KR20180069470A - Method and apparatus for calculating roaming charge in mobile communication - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a settlement method for roaming charges. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the settlement method for roaming charges of a user terminal by a home network device comprises the steps of: registering a roaming settlement book of a user terminal in a block chain; and transmitting an address of the block chain in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal. A visitor network device receives the address of the block chain from the user terminal when accessing a visitor network of the user terminal and transmits usage data of the user terminal in the visitor network to the block chain according to the address of the block chain to record a usage amount of the user terminal in the roaming settlement book. Therefore, the settlement method allows quick settlement of roaming charges.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for mobile communication roaming fee settlement,

The present invention relates to the field of roaming charge settlement in a mobile communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for accounting for roaming charges between a home network and a visited network using a block chain.

As the mobile communication service develops, users can communicate with other users anytime and anywhere using their own terminals. Companies providing mobile communication services have installed communication infrastructures in various regions in order to guarantee the mobility of services. In reality, there are limitations in installing communication facilities in all regions. Therefore, a roaming service is provided as a method for preventing communication shadow in an area where no communication equipment is installed.

The roaming service is a service that allows a subscriber of the home network to communicate through a third party network in an area where third party network equipment is installed.

Such a roaming service can be provided according to a contract between a home network operator and a visiting network operator. The home network subscriber charges the home network operator for the charge using the network, and performs settlement.

According to the conventional roaming charge settlement method, when the home network subscriber uses the visiting network, the visiting network operator transmits the usage data of the subscriber to the roaming settlement center, for example, a data clearing house, To the home network provider, and transmits the fee data according to the amount of usage to the home network provider in a monthly roaming settlement through a separate clearing house, for example, a finance clearing house. The home network operator pays the roaming fee to the visiting network operator according to the charge data received through the roaming clearinghouse.

However, according to the conventional method as described above, since a separate fee is incurred due to the use of the data clearing house and the finance clearing house for the settlement of the roaming charges, the network operator is harmed, There is a problem that the charge settlement time is very late because the charge is settled.

A method and apparatus for mobile communication roaming charge settlement according to an embodiment of the present invention aims at making a roaming charge settlement without using a roaming settlement office.

In addition, a method and apparatus for mobile communication roaming charge settlement according to an embodiment of the present invention aims at rapid roaming charge settlement.

A roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

A roaming charge settlement method of a user terminal by a home network device, comprising: registering a roaming settlement account of the user terminal in a block chain; And transmitting the address of the block chain in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal, wherein the visited network device receives the address of the block chain from the user terminal when accessing the visited network of the user terminal , The usage data of the user terminal in the visited network may be transmitted to the block chain according to the address of the block chain so that the usage amount of the user terminal is recorded in the roaming settlement book.

Wherein the step of registering the roaming settlement book further comprises the step of registering a reference rate for a predetermined usage amount in the visited network in the block chain, wherein the block chain, based on the reference rate, And records the calculated rate as the roaming fee of the home network device.

The roaming charge settlement method further includes registering the identification information of the user terminal in the block chain, wherein the user terminal transmits the identification information of the user terminal to the visited network device when accessing the visited network And the visiting network device can authenticate the user terminal by comparing the identification information of the received user terminal with the identification information of the user terminal registered in the block chain.

The block chain transmits the usage amount of the user terminal to the home network device and the roaming charge settlement method further includes calculating a charge amount for the user terminal based on the usage amount received from the block chain can do.

The block chain can verify whether usage data of the user terminal received from the visited network device corresponds to a predetermined format.

A home network apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

A first communication unit for registering the roaming settlement account of the user terminal in a block chain; And a second communication unit for transmitting an address of the block chain in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal, wherein the visiting network device transmits the address of the block chain from the user terminal when accessing the visited network by the user terminal And transmit usage data of the user terminal in the visited network to the block chain according to the address of the block chain so that the usage amount of the user terminal is recorded in the roaming settlement book.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a roaming charge settlement method,

A roaming charge settlement method of a user terminal by a visited network device, comprising: receiving an address of a block chain from the user terminal when the user terminal accesses a visited network; Obtaining a usage amount of the user terminal in the visited network; And transmitting the usage data of the obtained user terminal to the address of the block chain so that roaming charge settlement is performed by the roaming settlement book registered in the block chain.

The roaming charge settlement method includes: receiving identification information of the user terminal from the user terminal; And authenticating the user terminal by comparing the identification information of the user terminal registered in the block chain with the identification information of the received user terminal.

According to another aspect of the present invention,

An MME for receiving an address of a block chain from the user terminal when the user terminal accesses the visited network; A P-GW for acquiring a usage amount of the user terminal in the visited network; And a web server for transmitting the usage data of the acquired user terminal to the address of the block chain, and causing the roaming settlement book registered in the block chain to perform roaming settlement.

The method and apparatus for mobile communication roaming charge settlement according to an embodiment of the present invention can settle a roaming charge without using a roaming clearinghouse.

In addition, the mobile communication roaming charge settlement method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention can speed up roaming charge settlement.

Also, the method and apparatus for mobile communication roaming charge settlement according to an embodiment of the present invention can guarantee the integrity of the settlement rate data.

However, the effects of the method and apparatus for mobile communication roaming charge settlement according to an embodiment of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects that are not mentioned can be obtained from the following description. And will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a home network, a visited network, and a block chain in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary diagram showing the source code of a roaming settlement book registered in a block chain from a home network device;
4 is an exemplary diagram showing a source code of identification information of a user terminal registered in a block chain from a home network device.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a home network apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a visited network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, numerals (e.g., first, second, etc.) used in the description of the present invention are merely an identifier for distinguishing one component from another.

Also, in this specification, when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" with another element, the element may be directly connected or directly connected to the other element, It should be understood that, unless an opposite description is present, it may be connected or connected via another element in the middle.

In the present specification, a component represented by 'unit', 'module', or the like refers to a case where two or more components are combined into one component, or one component is divided into two or more ≪ / RTI > In addition, each of the components to be described below may additionally perform some or all of the functions of the other components in addition to the main functions of the component itself, and some of the main functions And may be performed entirely by components.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments according to the technical idea of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a home network 20, a visited network 30, and a block chain 400 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a user terminal 100 is a subscriber terminal of the home network 20, and uses a mobile communication service in the home network 20. The user terminal 100 may move from the home network 20 area to the visited network area 30 and use the mobile communication service in the visited network 30. [

The home network device 200 may include a web server 200. The home network device 200 may provide a roaming service for settlement of roaming charges incurred by the user terminal 100 using the mobile communication service in the visited network 30, And registers the settlement book in the block chain 400.

Block chaining is a type of distributed database that is designed to be a continuously growing data record list that can not be arbitrarily manipulated by the operator of the distributed node. An example of a well-known block chain is bit-coin, a decentralized electronic book that records the transaction of cryptography.

The visited network device 300 may include a mobility management entity (MME), a packet data network gateway (P-GW), and a web server. The user terminal 100 may move to the area of the visited network 30 and access the access terminal 100 authenticates the user terminal 100 and transmits the usage data of the user terminal 100 to the block chain 400 so that roaming charge settlement is performed. The usage data may include at least one of voice call volume, message transmission frequency, and data usage volume of the user terminal 100, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention, roaming charge settlement is performed by communicating with the block chain 400 instead of communicating between the home network device 200 and the visited network device 300, The usage fee of the roaming clearinghouse is not charged as in the conventional case.

Hereinafter, a roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a process performed by the home network device 200. FIG.

In step S210, the home network device 200 registers the roaming settlement account of the user terminal 100 in the block chain 400. [ The roaming settlement book is a kind of program that automatically performs roaming charge settlement for the visited network device 300. The roaming charge for the visited network device 300 is recorded through the roaming settlement book.

An exemplary source code of the roaming settlement book that is registered in the block chain 400 is shown in FIG. 3, wherein the roaming settlement book includes account information 31 of the home network 20, Functions 32 and 34 for verifying usage data, and a function 33 for recording a roaming charge.

The home network device 200 can also register the identification information of the user terminal 100 in the block chain 400. The source code of the identification information of the user terminal 100 is shown in Fig. 4, the home network device 200 can register the international mobile station identity (IMSI), key, QOS, etc. of the user terminal 100 as identification information 41 in the block chain 400 .

Referring back to FIG. 2, in step S220, the home network device 200 transmits an address of the block chain 400 to which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal 100. [ The address can access the roaming settlement book registered in the block chain 400 and the visiting network device 300 can transmit the usage data to the block chain 400 according to the address of the block chain 400.

More specifically, when the user terminal 100 accesses the visited network device 300 to access the visited network 30, the user terminal 100 transmits the access request to the block chain 400 received from the home network device 200 Address to the visited network device 300.

The visited network device 300 may measure the usage amount of the user terminal 100 in the visited network 30 and transmit the measured usage data to the block chain 400 according to the address of the block chain 400.

The block chain 400 accumulates the call detail records (CDR) of the user terminal 100 and transmits the contract fee (that is, the home network 20) the base rate for the predetermined usage amount contracted by the manager and the visiting network 30), and calculates the roaming fee (total_fee). The block chain 400 records that the roaming fee (total_fee) should be settled from the Home_Account of the home network 20 to the Visited_Account of the visiting network 30.

The block chain 400 verifies whether the received usage data conforms to a predetermined format, such as codes referenced by reference numerals 32 and 34 in FIG. 3, when usage data is received from the visited network device 300, Rates can be calculated and recorded.

Referring again to FIG. 2, in step S230, the home network apparatus 200 charges the roaming charges recorded in the roaming settlement book. For example, the home network device 200 may transfer an amount corresponding to the roaming charge recorded in the roaming settlement book to the account of the visiting network 30.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a roaming charge settlement method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The home network device 200 registers the identification information of the user terminal 100 and the roaming settlement book in the block chain 400 (S510).

The home network device 200 transmits the identification information of the user terminal 100 and the address of the block chain 400 in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal 100 (S515).

The user terminal 100 accesses the visited network device 300 for the roaming service at step S520 and transmits the identification information of the user and the address of the block chain 400 to the visited network device 300 at step S525.

The visiting network device 300 obtains the identification information registered in the block chain 400 according to the address of the received block chain 400 in operation S530 and identifies the user terminal 100 received from the user terminal 100 And the identification information obtained from the block chain 400, and authenticates the user terminal 100 (S535). That is, the visited network device 300 does not need to communicate with the home network device 200, and based on the identification information registered in the block chain 400, the user terminal 100 that wishes to use its own network It is confirmed whether the subscriber of one home network 20 is correct.

The user terminal 100 uses the mobile communication service using the visited network 30 in step S540 and the visited network device 300 measures and stores the usage amount of the user terminal 100 in step S545.

The visiting network device 300 transmits the usage amount data to the address of the block chain 400 received from the user terminal 100 in operation S550 and the block chain 400 calculates and records the roaming fee according to the received usage amount data (S555).

In addition, the block chain 400 may transmit usage data to the home network device 200 (S560). In this case, the home network device 200 calculates the charge amount for the user terminal 100 based on the usage amount (S565). The calculated billing amount may be billed to the user terminal 100.

In step S510, the address of the block chain 400 in which the identification information of the user terminal 100 is registered and the address of the block chain 400 in which the roaming settlement book is registered may be the same or different from each other, If the address of the block chain 400 in which the identification information of the user terminal 100 is registered and the address of the block chain 400 in which the roaming settlement book is registered are equal to each other, in step S515, Only the address of the chain 400 is transmitted to the user terminal 100 and the user terminal 100 can also transmit only the address of the block chain 400 to the visited network device 300 in step S525. If the address of the block chain 400 in which the identification information of the user terminal 100 is registered and the address of the block chain 400 in which the roaming settlement book is registered are different from each other, in step S515, The address of the block chain 400 may be transmitted to the user terminal 100 and the user terminal 100 may transmit the addresses of the two block chains 400 to the visited network device 300 in step S525.

6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a home network device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the home network apparatus 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first communication unit 610, a second communication unit 630, and a controller 650. The first communication unit 610, the second communication unit 630, and the control unit 650 may be implemented as a microprocessor, and may operate according to a program stored in a memory (not shown).

The first communication unit 610 communicates with the block chain 400. Specifically, the first communication unit 610 can register the identification information of the user terminal 100 and the roaming settlement book in the block chain 400.

The second communication unit 630 communicates with the user terminal 100. Specifically, the second communication unit 630 can transmit the identification information of the user terminal 100 and the address of the block chain 400 in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal 100.

The control unit 650 can control the first communication unit 610 and the second communication unit 630. When the usage data is received from the block chain 400, The billing amount can be calculated.

7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a visited network device 700 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The visited network device 700 may include an MME 710, a web server 730, and a P-GW 750.

The MME 710 receives the address of the block chain 400 and the identification information of the user terminal 100 from the user terminal 100 when accessing the user terminal 100. [

The MME 710 sends the address of the block chain 400 to the web server 730 and the web server 730 obtains the identification information registered in the block chain 400 according to the received address, Lt; / RTI >

The MME 710 compares the identification information received from the user terminal 100 with the identification information obtained from the block chain 400 to authenticate the user terminal 100. [

The P-GW 750 measures the usage amount of the user terminal 100 in the visited network 30 and transmits the usage amount data to the block chain 400 via the web server 750 so that the roaming fee is settled have.

7 shows that the web server 730 is separated from the MME 710 and the P-GW 750 but this is only one embodiment and the web server 730 may be implemented in the MME 710, -GW 750, or may be implemented in both the MME 710 and the P-GW 750. [

Meanwhile, the embodiments of the present invention described above can be written in a program that can be executed in a computer, and the created program can be stored in a medium.

The medium may include, but is not limited to, storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, etc.), optical reading media (e.g., CD ROMs,

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. You will understand. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

100: User terminal
200, 600: Home network device
300, 700: Visited network device
400: Block Chain
610:
630:
650:
710: MME
730: Web server
750: P-GW

Claims (9)

A roaming charge settlement method of a user terminal by a home network device,
Registering the roaming settlement book of the user terminal in a block chain; And
And transmitting the address of the block chain in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal,
Wherein the visiting network device receives an address of the block chain from the user terminal when accessing a visited network of the user terminal and transmits usage data of the user terminal in the visited network to the block chain in accordance with the address of the block chain And the usage amount of the user terminal is recorded in the roaming settlement book.
The method according to claim 1,
The step of registering the roaming settlement book comprises:
Further comprising registering, in the block chain, a reference rate for a predetermined usage amount in the visited network,
The block chain comprises:
Calculating a fee for the usage amount transmitted from the visited network device based on the reference fee, and recording the calculated fee using the roaming fee of the home network device.
The method according to claim 1,
In the roaming charge settlement method,
And registering the identification information of the user terminal in the block chain,
The user terminal,
Transmits the identification information of the user terminal to the visited network device when accessing the visited network,
Wherein the visited network device comprises:
And the user terminal is authenticated by comparing the identification information of the received user terminal with the identification information of the user terminal registered in the block chain.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the block chain transmits the usage amount of the user terminal to the home network device,
In the roaming charge settlement method,
Further comprising calculating a charge amount for the user terminal based on an amount of usage received from the block chain.
The method according to claim 1,
The block chain comprises:
And verifying whether usage data of the user terminal received from the visited network device corresponds to a predetermined format.
A first communication unit for registering the roaming settlement account of the user terminal in a block chain; And
And a second communication unit for transmitting an address of the block chain in which the roaming settlement book is registered to the user terminal,
Wherein the visiting network device receives an address of the block chain from the user terminal when accessing a visited network of the user terminal and transmits usage data of the user terminal in the visited network to the block chain in accordance with the address of the block chain And the usage amount of the user terminal is recorded in the roaming settlement book.
A roaming charge settlement method of a user terminal by a visited network device,
Receiving an address of a block chain from the user terminal when the user terminal accesses the visited network;
Obtaining a usage amount of the user terminal in the visited network; And
And transmitting the usage data of the obtained user terminal to the address of the block chain so that roaming charge settlement is performed by the roaming settlement book registered in the block chain.
8. The method of claim 7,
In the roaming charge settlement method,
Receiving identification information of the user terminal from the user terminal; And
Further comprising the step of authenticating the user terminal by comparing the identification information of the user terminal registered in the block chain with the identification information of the received user terminal.
An MME for receiving an address of a block chain from the user terminal when the user terminal accesses the visited network;
A P-GW for acquiring a usage amount of the user terminal in the visited network; And
And a web server for transmitting the usage data of the acquired user terminal to the address of the block chain and causing the roaming settlement book registered in the block chain to perform roaming settlement.

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