KR20040042308A - Authenticating and billing method of data service of a limit subscriber, and the system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for authenticating and billing a data service of a limited subscriber and a system therefor are provided to easily control calls with respect to the limited subscriber without an additional system. CONSTITUTION: If a wireless terminal is connected, a PDSN(Packet Data Serving Node)(300) transmits a message to an authentication system(200) for using or stopping a certain data service. If a response message is received from the authentication system(200), the PDSN(300) transmits the corresponding response message to the wireless terminal, and provides or stops the corresponding data service. The PDSN(300) transmits user information to the authentication system(200) in real time. If a service use request message or a service stop request message is received, the authentication system(200) transmits the response message to the PDSN(300) and transmits a user billing log to a billing system(100). The billing system(100) receives the user billing log in real time, retrieves whether a user exceeds the limit, and transmits limit excess user information to the authentication system(200). The billing system(100) processes the billing of the wireless terminal.

Description

Authenticating and billing method of data service of a limit subscriber, and the system therefor}

The present invention relates to a method for authenticating and billing a subscriber's data service and a system therefor, and more particularly, to a method and system for authenticating and billing a subscriber's data service in a roaming environment of a wireless terminal.

In the conventional wireless terminal, voice service has become mainstream, and short message service (SMS) has been used as a data service.

However, due to the rapid development of the wireless communication environment, wireless terminals such as cellular phones, PCS, CDMA, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless LANs (WAPs) are increasingly equipped with Internet functions such as WAPs. Data services such as viewing and downloading data have been exploding.

Furthermore, in the case of data services, if the user wants to receive a desired service, a technology is provided to pay a certain amount in advance in order to receive a specific service within the available value, or even a non-prepaid data service. Needed the skills to receive.

As described above, some prior arts have been disclosed as a model for supporting prepaid subscriber processing.

1 is a diagram of a mobile communication network showing prepaid limit subscriber processing according to the prior art, wherein a wireless terminal user uses a base station (BTS) 1 and a base station controller (BSC) for data service (e.g. movie watching). When connecting to the PDSN (Packing Data Serving Node) (2) via the (2), the PDSN (3) sends an authentication request message to the authentication system (4), and vice versa, the authentication system (4) sends an authentication response message do.

The System Activation System (SAS) (8) is responsible for delivering new subscriber information to the Usage Data Aggregator (UDA) (5), and the Billing Mediation System (BMS) (9) is based on messages received from the UDA (5). Perform the settlement work.

On the other hand, the authentication system (4) transmits the billing information for the user who is connected to the UDA (5) as a billing log message, the UDA (5) receives the limit charge information message from the SCP (Service Control Point) (6) Perform limit fee calculation. If an information message is sent to SCP (6) for a user who has exceeded the limit, SCP (6) sends an information message to the MSC (Mobile services Switching Center) (7) to inform the user that it is currently connected. Request that the session be aborted.

The base station controller 2 performs the actual control task for the call termination request received from the mobile service switching center 7 to make the call interruption.

As described above, in the prior art, since the call interruption process for the user exceeding the limit is performed without passing through the authentication system 4 connected by the user, an additional limit management system SCP 6 is required.

Accordingly, the present invention facilitates call control for limit subscribers without additional system, and separates the billing log information for limit subscribers and handles authentication and billing to improve efficiency and system for the same. To provide.

1 is a block diagram showing a mobile communication network of prepaid subscriber subscriber processing according to the prior art.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile communication network of a data service authentication and billing system according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing in detail the authentication system according to the present invention.

4 is a configuration diagram showing in detail a packet data serving node.

5 is a configuration diagram showing in detail the billing system according to the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an account session table.

7 is a diagram illustrating a charging scenario for a limit prepaid subscriber in accordance with the present invention in a single network.

8 is a diagram illustrating a charging scenario for a general postpaid subscriber in accordance with the present invention in a single network.

9 is a diagram illustrating an example of message transmission in prepaid limit subscriber processing under DIAMETER, an AAA standard.

10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the charging log transmitted from the authentication system to the billing system.

** Brief description of the main parts of the drawing **

1: base station 2: base station controller

3, 300: packet data serving node or access device

4, 200: authentication system 5: use data aggregator

6: service control point 7: mobile service switching center

8: system activation system 9: billing relay system

100: billing system 400: subscriber processing system

To this end, the present invention, when the packet data serving node or access device is connected to the wireless terminal, transmits an authentication request message for this to the authentication system, the authentication system in response to the authentication request message to authenticate the service available The billing system retrieves the received billing log for the limit user and transmits the limit user information to the authentication system by the prepaid manager. When the authentication system receives the limit user information, the billing system stops using the session processing module. Send a request (session stop request) to the packet data serving node or access device to send a warning message to the wireless terminal to terminate the service, or the packet data serving node or access device receives a service end request message from the wireless terminal. Sends a termination request message to the authentication system. In response, the authentication system transmits an end-of-use message to the packet data serving node or access device so that the packet data serving node or access device terminates the data service, and the wireless terminal is using the data service and authenticates after the service is terminated. The system stores the billing information of the service and transmits the billing information to the billing system, and the billing system calculates the billing information and processes billing (billing) for each wireless terminal. Provide a system for this.

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

2 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile communication network of an authentication and billing system according to the present invention, wherein the billing system 100, the authentication system 200, a packet data serving node, or an access point are shown. 300 and subscriber processing system 400 are shown.

Subscriber processing system 400 is connected to a wireless terminal such as wireless LAN, PCS, CDMA, PDA, Cellularon and the like requesting the user's new subscription, unsubscription, change of subscriber information, billing system 100 and authentication system The entire subscriber information or limit subscriber information, or all information about the subscriber is passed to the 200.

The wireless terminal then connects to the packet data serving node or access point 300 to receive the data service. When the WLAN accesses, it accesses the access point (AccessPoint), and when the other mobile terminal (CDMA, etc.) accesses, it accesses the packet data serving node. Hereinafter, the packet data serving node 300 will be described with a concept including an access device.

When the wireless terminal connects to the PDSN 300 and logs in, the wireless terminal transmits an authentication request message to the authentication system 200 in the form of a diameter protocol message.

The authentication system 200 receives the authentication request message and enables the wireless terminal subscriber (user) to use the corresponding service through the authentication process, and while the subscriber is in use, the authentication system 200 stores the charging information of the corresponding service. And transmits the billing information to the billing system (100).

The billing system 100 transfers the over-limit information message to the authentication system 200 in real time for the user who has exceeded the limit while calculating the billing information for the user currently in use.

3 is a block diagram showing in detail the authentication system 200 according to the present invention, in which the authentication system 200 includes four tables: Peer, Session, Routing and Account Session ( Account Session table 210 and the NASREQ application 207 and hand-off capabilities for EAP-TLS authentication and compatibility with existing authentication protocols. Mobile IP application (208), subscriber DB (206) and the current user billing log DB (212), billing processing module, peer processing module, session processing module and application processing module (201 ~ 204) to support the ), And an event handler 205 and a prepaid watch manager 211.

The authentication message between the authentication system 200 and the PDSN 300 uses the Diameter protocol. The diameter will be described later (see FIG. 9).

The inter-module communication in the authentication system 200 is based on a queue-based event method, and the peer processing module 202 is a message closest to the TPC or STP layer (TCP or SCTP layer). Responsible for transmitting and receiving and error message retransmission, the session processing module 203 is a module that manages the session of the user currently being used through authentication, the account processing module 201 is its own account FMS (Finite State Machine) According to this module, the current user's billing information is obtained and a billing log is generated.

In particular, the account manager of the account processing module 201 searches the account queue AccountQ and, if an event is input, analyzes the event to determine whether it can be processed. If it can, it executes the command and moves to the next state, otherwise checks the account queue again. A series of processes in which an account manager analyzes an account queue and executes a predetermined command is performed while referring to an account FSM.

The account FMS of the authentication system 200 has two states, idle and open. As an example, there are three events (RECV_ACR_START, RECV_ACR_EVENT, and RECV_ACR_NO_SPACE) that can be received from children. If it encounters a RECV_ACR_START event, it will save the billing log, send an account response start answer, and perform an action of a time event.

The billing log DB 212 is generated by the account processing module 201, which is stored separately for the general subscriber and the limit subscriber.

The stored billing log DB 212 transmits the billing log to the billing system 100 by an accounting-log transfer process 209. The charging log transmitted from the authentication system 200 to the billing system 100 is shown in FIG. 10 as an example. The billing log includes information that can be used universally in WLAN and mobile communication, and in particular, the limit subscriber and the general subscriber are stored separately to facilitate real-time processing of the limit subscriber.

The billing system 100 transmits information (eg, NAI, etc.) about the user over limit to the Prepaid Check Process 213 of the billing log DB 212 to limit the subscriber DB 206. Note that you are an excess user. Here, NAI (Network Access Identifier) is an identifier similar to an ID used as an e-mail address and is used for routing, subscriber authentication, and authorization verification when a subscriber wants to receive a mobile communication service. This paper suggests ways to use the numbering system of pressure paper in the form of domain.

Meanwhile, the Prepaid Watch Manager 211 searches the currently used account session table 210 and, if there is a current user record, the subscriber DB 206. As a result of searching the DB 206, it is determined whether the current user is a limit subscriber and whether the limit has been exceeded, and if so, an event is sent to the session processing module 203 to generate a session abort request message.

In addition, an event handler 205 transmits an event message that manages the entire module to an event queue, respectively. In this case, the account session table 210 may have a structure as shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to Figure 6, the account session table 210 is based on the NAI primary key. sessionID acts as a secondary key to identify a user with NAI. All sessions have a different session key.

MultiSessionID is a session key that can be used as a reference key in mobile-IP environment and hand-off function while a user moves. If multiSessionID is the same, even if sessionID is different, it can be treated as one connected session.

lastAccountingRecordType refers to the last account record type that was last entered, and lastAccountingRecordNumber specifies the last sequence number of account records that are sequentially entered.

AcctInterimInterval is a value initially indicated by the authentication system 200 to the PDSN 300 and specifies a period in which the PDSN 300 transmits a charging message to the authentication system 200.

AccountingRealtimeRequired is an element based on the diameter standard and specifies the behavior of the PDSN 300 with respect to the authentication system 200, and may have values such as DELIVER_AND_GRANT, GRANT_AND_STORE, GRANT_AND_LOSE, and the like.

StatefullOrStateless is an element that specifies the state of the state machine (for example, Stateful or Stateless) for the current session, and nowState is a value that specifies the current state on the state machine.

4 is a block diagram showing the PDSN 300, which is similar to the authentication system 200 and conforms to the diameter standard.

The PDSN 300 has four modules: a peer processing module 302 that directly interfaces with a TCP layer, a session processing module 303 that manages session information of the current user, and an application 307 or 308. ), There is an application module 304 for dealing with each other, and an account module 301 for charging information. In particular, the account module 301 is a module for generating all billing information and generates all billing related messages for the current user, and allows its own finite state machine (FSM) to perform overall events and actions.

On the other hand, the event handler 305 is responsible for transmitting a message of the event management that manages the modules to each event queue. In addition, NASREQ application 307, MobileIP application 308 also plays a role in generating a message for each application while complying with the diameter standard.

5 is a block diagram showing a billing system 100 according to the present invention.

Billing system 100 supports five modules, namely, Filter Manager 101 for interface functions by supporting authentication system 200 and SCTP or TCP protocols, and prepaid for limit checking for limit subscribers. Prepaid Manager (103), Aggregation Manager (102) who is responsible for the overall aggregation of all billing information, Billing Manager (104) who performs settlement for the current user (104) And a Customer Data Manager 105 in charge of creating / deleting / changing subscriber information.

The filter manager 101 receives the billing information from the authentication system 200 and changes the structure to data in the form in which the billing system 100 processes billing. A general usage data record (UDR) is used. It may have a billing information type of Record). The billing information thus changed is stored in a filter queue (FilterQ) in the filter manager 101, the role for one message (billing information) is finished.

The aggregation manager 102 reads the billing information from the filter queue of the filter manager 101 and organizes the billing information using, for example, an NAI such as an e-mail address as a primary key. In particular, for limit subscribers among users, the limit check is performed by transmitting the information to the prepaidQ in the prepaid manager 103, and all the fund information is stored in the database 106. The database stores subscriber DB, limit, and general subscriber usage data record (UDR) DB.

The prefade manager 103 searches the prefade queue and the database 106 to check whether the current limit user is exceeded and, when exceeded, sends the limit user's information, for example NAI, to the authentication system 200. .

The subscriber data manager 105 is a module that is in charge of the generation, deletion, and change of subscriber information. The subscriber data manager 105 receives a subscriber's information from the subscriber processing system 400 and changes the database 106.

The billing manager 104 pays for the postpaid subscriber at the end of the month, and for the roaming user, the billing manager 104 is settled with the billing server of another service company.

So far, the present invention has been described with respect to each of the PDSN 300, the authentication system 200, and the billing system 100.

In the following, taking the present invention as an example of a prepaid subscriber limit user, a process of logging in, billing information delivery, and session termination will be described.

First, in the login process, a login connection is made to the PDSN 300 to use a specific data service through the wireless terminal. PDSN 300 then delivers an authentication request message DER to authentication system 200. The peer processing module 202 recognizes the authentication request message and delivers it to the session processing module 203. Subsequently, the peer processing module 202 confirms the user authentication through the application processing module 204 and the nasqueue application 207 to check the PDSN 300. And the PDSN 300 provides the wireless terminal for the user to receive data service.

Next, let's take a look at billing information transmission process and session termination process.

After the above-described login process, the wireless terminal user uses a predetermined data service for a predetermined time. At this time, the charging information is periodically transmitted, and it is necessary to control the use of the corresponding wireless terminal in real time and periodically.

Accordingly, the PDSN 300 periodically transmits a charging request (ACR) message to the authentication system 200. The peer processing module 202 determines the billing request message and transmits it to the account processing module 201. The account processing module 201 defines the current state according to the corresponding session ID and the account FSM and generates the billing log. Create The generated billing log is stored in the current user billing log database 212 and forwarded to the billing system 100 by the account log transfer process 209.

When the billing system 100 receives the billing log, the billing log is stored in the database 106 by the filter manager 101 and the aggregation manager 102, and the aggregation manager 102 charges the billing. It determines that the user of the log is a prepaid user and transfers the information to the prefade manager 103.

The prefade manager 103 checks the limit of the corresponding prepaid user and, when the limit is exceeded, passes the limit exceeding information to the prefade check process 213 of the authentication system 200.

When the prefade check process 213 of the authentication system 200 receives the information about the over limit user from the billing system 100, it stores the over limit information in the subscriber database 206 via the interface (API). .

The prepaid watch manager 211 periodically searches the subscriber DB 206 and the account session table 210 and finds a user who is present in the session table and at the same time subscribed to the subscriber DB 206 with exceeded information. (203) Send an event to generate this session interrupt request (ASR) message.

The session processing module 203 sends a session abort request (STR) message to the PDSN 300, which in turn sends an alert message to the wireless terminal, sending a session abort response (ASA) message as its response.

When the PDSN 300 receives the session termination response (STA) message from the authentication system 200, the PDSN 300 finally transmits a charging request (ACR) stop message to the authentication system 200, and performs peer processing module 202 and account processing. The billing log is communicated to the billing system 100 via the module 201 and the account log transfer process 209.

The account processing module 201 generates an ACA-STOP message and delivers it to the PDSN 300. When the PDSN 300 finally receives the ACA-STOP message, it stops the service.

The log process, the billing information transfer process, and the session termination process according to the present invention have been described above. However, the service interruption may be configured such that PDSN 300 may stop the service when there is a warning message or a session termination response (STA) message.

Next, a method of processing a prepaid limit subscriber according to the present invention and a billing method when the limit subscriber receives a service in a roaming environment will be described.

As an example, in the case of a prepaid limit, a predetermined amount may be set by time or period, and in the case of a postpaid rate, it may be set by a time or a packet, and any other prepaid item may be applied by setting other criteria.

The present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 for charging scenarios for limit prepaid subscribers and general postpaid subscribers in a single network.

7 is a diagram illustrating a charging scenario for a limit prepaid subscriber.

Using a wireless terminal, a user logs in, or attempts to connect, to PDSN 300 in order to receive certain data services. The PDSN 300 requests authentication by sending an authentication message to the authentication system 200, and the authentication system 200 receives the predetermined data service through the authentication process via the PDSN 300. Allow login (access) so that you can Once connected, you will receive data services from the wireless terminal.

In addition, while using the data service, the PDSN 300 transmits user information (subscriber information) to the authentication system 200 in real time, and the authentication system 200 stores the charging information of the corresponding service of the user and at the same time, the corresponding billing information ( Billing system 100 in the form of billing log. The PDSN 300 receives the subscriber (user) information from the subscriber processing system 400 as described above with reference to FIG. 2.

The billing system 100 receives the user billing log from the authentication system 200 in real time and searches the limit user among the current users in real time to retrieve the over-limit user information (for example, NAI) from the prefade manager 103. To the authentication system 200.

When the authentication system 200 receives the user information exceeding the limit, the session processing module 203 sends a user stop request (session stop request) to the PDSN 300 so that the wireless terminal user can receive a warning message. do.

You can stop the data service in use by the session stop request, or stop it after a certain period of time after the session stop request, and after you receive the warning message, try to log out (request to terminate the use) and after the request is accepted Can be configured to stop. Naturally, after the service is terminated, the user information and the user billing log are transmitted (FIG. 7).

The charging scenario for a general postpaid subscriber is that the wireless terminal user attempts to log in and authenticates, except that the billing system 100 detects exceeding the limit and sends a session stop request message accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8. The user information and the user billing log are transmitted in real time while the service is in use as shown in FIG. 7.

Therefore, the billing for the general postpaid subscriber is settled at a predetermined settlement time (eg at the end of the month).

9 is a diagram illustrating an example of message transmission in prepaid limit subscriber processing under DIAMETER, an AAA standard.

Here, AAA means authentication, authorization, and accounting. It is a function that performs authentication, authorization verification, and billing information management when mobile subscribers use the Internet for mobile Internet service. It also supports services. There are two methods for supporting AAA: RADIUS (Remote Access Dial-In User Service) in a single network and Diameter based in multiple networks.

Diameter is a protocol for transmitting AAA-related messages and extends the client-server model of RADIUS to provide a peer-to-peer model.

When the wireless terminal user attempts to connect (log in) to receive a specific data service, the PDSN 300 transmits an authentication request message DER (Diameter Eap-Request) to the authentication system 200, and the authentication system undergoes an authentication process. The authentication request response message DEA (Diameter Eap Request) is transmitted to the PDSN (300).

PDSN 300 then begins to provide the particular data service to the wireless terminal user. In addition, the user billing information message (ACR: Account Request START message) is transmitted to the authentication system (200).

The authentication system 200 generates a billing log based on the user billing information message (ACR-START) and transmits the billing system 100 to the billing system 100, and transmits an ACR message transmission period (Acct-Interim-Interval) to the PDSN 300. To pass. The PDSN 300 transmits the charging related information to the authentication system 200 at a corresponding interval according to the transmission period.

As shown in FIG. 9, the billing system 100 transmits a corresponding signal to the authentication system 200 when the limit of a particular subscriber is exceeded while checking the user's limit, and the authentication system 200 sends an Abort Session Request (ASR). The message is sent to the PDSN 300 so that the PDSN 300 terminates the service.

The PDSN 300 sends a session termination response (STR) message to the authentication system 200 to request service termination, and when the termination acceptance signal is received through the STA, the service of the user exceeding the limit is stopped.

Finally, the last charging message is transmitted through the ACR-STOP message.

The present invention has been described in detail above. However, it is not necessary that the person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make the modification within the scope of the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the authentication system provides an effect of facilitating limit subscriber processing by allowing the authentication system to directly control and transmit call control to the limit subscriber without an additional separate system.

According to the present invention, by separating the billing log information for the limit subscriber and the general subscriber to process authentication and billing, it provides an effect of improving the efficiency of billing information processing, and provides an effect of reducing the processing time for the limit subscriber do.

According to the present invention, the authentication system and the billing system are separated to provide an authentication method and a billing method that the authentication system and billing system independently produced by different operators can work together.

Claims (4)

In the method of authentication and billing of the subscriber's data service, When the wireless terminal connects, the packet data serving node or the access device 300 transmits an authentication request message to the authentication system 200, and the authentication system 200 authenticates the service to be available in response to the authentication request message. Process, The billing system 100 retrieves the received billing log for the limit user and transmits the limit user information to the authentication system 200 by the prefade manager 103, and the authentication system 200 transmits the limit user information to the limit user. Upon receipt, the session processing module 203 transmits a discontinuation request (session stop request) to the packet data serving node or the access device 300 to transmit a warning message to the wireless terminal to terminate the service, or to transmit the packet data. When the serving node or the access device 300 receives the service termination request message from the wireless terminal, the serving node or the connection device 300 transmits the termination request message to the authentication system 200, and the authentication system 200 sends a usage termination message as a response to the packet data serving node. Alternatively, the packet data serving node or the connection device 300 terminates the data service by transmitting to the connection device 300. Process, After the wireless terminal is using the data service and terminates the service, the authentication system 200 stores the charging information of the corresponding service and transmits the charging information to the billing system 100, and the billing system 100 calculates the charging information to calculate the wireless terminal. Billing (billing) processing by each process, characterized in that the authentication and billing method of the subscriber's data service. In the method of authenticating and billing a subscriber's data service, The packet data serving node or the access device 300 transmits an authentication request message to the authentication system 200 when the wireless terminal makes a connection request to receive a predetermined data service, and the authentication system 200 responds to the authentication process. Transmitting an authentication response message to the packet data serving node or access device 300 via the packet data serving node or access device 300, and allowing the access to the wireless terminal to receive a data service; The packet data serving node or access device 300 transmits user information to the authentication system 200 in real time while the service is in use, and the authentication system 200 transmits corresponding billing information (billing log) to the billing system 100. Process, The billing system 100 retrieves the received billing log for the limit user and transmits the exceeded limit user information to the authentication system 200 by the prefade manager 103, and the authentication system 200 exceeds the limit user. Upon receiving the information, the session processing module 203 sends a stop request (session stop request) to the packet data serving node or the access device 300 to send a warning message to the wireless terminal to terminate the service, or After transmitting the warning message, when the packet data serving node or the access device 300 receives the service termination request message from the wireless terminal, the packet data serving node or the access device 300 transmits a termination request message to the authentication system 200, and the authentication system 200 terminates use as a response. Send the message to the packet data serving node or access point 300 to send the packet data serving node or access point. Process 300 terminates the data service and, When the data service is terminated, the packet data serving node or the access device 300 transmits user information to the authentication system 200, and the authentication system 200 transmits the corresponding billing information to the billing system 100, thereby billing system. (100) A method of authenticating and billing a data service of a limit subscriber, characterized in that the billing process is analyzed for each wireless terminal by analyzing the billing information. In the limiting subscriber's data service authentication and billing system, the system is composed of a billing system 100, an authentication system 200 and a packet data serving node or access device 300, When the wireless terminal is connected, the packet data serving node or the access device 300 transmits a message to the authentication system 200 to use or stop a predetermined data service and receives a response message from the authentication system 200 as a response thereto. A packet data serving node or access device that transmits the response message to the wireless terminal to provide or stop the corresponding service, and transmits user information to the authentication system 200 in real time; The authentication system 200 transmits a response message to the packet data serving node or access device 300 through an authentication process when a service use or stop request message is received, and transmits a user billing log to the billing system 100. System, Billing system 100 is characterized in that the billing system for receiving the user billing logs in real time and then search whether the limit is exceeded for each user to send the user information exceeding the limit to the authentication system 200, and also billing processing for each wireless terminal Authorization and billing systems for subscriber data services. 4. The authentication of the subscriber's data service according to claim 3, wherein at least two of the billing system 100, the authentication system 200, and the packet data serving node or the connection device 300 are integrated into one system. And billing system.