminal 10 so that communication can be established between the user terminal 10 and the network 100. The base station 110 may be a transmitting / receiving base station such as an evolved node B defined by the 3GPP standard. The base station 110 communicates with the user terminal 10 via a medium such as radio waves and can communicate with the network 100 through a medium such as an Ethernet cable. The base station 110 may communicate directly with the network 100 but may be connected to the network 100 through a plurality of intermediate nodes (not shown). The base station 110 may comprise a plurality of base stations 110, Lt; / RTI >

The network 100 may be one device or network by a plurality of devices, which is referred to as an evolved packet core (EPC) and provides gateway access to the packet data network 21 to the user terminal 10. [ The network 100 charges the subscriber for the use of the provided voice call or data service and can ensure that the standard of quality of experience (QoE) is met. In particular, in the present invention, the network 100 assures data communication quality per time zone designated by the subscriber and provides the data to the user. The network 100 includes a serving gateway 130, a packet data network gateway 140, an application function unit 150, a subscriber profile storage 160, an AN gateway 170, a traffic detection function unit 180).

A serving gateway 130 is responsible for managing the data path between the base station 110 and the packet data network gateway 140 providing gate access to the network 100. The serving gateway 130 And forwards the packet transmitted by the user terminal 10 to the packet data network gateway 140. And the serving gateway 130 manages the mobility of the user terminal 910 between a plurality of base stations and performs functions for a specific quality of service (QoS). The data path managed by the serving gateway 130 may include a virtual container called a bearer having a unique QoS characteristic. And this bearer may include a virtual connection called a service data flow (SDF). And may be responsible for establishing a new bearer when the user terminal 10 is a mobile terminal and changes base station 110.

A packet data network gateway (PGW) 140 provides a gateway access to the packet data network 210. PGW 140 may include policies and charging enforcement functions (PCEFs) to enforce policy and accounting control (PCC) rules for each service data flow (SDF). Accordingly, the PGW 140 may be a policy and charging enforcement node (PCEN). The PGW 140 may perform a number of additional functions such as packet filtering, depth packet inspection, and subscriber billing support. In addition, the PGW 140 may request a policy and charging control (PCC) rule from the policy and billing rule function unit 200 by transmitting a credit control request (CCR) message through the Gx interface. In particular, in the present invention, the PGW 140 provides a communication quality such as a rate and a rate of application of a rate plan given to each user by a CCR message exchanged with the policy and billing rule function unit 200, And transmits the call detail record (CDR) to the billing unit 220 so that the billing for the user is applied and the billing is performed. The detailed process of the PGW 140 and the policy and billing rule function unit 200 will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.

The application function unit 150 provides an application service to the user terminal 10. That is, the application function unit 150 may be a server or other device that provides video streaming or voice communication services to the user terminal 10. [ The application function unit 150 can perform communication with the policy and billing rule function unit 200 via the Rx interface and can communicate with the user terminal 10 in accordance with a diameter protocol AAR (AA-request), and notify the policy and billing rule function unit 200 that resources should be allocated for the application service. The service request message may include information for a service, such as identification of a particular service data flow (SDF) that should be established in the IP_CAN session to provide the requested service, and information for identifying the subscriber using the application service.

A subscription profile repository (SPR) 160 maintains and manages information related to the user terminal 10 and the user. The subscriber profile repository 160 may include various types of storage media, and the data stored therein includes per-user information such as the subscriber's identifier, bandwidth limitations, billing parameters, subscriber priorities, and subscriber service preferences.

The traffic detection function unit 180 analyzes a pattern of a specific traffic to determine a service, and is generally referred to as DPI (deep packet investigation).

The policy and charging rules function or node (PCRF or PCRN) 200 receives a request for an application service, creates a policy charging control (PCC) rule, and sends the PCC rule to the PGW 140 and / And serves to other PCEFs. The policy and billing rule function unit 200 can communicate with the application function unit 150 via the RX interface and can receive the authorization and authentication request (AAr) from the application function unit 150 Lt; / RTI > service request. In particular, it may generate at least one new PCC rule for performing a service request upon receipt of an AAR. In addition, the policy and billing rule function unit 200 can communicate with the serving gateway 130 and the PGW 140 via the Gxx and Gx interfaces, respectively. The policy and billing rule function unit 200 may receive a service request in the form of a credit control control request from the serving gateway 130 or the PGW 140.

In particular, the policy and billing rule function unit 200 applies the user's individual rate plan using the above-described PGW 140 and the CCR message, and applies individual communication quality. This will be described in more detail below with reference to separate drawings.

A packet data network (PDN) 210 is a network that provides data communication to a device connected to a packet data network 210, such as a user terminal 10 and an application function unit 150.

The charging unit 220 applies the charge and the quality of the user by the charging policy message such as the CCR to the PGW 140 and performs the charging accordingly.

3 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a Qos and a billing control method for each subscriber according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a configuration which is not directly related to the description in the following description will be omitted and the explanation will be proceeded.

3, the vertical axis means time, and the horizontal axis means communication between devices. The present invention relies on the CDR information between the charging unit 220 and the PGW 140 so that the charging unit 220 does not perform the calculation of all the discount rates and distributes the same to the PGW 14 and the PCRF 200 . In particular, the PGW 140 and the PCRf 200 exchange a credit control message exchanged with each other to apply a discount time zone per subscriber, apply a maximum rate, release a discount time zone, release a maximum rate restriction, A charge settlement request is made. That is, the maximum speed control and the like are performed by setting up a credit control message between the PGW 140 and the PCRf 200 and setting up the PGC 140 and the PCRf 200, and the PGW 140 generates a CDR according to whether the user uses the data, 220 to process complex charging procedures with maximum speed control. That is, the billing unit 220 performs billing for each subscriber according to the CDR information sent by the PGW 140 as in the conventional method. Therefore, even if a complex subscriber-specific time discount and a maximum rate limiting service are applied, the billing unit 220 ) And the normal charging can be performed without applying a complicated algorithm.

Meanwhile, a credit control message is exchanged between the PGW 140 and the PCRF 200 for such charging and maximum speed control. The credit control message includes a credit control request message (CCR) transmitted from the PGW 140 to the PCRF 200 and a credit control request message transmitted from the PCRF 200 to the PGW 140 in response to the credit control request message. And a control response message (CCA). In addition, the credit control message includes an initialization message (-I) message for initializing the discount application time and the application time, and a Updater message (-U) message for updating the initialization message after initialization . This credit control message will be described in more detail below.

First, the user subscribes to the service as shown in Table 1 through service subscription.

Discount time zone DATA discount rate QoS control 8:00 to 9:00 50% Maximum speed is 10Mbps 15:00 to 19:00 20% Maximum speed is 20Mbps 21:00 to 00:00 10% Maximum speed is 10Mbps

Specifically, as shown in the display, the user can use the data communication within the maximum speed of 10 Mbps from 8:00 to 9:00, at which time a 50% discount will be applied compared to the discounted time. Likewise, data communication within the maximum speed of 10Mbps will be available at a rate of 20Mbps with a 20% discount from 15:00 to 19:00, and a 10% discount from 21:00 to 0:00.

To this end, if a subscriber selects a rate for data discount and maximum rate adjustment for three time zones, this information is delivered to subscriber profile store 160 and stored in subscriber profile store 160.

Thereafter, when the user terminal 10 is connected to the network 100 through an Attach operation to the mobile communication system, the PGW 140 transmits a request to the policy and billing rule function unit 200 (hereinafter referred to as PCRF) The initialization credit control request message CCR-I includes an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) of the user terminal 10 attached to the mobile communication system, And an Access Point Name (APN) to the PCRF 200.

When the initial credit control request message (CCR-I) is received, the RCRF 200 confirms the IMSI included in the message and stores the subscriber's information in the subscriber profile storage 160, that is, the subscriber's information including the discount time zone and the discount rate information Service subscription information. To this end, the RCRF 200 delivers a user data request (UDR) to the subscriber profile storage 160, and the subscriber profile store 9160 transmits a UDA (User Data Response) including subscriber's service subscription information Answer) to the PCRF 200.

The PCRF 200 generates an initialization credit control response message (CCA-I) using the service subscription information as shown in Table 1 included in the user data response (UDA), and transmits the initialization credit control response message (CCA-I) to the PGW 140. At this time, the initialization credit control response message (CCA-I) includes information as shown in Table 2.

division Explanation PCC Rule # 1 PGW inserts a 50% discount on CDR request delimiters and limits the maximum rate to a maximum rate of 10 Mbps Activation Time  Time when PCC rule # 1 begins to apply Deactivation Time Time when application of PCC rule # 1 is canceled Revalidation Time Time to request new billing information and QoS (maximum rate limiting) information for future time

Specifically, the PCC rule, activation time, inactivity time, and update time information are recorded in the initialization credit control response message (CCA-I). The PCC rule number is a number for performing per-subscriber service during a day or a certain period, and defines a role of an ID for service classification and a service to be provided. That is, when a user is provided with services in three time zones as shown in Table 1, they are divided into # 1, # 2, and # 3 in chronological order, and service contents for each of them are defined.

The activation time means the time at which the application of the PCC rule # 1 is started. In other words, in case of # 1, it means that the discount rate of 50% and the restriction of the speed of 10 Mbps start from 8:00.

The deactivation time means a time at which the service application of PCC rule # 1 is released.

The update time means a time for transferring the item to which the next PCC rule is applied after the service application of the PCC rule # 1 is canceled, that is, the information update time for the PCC rule # 2.

When the initialization credit control response message is transmitted to the PGW 140, the PGW 140 is installed to provide the service according to the rule set in the PCC rule # 1 for the attached user terminal 10. [ If the user terminal 10 is confirmed by the PGW 140 before the update time, that is, even if the data use does not occur, the installed state is maintained if the data use can be performed. Here, the installation state of the PGW 140 may be made every time the user terminal 10 uses data communication. In this case, the load of the system may increase due to the repetition of processing and installation of various messages. However, It is not. This is a matter that should be determined by the user to be performed with optimum efficiency.

At this time, the PGW 140 inserts a delimiter indicating that 50% of the billing is applied to the CDR so that billing is performed when data communication is performed by the user terminal 10, and the billing unit 220 transmits the delimiter.

When the inactivity time recorded in the initialization credit control response message arrives, the PGW 140 automatically releases the application of the PCC rule # 1 and releases the speed limit release and normal charging for the user. To this end, the PGW 140 inserts a non-discount service identifier into the CDR and transmits the CDR information including the number of bytes used to the billing unit 220 when data communication is performed after the inactivity time.

Here, when data is continuously used from the activation time to the inactivation time, the PGW 140 creates a separate CDR for data communication after the inactivity time, inserting a service identifier indicating that the discount is not applied, . Then, the charging unit 220 charges the user by the CDR information including the service identifier.

On the other hand, after the inactivity time, the PGW 140 requests a new PCC rule and time information to the PCRF. For this, the PGW 140 transmits a credit control update request message to the PCRF 200. The daughter PCRF 200 is a user who subscribed to the discount service by time slot and is a time after the inactivity time of the previous PCC rule. If the user PCC rule is before the inactivity time of the current PCC rule, a new PCC rule, activation time, And transmits a credit control response message in which time information is recorded to the PGW 140. [ In response to this, the PGW 140 is requested to delete the previously transmitted credit control response message (CCA).

The newly transmitted credit control update response message is described in the same format as the initialization credit control response message (CCA-I) described above. However, different activation times, different deactivation times, and other update times than the PCC rules different from the initialization credit control response message (CCA-I) are recorded and transmitted. The PGW 140 provides the discount service and the maximum speed control service for the user through the same procedure as described above based on the information recorded in the credit control update response message (CCA-U).

That is, in FIG. 3, the credit control update response message (CCA-U) is transmitted to the PGW 140 twice, that is, once before 19:00 and before 00:00, and the service is performed according to each rule.

On the other hand, an update request for a new rule is issued to the PCRF 200 from the PGW 140 at the update time defined for updating after the application of each PCC rule is terminated. This update request is made at the update time recorded in the credit control response message (CCA) in which the previous PCC rule was recorded. The PCC rule to be newly applied through the update request, the activation time and the deactivation time are transmitted to the PGW 140. In this respect, the updater request and the update through it are very important factors for providing high quality service.

However, when an update request for a plurality of user terminals 10 occurs, a large load may be generated in the network 100, resulting in a delay and an error in the processing speed. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust so that update requests and updates targeting a plurality of users, that is, user terminals 10, do not occur simultaneously. A method of adjusting this update is shown in FIG.

4 is an exemplary diagram for explaining update congestion handling according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, as described above, since the PGW 140 records setting information for providing a service to the user terminal 10 and information for charging, it is very difficult to update and maintain the credit control message appropriately This becomes important.

For this, the update time is defined in the credit control response message (CCA), the PGW 140 delivers the credit control update request message (CCR-U) at the update time, and in response, the PCRF 200 transmits a credit control update response Message (CCA-U) to allow PGW 140 to apply a new PCC rule for later time.

However, when a plurality of such updates occur and a plurality of updates are concentrated in a specific time period, there is a fear that the network 100 is overloaded for excessive messages and execution processing.

Therefore, in the present invention, windowing is applied so that updates of PCC rules to be applied to each user or user terminal occur at different times.

More specifically, the update is performed after a predetermined delay time (alpha) has elapsed for each subscriber or each user terminal 10 at the update time included in the credit control message.

In FIG. 4, the horizontal axis at the bottom indicates the time at which each PCC rule is applied. At this time, an arrow A indicates an inactivation time, which is an end time at which the application of each PCC rule is terminated. In the case where the update distribution is not applied, the update is performed when the inactivity time comes. However, in the present invention, the update is performed after a certain time has elapsed after the end time as shown by arrow B.

This reduces the likelihood that updates will be performed at the same time as termination by a plurality of user terminals with overlapping end times. That is, in the present invention, the updating is performed after the delay time?, Which is the time difference between the arrow A and the arrow B, has elapsed.

In particular, the delay time? Is defined as a different value for each user or user terminal 10, and is included in the update time when the PCRF 200 delivers the credit control response message (CCA-U) to the PGW 140 . That is, the credit control response message (CCA-u) is transmitted in the form of "00:00 00:00 00:00 + α" as the update time and the delay time (α) added at the deactivation time. In addition, the delivery time is determined within a limited time determined by the user, such as 0 to 30 minutes, rather than vaguely a long time.

5 is a diagram for explaining a method of providing a service using a mobile communication system for providing a time-based differential service according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a method of providing a time differential service using a mobile communication system according to the present invention includes a service information storing step (S10), a user terminal connecting step (S20), an initialization determining step (S30) (S40), a service providing step (S50), and an update time arrival judging step (S60).

Hereinafter, a method of providing a time-based differential service using the mobile communication system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

In the service information storage step S10, the user subscribes to the service for use of the time-based differential service, and information on the time zone specified by the subscription, the discount rate applied to each time zone, and the transmission rate is stored in the subscriber profile storage 160 .

The user terminal accessing step S20 is a step in which the user terminal 10 of the user subscribed to the service is connected to the PGW 140 by being connected to the network 100 through the base station 110. [

The initialization determination step S30 is a step for determining whether or not the user needs initialization to provide a time-based differential service by the subscribed service. The PGW 140 judges whether the connected user terminal 10 is connected to the user terminal 10 for the first time after subscribing to the service or whether the differential service is used for the first time. That is, the PGW 140 determines that initialization is necessary when the PCC rule defined for the user terminal 10 does not exist. On the other hand, if there is a PCC rule for the user terminal 10, it is determined that initialization is unnecessary.

In the credit control message forwarding step S40, an initialization credit control message is exchanged between the PGW 140 and the PCRF 200 when initialization is required according to the result of the initialization determination (S42). If initialization is not necessary, A credit control message is exchanged between the PGW 140 and the PCRF 200 (S41). Then, the PGW 140 sets a service condition to be provided to the user terminal 10 by an initialization or update credit control message.

The service providing step S50 is a step of providing the differential service in a time zone set by the PGW 140 according to a set condition. In this service providing step S50, the PGW 140 applies the discount rate or the transmission rate defined in the PCC rule of the corresponding time period to data usage before the inactivity time after the activation time.

The update time admission determination step S60 is a step for determining whether the PGW 140 has reached the update time included in the credit control message. When the inactivity time for the current time zone comes in the update time arrival decision step S60 and the provision of the differential service for the current time zone is completed, the PGW 14 prepares for updating the service for the next time zone, It is judged whether or not the time count included in the credit control message in the time zone has arrived. If the update time comes, the PGW 140 performs the update at step S41 by exchanging an update credit control message with the PCRF 200 at the update time described above.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, . ≪ / RTI > Accordingly, such modifications are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should be determined by the following claims.

10: user terminal 100: network
110: base station 130: serving gateway
140: PGW 150: Application function section
160: Subscriber profile storage 180: Traffic detection function
200: Policy and billing rule functional unit 210: Packet data network
220: Charging part

Claims (28)

A user terminal;
A policy and billing rule function for generating a credit control message including a PCC rule including a specified rate or designated transmission rate information, which is a service provided for the user terminal; And
And a packet data network gateway for relaying data communication between the user terminal and the packet data network according to the PC seed rule defined by the credit control message for the user terminal connected by relaying the base station,
The service is provided divided into one or more time zones,
Wherein the credit control message comprises an update time at which the update of the PCC rule is performed to define the service in the next time zone of the time zone,
Wherein the update time is added to a delay time arbitrarily given to the user terminal. The method according to claim 1,
The credit control message
The activation time at which the application of the PC seed rule starts,
And a deactivation time at which the application of the Pcsi rule is terminated. delete The method according to claim 1,
The credit control message
A credit control request message transmitted from the packet data network to the policy and billing rule function to request a PCC rule for providing the service,
And a credit control response message including the PC seed rule, the activation time, and the deactivation time applied in the time zone and transmitted to the packet data network gateway to the policy and billing rule function unit that received the credit control request message, The mobile communication system comprising: 5. The method of claim 4,
The credit control message
An initialization credit control message exchanged between the packet data network gateway and the policy and billing rule function when the user terminal is initially connected to the packet data network gateway via the base station or when the service is first applied,
And an update credit control message for defining a new service and a providing time of the service. 6. The method of claim 5,
A subscriber information unit connected to the policy and billing function unit and configured to store and manage subscriber information including at least one of a service provision time, a rate and a transmission rate to which the rate or the transmission rate for the user terminal is applied, And a profile storage unit. The mobile communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a profile storage unit. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the packet data network gateway generates an initial credit control request message including an international mobile subscriber identity or an access point name of the user terminal and transmits the initial credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function unit. Communication system. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the policy and billing rule function unit requests the subscriber information to the subscriber profile storage to the user terminal when the initialization credit control request message is received,
And transmits an initialization credit control response message to the packet data network gateway in response to the initialization credit control request message by the subscriber information transmitted from the subscriber profile storage. delete 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the update of the PPC rule in the next time slot is performed by exchanging the update credit control message with the packet data network gateway and the policy and billing rule function at the update time included in the credit control message of the previous time zone A mobile communication system for providing a time differential service. 11. The method of claim 10,
The policy and billing rules functionality
And requests deletion of the credit control message in the previous time zone to the packet data network gateway when delivering the update credit control message. delete 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the delay time is selected within a predetermined time value from the inactivation time. Storing information on a service providing a specified rate or a specified transmission rate for a user terminal in a subscriber profile repository;
Connecting the user terminal to a packet data network gateway through a base station;
Transmitting to the packet data network gateway a credit control message including a policy and an accounting rule function including a PCC rule including the rate or the transmission rate;
And providing a service for the packet data network gateway to relay data communication between the user terminal and the packet data network according to a PCC rule included in the credit control message,
The service is provided divided into one or more time zones,
Wherein the credit control message includes an update time at which the update of the PC seed rule is performed to define the service in the next time zone of the time zone,
Wherein the update time is added to a delay time arbitrarily given to the user terminal. 15. The method of claim 14,
The credit control message
The activation time at which the application of the PC seed rule starts,
And a deactivation time at which the application of the Pcsi rule is terminated. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > [10] < / RTI > delete 16. The method of claim 15,
The step of delivering the credit control message
The packet data network gateway transmitting a credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function to request the PCC rule for provision of the service;
And transmitting a credit control response message including the PC seed rule, the activation time, and the deactivation time, to the packet data network gateway, wherein the policy and the billing rule function are applied in the time zone. A time difference service providing method using the mobile communication system. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the packet data network gateway further comprises a determination step of determining whether the connection is established for the first time when the connection is made or when the service is first applied to the packet data network gateway. . 19. The method of claim 18,
If it is determined that initialization is necessary in the initialization determination step,
The credit control message delivery step
The packet data network gateway transmitting an initial credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function;
Wherein the policy and billing rule function further comprises: transmitting an initialization credit control response message to the packet data network gateway in response to the initialization credit control request message. Way. 20. The method of claim 19,
The policy and billing rule function transmitting the initialization credit control response message to the packet data network gateway
The policy and billing rule function requesting the subscriber profile repository for information about the service;
And the subscriber profile repository transmitting information on the service to the policy and billing rule function in response to the request. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 31. < / RTI > 20. The method of claim 19,
Wherein the initialization credit control request message comprises an international mobile subscriber identity or an access point name of the user terminal. 19. The method of claim 18,
If it is determined that initialization is unnecessary in the initialization determination step,
The credit control message delivery step
Wherein the packet data network gateway comprises: forwarding an update credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function to define the service and the provision time of the service in the next time zone;
Wherein the policy and billing rule function further comprises: transmitting an update credit control response message to the packet data network gateway in response to the update credit control request message. Delivery method. 22. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 21,
The credit control message or the credit control response message or the initialization credit control response message or the update control response message
And an update time at which the update of the PC seed rule is performed to define the service in the next time zone of the time zone. 24. The method of claim 23,
Wherein the packet data network gateway is further configured to determine whether the update time included in the credit control message in the previous time zone has arrived. 25. The method of claim 24,
When the update time comes
The packet data network gateway forwards the update credit control request message to the policy and billing rule function,
Wherein the policy and billing rule functional unit delivers the update credit control response message to the packet data network gateway. 26. The method of claim 25,
Wherein the policy and billing rule function further comprises requesting the packet data network gateway to delete the credit control message in the previous time zone when the update credit control response message is delivered. A method of providing differentiated services by time. 24. The method of claim 23,
Wherein the update time is added to a delay time arbitrarily given to the user terminal. 28. The method of claim 27,
Wherein the delay time is selected within a predetermined time value from the inactivity time.

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