KR20000044312A - System for transmitting billing information in middle-size exchange - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A system for transmitting billing information in a middle-size exchange is provided to reduce loss of the billing information, by transmitting the billing information to a central automatic message accounting center in real time. CONSTITUTION: A system for transmitting billing information in a middle-size exchange comprises a central automatic message accounting(CAMA) center(202), a hard disk driver(HDD)(212), an in/out process module(210), and a billing task(208). The CAMA center calculates/manages billings, and generates a real-time request command of billing data. The HDD stores the billing data. The IPM stores the billing data in the HDD as a file, and brings the stored billing data. The billing task connected to the IPM is connected with the CAMA center through an X.25 interface. The billing task responds to a real-time request of the billing data, and brings the billing data from the HDD. The billing task transmits the billing data to the CAMA center. The billing task divides the billing data before transmitting the billing data.

Description

Billing information transmission system and method in small and medium sized exchanges

The present invention relates to a small to medium sized exchange, and more particularly to a system and method for sending charging information to a charging center.

In small and medium-sized exchanges with less than 5000 lines typically used in the ruural area, the billing function records the number and duration of calls for each subscriber, and uses the billing of the cumulative frequency.

With reference to Figure 1 showing an example of storing and sending the conventional billing information will be described in detail. When the subscriber of the exchange 100 attempts to call, the exchange 100 records and calculates the charge for the subscriber. That is, the exchange 100 records details of a start time, an end time, a use time, a caller's / caller's phone number, etc. by using detailed billing when a specific user requests. The billing data calculated in this way or detailed billing is stored in the file format in the exchanger 100. The exchange 100 accumulates and stores the billing data for a predetermined period.

If there is a request for each exchange charge history from the charging center 104 which calculates the charge history of the entire exchange, it is backed up in a file format to a personal computer (PC) 102 connected to the exchange 100 via RS-232C. After receiving the backup), it was stored in the secondary storage medium 106 and sent by mail or sent using PC communication. Then, the charging center 104 has received the storage medium 106 or received through PC communication to perform the billing calculation and management.

As described above, in the past, the billing data was stored in the exchange, and then the operator moved directly to the auxiliary storage medium and then moved to the billing center 104 as needed.

However, there was a large amount of billing data loss due to secondary storage media or communication problems when managing billing data transmission. Also, because it is not a real-time process, there was an inefficient aspect of time management. In addition, if the user of the billing center requested only certain contents, it could not be provided smoothly, and the scope of management and utilization was limited.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a billing information transmission system and method that can reduce the loss of billing information.

An object of the present invention is to provide a billing information transmission system and method that can send billing information to a billing center in real time.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a billing information transmission system and method that can provide a smooth information even when a user of a billing center requires only specific contents.

1 is an exemplary view showing an example of storing and sending the conventional billing information,

2 is a block diagram of a billing information transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a billing information transmission procedure according to a real time request between the exchange and the billing center of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a processing flow diagram according to a real time request of the charging task of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 through 9 are flowcharts of processing according to a non-real-time request of the charging task of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention transmits billing data in real time through a transmission line connected to a billing center, and processes billing information of each exchange at a billing center in order to implement a function corresponding to a request of various users. It was made. This function is referred to as "Central Automatic Message Accounting" function in the description of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted.

First, referring to FIG. 2, which shows a configuration of a billing information transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention, a MAP (Maintenance and Administration PC) 204 is connected to an exchange 200 and a billing center 202 as an X.25 interface. ). In addition to the main task 206, the charging task 208, the IPM (In / Out Process Module) 210, and the HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 212, the switch 200 may include an X.25 interface ( 214). The X.25 interface 214 is further configured for linking with the charging center 202 in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 2, the exchanger 200 is an example applied to “SDX-RB”, and parts that are not necessary for the description of the present invention are not shown and are omitted.

The main task 206 controls the charging task 208 for charging processing to the highest upper region of the system, and controls the IPM 210 for storing and retrieving the charging information for each subscriber. The billing task 208 calculates billing according to the subscriber registered in the exchange, and sends the generated data to the IPM 210 to be stored in the hard disk of the HDD 212. In addition, when a request command for billing information occurs in the billing center 202, it analyzes it and makes a data request to the IPM 210. The received data is stored in a temporary buffer and divided according to the transmission capacity. Transfer to billing center 202 through. The IPM 210 stores the charging information generated in the hard disk of the HDD 212, and serves to bring the charging information from the hard disk of the HDD 212 when the charging information is requested by the charging task 208. The MAP 204 connected with the main task 206 registers the frequency billing or detailed billing when the subscriber selects the billing specification.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the message transmission and reception intervals are divided for billing transmission functions, and are divided into two sections. One section is a section between the billing task 208 and the billing center 202, which is a function of connecting and releasing the billing task 208 and the billing center 202, and sending and receiving messages for various request commands. The request command of the charging center 202 is divided into a real time request command and a batch send request command. For the real-time request command, detailed charging information accumulated in real time and newly generated charging information are continuously transmitted to the charging center 202. For the non-real-time request, the relevant billing information is transmitted when requesting the desired information while connected to the billing center 202. There are six such non-real-time request commands: a connection request command, a release request command, a billing information request command, a detailed billing information request command, a billing file list request command, and an acknowledgment ACK command. The other section is a section between the billing task 208 and the IPM 210. When the billing center 202 requests information, it sends a request message to the IPM 210 to fetch the information from the system's hard disk. Information is received from the IPM 210.

In addition, as the CAMA transmission function, in the charging task 208 of the exchange system, a part of processing the above-described section-specific messages is implemented to implement a processing function for a given command with the charging center 202. The method of split transmission is adopted. This is a method of sending data that can be sent to the charging center 202 at one time by dividing it into a certain size by attaching a sequence number to match the internal capacity of the system.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a charging information transmission procedure according to a real time request between the exchanger 200 and the charging center 202 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. With reference to the following, a case where charging data is requested in real time from the charging center 202 to the exchange 200 is described. When there is a real time request from the charging center 202 in step 300 of FIG. 3, the charging task 208 first checks the first charging data file information stored in the system from the hard disk of the HDD 212 in step 400 of FIG. 4. Bring it. In step 402, the system fetches the data including the file through the IPM 210 again. Thereafter, the charging task 208 sends the file information to the charging center 202 in step 404 as in step 302. After receiving the ACK message transmitted in step 304 of FIG. 3 from the charging center 202, the charging task 208 divides the charging data and transmits the charging data to the charging center 202 in step 408. At this time, for example, it is divided into eighth. Thereafter, in step 410, the IPM 210 is requested to delete the first file of the system, and in step 412, it is checked whether the transmission of the entire billing file is completed. If the transfer is not completed, the next billing file is requested to the IPM 210 again in step 414 and the process proceeds to step 402 described above. As a result, the next file is read. The process of sending the data to the charging center 202 is then performed as described above, and the operation is repeated continuously. When the entire billing file of the system is transmitted in step 412, the next billing file is waited until a new billing file is newly generated in step 416. Then, if a new file is generated, the above process is repeated again from the above step (400). Through this process, the charging information is sent from the exchanger 200 to the charging center 202 in real time.

5-9 illustrate processing flows for non-real-time requests of the charging task 208 of FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 5 to 9, a case in which the charging center 202 requests charging data in the non-real time from the exchanger 200 side will be described.

First, the case of a connection request is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 5 which showed the process flow of the charging task 208 at the time of receiving a connection request command from the charging center 202. FIG. If the charging center 202 first sends a connection request command to send a request command, the charging task 208 displays the corresponding charging state for this in step 500 of FIG. 5 and waits after sending a response.

Second, a case of the release request will be described with reference to FIG. 6 which shows a processing flowchart of the charging task 208 in the case of receiving the release request command from the charging center 202. When the charging center 202 receives the necessary information and requests the release, the charging task 208 waits after initializing the corresponding charging portion in step 600 of FIG. 6.

Third, the case of the billing file list request will be described with reference to FIG. 7 which shows a processing flowchart of the billing task 208 when the billing file list request command is received from the billing center 202. FIG. If the billing center 202 only requires a list of billing files stored in the system, the billing task 208 obtains a list of billing files stored in the system via the IPM 210 in step 700 of FIG. In this case, the billing file list is divided and taken in consideration of the size of the message transmission and reception, and is divided and transmitted when the billing file list is transmitted to the billing center 202 in step 702. Here, the billing file list is divided into 64 pieces and imported. In step 704, it is checked whether the entire file list is completed. If the transfer has not been completed, the process is repeated again from the above-described step (700). If the transfer is completed, the transfer unit transmits a message indicating that there are no more files to the charging center 202 and waits for the next request command.

Fourth, a case of the detailed billing information request will be described with reference to FIG. 8 showing a processing flowchart of the billing task 208 in the case of receiving the detailed billing information request command from the billing center 202. FIG. When the billing center 202 requests only the detailed billing information stored in the system, the billing task 208 receives the information of the first file in steps 800 and 802 of FIG. 8 in the same manner as the real time request of FIG. And billing data for it from the system via IPM 210. Thereafter, the file information is transmitted to the charging center 202 in step 804, and after receiving an ACK message in step 806, the charging data is transmitted in step 808. Processing of steps 810 to 812 is the same as that of the above-described real time request instruction. However, after completing the transmission of the entire billing information of the system, unlike in FIG. 4 described above, do not wait for the creation of a new billing file, and transmits a message to the billing center 202 that there is no more billing information at step 816. Wait for the request command.

Fifth, a case of the frequency charging information request will be described with reference to FIG. 9 which shows a processing flowchart of the charging task 208 in the case of receiving the frequency charging information request command from the charging center 202. FIG. In the case where the charging center 202 requests only the frequency charging information stored in the system, the charging task 208 obtains the frequency charging data from the IPM 210 in step 900 of FIG. The billing information for the subscriber is transmitted to the billing center 202. Regulations vary by country, for example, in the case of Russia, 100 subscribers and 25 other members. Thereafter, if it is determined in step 904 that the transfer of the whole billing information is not completed, the process is repeated again from step 900, and after transmitting the billing information, the billing information no longer exists in step 906. Send a message to the charging center 202 and wait for the next request command.

Therefore, by adopting the billing CAMA transmission function of the present invention in the small and medium-sized exchange, it is possible to check in real time when managing billing data, and there is no possibility of information loss since it does not carry data directly by using an auxiliary storage medium. In addition, it is convenient and efficient by transmitting only the information required by the billing center. Accordingly, it is possible to easily respond to various requests for the billing information of the requestor based on this function in the future.

Meanwhile, in the above description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, the embodiment of the present invention has been shown to be applied to the SDX-RB, but also applies to other small and medium sized exchanger. Therefore, the scope of the invention should not be defined by the described embodiments, but should be defined by the equivalent of claims and claims.

As described above, the present invention can be confirmed in real time when managing billing data, and the possibility of information loss is reduced, and it is convenient and efficient by sending only the information required by the billing center.

Claims (12)

In the small and medium exchanger, A billing center that performs billing calculation and management and issues real-time demand orders of billing data; HDD having hard disk to store billing data, An IPM for storing the charging data generated at the exchange in a file format on the hard disk and importing the stored charging data; A charging task connected to the IPM and connected to a billing center through an X.25 interface to retrieve the billing data from the hard disk via the IPM and to the billing center in response to a real time request of billing data from the billing center; Billing information transmission system, characterized in that provided. The billing information transmission system according to claim 1, wherein the billing task divides the billing data, divides the billing data, and transmits the billing data to the billing center. In the small and medium exchanger, A billing center for billing calculation and management and generating real-time and non-real-time request orders of billing data; HDD having hard disk to store billing data, An IPM for storing the charging data generated at the exchange in a file format on the hard disk and importing the stored charging data; Connected to the charging center through an X.25 interface and fetching the charging data from the hard disk via the IPM in response to a real time request command or a non-real time request command of charging data from the charging center; Billing information transmission system, characterized in that it comprises a billing task for transmitting to. 4. The charging information transmitting system according to claim 3, wherein the non-real-time request command is a connection request command, a release request command, a charging file list request command, a detailed charging information request command, and a frequency charging information request command. 5. The billing information transmission system according to claim 4, wherein the billing task divides the billing data into pieces, divides the billing data, and sends the billing data to the billing center. Claims [1] A method of transmitting billing information in a small / medium exchanger connected to the billing center through an X.25 interface, comprising an accounting task and an IPM for storing the generated billing data in a file format and importing the stored billing data. Sending, by the charging center, a real time request command of charging data to the exchange; And charging the charging task from the hard disk via the IPM and transmitting the charging data to the charging center in response to the real time request command. The method of claim 6, Waiting for the new billing file to be generated after the billing task has completed the entire billing file transfer; And transmitting to the accounting center when the new accounting file is created. The method of claim 7, wherein Sending, by the charging center, a connection request command to the exchange as a non-real-time request command; And charging the waiting task after the charging task displays the corresponding charging status in response to the access request command and sends a response to the charging center. The method of claim 7, wherein Transmitting, by the charging center, a release request command to the exchange as a non-real-time request command; And charging the waiting task after the charging task initializes the corresponding charging portion in response to the release request command. The method of claim 7, wherein Sending, by the charging center, a charging file list request command to the exchange as a non-real-time request command; And in response to the charging file list request command, obtaining the list of charging files from the IPM, transmitting the charging file list to the charging center, and waiting for the next request command. The method of claim 7, wherein Transmitting, by the charging center, a detailed charging information request command to the exchange as a non-real time request command; And charging the billing task by retrieving the billing data from the IPM in response to the detailed billing information request command, transmitting the billing information to the billing center, and waiting for the billing information. The method of claim 7, wherein Sending, by the charging center, a non-real time request command to the exchange, The charging task further comprises the step of obtaining the billing data from the IPM in response to the billing request request to transmit the billing information for the subscriber as much as the prescribed value to the billing center and waiting for the billing information Transmission method.