WO2016201903A1

WO2016201903A1 - Method and device for generating phone bill, and packet data network gateway

Info

Publication number: WO2016201903A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/095691
Authority: WO
Inventors: 汪钱纯; 李道红
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2015-06-17
Filing date: 2015-11-26
Publication date: 2016-12-22
Also published as: CN106332033A

Abstract

A method and device for generating a phone bill, and a packet data network gateway. The method comprises: a serving gateway (S-GW) or an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) receiving a bearer establishment request containing switching information from a packet data network gateway (P-GW); and adding a serving gateway change (S-GW Change) field in a generated phone bill by the switching information. By ways of adding switching information in a bearer establishment request, an S-GW or ePDG determining an established bearer to be a bearer switched from another serving node according to the switching information, and adding an S-GW Change field in a generated phone bill in the technical solution, the S-GW Change field is accurately added in the phone bill to provide accurate phone bill data for a charging gateway (CG) to charge correctly.

Description

Method, device and packet data network gateway for generating bills

Technical field

This document refers to, but is not limited to, communication technology, especially a method, device and packet data network gateway for generating bills.

Background technique

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (EPS) evolved Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW), Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Policy and The Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) entity and other supporting nodes are formed.

1 is a schematic diagram of a network of a related evolved packet system. As shown in FIG. 1, EPS supports interworking with non-3GPP systems, and non-3GPP systems are classified into trusted non-3GPP Internet Protocol (IP) access and untrusted non-3GPP. IP access, the anchor point between 3GPP and non-3GPP systems is P-GW. The trusted non-3GPP IP is connected to the P-GW through a High Rate Packet Data Serving Gateway (HSGW), and the interface between the HSGW and the P-GW is S2a. The untrusted non-3GPP IP access is connected to the P-GW by an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG). The interface between the ePDG and the P-GW is S2b. In the EPS, the MME is responsible for the control planes such as mobility management, non-access stratum signaling processing, and user mobility management context management; the S-GW is connected as an access gateway device to the E-UTRAN, in the E-UTRAN. Forwarding data with the P-GW and buffering the paging waiting data; the P-GW is the border gateway of the EPS and Packet Data Network (PDN), responsible for PDN access and EPS and PDN Perform data forwarding and other functions; PCRF is a policy and charging rule function entity. It connects to the carrier network protocol (IP) service network through the receiving interface Rx to obtain service information. In addition, it uses Gx/Gxa/Gxc interface and network. The gateway device in the connection is responsible for initiating the IP bearer. Establishing, guaranteeing the quality of service (QoS, Quality of Service) of the service data, and performing charging control.

At present, the charging gateway (CG, Charging Gateway) generates a SGW charging data record (CDR) generated by the CDRs reported by the S-GW; wherein, each time the user switches from the other network to the S-GW, The S-GW adds the generated "S-GW Change" field to the first CDR of the handover connection to identify the S-GW change. Optionally, the user accesses the untrusted non-3GPP network through the General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP) S2b, and activates the dedicated bearer, and the subsequent user carries the request type as “handover”. The message initiates an attach procedure to switch from non-3GPP to 3GPP E-UTRAN access to establish a default bearer. For the dedicated bearer established in the non-3GPP access, the P-GW forwards the corresponding bearer to the MME through the S-GW by sending a Bearer Request (Create Bearer Request) message to the MME. When the S-GW reports the first CDR of the bearer to the CG, for the default bearer, it can be judged that it is a bearer switched from another serving node by using the “handover” identifier, and the “S-GW Change” field (S-GW) is used. The "S-GW Change" field may appear in the S-GW-CDR carrying the default bearer generated by the CG, CG. However, for a proprietary bearer, the S-GW cannot determine whether the bearer is switched from another serving node, and thus the "S-GW Change" field cannot be correctly reported to the CG, resulting in "S-GW Change" in the S-GW-CDR. The field does not display correctly. Similarly, the ePDG reports the CDRs to the CG because it cannot determine whether the bearers are switched from other service nodes. Therefore, the S-GW Change field cannot be accurately included in the generated ePDG CDR. The ePDG cannot be correctly in the uploaded bill. The "S-GW Change" field is reported to the CG, causing the "S-GW Change" field in the ePDG CDR to not be displayed correctly.

In summary, for a proprietary bearer, neither the S-GW nor the ePDG can determine whether the bearer is switched from another serving node, and therefore the "S-GW Change" field cannot be accurately included in the generated CDR.

Summary of the invention

The following is an overview of the topics detailed in this document. This Summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, and a packet data network gateway for generating a bill. To solve the technical problem of how to determine whether the private bearer is a bearer switched from another serving node, the S-GW Change field is accurately generated in the bill.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for generating a bill, including:

The serving gateway S-GW or the evolved packet data gateway ePDG receives a bearer setup request containing handover information from the packet data network gateway P-GW;

The S-GW or the ePDG adds the serving gateway to the S-GW Change field by adding the serving gateway to the generated bill.

Optionally, the handover information includes a handover flag bit or a message identifying the handover field.

Optionally, the handover information is added in a preset field or an extension field of the bearer setup request.

In another aspect, the application further provides a method for generating a bill, including:

The P-GW adds pre-set handover information to the bearer setup request;

The P-GW sends a bearer setup request containing the handover information to the S-GW or the ePDG, and the handover information is used by the S-GW or the ePDG to add a Serving Gateway Change S-GW Change field in the generated bill.

In a further aspect, the application further provides an apparatus for generating a bill, comprising: a receiving unit and a bill processing unit; wherein

a receiving unit, configured to receive a bearer setup request from the P-GW that includes handover information;

The bill processing unit is configured to add an S-GW Change field to the generated bill by using the switching information.

Optionally, the device is provided at the S-GW or ePDG.

Optionally, the receiving unit is set to,

The bearer setup request from the P-GW containing a handover message that adds a handover flag bit or an identity handover field is received.

Optionally, the bill processing unit is set to,

And adding the S-GW Change field to the generated bill according to the handover flag bit or the identifier switching field in the bearer setup request.

In another aspect, the application further provides a packet data network gateway for generating a bill, including an adding unit and a sending unit, where

Add a unit, set to add pre-set switching information to the bearer setup request;

And a sending unit, configured to send a bearer setup request including the handover information to the S-GW or the ePDG, where the handover information is used by the S-GW or the ePDG to add a Serving Gateway Change S-GW Change field in the generated bill.

The embodiment of the invention further provides a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer executable instructions, and the computer executable instructions are used to execute the above method.

Compared with the related art, the technical solution of the present application includes: a serving gateway (S-GW) or an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) receives a bearer setup request including handover information from a packet data network gateway (P-GW); The handover information adds a S-GW Change field to the generated bill. The method of the embodiment of the present invention adds a handover message to the bearer setup request, and the S-GW or the ePDG determines, according to the handover message, that the created bearer is a bearer that is switched from another service node, and adds an S-GW Change field to the generated bill. The S-GW Change field is accurately added to the bill to provide accurate bill data for the correct billing of the billing gateway (CG).

Other aspects will be apparent upon reading and understanding the drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF abstract

1 is a network diagram of a related evolved packet system;

2 is a flowchart of a method for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart of another method for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a structural diagram of an apparatus for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a structural block diagram of a packet data network gateway for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a flowchart of a method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a flow chart of a method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a flow chart of a method in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the features in the embodiments and the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other.

2 is a flowchart of a method for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes:

Step 200, a Serving Gateway (S-GW) or an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG) receives a bearer setup request from the Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW) containing handover information.

In this step, the handover information includes a message for switching a flag bit or identifying a handover field.

The handover information is added in the preset field or extension field of the bearer setup request.

Step 201: The S-GW or ePDG adds a S-GW Change field to the generated bill by using the handover information.

The method of the embodiment of the present invention adds a handover message to the bearer setup request, and the S-GW or the ePDG determines, according to the handover message, that the created bearer is a bearer that is switched from another service node, and adds an S-GW Change field to the generated bill. The S-GW Change field is accurately added to the bill to provide accurate bill data for the correct billing of the billing gateway (CG).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another method for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the method includes:

Step 300: The P-GW adds pre-set handover information to the bearer setup request.

Step 301: The P-GW sends a bearer setup request including handover information to the S-GW or the ePDG.

The bearer setup request is included in the handover information, and the S-GW or the ePDG adds a service gateway change S-GW Change field in the generated bill according to the handover information.

4 is a structural diagram of an apparatus for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes: a receiving unit and a bill processing unit;

The device of the embodiment of the invention is disposed on the S-GW or the ePDG.

The receiving unit is set to,

The bill processing unit is set to,

And determining, according to the handover flag bit or the identifier switching field in the bearer setup request, that the created bearer is a bearer that is switched from another serving node, and adding the S-GW Change field to the generated bill.

5 is a structural block diagram of a packet data network gateway for generating a bill according to an embodiment of the present invention, including an adding unit and a sending unit;

And a sending unit, configured to send a bearer setup request including the handover information to the S-GW or the ePDG, so that the S-GW or the ePDG adds the Serving Gateway Change S-GW Change field in the generated bill according to the handover information.

It should be noted that the system for generating a bill is constructed by the device of the embodiment of the present invention and the packet data network gateway. It is common knowledge of those skilled in the art to add the functionality of the apparatus of the embodiments of the present invention and the elements of the packet data network gateway to the system.

The method of the present invention is described in detail below by way of specific examples, which are merely used to illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the method of the invention.

Example 1

This embodiment is described in detail with user equipment (UE) switching from a trusted or untrusted non-3GPP network to a 3GPP network. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes:

Step 600: The UE accesses a trusted or untrusted non-3GPP network, and establishes a dedicated bearer.

Step 601: The UE detects the 3GPP access system, initiates a handover, and performs an attach procedure.

Step 602: The P-GW sends a bearer setup request including the handover information to the S-GW, and notifies the establishment of the dedicated bearer. Here, the handover information includes a handover flag bit or a message identifying a handover field.

Step 603: The S-GW sends a bearer setup request to the MME or the S4SGSN. Here, when the embodiment is a scenario of a 4G network, the bearer setup request is received by the MME in the network; when the embodiment is a scenario of a 2G or 3G network, the bearer setup request is received by the S4SGSN in the network, and the S4SGSN is 2G or 3G in the EPC architecture. The mobility management network element under access is equivalent to the MME accessed by LTE.

According to the bearer setup request, the UE, the radio access network element, and the MME or the S4SGSN complete the establishment of the dedicated bearer. The MME or the S4SGSN sends a bearer setup response message to the P-GW via the S-GW.

Step 604: The S-GW determines, by using the handover information, that the dedicated bearer is switched from another service node, adds an S-GW Change field to the generated bill, and sends the generated bill to the CG; that is, the first after the handover. The S-GW Change field is carried in the CDR.

Step 605: The CG sends a bill transmission response message to the S-GW.

Example 2

This embodiment uses a UE to switch from a 3GPP network to an untrusted non-3GPP network as an example for clear and detailed description. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the method includes:

Step 700: The UE accesses the 3GPP network, and establishes a dedicated bearer.

Step 701: The UE detects an untrusted non-3GPP access system, initiates a handover, and performs an IPSec tunnel and a GTP tunnel establishment process.

Step 702: The P-GW sends a bearer setup request including the handover information to the ePDG, and the notification is established. Standalone carrier.

Step 703: The ePDG sends a bearer setup response message to the P-GW.

Step 704: The ePDG determines, by using the handover information, that the dedicated bearer is switched from another service node, adds an S-GW Change field to the generated bill, and sends the generated bill to the CG; that is, the first call after the handover. The S-GW Change field is carried in the single.

Step 705: The CG sends a bill transmission response message to the ePDG.

Example 3

This embodiment uses a UE to switch from a 3GPP network to an untrusted non-3GPP network as an example for clear and detailed description. In this embodiment, the handover process is switched by the first ePDG to the second ePDG, and the first and second are used to distinguish the ePDG before and after the handover. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the method includes:

Step 800: The UE accesses the untrusted non-3GPP network, and establishes a dedicated bearer.

Step 801: The UE detects a new untrusted non-3GPP access system, initiates a handover, and performs an IPSec tunnel and a GTP tunnel establishment process. A new untrusted non-3GPP access system refers to a network connected through a second ePDG.

Step 802: The P-GW sends a bearer setup request including the handover information to the second ePDG, and notifies the establishment of the dedicated bearer.

Step 803: The second ePDG sends a bearer setup response message to the P-GW.

Step 804: The second ePDG determines, by using the handover information, that the dedicated bearer is switched from another service node, adds an S-GW Change field to the generated bill, and sends the generated bill to the CG; that is, the first after the handover. The S-GW Change field is carried in the CDR.

Step 805: The CG sends a bill transmission response message to the second ePDG.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the above methods may be performed by a program to instruct related hardware, such as a processor, which may be stored in computer readable storage. In media, such as read-only memory, disk or optical disk. Alternatively, all or part of the steps of the above embodiments may also be implemented using one or more integrated circuits. Correspondingly, each module/unit in the above embodiment may be implemented in the form of hardware, for example, by implementing an integrated circuit to implement its corresponding function, or may be implemented in the form of a software function module, for example, executing a program stored in the memory by a processor. / instruction to achieve its corresponding function. The invention is not limited to any specific form of combination of hardware and software.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the described embodiments are merely for the purpose of understanding the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. Any modification and variation in the form and details of the embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope defined by the appended claims shall prevail.

Industrial applicability

The foregoing technical solution implements the accurate addition of the S-GW Change field in the bill to provide accurate bill data for the correct billing of the billing gateway (CG).

Claims

A method of generating a bill, comprising:

The serving gateway S-GW or the evolved packet data gateway ePDG receives a bearer setup request containing handover information from the packet data network gateway P-GW;

The S-GW or ePDG adds a serving gateway to the generated CDR to change the S-GWChange field through the handover information.
The method of claim 1 wherein

The handover information includes a handover flag bit or a message identifying a handover field.
The method of claim 2, wherein the handover information is added in a preset field or an extension field of a bearer setup request.
A method of generating a bill, comprising:

The packet data network gateway P-GW adds pre-set handover information to the bearer setup request;

The P-GW sends a bearer setup request containing handover information to the serving gateway S-GW or the evolved packet data gateway ePDG, and the handover information is used by the S-GW or the ePDG to add a Serving Gateway Change S-GW Change field in the generated bill.
The method of claim 4, wherein the handover information comprises a handover flag bit or a message identifying a handover field.
A device for generating a bill, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a bearer setup request from the packet data network gateway P-GW that includes handover information;

The bill processing unit is configured to add a service gateway to change the S-GW Change field in the generated bill by using the switching information.
The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the apparatus is provided at a serving gateway S-GW or an evolved packet data gateway ePDG.
The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

The receiving unit is configured to receive an add switching flag or a flag from the P-GW. The bearer establishment request of the handover message of the handover field.
The device according to claim 8, wherein

The bill processing unit is configured to add the S-GW Change field to the generated bill according to the switch flag bit or the identifier switch field in the bearer setup request.
A packet data network gateway for generating bills, comprising:

Add a unit, set to add pre-set switching information to the bearer setup request;

a sending unit, configured to send a bearer setup request including handover information to a serving gateway S-GW or an evolved packet data gateway ePDG, where the handover information is used by the S-GW or the ePDG to add a service gateway in the generated bill to change the S-GW Change Field.
A computer storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 3.
A computer storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 4-5.