WO2017219905A1

WO2017219905A1 - Charging method, apparatus and system, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2017219905A1
Application number: PCT/CN2017/088333
Authority: WO
Inventors: 吴锦花; 郑芳庭; 吴瑟
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2016-06-24
Filing date: 2017-06-14
Publication date: 2017-12-28
Also published as: CN107547212A

Abstract

Disclosed are a charging method, apparatus and system, and a computer readable storage medium. The method is applied to a user plane function in a separated architecture of a control plane function and the user plane function. In the separated architecture, the user plane function is connected to a charging system, and interacts via a charging reporting interface. The method comprises: the user plane function acquiring, from the control plane function, a charging rule; and the user plane function collecting charging statistics in a session process, and reporting statistical charging information to the charging system via the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.

Description

Charging method, device, system and storage medium

Cross-reference to related applications

The present application is based on a Chinese patent application filed on Apr. 24, 2016, filed on Jun.

Technical field

The present invention relates to wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a charging method, apparatus, system, and computer readable storage medium based on a separate architecture.

Background technique

With the rapid growth of network services, the existing Evolved Packet System (EPS) of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has gradually produced some constraints, and user data stream processing is concentrated on packet data. The network (PDN, Packet Data Network) egress gateway causes the gateway device to be cumbersome and has poor scalability. The control plane of the gateway is highly coupled with the forwarding plane, which is not conducive to the smooth evolution of the core network. The frequency of the forwarding surface expansion is higher than that of the control plane. The tight coupling causes the control plane to forward and expand synchronously. The short equipment update period leads to an increase in the composite cost. Network layer data forwarding is difficult to identify users and service features. It can only be forwarded according to the Quality of Service (QoS) delivered by the upper layer, resulting in inefficient use of network resources. It is difficult to finely control the data flow based on user and service characteristics.

In view of the above situation, the control plane and the user plane of the gateway (GW, GateWay) in the EPS structure are currently separated, thereby avoiding problems in the existing architecture. However, there are various levels and various types of message interactions in the Sx interface between the control plane and the user plane. The frequency is high and the message volume is large. The reliability and low latency of the Sx interface between the control plane and the user plane need to be ensured. . In addition, in the control plane and the user plane separation architecture, since the network element function interfaces of the peripheral interaction are mainly connected to the control plane, the control signaling and the user plane data are simultaneously present in the Sx interface. Therefore, different levels exist on the Sx interface (functional node level, User Equipment (UE) level) Different types of messages (signaling messages, data messages, control and management data messages, etc.) will pose great challenges to the performance guarantee and optimization of the Sx interface.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the above technical problem, embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a charging method, apparatus, system, and computer readable storage medium.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is implemented as follows:

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a charging method, where the method is applied to a user plane function in a separate architecture of a control plane function and a user plane function. In the separation architecture, the user plane function and The billing system is connected and interacts through the billing reporting interface, and the method includes:

The user plane function obtains a charging rule from the control plane function;

The user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports the charging statistics to the charging system through the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.

In the above solution, the method further includes:

After the user plane function ends the session with the control plane function, the billing system sends the billing final report through the billing reporting interface item;

The user plane function receives the charging final report response returned by the charging system by using the charging reporting interface.

In the above solution, the charging system includes an online charging system (OCS) and an offline charging system (OFCS, Offline Charging System);

Correspondingly, the user plane function interacts with the OCS through an online charging reporting interface;

The user plane function interacts with the OFCS through an offline charging reporting interface.

In the above solution, the user plane function obtains a charging rule from the control plane function, including:

The user plane function acquires a session update request sent by the control plane function by using an Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

The user plane function performs charging rule update according to the session update request, and returns an update response to the control plane function through the Sx interface.

In the above solution, the user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports the charging statistics to the charging system by using the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule, including:

During the service session, the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation, and monitors reporting conditions in the charging rule.

And, when the reporting condition is met, the user plane function sends a charging report request by using the charging report interface; wherein the charging report request includes charging statistics information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a charging method, where the method is applied to a control plane function in a separate architecture of a control plane function and a user plane function. In the separation architecture, the control plane function and The billing system is connected and interacts through the billing control interface, and the method includes:

The control plane function determines a charging method, and establishes a session by using the charging control interface to interact with a charging system corresponding to the charging method;

The control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function, where the charging rule is used to indicate that the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation in a service process. And monitoring the reporting condition in the charging rule to report the charging statistics to the charging system.

In the above solution, the method further includes:

The control plane function notifies the user plane function of the end of the session;

After the control plane function ends the session with the user plane function, the control plane function sends a session termination message to the charging system through the charging control interface.

In the above solution, the charging system includes an OCS and an OFCS;

Correspondingly, the charging control interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface.

In the above solution, the control plane function determines a charging method, and establishes a session through the charging control interface and the charging system corresponding to the charging method, including:

When the control plane function determines that the charging method is online charging, the online charging control interface sends a charging credit application request to the OCS, and receives the credit application returned by the OCS through the online charging control interface. response;

Or, when the control plane function determines that the charging method is offline charging, sending, by the offline charging control interface, a charging session establishment and an authentication request to the OFCS, and receiving, by the offline charging control interface, receiving the return by the OFCS Session establishment and authentication response.

In the above solution, the control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function, including:

The control plane function sends a session update request to the user plane function through the Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

The control plane function receives an update response returned by the user plane function over the Sx interface after the charging rule update is performed according to the session update request.

In the above solution, when the charging method is online charging, the method further includes:

During the session, the control plane function receives the active notification message sent by the OCS through the online charging control interface, and performs corresponding processing according to the active notification message, and after the processing ends, the online charging control interface is OCS returns a notification response.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user plane function device, where the device is connected to a billing system, and interacts through a billing reporting interface, where the device includes: an obtaining module and a first interaction module;

The obtaining module is configured to acquire a charging rule from the control plane function;

The first interaction module is configured to perform charging statistics during the session, and report the accounting statistics to the charging system by using the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.

In the foregoing solution, the first interaction module is further configured to send a charging final report by using the charging reporting interface item;

And receiving, by the charging reporting interface, the charging final report response returned by the charging system.

In the above solution, the charging system includes an OCS and an OFCS;

Correspondingly, the first interaction module interacts with the OCS through an online charging reporting interface;

The first interaction module interacts with the OFCS through an offline charging reporting interface.

In the above solution, the acquiring module is configured to acquire a session update request sent by the control plane function by using an Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

And, charging rule update is performed according to the session update request, and an update response is returned to the control plane function through the Sx interface.

In the above solution, the first interaction module is configured to perform charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation during the service session, and monitor the reporting conditions in the charging rule.

And, when the reporting condition is met, sending a charging report request by using the charging report interface; wherein the charging report request includes charging statistics information.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a control plane function device, where the device is connected to a billing system and interacts through a billing control interface, where the device includes: a second interaction module and a sending module; ,

The second interaction module is configured to determine a charging method, and establish a session by using the charging control interface and the charging system corresponding to the charging method.

The sending module is configured to send a charging rule to the user plane function, where the charging rule is configured to instruct the user plane function to perform charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and The bill is generated, and the reporting condition in the charging rule is monitored to report the charging statistics to the charging system.

In the above solution, the sending module is further configured to notify the end of the session to the user plane function;

The second interaction module is configured to send a session termination message to the charging system by using the charging control interface.

In the above solution, the charging system includes an OCS and an OFCS;

In the above solution, the second interaction module is configured to:

When the charging method is determined to be online charging, the online charging control interface sends a charging credit application request to the OCS, and receives the return by the OCS through the online charging control interface. Credit application response;

Or, when determining that the charging method is offline charging, sending, by the offline charging control interface, a charging session establishment and an authentication request to the OFCS, and receiving, by using the offline charging control interface, a session establishment returned by the OFCS And authentication response.

In the foregoing solution, the sending module is configured to send a session update request to the user plane function by using an Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

And receiving an update response returned by the user plane function through the Sx interface after the charging rule update according to the session update request.

In the foregoing solution, the second interaction module is further configured to receive, by the online charging control interface, an active notification message sent by the OCS, and perform corresponding processing according to the active notification message, and After the processing ends, the online charging control interface returns a notification response to the OCS.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a charging method, where the method is applied to a separation architecture between a control plane function and a user plane function, and the control plane function and the user plane function are both connected to a charging system. The control plane function interacts with the charging system through a charging control interface, and the user plane function interacts with the charging system through a charging reporting interface, where the method includes:

The control plane function determines a charging mode, and interacts with a charging system corresponding to the charging mode to establish a session;

The control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function;

The user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports charging statistics to the charging system according to the charging rule.

After ending the session with the control plane function, the user plane function sends a billing final report to the billing system;

The user plane function receives a billing final report response returned by the billing system;

The control plane function sends a session termination message to the billing system.

In the above solution, the charging system includes an OCS and an OFCS;

Correspondingly, the charging control interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface;

The charging reporting interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a charging system, where the system includes a separate control plane function and a user plane function, and the control plane function and the user plane function are both connected to a charging system. The control plane function interacts with the charging system through a charging control interface, and the user plane function interacts with the charging system through a charging reporting interface;

The control plane function is configured to determine a charging method, and interact with a charging system corresponding to the charging method to establish a session; send a charging rule to the user plane function; and notify the user plane function that the session ends; And sending a session termination message to the charging system;

The user plane function is configured to perform charging statistics during the session, and report charging statistics to the charging system according to the charging rule; after ending the session with the control plane function, The billing system sends a billing final report; and receives a billing final report response returned by the billing system.

In the above solution, the charging system includes an OCS and an OFCS;

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program being executed by a processor to implement the steps of the foregoing method.

The embodiment of the invention provides a charging method, device, system and computer readable storage medium, which are connected through a user plane function and a charging system. During the session, the charging statistics can be made by users with large service data traffic. The face function is implemented, and the reporting accounting statistics can be exchanged through the interface between the user plane function and the charging system, thereby avoiding the connection between the control plane and the charging system under the existing separate architecture, and the control plane The Sx interface with the user plane requires various levels and various types of message interaction. Improves the reliability, latency, and performance of the Sx interface compared to existing split architectures. In other words, the reliability of the interface between the control surface and the user plane can be improved and the performance of the interface can be guaranteed.

DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging system under a control plane and a user plane separation architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic diagram of a charging architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a charging method based on a separation architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

4 is a schematic flowchart of a charging method based on a separation architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of another charging method based on a separate architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a charging method applied to a user plane function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method for ending a charging session applied to a user plane function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a charging method applied to a control plane function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a method for ending a charging session applied to a control plane function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a user plane function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a function of a control plane according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging system based on a separation architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In order to clearly describe the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, referring to FIG. 1 , an application scenario of the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. As shown in FIG. 1 , the current control plane and the user plane are separated from each other. Fee system structure, including Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Service Gateway (S-GW, Serving GateWay) ), Packet Data Network Gate (P-GW, Packet Data Network GateWay), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), 3GPP Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA), Policy and Accounting Rules The function (PCRF, Policy and Charging Rules Function) and other supporting nodes are composed.

In the system architecture shown in FIG. 1, the MME is configured to perform control plane related operations such as mobility management, non-access stratum signaling processing, and user mobility management context management; and the S-GW is connected to the E-UTRAN. The gateway device forwards data between the E-UTRAN and the P-GW and is configured to buffer the paging waiting data; the P-GW is a border gateway of the EPS and the PDN, configured as a PDN access and in the EPS and the PDN Transfer data and other functions. The PCRF is responsible for the formulation of policy decisions and charging rules, providing gating based on service data flow, quality of service control and charging rules to the GW, and executing the policies and charging rules formulated by the PCRF on the bearer plane.

For the GW (including the S-GW and the P-GW), after the control plane and the user plane are separated, based on the existing network architecture as shown in FIG. 1, the gateway control plane (GwC, Gateway Controller) can be based on The charging rule sent by the PCRF performs the corresponding service data flow charging operation, and the charging operation can be either online charging or offline charging. If it is online charging, it needs to carry out credit management together with OCS; if it is offline charging, it needs to exchange relevant charging information with OFCS. The interface between the GW and the PCRF is a Gx interface, the interface between the GW and the OCS is a Gy interface, and the interface between the GW and the OFCS is a Gz interface.

In the above architecture, the GwC and the user plane (SGwU, Serving Gateway User) of the service gateway and the user plane (PGwU, Packet Data Network Gateway User) of the packet gateway perform various levels and various types of message interactions through the Sx interface. This will affect the reliability, latency and performance of the Sx interface.

Based on the gateway structure shown in FIG. 1 and the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 , referring to FIG. 2 , the embodiment of the present invention provides a charging architecture, which can replace the charging architecture in FIG. 1 . The billing structure taken with the dotted line. In the charging architecture shown in FIG. 2, the S-GW, the P-GW, and the service detection function (TDF, Traffic in the EPS architecture shown in FIG. 1) The detection function is split into two functions: control plane function (CPF, Controller Plane Function) and user plane function (UPF, User Plane Function). Among them, S-GW is split into S-GW UPF and S-GW. CPF; P-GW is split into P-GW UPF and P-GW CPF; TDF is split into TDF UPF and TDF CPF. Therefore, the CPF includes S-GW CPF, P-GW CPF, and TDF CPF; UPF includes S-GW UPF, P-GW UPF, and TDF UPF.

It can be understood that different types of CPFs or UPFs may be deployed in a unified manner, or may be deployed independently. The CPF is responsible for control plane functions, including load sharing, UPF selection, UE IP address allocation, policy and charging control, and the like. Optionally, the user plane address and tunnel identifier of the UPF can also be allocated. The UPF is responsible for user plane related functions, including data flow identification and deep packet parsing, QoS processing and bearer binding, and buffering of downlink paging data. The user plane and the control plane interface of the docking correspond to the corresponding CPF and UPF respectively, and the other corresponding interface functions are compared with the original EPS architecture.

In the charging architecture shown in FIG. 2, information exchange between the OCS and the CPF is performed through an online charging control interface, such as a Gyc/Gync interface; and an online charging reporting interface, such as a Gyr/Gynr interface, is used between the OCS and the UPF. Information exchange; the OFCS and the CPF exchange information through an offline charging control interface, such as a Gzc/Gznc interface; the OFCS and the UPF interact through an offline charging reporting interface, such as a Gzr/Gznr interface.

Based on the charging architecture shown in FIG. 2, various embodiments of the embodiments of the present invention are proposed.

Embodiment 1

Referring to FIG. 3, a charging method based on a separate architecture is provided. The method is applied to a separate architecture of a control plane function and a user plane function, and the control plane function and the user plane function are both calculated. The charging system is connected to the charging system by the charging control interface, and the user plane function interacts with the charging system through the charging reporting interface. The method may include:

S301: The control plane function determines a charging method, and interacts with a charging system corresponding to the charging method to establish a session;

S302: The control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function.

S303: The user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and according to the charging rule. Reporting accounting statistics to the billing system;

S304: The control plane function notifies the end of the session to the user plane function;

S305: After ending the session with the control plane function, the user plane function sends a billing final report to the billing system;

S306: The user plane function receives the charging final report response returned by the charging system.

S307: The control plane function sends a session termination message to the charging system.

Through the above solution, the user plane function and the charging system are connected, so that during the session, the accounting statistics can be implemented by the user plane function with a large service data traffic, and the reporting of the accounting statistics can be performed through the user plane function and charging. The interfaces between the systems interact, so that in the existing separate architecture, since only the control plane is connected to the billing system, the Sx interface between the control plane and the user plane needs to be of various levels and types. Message interaction. Therefore, the above technical solution and the charging architecture improve the reliability, delay and performance of the Sx interface compared with the existing separate architecture.

Exemplarily, for S301, the control plane function determines a charging method, and interacts with the charging system corresponding to the charging method to establish a session, including:

When the control plane function determines that the charging method is online charging, the charging credit application request is sent to the OCS, and the credit application response returned by the OCS is received;

Alternatively, when the control plane function determines that the charging method is offline charging, it sends a charging session establishment and an authentication request to the OFCS, and receives the session establishment and the authentication response returned by the OFCS.

It should be noted that the charging method includes online charging and offline charging. Therefore, the charging system corresponding to online charging is OCS, and the charging system corresponding to offline charging is OFCS.

In the specific implementation process of the foregoing example, for the online charging method, the charging credit application request is used to apply for a credit quota to the OCS, and specifically includes information related to service and charging, such as a user identifier, a service identifier, and a rate group identifier. Optionally, in order to be able to distinguish the functions participating in the specific service, the control plane function identifier and the user plane function identifier, for example, the PGWC identifier and the PGWU identifier, or the TDFC identifier and the TDFU identifier may be included; correspondingly, the credit returned by the OCS The application response may be a response message generated by the OCS after performing the credit authorization according to the existing subscription information and the charging related information carried in the charging credit application request, and may include a credit quota.

For the offline charging method, the charging session establishment and the authentication request may also include information related to the service and charging, such as the user identifier, the service identifier, and the rate group identifier; optionally, the control plane function identifier may also be included. The user plane function identifier; and the session establishment and the authentication response returned by the OFCS are responses generated by the OFCS after the initial authentication is performed according to the existing subscription information and the charging related information carried in the charging credit application request, and may include charging statistics. Report conditions.

Understandably, if the OCS rejects the credit application or the OFCS rejects the session establishment and the authentication request, the session establishment between the control plane function and the charging system is unsuccessful, and the OCS or OFCS returns a session establishment failure response, including the reason for the session establishment failure. .

Exemplarily, for S302, the control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function, which may include S3021 and S3022:

S3021: The control plane function sends a session update request to the user plane function through the Sx interface.

The session update request may include: charging related information and charging rule information such as reporting conditions; specifically, the charging related information may include a session: an identifier, a rule identifier, a service identifier, a charging keyword, a credit threshold, and the like. The reporting conditions may include: traffic threshold/time threshold/point/rate change/update (location update, access type update, time zone update/related IP-CAN session modification) and the like.

In the specific implementation process, when the control plane function obtains the charging policy and sends the charging rule information to the user plane function, the control plane function can perform the local mapping processing on the charging rule information, thereby mapping the charging rule. The flow processing rule corresponding to the information is delivered to the user plane function.

S3022: The user plane function performs charging rule update according to the session update request, and returns an update response to the control plane function through the Sx interface.

It should be noted that the update response may include an update installation result of the charging rule.

Illustratively, for S303, the user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports the charging statistics to the charging system according to the charging rule, which may include:

During the service session, the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation, and monitors the reporting conditions in the charging rule.

And, when the reporting condition is met, the user plane function sends a charging report request, where the charging report request includes: current usage usage (eg, duration, traffic, event), service identifier, Accounting statistics such as user face function identification, which can be implemented by the user plane function to generate call detail records (CDRs, Calling Detail Records).

It should be noted that, after the charging system receives the charging report request, the charging statistics information may be saved, and the user plane function may also receive the charging report response returned by the charging system.

It can be understood that the user plane function can cyclically execute the billing reporting process described in the above example, triggered by different reporting conditions.

Illustratively, when the charging method is online charging, the method further includes:

During the session, the control plane function receives the active notification message sent by the OCS, and performs corresponding processing according to the active notification message, and returns a notification response to the OCS after the processing ends.

Specifically, the active notification message may include notifying the reporting usage quota, or re-authenticating, or notifying the user that the credit limit is insufficient. The above example is used to illustrate the process of billing session modification.

Taking the re-authentication as an example, after receiving the active notification message sent by the OCS for indicating re-authentication, the control plane function confirms the re-authentication with the PCRF, and sends back the response confirming the re-authentication to the OCS. Next, the control plane function can execute a new credit application in accordance with the process described in step S301.

The embodiment provides a charging method based on the separation architecture, and the user plane function is connected with the charging system. During the session, the accounting statistics can be implemented by the user plane function with large service data traffic. The fee statistics can be exchanged through the interface between the user plane function and the billing system, thereby avoiding the Sx interface between the control plane and the user plane because only the control plane is connected to the billing system under the existing separate architecture. Various levels and various types of message interaction are required. Improves the reliability, latency, and performance of the Sx interface compared to existing split architectures.

Based on the first embodiment, the following specific embodiments are provided by the embodiment of the present invention:

Specific embodiment 1

Referring to FIG. 4, which is a detailed process of the specific embodiment 1, the specific embodiment describes a process of performing session creation, session modification, and session termination under the P-GW online charging method. It can be understood that the P-GW can be It is divided into a P-GW UPF and a P-GW CPF. In this embodiment, the PGW and the PGW are respectively represented. The detailed process of this embodiment may include:

S401: The UE initiates an attach process to the network, and completes an activation process such as session creation.

S402: The PGWC determines that the charging method is online charging, and triggers a charging credit application to the OCS.

S403: The PGW sends a charging credit application request to the OCS.

The billing credit application request is used to apply for the usage credit quota to the OCS, and may include service and billing related information such as a user identifier, a service identifier, and a rate group identifier. The billing credit application request may further include a PGWC function identifier and a PGWU function identifier.

S404: The OCS performs credit authorization according to the subscription information and the charging information carried in the charging credit application request, and sends a credit application response to the PGWC;

Specifically, the credit application response sent by the OCS may include a credit quota; or the OCS may reject the charging credit application; if the charging credit application is rejected, the charging session establishment is unsuccessful, and the response message returned by the OCS may carry the authorization failure reason. ;

S405: The PGW sends an Sxb interface session update request to the PGWU.

Specifically, after receiving the credit application response of the OCS, if the credit is issued, the PGW will perform localization on the credit application response, and then send the charging rule information such as the charging related information and the reporting condition to the PGWU. The session update request may include the charging rule information, such as the charging related information and the reporting condition. Specifically, the charging related information may include a session identifier, a rule identifier, a service identifier, a charging keyword, a credit threshold, and the like; Conditions may include: traffic threshold/time threshold/point/rate change/update (location update, access type update, time zone update/related IP-CAN session modification) and the like.

S406: The PGWU receives the update request message, performs a rule update, and sends an update response to the PGWC.

Specifically, the update response may carry an update installation result of the charging rule;

S407: In the service process, the PGWU performs the charging rule matching, the data flow statistics and the CDR generation, and the monitoring reporting condition; when the reporting condition is met, the generated CDRs are reported to the OCS;

S408: The PGWU is triggered by the reporting condition (for example, the condition in S405), and sends a charging report request.

Specifically, the PGWU performs a charging reporting process; sends a charging report request to the OCS, and the charging is performed. The report request can carry the billing bills, including the current usage (time length, traffic, events, etc.), service identifier, and GWU identifier.

S409: The OCS stores the charging report information, and returns a response message to the PGWU;

During the business process, triggered by different reporting conditions, S408 and 309 can be executed cyclically to process the charging reporting process. S401-309, the processing of the charging session creation and the charging information reporting process after the separation interface is performed.

S410: The OCS actively sends a notification message to the PGWC during the service process;

For example, OCS requires reporting usage usage, or re-authentication, or notifying users of insufficient credit lines, etc.).

S411: After receiving the notification message, the PGWC performs corresponding processing, and sends a notification response message to the OCS.

It should be noted that, when the PGWC confirms that it needs to execute a new credit application according to the active notification message, or issues a PGWU to perform the charging report, the S403-309 is repeated, the application for the credit line is issued, and the current billing amount is reported and processed. . It can be understood that, in S410-S411, the processing of the charging session modification process is performed.

S412: When the service ends, the PGWC notifies the PGWU session termination message through the Sxb interface.

The session termination message is used to inform the PGWU to terminate the current service processing, report the usage information such as the charging CDR, and release the session resources.

S413: The PGWU performs processing of the session termination message, and returns a session termination response message to the PGWC.

S414: The PGWU sends a billing final report to the OCS, and reports information such as the billing bills that need to be reported to the OCS, and terminates the billing session.

S415: The OCS stores the charging report, updates the charging credit limit, and the like, releases the charging session, and returns a charging final report response message to the PGWU;

S416: The PGW sends a charging session termination message to the OCS, and terminates the current charging session.

S417: The OCS releases the charging session resource, and returns a charging session termination response message to the PGWC.

At this point, the online billing process in the entire business process is completed.

Specific embodiment 2

Referring to FIG. 5, which is a detailed process of the second embodiment, the specific embodiment describes a process for the P-GW to perform session creation, session modification, and session termination under the offline charging method. The P-GW UPF and the P-GW CPF may be divided into PGWC and PGWU. In this embodiment, the detailed process of this embodiment may include:

S501: The UE initiates an attach process to the network, and completes an activation process such as session creation.

S502: The PGW determines that the charging method is offline charging, and triggers initiation of a charging session establishment and an initial authentication request to the OFCS.

S503: The PGW sends a charging session establishment and an initial authentication request message to the OFCS.

The charging session establishment and the initial authentication message may include: service identifiers, service identifiers, rate group identifiers, and the like. The billing credit application request may further include a PGWC function identifier and a PGWU function identifier.

S504: The OFCS performs initial authentication according to the subscription information and the charging information carried in the request message, and sends a session establishment and an authentication response message to the PGWC.

The session establishment and the authentication response message may carry the charging report condition; if the rejection is established, the charging session is unsuccessful, and the returned response message carries the failure reason.

S505: The PGW sends an Sxb interface session update request to the PGWU.

Specifically, after receiving the session establishment and authentication response message of the OFCS, the PGWC performs localization processing on the credit application response, and then sends information such as the charging rule and the statistical reporting condition to the PGWU, and if the application is rejected, the execution is performed. Business end process. The session update request may include the charging rule information and the charging rule information such as the reporting condition; specifically, the charging related information may include: a session identifier, a rule identifier, a service identifier, a charging keyword, a credit threshold, and the like; The reporting conditions may include: traffic threshold/time threshold/point/rate change/update (location update, access type update, time zone update/related IP-CAN session modification) and the like.

S506: The PGWU receives the update request message, performs a rule update, and sends an update response to the PGWC.

S507: During the service process, the PGWU performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation. If the conditions for reporting are met, the generated CDRs are reported to the OFCS;

S508: The PGWU is triggered by the reporting condition, and sends a charging report request to the OFCS.

Specifically, the PGWU performs a charging reporting process; the charging reporting request is sent to the OFCS, and the charging reporting request may carry the charging CDR, including the current usage (time length, traffic, event, etc.), service identifier, GWU identifier, etc. information.

S509: The OFCS stores the charging report information, and returns a response message to the PGWU;

It should be noted that, in the service process, triggered by different charging conditions, S508 and S509 may be executed cyclically to process the charging reporting process.

S510: When the service ends, the PGWC notifies the PGWU session termination message through the Sxb interface.

S511: The PGWU performs processing of the session termination message, and returns a session termination response message to the PGWC.

S512: The PGWU sends a billing final report to the OFCS, and reports information such as the billing bills that need to be reported to the OFCS, and terminates the billing session.

S513: The OFCS stores the charging report, updates the charging credit limit, and the like, releases the charging session, and returns a charging final report response message to the PGWU;

S514: The PGW sends a charging session termination message to the OFCS, and terminates the current charging session.

S515: The OFCS releases the charging session resource, and returns a charging session termination response message to the PGWC.

For the above two specific embodiments, it should be noted that, for TDF, TDF can also be divided into TDF UPF and TDF CPF, which are represented as TDFU and TDFC, respectively. When the TDF is in the online charging method and the offline charging method, the specific processing steps of the session creation, the session modification, and the session termination are as described in the foregoing embodiment, that is, the PGWC in the foregoing specific embodiment is changed to the TDFC. By changing the PGWU to TDFU, it is possible to implement the process of session creation, session modification, and session termination when the TDF is in the online charging method and the offline charging method. This embodiment will not be described again.

Embodiment 2

Based on the same technical concept of the foregoing embodiment, referring to FIG. 6, which illustrates a charging method based on a separate architecture provided by an embodiment of the present invention, the method is applied to a user plane function in a separate architecture, and the method may include:

S601: The user plane function obtains a charging rule from the control plane function;

S602: The user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports the charging statistics to the charging system by using the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.

In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the method further includes:

S603: After the user plane function ends the session with the control plane function, the charging report is sent by the charging reporting interface item charging system;

S604: The user plane function receives the charging final report response returned by the charging system by using the charging reporting interface.

In an embodiment, the charging system is included in OCS and OFCS;

In an embodiment, the user plane function obtains a charging rule from the control plane function, and specifically includes:

In an embodiment, the user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports the charging statistics to the charging system by using the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule, which specifically includes:

And the user plane function is received by the charging report when the reporting condition is met. The port sends a billing report request, where the billing report request includes billing statistics.

Embodiment 3

Based on the same technical concept of the foregoing embodiment, referring to FIG. 8, a charging method based on a separate architecture is provided. The method is applied to a control plane function in a separate architecture. The method may include:

S801: The control plane function determines a charging method, and establishes a session by using the charging control interface to interact with a charging system corresponding to the charging method.

S802: The control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function.

The charging rule is used to indicate that the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation in the service process, and monitors the reporting condition in the charging rule to report the charging to the charging system. Statistics.

In an embodiment, referring to FIG. 9, the method may further include:

S803: The control plane function notifies the end of the session to the user plane function;

S804: After the control plane function ends the session with the user plane function, the control plane function sends a session termination message to the charging system through the charging control interface.

In an embodiment, the charging system is included in OCS and OFCS;

In an embodiment, the control plane function determines a charging method, and establishes a session by using the charging control interface to interact with the charging system corresponding to the charging method, which specifically includes:

In an embodiment, the control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function, where include:

In an embodiment, when the charging method is online charging, the method further includes:

Embodiment 4

Based on the same technical concept of the foregoing embodiment, referring to FIG. 10, a user plane function device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The device 100 is connected to a billing system and interacts through a billing reporting interface. The device 100 includes: an obtaining module 1001 and a first interaction module 1002;

The obtaining module 1001 is configured to acquire a charging rule from the control plane function;

The first interaction module 1002 is configured to perform charging statistics during a session, and report charging statistics to the charging system by using the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.

In an embodiment, the first interaction module 1002 is further configured to send a charging final report by using the charging reporting interface item;

In an embodiment, the charging system comprises an OCS and an OFCS;

Correspondingly, the first interaction module 1002 interacts with the OCS through an online charging reporting interface;

The first interaction module 1002 interacts with the OFCS through an offline charging reporting interface.

In an embodiment, the obtaining module 1001 is configured to acquire a session update request sent by the control plane function by using an Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

In the above solution, the first interaction module 1002 is configured to perform charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation during the service session, and monitor the reporting conditions in the charging rule.

It should be noted that, when the user plane function device provided by the foregoing embodiment performs processing, only the division of each of the foregoing program modules is illustrated. In an actual application, the processing allocation may be completed by different program modules as needed. The internal structure of the device is divided into different program modules to complete all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the user plane function device and the user plane function method embodiment provided in the foregoing embodiments are in the same concept, and the specific implementation process is described in detail in the method embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

In practical applications, the user plane function device provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes: a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program capable of running on the processor,

Wherein the processor is configured to perform the steps of the above method when the computer program is run.

Embodiment 5

Based on the same technical concept of the foregoing embodiment, reference is made to FIG. 11, which shows a control plane function device 110 provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The device 110 is connected to a billing system and interacts through a billing control interface. The device 110 includes: a second interaction module 1101 and a delivery module 1102;

The second interaction module 1101 is configured to determine a charging method, and establish a session by using the charging control interface and the charging system corresponding to the charging method.

The sending module 1102 is configured to send a charging rule to the user plane function, where The charging rule is used to indicate that the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation in the service process, and monitors the reporting condition in the charging rule to report charging statistics to the charging system. .

In an embodiment, the sending module 1102 is further configured to notify the end of the session to the user plane function;

The second interaction module 1101 is configured to send a session termination message to the charging system through the charging control interface.

Wherein, in actual application, the charging system comprises OCS and OFCS;

In an embodiment, the second interaction module 1101 is configured to:

When the charging method is determined to be online charging, the online charging control interface sends a charging credit application request to the OCS, and receives the credit application response returned by the OCS through the online charging control interface;

In the foregoing solution, the sending module 1102 is configured to send a session update request to the user plane function by using an Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

In an embodiment, the second interaction module 1101 is further configured to receive an active notification message sent by the OCS through the online charging control interface during the session, and perform corresponding processing according to the active notification message. And the online charging control interface returns a notification response to the OCS after the processing ends.

It should be noted that, when performing the processing, the control plane function device provided by the above embodiment is only exemplified by the division of each of the above-mentioned program modules. In actual application, the above-mentioned processing allocation may be completed by different program modules as needed. Divide the internal structure of the device into different Program modules to perform all or part of the processing described above. In addition, the control plane function device and the control plane function method embodiment provided in the foregoing embodiments are in the same concept, and the specific implementation process is described in detail in the method embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

In practical applications, the control surface function device provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes: a processor and a memory configured to store a computer program capable of running on the processor,

Embodiment 6

Referring to FIG. 12, a billing system 120 based on a split architecture is provided. The system 120 includes a separate control plane function 110 and a user plane function 100, and the control plane function 110 and the The user plane functions 100 are all connected to the billing system 130;

The control plane function 110 is configured to determine a charging method, and interact with the charging system 130 corresponding to the charging method to establish a session;

And sending a charging rule to the user plane function 100;

And notifying the user plane function 100 that the session ends;

And sending a session termination message to the charging system 130;

The user plane function 100 is configured to perform charging statistics during a session, and report charging statistics to the charging system 130 according to the charging rule.

And, after ending the session with the control plane function 110, sending a billing final report to the billing system 130;

And receiving a billing final report response returned by the billing system 130.

In an embodiment, the billing system 130 includes an OCS and an OFCS;

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present invention can be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may employ hardware embodiments, software embodiments, or junctions. In the form of an embodiment of the software and hardware aspects. Moreover, the invention can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage and optical storage, etc.) including computer usable program code.

The present invention has been described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (system), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or FIG. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine for the execution of instructions for execution by a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing device. Means for implementing the functions specified in one or more of the flow or in a block or blocks of the flow chart.

The computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising the instruction device. The apparatus implements the functions specified in one or more blocks of a flow or a flow and/or block diagram of the flowchart.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device such that a series of operational steps are performed on a computer or other programmable device to produce computer-implemented processing for execution on a computer or other programmable device. The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more of the flow or in a block or blocks of a flow diagram.

Based on this, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer readable storage medium, where the computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method performed by the user plane function are implemented, or the control plane is implemented. The steps of the method performed by the function.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Industrial applicability

The solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention is connected through the user plane function and the charging system in a separate architecture. During the session, the accounting statistics can be used by the user with a large service data traffic. The function is implemented, and the reporting charging statistics can be exchanged through the interface between the user plane function and the charging system, thereby avoiding the connection between the control plane and the charging system in the existing separate architecture. The Sx interface between user planes requires various levels and various types of message interaction. Improves the reliability, latency, and performance of the Sx interface compared to existing split architectures.

Claims

A charging method, the method is applied to a user plane function in a separate architecture of a control plane function and a user plane function. In the separation architecture, the user plane function is connected with a charging system, and is reported by charging. The interface interacts, and the method includes:

The user plane function obtains a charging rule from the control plane function;

The user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports the charging statistics to the charging system through the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.
The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises:

After the user plane function ends the session with the control plane function, the billing system sends the billing final report through the billing reporting interface item;

The user plane function receives the charging final report response returned by the charging system by using the charging reporting interface.
The method of claim 1 wherein said billing system comprises an online billing system and an offline billing system;

Correspondingly, the user plane function interacts with the online charging system through an online charging reporting interface;

The user plane function interacts with the offline charging system through an offline charging reporting interface.
The method of claim 1, wherein the user plane function obtains a charging rule from the control plane function, including:

The user plane function acquires a session update request sent by the control plane function by using an Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

The user plane function performs charging rule update according to the session update request, and returns an update response to the control plane function through the Sx interface.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the user plane function performs charging statistics during a session, and reports charging statistics to the charging system through the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule. ,include:

During the service session, the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics. And bill generation, and monitoring the reporting conditions in the charging rules;

And, when the reporting condition is met, the user plane function sends a charging report request by using the charging report interface; wherein the charging report request includes charging statistics information.
A charging method, the method being applied to a control plane function in a separate architecture of a control plane function and a user plane function, wherein in the separation architecture, the control plane function is connected to a charging system and is controlled by charging The interface interacts, and the method includes:

The control plane function determines a charging method, and establishes a session by using the charging control interface to interact with a charging system corresponding to the charging method;

The control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function, where the charging rule is used to indicate that the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and bill generation in a service process. And monitoring the reporting condition in the charging rule to report the charging statistics to the charging system.
The method of claim 6 wherein the method further comprises:

The control plane function notifies the user plane function of the end of the session;

After the control plane function ends the session with the user plane function, the control plane function sends a session termination message to the charging system through the charging control interface.
The method of claim 6 wherein said billing system comprises an online billing system and an offline billing system;

Correspondingly, the charging control interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the control plane function determines a charging method, and establishes a session by using the charging control interface to interact with the charging system corresponding to the charging method, including:

When the control plane function determines that the charging method is online charging, the online charging control interface sends a charging credit application request to the online charging system, and receives the online accounting control interface through the online charging control interface. The credit application response returned by the fee system;

Alternatively, when the control plane function determines that the charging method is offline charging, the offline charging control interface sends a charging session establishment and an authentication request to the offline charging system, and passes the foregoing The line charging control interface receives the session establishment and authentication response returned by the offline charging system.
The method of claim 6, wherein the control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function, including:

The control plane function sends a session update request to the user plane function through the Sx interface, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

The control plane function receives an update response returned by the user plane function over the Sx interface after the charging rule update is performed according to the session update request.
The method of claim 8, wherein when the charging method is online charging, the method further comprises:

During the session, the control plane function receives the active notification message sent by the online charging system through the online charging control interface, performs corresponding processing according to the active notification message, and performs the online charging after the processing ends. The control interface returns a notification response to the online charging system.
A user plane function device, the device is connected to the billing system, and interacts through the billing reporting interface, the device includes: an obtaining module and a first interaction module;

The obtaining module is configured to acquire a charging rule from the control plane function;

The first interaction module is configured to perform charging statistics during the session, and report the accounting statistics to the charging system by using the charging reporting interface according to the charging rule.
The device according to claim 12, wherein the first interaction module is further configured to send a charging final report by using the charging reporting interface item;

And receiving, by the charging reporting interface, the charging final report response returned by the charging system.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the billing system comprises an online billing system and an offline billing system;

Correspondingly, the first interaction module interacts with the online charging system by using an online charging reporting interface;

The first interaction module interacts with the offline charging system through an offline charging reporting interface.
The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the acquisition module is configured to pass Obtaining, by the Sx interface, a session update request sent by the control plane function, where the session update request includes charging rule information;

And, charging rule update is performed according to the session update request, and an update response is returned to the control plane function through the Sx interface.
The device according to claim 12, wherein the first interaction module is configured to perform charging rule matching, data flow statistics and bill generation during a service session, and monitor a reporting condition in the charging rule;

And, when the reporting condition is met, sending a charging report request by using the charging report interface; wherein the charging report request includes charging statistics information.
A control plane function device, the device is connected to the billing system, and interacts with the billing control interface, the device includes: a second interaction module and a delivery module; wherein

The second interaction module is configured to determine a charging method, and establish a session by using the charging control interface and the charging system corresponding to the charging method.

The sending module is configured to send a charging rule to the user plane function, where the charging rule is used to indicate that the user plane function performs charging rule matching, data flow statistics, and The bill is generated, and the reporting condition in the charging rule is monitored to report the charging statistics to the charging system.
The device according to claim 17, wherein the sending module is further configured to notify the user plane function of the end of the session;

The second interaction module is configured to send a session termination message to the charging system by using the charging control interface.
The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said billing system comprises an online billing system and an offline billing system;

Correspondingly, the charging control interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface.
The device of claim 19, wherein the second interaction module is configured to:

When the charging method is determined to be online charging, the online charging control interface sends a charging credit application request to the online charging system, and receives the online charging control interface through the online charging control interface. The credit application response returned by the line billing system;

Or, when determining that the charging method is offline charging, sending, by the offline charging control interface, a charging session establishment and an authentication request to the offline charging system, and receiving, by the offline charging control interface, an offline meter The session establishment and authentication response returned by the fee system.
The device according to claim 17, wherein the sending module is configured to send a session update request to the user plane function through an Sx interface; wherein the session update request includes charging rule information;

And receiving an update response returned by the user plane function through the Sx interface after the charging rule update according to the session update request.
The device according to claim 19, wherein the second interaction module is further configured to: receive, during the session, an active notification message sent by the online charging system through the online charging control interface, and according to the initiative The notification message performs corresponding processing, and the online charging control interface returns a notification response to the online charging system after the processing ends.
A charging method, the method is applied to a separate architecture of a control plane function and a user plane function, and the control plane function and the user plane function are both connected to a charging system, and the control plane function is controlled by charging The interface interacts with the charging system, and the user plane function interacts with the charging system through a charging reporting interface, where the method includes:

The control plane function determines a charging mode, and interacts with a charging system corresponding to the charging mode to establish a session;

The control plane function sends a charging rule to the user plane function;

The user plane function performs charging statistics during the session, and reports charging statistics to the charging system according to the charging rule.

The control plane function notifies the user plane function of the end of the session;

After ending the session with the control plane function, the user plane function sends a billing final report to the billing system;

The user plane function receives a billing final report response returned by the billing system;

The control plane function sends a session termination message to the billing system.
The method of claim 23 wherein said billing system comprises online billing System and offline billing system;

Correspondingly, the charging control interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface;

The charging reporting interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface.
A billing system, the system includes a separate control plane function and a user plane function, and the control plane function and the user plane function are both connected to a billing system, and the control plane function is implemented through a billing control interface. The charging system interacts, and the user plane function interacts with the charging system through a charging reporting interface;

The control plane function is configured to determine a charging method, and interact with a charging system corresponding to the charging method to establish a session; send a charging rule to the user plane function; and notify the user plane function that the session ends; And sending a session termination message to the charging system;

The user plane function is configured to perform charging statistics during the session, and report charging statistics to the charging system according to the charging rule; after ending the session with the control plane function, The billing system sends a billing final report; and receives a billing final report response returned by the billing system.
The system of claim 25 wherein said billing system comprises an online billing system and an offline billing system;

Correspondingly, the charging control interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface;

The charging reporting interface includes an online charging control interface and an offline charging control interface.
A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program being executed by a processor to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or to implement any of claims 6 to The steps of the method.