RU2310995C2 - Method for transferring credit to account connected to terminal which subscribes a communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: devices for transferring credit to account, connected to terminal of a user, subscribing a communication network, during provision of various services in communication network.

SUBSTANCE: in the method, interaction between user terminal and network object is realized, resulting in denoting of at least whether the credit should be transferred to aforementioned account, connected to aforementioned user terminal, and the credit sum, which should be transferred, and payment source, a request is performed from aforementioned network object to aforementioned payment source in relation to transfer of aforementioned credit sum to account, connected to aforementioned user terminal, where aforementioned request is based on DIAMETER protocol.

EFFECT: reduced time needed for procedure of transfer of credit to aforementioned account.

3 cl, 1 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of transferring credit to an account associated with a terminal subscribing to a communication network.

State of the art

Recently, significant progress has been made in the field of communication networks and services offered using such communication networks. Among such services, the so-called supplementary services are receiving increasing attention among subscribers of communication networks.

Network subscribers are registered on the network and usually pay the network operator for using the services offered by the communication network. Such payment is either regularly, for example monthly, presented in the form of an invoice to the subscriber, or is withdrawn from the account previously paid by him. If it turns out that there is no certain minimum credit on the prepaid account for some time, the subscriber will be prohibited from further using the network until he refills his account.

Replenishment of a prepaid account can be carried out, for example, by paying a certain amount, which is transferred to a third party, and receiving a code, the introduction of which allows the user to replenish his prepaid account using his terminal. The third party, in turn, transfers the money received from the subscriber to the network operator. This procedure is very burdensome. In addition, a third party typically withholds a portion of the money paid by the user for services offered by the third party to the user / network operator. Thus, the costs incurred by the subscriber, respectively, increase.

Similarly, if a subscriber participates in a quiz or lottery using his terminal (ie mobile phone or user equipment), the procedures involved in winning a subscriber are very burdensome and require clerical work. The subscriber must indicate his name / address and / or bank account so that he can accept a bank check and / or that money can be transferred to his bank account.

As a result, the currently accepted procedures for transferring a loan to an account associated with a terminal subscribing to a communication network are burdensome and include actions performed by a person, which makes the whole procedure labor-intensive and more expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for transferring credit to an account associated with a terminal subscribing to a communication network.

According to the present invention, the aforementioned problem is solved, for example, by a method of transferring credit to an account associated with a terminal subscribing to a communication network, the method including the steps of interacting between the terminal and the network object, said interaction leading to indicating at least to the extent that the loan should be transferred to the said account associated with the said terminal, the amount of the loan to be transferred and the source of payment, carry out a request from network-mentioned object to said source of payment for the transfer of the said loan amount to the account associated with the said terminal, said request is based on the DIAMETER protocol.

According to additional preferred improvements

- said interaction is based on a multimedia application with additional capabilities running on a multimedia application server provided on said network,

- said implementation of the request includes the step of generating a request message DIAMETER identifying the request as a request to transfer the amount to the account,

- said generated DIAMETER request message further includes: a pair of attribute values identifying the terminal to which the payment should be transferred to the account, a pair of attribute values identifying the payment source, and a pair of attribute values identifying the amount of the payment,

- a DIAMETER request message is sent from said network entity to said source, based on said pair of attribute values identifying said payment source,

- the method includes the step of confirming said requesting network entity via said source with respect to whether said request was successful or not,

- the method further includes the step of transferring said amount to said account associated with said terminal after receiving a confirmation indicating success,

- the method further includes the step of informing said terminal of the amount transferred to the account associated with said terminal.

Thanks to the present invention, mainly the following advantages can be achieved:

- with the proposed modifications to the DIAMETER protocol, this invention can be applied for the purpose of replenishing funds in an account online (on-line), i.e. in Internet Protocol (IP) -based Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) of communication networks,

- making a deposit to the subscriber’s account, i.e. to the account associated with the terminal used by the subscriber can be implemented using the DIAMETER protocol,

- activation of the replenishment of funds in the account and / or the transfer of a certain amount online can be carried out without involving a third party (a seller in the store or someone like that), since the service provider can immediately transfer the winnings to the account associated with the user terminal (for example, prepaid account), thus saving on administrative work,

- services, including replenishment / transfer of funds to the account in an interactive mode, benefit from the simplification of replenishment / transfer of funds arising from the proposed invention,

- New services, such as games / quizzes or lotteries, can easily be implemented to be performed interactively by a subscriber using their terminal.

List of drawings

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a simplified signal flow corresponding to the steps involved in the implementation of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

According to the present invention, a new mechanism has been introduced in order to enable the transfer of a certain amount of money, or in the general sense of credit units (which do not have to correspond to money), to an account connected to the terminal through the interface between the network element (NE) and the Accounting Server . The new mechanism is based, for example, on the DIAMETER protocol. In this case, it includes a new DIAMETER request containing an indication that the request is a transfer / credit request to the account, as well as a new Attribute Value Pair (PAP, AVP) indicating the transfer / credit source. The response message indicates to the network element whether the request was successful or not. It should be noted that ACR (Accounting Request) is essentially not a new request, it is only a new “mechanism”, in connection with which the payment amount should also be indicated, as well as the subscriber’s identification data.

Regarding the DIAMETER protocol, on which, for example, the present invention is based, DIAMETER is the AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) protocol defined by the Internet Engineering Committee (IETF). Based on the present invention, DIAMETER is adapted for use to replenish an account online in communication networks, for example, in connection with an IP-based Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). A fully IP-based network (IP is the Internet Protocol) will provide many new services. This invention allows the use of the DIAMETER protocol for transfers to the user's account, thus introducing a feature that is very useful for some services. For example, this mechanism supports some services, such as games / lotteries, performed through a communication network; more precisely, the subscriber can win something in the game, and the service provider / network operator can send the winnings immediately to the user's account, such as a prepaid account. This solution can also provide benefits to operators, as the money will be sent directly to a prepaid account and thus will be spent again on communication services.

This will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. The drawing illustrates the objects (horizontally located) involved in connection with the present invention, and the exchange of signals between them. In the vertical direction, a sequence of signal exchange over time is presented. In relation to the objects involved, the drawing shows a user equipment (OP, UE) (for example, according to the universal mobile communication system (UMTS)) as an example for a terminal. The terminal smells a communication network represented by at least one network element NE. It should be noted that the NE element of the network shown in the drawing may combine several network features that, for simplification of the drawing and explanation, are not shown as separate functional objects of the network. In addition, an accounting server is shown which is involved in connection with the present invention.

An account is connected to the terminal for transferring a loan to it. This account may be a prepaid account maintained for the terminal / subscriber by the network operator (for example, in connection with the subscriber data supported in the location reference registry / subscriber's reference server (HLR / HSS). However, another account is also possible, for example, a bank account connected to the terminal / user in such a way that, for example, the subscriber’s identifier (for example, phone number) is displayed on the bank account number, in which case additional routing / retrying will be performed Single routing to transfer was carried out on the account associated with the terminal.

At the first stage (1), the interaction between the terminal and the network object is carried out. This interaction may include bi-directional data exchange between them and may correspond to a game / lottery or the like, where the subscriber participates through his terminal. The interaction, for example, is based on a multimedia application with additional capabilities running on a multimedia application server provided in the mentioned network (it should be noted that the NE element of the network supposedly contains this server in the illustration according to the drawing).

As a result, if the user wins the game or something similar, the mentioned interaction leads to the indication, at least, whether the credit should be transferred to the said account associated with the said terminal, the loan amount, which should be listed, and source of payment. The source of the credit to be transferred to the said account means the party that performs the game / lottery more precisely, this party is represented by the accounting server connected to the third party and responsible for the payment of loans to the winners. The third party is represented by an NE network object with which interaction takes place. For example, if a plurality of games are offered for a draw, the user equipment (UE) interacts with a network object selected from a corresponding plurality of network objects. For an appropriately selected network object, at least one accounting server is allocated that is responsible for transferring a payment to an account associated with user equipment. The network element decides where to send the request, that is, to which accounting server. This decision / choice can be based, for example, on the subscriber’s information (for example, in the case of a plurality of accounting servers per network object) and / or can be based on the address or identification data of the NE element of the network (for example, if many games can be played, each of which uses the corresponding network object operated by a third party). If only one accounting server is provided, then routing is easy, however, despite this, the requesting network object must be indicated in the request (using the new AVP for this purpose). By way of explanation, the payment source visible from the side of the terminal / user account is an accounting server, while the accounting server always has information about the origin of the payment made by it, that is, the identification data of the third party with which the terminal interacted through, for example, participation in the game.

After that, at the second stage (2), a request is made from the said NE network object to the mentioned payment source (here: accounting server) to transfer the mentioned loan amount to the account associated with the said terminal. (It should be noted that the loan amount transferred to the account associated with the terminal will accordingly be debited from the account associated with the third party / network element, i.e. the source of the transferred amount). This request is based on the DIAMETER protocol. It should be noted that in the drawing, the NE element of the network can provide the functionality of a DIAMETER client, a DIAMETER server, as well as a DIAMETER intermediary agent, if required by the circumstances.

It should be noted that DIAMETER was selected as an example only for this embodiment of the present invention. Other AAA protocols, such as RADIUS (Remote Authenticated Dial-In User Service) or any other suitable AAA protocol, can be adapted accordingly, as proposed in accordance with the present invention. A brief introduction to the DIAMETER protocol can, for example, be found in a dissertation for a master's degree in Authentication, Authorization and Accounting in Session Initiation Protocol Networks, Aki Niemi, Helsinki University of Technology (HUT), March 7, 2002 (found online June 3 2002), pages 26-36.

This request is based on the generated DIAMETER request message (ACR (Event-Record)) that identifies the request as a request to transfer a certain amount to the account. For this purpose, a new request identification code is defined in the DIAMETER protocol. In other words, more precisely, in the case of the DIAMETER protocol, the command code identifies the command and the DIAMETER request used in it (ACR, Accounting Request). The existing AVP (account type) is also used (its value in this case is an event record). In addition to this, some indication is needed (a new Pair of AVP Attribute Values, that is, some specific AVP used only for this service), which indicates that the purpose of the request is to transfer some amount, for example, money to the account. The thus-generated generated DIAMETER request message further includes a (newly defined) pair of AVP attribute values identifying the terminal (here UE) to which the payment should be transferred to the account, a pair of attribute values identifying the mentioned payment source (i.e., accounting server), and a pair of attribute values that identify the amount of the payment. It should be noted that in the case of multiple accounts associated with one terminal, the identity of the terminal further includes an indication of the corresponding account. For example, in the case of a terminal used by several users, each of which, when the terminal is activated, enters a personal identification code, the corresponding account can be distinguished based on the user ID. Thus, if there are many accounts connected to the terminal, the identification data of not only the terminal itself, but also of the corresponding account, is included in the AVP.

This DIAMETER request message is sent from said network NE to said source based on said pair of attribute values identifying said payment source. In the drawing, to simplify the drawing, only one accounting server is shown. However, if more than one accounting server is available on the entire network, the request is sent to the “correct” accounting server, which is identified using AVP. Thus, an entry in the AVP is an address for routing.

After receiving the request in step 2 in step 3, the source confirms the requesting network entity with respect to whether the request was successful or not. This confirmation is returned in the ACA Event Record message according to the DIAMETER protocol. Also, for this message, a suitable result code was defined in a new way, covering possible results that should be communicated to the requesting network element. In case of positive confirmation, i.e. after receiving a confirmation indicating success, the step of transferring said amount to said account associated with said terminal is performed. This step is not shown separately, but it is performed in the network element after evaluating the acknowledgment. That is, the network element already has information about the corresponding terminal / account and the amount to be transferred, and makes the payment after authorizing this (positive confirmation).

Finally, according to the proposed method, at step 4 inform the terminal about the amount transferred to the account associated with the terminal. However, this information is not required to depend on the requirements of any particular protocol. For example, this can be done using a multimedia application, similar to that in step 1. In this case, the terminal user has information about the balance in his account, adjusted for the amount transferred.

Thus, the present invention will find one advantageous application, for example, in IP-based multimedia services in which DIAMETER is adopted for interactive replenishment of funds in an account. In this way, a multimedia application server (for example, a game server) could use the same DIAMETER connection with an account, designed to replenish it, in order to transfer winnings without the need for separate connections.

Accordingly, as described above, the present invention relates to a method of transferring credit to an account associated with a terminal subscribing to a communication network, the method including the steps of interacting 1 between the terminal and the network object, said interaction leading to indicating at least, whether the loan should be transferred to the said account associated with the said terminal, the loan amount to be transferred, and the source of payment, carry out request 2 from the said object this network to the said source of payment in relation to the transfer of the said loan amount to the account associated with the said terminal, and the said request is based on the DIAMETER protocol.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, the description of the invention is illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the invention. Various modifications and applications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit of the invention and without going beyond its scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. The method of transferring a loan to an account associated with a user terminal subscribing to a communication network, moreover, the method includes the steps at which carry out the interaction between the user terminal and the network object, and said interaction leads to an indication of at least whether the loan should be transferred to the said account associated with the said user terminal, the amount of the loan to be transferred, and the source of payment, carry out a request from the aforementioned network object to the said source of payment regarding the transfer of the said loan amount to the account associated with the said user terminal, wherein said request implementation is based on the DIAMETER protocol and includes the step of generating a DIAMETER request message identifying the request as a request to transfer a certain amount to the account, while said generated DIAMETER request message further includes a pair of attribute values identifying the user terminal to which the payment should be transferred to the account associated with it. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said interaction is based on a multimedia application with additional capabilities running on a multimedia application server provided on said network. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said implementation of the DIAMETER request includes a pair of attribute values identifying the source of payment and a pair of attribute values identifying the amount of said payment. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the DIAMETER request message is sent from said network entity to said source based on said pair of attribute values identifying said payment source. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of validating said requesting network entity, by said source, as to whether said network request was successful or not. 6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising a step of transferring said amount to said account associated with said user terminal after receiving a confirmation indicating success. 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of informing said user terminal of the amount transferred to the account associated with said user terminal. 8. A network element for transferring a loan to an account associated with a user terminal subscribing to a communication network, moreover, this network element is configured to interaction with said user terminal, said interaction leading to indicating at least whether a loan should be transferred to said account associated with said user terminal, the amount of credit to be transferred, and the source of payment, requesting said source of payment with respect to the transfer of said loan amount to an account associated with said user terminal, wherein said request is based on the DIAMETER protocol and includes the generation of a DIAMETER request message identifying the request as a request to transfer a certain amount to the account, while the said generated DIAMETER request message further includes a pair of attribute values identifying the user terminal connected to with which the account must be transferred payment. 9. An accounting server for servicing an account associated with a user terminal subscribing to a communication network, wherein the accounting server is configured to receive a request message from the network object regarding the transfer of the loan amount to the account associated with said user terminal, moreover, said request message is based on the DIAMETER protocol and said request message DIAMETER identifies the request as a request for transferring a certain amount to the account, while said received request message DIAMETER further includes a pair of attribute values identifying the user terminal for which the account must be connected the payment will be transferred, and the transfer of the said loan amount to the account associated with the said user terminal.