KR20010094585A - Method of processing limit/free charge by prediction of remainder in AIN system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for processing limit amount/free charging data using the estimation of a balance vanishing time in an intelligent network system is provided to exactly estimate a balance vanishing time in consideration of a change of charging data according to time periods and to reduce the load of a system, due to billing calculation, using a timer. CONSTITUTION: If an SSP(Service Switching Point) requests an SLEB(Service Logic Execution subsystem Block) to process an initial DP, the SLEB requests an SDPS(Service Data Processing Subsystem) to send an initial DP request subscriber's limit amount/free billing information. The SDPS searches a subscriber database for limit amount or free charging data and transfers the data to the SLEB. In case that the data are about limit amount, the SLEB interrupts the initial DP if the balance exceeds limit amount. In case that the data are about free charging and limit amount remains, the SLEB stores the charging information data in a call context. Then the SLEB requests charging for the initial DP to a CB(Charging Block). At the same time, the SLEB transmits a connect message to the SSP.

Description

The method of processing limit / free charge by prediction of remainder in AIN system}

The present invention relates to a method of processing a limit or free billing in an intelligent network system, and more particularly, to a method of processing a limit amount or free billing by predicting a balance exhaustion time.

In general, the intelligent network system is intended to provide a variety of new services and more convenient to subscribers and users, the service implementation and the implementation of the network can be independent of each other in the environment where many service providers and communication equipment manufacturers exist. To ensure that However, the services provided by the current network are controlled uniformly by the exchange. Therefore, in order to satisfy the various needs of telephone subscribers and network operators, each time a new service is provided, the operation of the exchanges of the network is required, thereby providing a new service. There is this difficult problem. In order to solve this problem, the International Standardization Organization (ITU-T) has steadily promoted the standardization of the intelligent network system and published standardization standards such as ITU Capability Set-1 (CS-1) and CS-2.

In the case of processing billing in such an intelligent network system, there is a problem in that a lot of load is applied to the system since the billing time is calculated by calculating billing for every frequency. In addition, when calculating the balance of time spent in advance, there was a problem in that it was not possible to calculate the exact time of exhaustion because it did not reflect the change in billing according to the time zone.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention accurately estimates the exhaustion time in consideration of the change of billing according to the time zone, and estimates the balance exhaustion time in the intelligent network system that can reduce the load of the system due to the billing calculation using a timer. The purpose is to provide the limit / free billing method used.

1 is a block diagram showing a general intelligent network system suitable for the present invention,

2 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for processing a limit / free charge according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of calculating a balance exhaust time according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

100a, 100b: service management system 102, 112: RDBMS

110-1 to 110-n: Service control system 104,114: Dual LAN

116a, 116b: front end processor 120: SS7 signal network

122: intelligent peripheral device 130: public telephone network

132: intelligent network switch 140: X.25 network

150: card inquiry system

In order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention, in the intelligent network system, the step of retrieving the limit amount / free billing data of the subscriber during the new call processing; Calculating a balance exhaust time by referring to the retrieved limit / free charge data; Driving a timer according to the calculated balance exhaust time; And terminating the connection when the timer expires during the connection.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an intelligent network system according to the present invention, wherein the intelligent network system is a service management system (SMP: 100a, 100b) in charge of subscriber / service management and system operation and service logic performance and data. Caller 134 connected to the public telephone network (PSTN: 130) consisting of a service control system (SCP 110-1 ~ 110-n) to handle the signal processing in conjunction with the SS7 signal network 120 ) And the called party 136 may provide a variety of new services. Here, the service management system (100a, 100b) and the service control system (110-1 ~ 110-n) includes a relational database (RDBMS; 102, 112), the service control system (110-1 ~ 110-n) Separate pretreatment systems (FEP: 116a, 116b) are included. In addition, each system installs and operates a subsystem in charge of the function to handle the assigned function. The services provided by the intelligent network system platform include virtual private network service (VPN) and advanced incoming billing service (AFS). , Personal number service (PN), number porting service (NP), card family service (calling card, prepaid card, credit card), and 3rd party billing service.

Referring to FIG. 1, a public telephone network (PSTN) 130 includes an intelligent network switch (SSP: 132), and is connected to an intelligent network system through an SS7 signal network 120, and an intelligent peripheral device (SS7) is connected to the SS7 signal network 120. IP) is connected. The card lookup system 150 is then connected to the Service Control System (SCP) via the X.25 network 140.

The service management system (SMP: 100a, 100b) includes an operation management subsystem (OMS), a service management subsystem (SMS), and a service data processing subsystem (SDPS). Service control system (SCP: 110-1 ~ 110-n) consists of operation management subsystem (OMS: Operation & Maintenance Subsystem), service processing subsystem (SLES: Service Logic Execution Subsystem), service data management sub It consists of a system (SDPS: Service Data Processing Subsystem) and a Signal Processing Subsystem (SPS).

A subscriber database, a system management database, and a call ticket database are constructed in the service management system (SMP: 100a, 100b), and a subscriber database is constructed in the service control system (SCP: 110a, 110b).

In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the system management terminal and the service management terminal are connected to the dual LAN bus 104 of the service management system (SMP) to display various information related to system operation and service operation information through a graphical user interface (GUI). In addition, this GUI allows the operator or operator to perform operation-related control functions and service management. The subscriber management terminal connected to the dual LAN bus 114 of the service control system (SCP) performs functions related to subscriber information such as new generation, deletion, and change of subscriber information of the subscriber. Can be done.

In addition, the service management system (SMP: 100a, 100b) of the intelligent network system is doubled in a primary / secondary structure, and the service control system (SCP: 110-1 ~ 110-n) is doubled in an N + 1 structure. Primary / Secondary Structure of SMP System Primary SMP performs service, subscriber management, and billing processing, which are the main functions of SMP system, while Secondary SMP performs the function of Primary SMP when Primary SMP fails. Says to do. SCP's N + 1 structure is to prepare additional equipment to prepare for future failures in the system, and even if one equipment fails, the spare equipment replaces the work of the failed equipment to ensure the performance of the entire system. At this time, the backup system provides a function of load sharing in a steady state.

As described above, the intelligent network system to which the present invention is applied is a load sharing method having an (N + 1) structure, and the service control system (SCP) is a post-processing system (110-1 to 110-n) and a preprocessing system (FEP). : 116a, 116b). The preprocessing systems 116a and 116b handle functions of interfacing with the signal network such as the SS # 7 protocol stack and the intelligent network application protocol (INAP). And SMP (100a, 100b) managing the SCP (110-1 ~ 110-n) of the N + 1 structure manages the shape of the entire intelligent network service system, and the service information installed for each SCP and the load balance value for each SCP Deliver to pretreatment system. This load balance value is determined by considering the status, system status, and system performance of services installed for each SCP in the SMP (100a, 100b).

In this configuration, in the general call forwarding procedure, the intelligent network call to the SSP 132 is transmitted to the preprocessing system (FEP) 116a and 116b via the SS # 7 signal network 120. Subsequently, the call delivered to the INAP processing block via the SS # 7 stack of the preprocessing system (FEP) is determined by the service delimiter, and SCP (110-1 to 110-n) to be processed by the load balance table.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for processing a limit / free charge according to the present invention.

In the present invention, when providing a free billing or limit service in the period, talk time, amount, etc. in the intelligent network service, when the timer is set after estimating the balance exhaustion time by the remaining period or talk time, amount, etc. To end a call or to end a free charge.

However, in the case of telephone charges, the rate may vary depending on the date and time zone, so it is necessary to consider the change in the time zone being charged in order to predict the exact balance exhaustion time. The present invention makes a list of changes in time zones to be generated starting from the current time first, and then calculates the balance by using the remaining time and the remaining amount in each time zone until the amount is exhausted. The estimated time is then used to set the timer and the process of running out of balance when the timer expires.

Referring to FIG. 2, a service related to charging in call processing includes a message between an intelligent network switch (SSP), a service logic execution block (SLEB), a charging block (CB), a timer processing block (TMB), and a database system (SDPS). This is done while exchanging data. When the SSP requests an initial DP processing to the service logic execution block SLEB, the service logic execution block SLEB sends the database system SDPS the limit / free charge information of the new call requesting subscriber. request. The database system (SDPS) retrieves the limit or free billing data from the subscriber-specific database and delivers it to the service logic execution block (SLEB). The service logic execution block (SLEB) recognizes the limit / free charge information and blocks new calls when the limit is exceeded and the free amount is exceeded. If the limit is left or free charge, the charge information data is stored in the call context. do. Subsequently, the billing block CB is requested for a new call, and a connect message is transmitted to the SSP. The new call then connects and billing begins. The balance exhaust time is calculated in accordance with the present invention at the start of charging, thus requesting timer setting in the timer processing block TMB. If the timer expires in the timer processing block (TMB) during the connection, the charging block (CB) checks the limit / free charge setting amount and then updates the data through the database system (SDPS). Announces that there is no remainder, and immediately blocks the access if an immediate block is set. If not blocked immediately, proceed with other costly procedures.

As described above, according to the present invention, if the balance exhaust time can be accurately predicted at the start of the call, the timer can be set and processed, so that the billing calculation does not have to be performed for each frequency, thereby reducing the load on the system. In addition, the user can be notified of the exact time of exhaustion by predicting the exact balance time of exhaustion according to the algorithm described below.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of accurately calculating a balance exhaust time according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a billing table is determined from a service, a service type, a call type, operator information, and a subscriber type (301). Next, a list of date types starting with the current date is determined, and a list of time zones starting with the current time is determined (302 and 303). The billing band is determined according to the date type and time zone determined as described above (304).

Subsequently, the frequency of one frequency and the frequency of the frequency of the current time period are determined, and the frequency of money reflecting the discount and the tax rate is calculated (305, 306). The remaining time of the current time zone and the total remaining amount are calculated, and the amount of money is calculated by dividing the remaining amount by the number of degrees (307,308). Subsequently, a time frequency obtained by dividing the remaining time of the current time zone by one frequency time is calculated, and it is determined whether the time frequency exceeds the amount of money frequency (309, 310). If the frequency of time does not exceed the amount of money, in step 311, the call time and billing amount up to the current time zone are calculated by adding the currency up to the previous time, the billing time in the current time zone, and the billing amount, and then performing steps 305 to 310. Repeat. In step 310, if the time frequency exceeds the amount of money, the sum of the talk time to the previous time zone, the billed amount of money in the current time zone, the billed amount is calculated, and then the total call time and billed amount is calculated (312).

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load of the system by not having to calculate the billing for each frequency by setting the timer by accurately predicting the balance exhaustion time at the start of the call, and the rate according to the date and the time zone. By accurately predicting the balance exhaust time in consideration of the change, the user can be notified of the exact time of exhaustion.

Claims (4)

In the intelligent network system, Retrieving limit / free billing data of the subscriber when the new call is processed; Calculating a balance exhaust time by referring to the retrieved limit / free charge data; Driving a timer according to the calculated balance exhaust time; And When the timer expires during the connection comprises the step of terminating the connection characterized in that the limit amount / free billing processing method using the balance exhaust time prediction in the intelligent network system. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating of the balance exhaust time Limit / free billing processing method using the prediction of the balance exhaustion time in the intelligent network system, characterized in that to calculate the balance exhaustion time by predicting the rate difference according to the date and time in advance based on the current time. The method of claim 2, wherein calculating the balance exhaust time Prediction of balance depletion time in the intelligent network system, which makes a list of changes in the future time zone starting from the current time at the beginning of billing, and calculates the remaining time and the remaining money in each time zone until the amount is exhausted. Limit / free billing method using. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the limit / free charge processing method is When the limit amount / free charge is exhausted, the limit amount / free charge processing method using the prediction of the balance exhaustion time in the intelligent network system, characterized in that it further comprises the step of notifying the limit amount / free charge exhaustion through the announcement to the subscriber.