KR20040042310A - Authenticating and billing method of data service of a limit subscriber in mobile telecommunication network of a different kind, and the system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for authenticating and billing a data service of a limited subscriber in heterogeneous mobile communication networks and a system therefor are provided to reduce a process time of the limited subscriber by separating billing log information about the limited subscriber and a general subscriber and processing authentication and billing. CONSTITUTION: If a wireless terminal of A-company is connected, a PDSN(Packet Data Serving Node)(300b) of B-company transmits a message to an authentication system(200b) of B-company for using or stopping a certain data service. If a response message is received from the authentication system(200b), the PDSN(300b) transmits the corresponding response message to the wireless terminal of A-company, and provides or stops the corresponding data service. The PDSN(300b) transmits user information to the authentication system(200b) in real time. If a service use request message or a service stop request message is received, the authentication system(200b) transmits the received message to an authentication system(200a) of A-company. The authentication system(200b) receives a response message from the authentication system(200a), and transmits the received response message to the PDSN(300b). The authentication system(200b) transmits billing log information and user information to a billing system(100b) of B-company and the authentication system(200a) in real time. If a use or release request message of the authentication system(200b) is received, the authentication system(200a) transmits the response message to the authentication system(200b). The authentication system(200a) transmits billing log information to a billing system(100a) of A-company in real time. The billing system(100a) receives user billing log information in real time, retrieves whether a user exceeds the limit, and transmits limit excess user information to the authentication system(200a). The billing system(100a) processes the billing of the wireless terminal of A-company, and performs settlement with the billing system(100b).

Description

Authenticating and billing method of data service of a limit subscriber in mobile telecommunication network of a different kind, and the system therefor}

The present invention relates to a method for authenticating and billing a subscriber's data service in a heterogeneous mobile communication network and a system therefor.

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 devices such as cellular phones, PCS, CDMA, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and wireless LANs (WAPs) are gradually adding music and movies to the Internet. 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.

In addition, even if a data service is provided to a user of a wireless terminal in a single network, there is a disadvantage in that data service between different mobile communication networks cannot be provided.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for authenticating and billing a subscriber's data service in a heterogeneous mobile communication network, and a system therefor, thereby reducing the economic expenditure by establishing a separate system according to roaming of the data service for each mobile carrier. There is a purpose.

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 in a single network.

3 is a configuration diagram showing the authentication system in detail.

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

5 is a configuration diagram showing the billing system in detail.

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

7 is a configuration diagram illustrating an authentication and billing system for heterogeneous mobile communication networks.

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

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

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, 300a, 300b: packet data serving node or access device

4, 200, 200a, 200b: authentication system 5: use data aggregator

6: service control point 7: mobile service switching center

8: system activation system 9: billing relay system

100, 100a, 100b: billing system 400: subscriber processing system

To this end, according to the present invention, when the wireless terminal of the company A makes a connection request, the packet data serving node or the connection device of the company B transmits an authentication request message to the authentication system of the company B, and the authentication system of the company B authenticates the authentication system of the company A. A company's authentication system authenticates B to transmit the authentication result to B's authentication system, and when B's authentication system receives the authentication result message, it transmits the authentication result to B's packet data serving node or access device. Company's packet data serving node or access device grants access to Company B's wireless terminal; Company B's packet data serving node or access device transmits user information to Company B's authentication system, and Company B's authentication system Transfer billing information (billing log) to B's billing system, and at the same time B's authentication system The report is sent to A's authentication system, and A's authentication system sends the billing log to A's billing system, and A's billing system is found to be over the limit. A service request is sent to Company B's packet data serving node or access device, and the Company's packet data serving node or access device terminates the service by sending a warning message to Company A's wireless terminal, or A When the wireless terminal of the company receives a service termination request message from the wireless terminal of the company A in response to the warning message, the packet data serving node or the connection device of the company B, the data service is terminated through the same process as the authentication process, and the data service When is completed, the process is the same as the transmission process Authorization and billing of limit subscriber's data service in heterogeneous mobile communication network, which transfers billing information (billing log) of service to billing system of company B, billing system of company A analyzes billing information and bills by wireless terminal. It provides a method and a system for the same.

The present invention also provides an authentication and billing system for subscriber data services in a heterogeneous mobile communication network in which two or more of B or A's billing system, authentication system, and packet data serving node or access device are integrated into one system. do.

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

2 is a block diagram of an authentication and billing system in a single network, including a billing system 100, an authentication system 200, a packet data serving node or an access point 300, and a subscriber. Processing system 400 is 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 a wireless LAN is connected, it is connected to an access point (Access Point), and when other mobile terminals (CDMA, etc.) are connected, it is connected to a 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 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.

For reference, Diameter is a protocol for transmitting AAA-related messages, and it is a protocol for providing a peer-to-peer model by extending the client-server model of RADIUS, and AAA is authentication. ), Authorization verification, and accounting. It is a function that performs authentication, authorization verification, and billing information management functions when mobile subscribers use the Internet for mobile Internet service. There are two methods for supporting AAA: RADIUS (Remote Access Dial-In User Service) in a single network and Diameter based in multiple networks.

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 corresponding information to the prepaidQ in the prepaid manager 103, and all the billing 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.

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 services.

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). .

If the prepaid watch manager 211 periodically searches the subscriber DB 206 and the account session table 210 and finds a user who exists in the session table and has exceeded the limit information in the subscriber DB 206, the session processing module (203) Send an event to generate this session interrupt request (ASR) message.

The session processing module 203 sends a session stop request (STR) message to the PDSN 300, and the PDSN 300 sends a warning message to the wireless terminal while sending a session stop response (ASA) message as the 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.

So far, the PDSN 300, the authentication system 200, and the billing system 100 of the present invention have been described.

Next, based on what we've described so far, we'll look at authentication and billing methods in heterogeneous networks in more detail.

Next, a charging scenario for a limit prepaid subscriber and a general postpaid subscriber in a heterogeneous network will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9.

7 is a configuration diagram illustrating an authentication and billing system for heterogeneous mobile communication networks.

7 shows billing systems 100a and 100b, authentication systems 200a and 200b, and PDSN 300a in the mobile communication networks (networks) of A and B, and although not shown in the drawings, each system is connected to each other. Or connected for control.

8 and 9 are diagrams illustrating charging scenarios for limit and general subscribers in heterogeneous networks, which are examples of connecting to PDSN 300b of Company B with a wireless terminal of Company A. FIG.

Using a wireless terminal of Company A, a user logs in, or attempts to connect, to Company B's PDSN 300b to receive a predetermined data service. The PDSN 300b of Company B sends an authentication message to the authentication system 200b to request authentication, and the authentication system 200b requests authentication of A company's authentication system 200a. Then, the authentication system 200a of the company A sends the authentication result to the authentication system 200b of the company B through the authentication process and logs in to allow the wireless terminal user to receive a predetermined data service via the PDSN 300b. Access). Once connected, company A's wireless terminal receives data service.

Meanwhile, while using the data service, the PDSN 300b transmits user information (subscriber information) to the authentication system 200b in real time, and the authentication system 200b stores the charging information of the corresponding service of the user and at the same time, the charging information. (User Billing Log) is sent to billing system 100b in the form of billing log. At the same time, company B's authentication system 200b transmits the user information to Company A's authentication system 200a and transmits the user's billing log to Company A's billing system 100a. It is natural that the user information and billing information log is transmitted in real time while the user of the wireless terminal is using the service in real time.

The billing system 100a then searches in real time for the limit user among the current users and transmits the over-limit user information (e.g., NAI) to the authentication system 200a. 200b) send the current user suspension request (session stop request).

When the authentication system 200b receives the user information exceeding the limit, the user discontinue request (session stop request) is transmitted to the PDSN 300b so that the wireless terminal user of Company A can receive the warning message.

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.

Even in the case of logout (end of use request), the authentication system 200a, 200b sends and receives a request signal to each other, and even after the service is terminated, user information and user billing log are billed with the A and B company authentication systems 200a, 200b. Naturally, it is transmitted to the systems 100a and 100b.

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 100a detects exceeding the limit and sends a session stop request message accordingly, as shown in FIG. As described in FIG. 8, the user information and the user billing log are transmitted in real time while the result is transmitted and the service is in use.

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

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.

The present invention 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.

In addition, the present invention separates the billing log information for the limit subscriber and the general subscriber to process the authentication and billing, reducing the processing time for the limit subscriber, and provides the effect that heterogeneous authentication system and billing system can work together. do.

Claims (3)

In the heterogeneous mobile communication network, in the authentication and billing method of the limit subscriber's data service, when the wireless terminal of Company A makes a connection request, the packet data serving node or connection device 300b of Company B sends an authentication request message to the authentication system of Company B ( 200b) and the B company's authentication system 200b requests the A company's authentication system 200a to authenticate, and the A company's authentication system 200a authenticates the B company's authentication system 200b to transmit the authentication results. And, when the authentication system 200b of the company B receives the authentication result message, the authentication result is transmitted to the packet data serving node or the connection device 300b of the company B, and the packet data serving node or the connection device 300b of the company B is wireless. The process of granting access to the terminal, and the packet data serving node or connection device 300b of the company B transmits user information to the authentication system 200b of the company B, and authenticates the company of B. The system 200b transmits the billing information (billing log) of the corresponding service to the billing system 100b of the company B. At the same time, the authentication system 200b of the company B transmits the user information to the authentication system 200a of the company A. The company's authentication system 200a transmits the billing log to the company A's billing system 100a, and the company A's billing system 100a detects that the user has exceeded the limit. The system 200b sends a stop request message to the packet data serving node or the access point 300b of the company B, and the packet data serving node or the access point 300b of the company B sends a warning message to the wireless terminal of the company A. To terminate the service, or with the wireless terminal of Company A, in response to the warning message, the service termination request message from the wireless terminal of When the packet data serving node or the access device 300b receives the data service through the same process as the authentication process, and when the data service is terminated, the billing information of the corresponding service is performed through the same process as the transmission process. The billing log) is transmitted to billing system 100b of B company, and billing system 100a of company A analyzes billing information and processes billing for each wireless terminal. Authentication and billing methods of services. In the authentication and billing system of the subscriber's data service in a heterogeneous mobile communication network, the system includes a plurality of billing systems (100a, 100b), authentication systems (200a, 200b) and packet data serving nodes or connections in each mobile communication network. The device 300b, the B data packet serving node or the connection device 300b transmits a message to the B authentication system 200b to use or stop a predetermined data service when the A terminal wireless terminal is connected. In response to this, when receiving a response message from the authentication system 200b, the response message is transmitted to the wireless terminal of the company A to provide or stop the corresponding service, and also to transmit the user information to the authentication system of the B company 200b in real time. Data serving node or access device, and company B's authentication system (200b) requires service use or interruption. When a message is sent, the message is transmitted to the authentication system 200a of the company A, and in response thereto, the response message is received from the authentication system 200a of the company A and transmitted to the packet data serving node or the connection device 300b of the company B. The log and the user information is an authentication system that transmits in real time to the billing system 100b of B company and the authentication system 200a of company A, and the authentication system 200a of company A requests to use or release the authentication system 200b of B company. When receiving a message through the authentication process for this, the response message is transmitted to the authentication system (200b) of the company B, and the authentication system for transmitting the billing log to the billing system (100a) of the company A in real time, A's billing system (100a) receives the user billing logs in real time and then search whether the limit is exceeded for each user and transmits the user information exceeding the limit to A's authentication system (200a), and also billed by A's wireless terminal A billing system and a billing system for limiting subscriber's data services in a heterogeneous mobile communication network, characterized in that the billing system 100b is billed by B Company. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein two or more of billing systems, authentication systems, and packet data serving nodes or connection devices of Company B or Company A are merged into one system. Certification and Billing System.