WO2019128709A1

WO2019128709A1 - Traffic charging control method, device and system, and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: WO2019128709A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/120529
Authority: WO
Inventors: 熊伟; 周富星; 尹跃进
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2017-12-25
Filing date: 2018-12-12
Publication date: 2019-07-04
Also published as: CN107911566A

Abstract

A traffic charging control method, device and system, and a computer readable storage medium. The traffic charging control method comprises: acquiring positional information concerning a terminal, determining a charging policy corresponding to the current position of the terminal according to the positional information concerning the terminal; generating a telephone bill for the terminal on the basis of the charging policy corresponding to the current position of the terminal.

Description

Flow rate control method, device and system, computer readable storage medium

The present application claims the priority of the Chinese Patent Application, filed on Dec.

Technical field

The present application relates to mobile communication technologies, such as a flow rate control method, apparatus and system, and a computer readable storage medium.

Background technique

With the development of the mobile Internet, the pipeline trend of the operator network is difficult to reverse. In order to make the traditional voice, messaging and other services meet the mass consumer demand, it is necessary to improve the traffic accounting strategy.

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.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control method, apparatus, and system, and a computer readable storage medium.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control method, including: acquiring location information of a terminal, determining a charging policy corresponding to a current location of the terminal according to location information of the terminal; and corresponding to a current location of the terminal The charging policy generates a bill of the terminal.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control method, including: acquiring location information of a terminal; generating CDR type information according to location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a current location of the terminal a charging policy; sending the bill type information to a packet data network gateway.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control system, including: a charging policy determining module, configured to acquire location information of a terminal, and determine a charging policy corresponding to a current location of the terminal according to location information of the terminal; The single generation module is configured to generate a bill of the terminal based on a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control device, including: a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a program, and when the program is read and executed by the processor, implementing any one of the foregoing embodiments The flow rate control method.

An embodiment of the present application provides a computer readable storage medium storing at least one program, the at least one program being executable by at least one processor to implement the method described in any of the above embodiments. Flow rate control method.

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

DRAWINGS

The drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solutions of the present application, and constitute a part of the specification, which is used together with the embodiments of the present application to explain the technical solutions of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation of the technical solutions of the present application.

1 is a schematic diagram of a flow rate control method according to Embodiment 1 of the present application;

2 is a schematic diagram of a method for controlling a flow rate fee according to Embodiment 2 of the present application;

3 is a schematic diagram of interaction of network elements involved in a method for controlling a flow rate according to Embodiment 3 of the present application;

4 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a flow rate fee according to Embodiment 3 of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of interaction of network elements involved in a method for controlling a flow rate according to Embodiment 4 of the present application; FIG.

6 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a flow rate fee according to Embodiment 4 of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of interaction of network elements involved in a method for controlling a flow rate according to Embodiment 5 of the present application; FIG.

8 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a flow rate fee according to Embodiment 5 of the present application;

9 is a schematic diagram of interaction of network elements involved in a method for controlling a flow rate according to Embodiment 6 of the present application;

10 is a flowchart of a flow rate control method provided in Embodiment 6 of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a flow rate control system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present application 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.

The steps illustrated in the flowchart of the figures may be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions. Also, although logical sequences are shown in the flowcharts, in some cases the steps shown or described may be performed in a different order than the ones described herein.

Provide regional-based traffic packages, that is, differentiate traffic meters for different geographic locations, encourage traffic consumption, and better meet the consumer demand. At present, for the case of differentiated location tariffs, it involves the switch of bills. The current charging strategy involves the core network and services, but it is necessary to properly plan the Rate Group (RG) to avoid conflicts with related content charging services. If the CDR is switched according to the traditional method, it will inevitably bring a series of problems, such as: RG planning, business operation support system (BOSS) trigger deduction, etc., so how to not affect the user experience Under the premise of the CDR switch between different tariff strategies need to be studied.

First, a brief description of the network elements that may be involved in this application is made. The network elements involved in this application are as follows:

Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF)

The PCRF is a policy and charging control policy decision point for service data flows and Internet Protocol (IP) bearer resources. It selects and provides available policies and policies for the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF). Billing control decision. In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8 (Release8), when using the Gxx interface, the PCRF Maintenance Gateway (GateWay, GW) controls the session and the connection access network (IP-Connectivity Access Network, IP). -CAN) The association between sessions. The PCRF is also an information exchange point between the Bearer Binding and Event Report Function (BBERF) and the PCEF. It performs the forwarding of event triggers between BBERF and PCEF. The event trigger cannot be in BBERF and PCEF. Transfer between directly.

A Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (GateWay), which may be simply referred to as a PDN gateway, or a PGW.

The PGW is an important network element in the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPC network is actually an evolved version of the original 3G core network packet switching (PS) domain, and the PGW is equivalent to an evolved Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) network element, its function and function. It is equivalent to the original GGSN network element and provides the user's session management and bearer control, data forwarding, IP address allocation, and non-3GPP user access. It is the anchor point for 3GPP access and non-3GPP access public data network PDN. The so-called 3GPP access refers to the radio access technology from the 3GPP standard family; the so-called non-3GPP access is a radio access technology other than the 3GPP standard family, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Into technology and the current popular WiFi access technology. That is to say, in the EPC network, if the mobile terminal is a non-3GPP access, it may not pass the Mobility Management Entity (MME) network element and the Serving GateWay (SGW) network element, but must pass the PGW network. Yuan, in order to access the PDN.

Business Operations Support System (BOSS).

BOSS combines the Business Support System (BSS) and the Operation Support System (OSS). It is a comprehensive business operation and management support platform, and is also a true converged service (different operators have different services). Integration, such as traditional network access services, IP data services, content delivery services and mobile value-added services, etc.).

Electronic Channel Operation Platform (ECOP)

ECOP mainly implements a system for centralized management of electronic channels, such as websites, web pages (wap), WeChat, and applications (Applications, APP); and is developing a marketing integration platform (Campaign Management Platform, CMP). The main purpose is to realize the personalized marketing and unified management of the marketing information of the linked customer tag library in multiple interfaces (outbound call, website, short hall, WeChat, APP).

Mobile Management Entity (MME)

The MME is a key control node of the 3GPP protocol Long Term Evolution (LTE) access network. It is responsible for the positioning of the user equipment (User Equipment, UE) in idle mode, and the paging process, including relaying. Simply speaking, the MME is responsible for Signaling processing part. It involves a bearer activation/shutdown process and selects an SGW for this UE when it is initialized and connected to the MME.

Embodiment 1

The embodiment provides a flow rate control method, as shown in FIG. 1 , including

steps

101 and 102.

In step 101, the location information of the terminal is obtained, and the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal is determined according to the location information of the terminal.

In step 102, a bill of the terminal is generated based on a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.

In this embodiment, a bill is generated according to the location of the terminal, and a location-based charging scheme is provided, which can provide a location-based charging service for the user.

The location information of the terminal may be the cell information where the terminal is located. Of course, other location information may also be used.

The charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal may be determined by any one of the MME, the PGW, and the PCRF. The following description will be respectively made.

In another embodiment, the charging policy is determined by the PGW. For example, the acquiring the location information of the terminal includes: the PGW receiving the location information of the terminal that is reported by the MME when the terminal location changes.

Determining, according to the location information of the terminal, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and generating the CDR of the terminal according to the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, where the PGW is based on the location information of the terminal Determining a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and generating a bill of the terminal based on a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.

The MME reports the location information of the terminal to the PGW when the terminal location changes. Whether the terminal location changes can be determined by the base station cell accessed by the terminal. For example, if the base station cell accessed by the terminal changes, the terminal location is determined to be changed. In addition, the determination may be made by other means, for example, the terminal enters an area corresponding to another charging policy from an area corresponding to a charging policy (for example, an area corresponding to the preferential charging policy). Area). For example, the terminal location change may also be any one of the terminal entering and leaving the preset area set, when the operator-provided area-based traffic tariff policy includes only two tariff policies (such as preferential charging policy and non-concessional charging). A policy is to add a plurality of areas (for example, a cell) corresponding to one of the charging policies to the preset area set, and the MME performs the location when the terminal enters or exits any of the preset area sets. The reporting of the information is compared with the reporting of the terminal in and out of each cell. This implementation can greatly reduce the number of times the terminal reports. In addition, the area corresponding to the preferential charging policy provided by the system may include a plurality of cells, and the terminal only subscribes to the preferential charging policy in some of the cells. In this case, the preset area set may be a preferential charging policy corresponding to the terminal subscription. A collection of areas. For example, the system provides a preferential charging policy in the five cells A, B, C, D, and E, and the terminal only subscribes to the preferential charging policy in the A cell and the B cell. In this case, the preset area set may be A, B. The set of five cells, C, D, and E, may also be a set of A and B. When the preset area set is a set of five cells, A, B, C, D, and E, when the terminal enters or exits any of the five cells, the MME performs location information reporting, and when the preset area set is cell A, When the terminal and the cell B are in a set, the MME performs location information reporting when the terminal enters and exits any of the cells A and B.

In an embodiment, the charging policy is determined by the PCRF, and the location information is forwarded by the PGW to the PCRF. For example, the location information of the acquiring terminal includes: the PGW receiving the location information of the terminal that is reported by the MME when the location of the terminal changes. And transmitting the location information of the terminal to the PCRF.

Determining, according to the location information of the terminal, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, the PCRF generating the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates the current location of the terminal The charging policy, the policy and charging rule function sends the bill type information to the PGW. It should be noted that if there are only two charging policies, the CDR type information may also be CDR switching control information, indicating whether the CDR is required to be switched, thereby indirectly indicating the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.

The generating the CDR of the terminal based on the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal includes: the PGW generating a CDR of the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the CDR type information.

In another embodiment, the PGW sends the location information of the terminal to the PCRF, and further determines whether the terminal subscribes to the regional-based differentiated traffic tariff policy. If there is no subscription, the PGW directly generates the CDR to be sent to the BOSS. A region-based differentiated traffic tariff policy is ordered, and the PGW transmits the location information of the terminal to the PCRF. The regional-based differentiated traffic tariff policy, that is, the traffic accounting policy is related to the region in which it is located, and there are at least two traffic tariff policies. For example, the regional-based differentiated traffic tariff policy can provide two charging policies: a preferential charging policy and a non-privileged charging policy, which respectively correspond to different areas. For example, a preferential charging policy may be provided in an area where the user is located (for example, a campus where the student user is located). Of course, in other embodiments, multiple charging policies may be provided, for example, three charging policies are provided, corresponding to respectively. Different areas.

In an embodiment, the charging policy is determined by the PCRF, and the location information is directly sent by the MME to the PCRF. For example, the location information of the acquiring terminal includes: the PCRF receiving the location of the terminal reported by the MME when the location of the terminal changes. information.

Determining, according to the location information of the terminal, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, the PCRF generating the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates the current location of the terminal The charging policy, the policy and charging rule function sends the bill type information to the PGW.

In another embodiment, the MME determines the charging policy, for example, the location information of the acquiring terminal, and determining, according to the location information of the terminal, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, including: when the terminal When the location changes, the MME generates the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal. The MME directly sends the CDR type information to the PGW; or the MME sends the CDR type information to the PCRF, and the PCRF sends the CDR type information to the PGW.

In this embodiment, the MME determines the charging policy and notifies the PGW. In this embodiment, the MME obtains a traffic tariff policy of the terminal from the PCRF.

In an embodiment, the location change of the terminal includes: the terminal moves from an area corresponding to one charging policy to an area corresponding to another charging policy. For example, the terminal moves from the area corresponding to the preferential charging policy to the area corresponding to the non-privileged charging policy.

In an embodiment, the location change of the terminal includes: the terminal entering or leaving any one of the preset area sets. The preset area set is a set of areas corresponding to a traffic tariff policy; or a set of areas corresponding to a traffic tariff policy subscribed by the terminal. The information of the preset area may be carried in the monitoring event message sent by the system, or may be acquired by the MME from the PCRF.

The location monitoring can be turned on on the MME side to monitor the preset area.

In an embodiment, the CDR of the terminal carries a CDR type identifier, and the CDR type identifier indicates a charging policy corresponding to the CDR, wherein the CDR type identifier may be added in the CDR The identifier of the address resolution protocol (ARP) that is reserved in the CDR is also used as the CDR type identifier. A charging policy corresponding to different values of the APR identifier is defined, so that the charging policy corresponding to the bill can be indicated.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment provides a flow rate control method, as shown in FIG. 2, including steps 201 to 203.

In step 201, location information of the terminal is obtained.

In step 202, the CDR type information is generated according to the location information of the terminal, and the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.

In step 203, the bill type information is sent to the PGW.

In an embodiment, the obtaining location information of the terminal includes acquiring location information of the terminal from an MME or a PGW.

In an embodiment, the generating the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal includes: generating CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal when the location of the terminal changes.

The sending the CDR type information to the PGW includes: directly sending the CDR type information to the PGW; or sending the CDR type information to the PCRF, where the CDR type information is sent by the PCRF Give the PGW.

The present application is further illustrated by the following specific examples.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, the logic and related configurations are added on the PGW side, and the CDR switching of the user differentiated charging is completed.

A plurality of network elements involved in this embodiment are shown in FIG. 3. The terminal sends a subscription request to the ECOP when the terminal subscribes to the regional-based differentiated traffic tariff policy, and the ECOP sends the subscription request to the BOSS, and the BOSS opens the regional-based differentiated traffic tariff policy for the terminal. The ordering of the differentiated traffic tariff policy in the subsequent embodiments is similar to this and will not be described.

The remaining network elements are as follows:

MME, in this embodiment, the MME adds location information processing logic. When the location information of the terminal changes (for example, the base station cell changes), the MME sends a location change message to the PGW, and the location change message may be The base station cell information (for example, cell identity (CELL ID) information) where the terminal is currently located.

PGW, PGW configures the user's tariff policy. The PGW receives the message from the MME, determines the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, generates the CDR of the terminal according to the charging policy, and submits the generated CDR to the BOSS for final charging.

BOSS, BOSS receives the bills sent by the PGW, performs specific fee deduction work, synchronizes user traffic information, and completes the flow rate policy execution.

As shown in FIG. 4, the flow rate control method provided in this embodiment includes steps 401 to 405.

In step 401, the terminal sends a network related request to the MME.

The network related request refers to an online request that needs to use a data network, for example, a request sent by a plurality of video mobile Internet applications (Application, APP), or an online request sent by a game application, a mobile office application, or the like. Wait.

The network related request carries at least one of the following: terminal location information, and a terminal number. The terminal location information may be an E-UTRAN Cell Global Identifier (ECGI). Of course, the terminal location information may also be other information that can indicate the identity of the terminal.

In step 402, the MME determines whether the location of the terminal changes, and if so, reports the location information of the terminal to the PGW.

The MME can determine whether the location of the terminal changes by whether the base station cell accessed by the terminal changes.

In step 403, after receiving the location information of the terminal reported by the MME, the PGW determines a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal, based on the current location of the terminal. The fee policy generates a bill for the terminal.

In an embodiment, the determining, according to the location information of the terminal, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and generating the CDR of the terminal based on the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, including:

If the terminal does not subscribe to the area-based differentiated traffic tariff policy, the PGW generates a terminal bill, that is, a location-independent tariff policy, according to a conventional tariff policy.

If the terminal subscribes to the area-based differentiated traffic rate policy, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal is determined according to the location information of the terminal, and the terminal is generated based on the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal. The bill.

The regional-based differentiated traffic tariff policy includes two tariff strategies (a preferential charging policy and a non-privileged charging strategy) as an example.

If the terminal subscribes to the area-based differentiated traffic tariff policy, the PGW determines whether the terminal is currently in an area corresponding to the preferential charging policy (or a preferential area), and if it is in the preferential area, The PGW generates a bill based on the preferential charging policy, and sends the bill to the BOSS. The bill can be marked with an ARP identifier, and the ARP identifier indicates the billing policy corresponding to the bill, and the ARP identifier corresponding to the different billing policies. The values are different. It should be noted that the ARP identifier is the existing information in the bill. In this embodiment, the identifier is used to indicate the billing policy corresponding to the bill. However, the present application is not limited to this, and other identifiers may be used to indicate the charging policy corresponding to the bill. For example, a bill type identifier is added to the bill to indicate the billing policy corresponding to the bill.

In step 404, the BOSS receives the terminal information and the terminal CDRs sent by the PGW, and performs related charging work of the terminal according to its own logic. After the charging is completed, the service request is sent to the ECOP to load the service.

In step 405, the ECOP receives the service request from the BOSS, locates the service that the terminal is in, performs service checksum processing according to the service type, completes the service loading, and ends.

It should be noted that, in other embodiments, step 401 may also be omitted. In step 402, the MME reports the location information of the terminal to the PGW when detecting the change of the location of the terminal, and does not need to receive the network related request sent by the terminal. Then step 402 is performed.

In this embodiment, the MME adds the reporting location logic, and the PGW increases the terminal location information logic and the related tariff policy to complete the call redirection of the terminal. The solution involves the least network element and the shortest service flow, and can be quickly applied to the relevant network architecture. , effective.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, when the MME is configured to open the terminal, the current location information of the terminal is reported to the PGW when the cross-base station is switched; and the CDR is configured to cut the terminal location traffic.

As shown in FIG. 5, some network elements involved in this embodiment are as follows:

MME, the MME adds a new location reporting logic. When the location information of the terminal changes, for example, the base station cell where the terminal is located changes, the MME sends a message to the PGW side, and the message may include the base station cell information where the terminal is currently located. , such as CELL ID information.

The PGW adds a zone-based differentiated traffic tariff policy to the PGW to determine whether the terminal has a subscription. If the terminal has a zone-based differentiated traffic tariff policy, the terminal sends a message to the PCRF to carry the location information of the terminal; if the terminal does not have The order-based differentiated traffic rate policy is processed according to the original process. It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the PGW may also directly send the location information of the terminal to the PCRF without determining.

The PCRF stores the tariff policy of the terminal in the PCRF and judges the tariff policy.

A point of production (POP) module is configured to synchronize the data of the BOSS, and send the terminal subscription information to the PCRF, where the subscription information includes the tariff policy of the terminal. The POP module can be set on the BOSS or as an independent network element.

As shown in FIG. 6, the charging flow control method provided in this embodiment includes steps 601 to 607.

In step 601, the terminal sends a network related request to the MME.

The network related request refers to an online request that needs to use the data network, and may be a request sent by a plurality of video mobile Internet APPs, or may be an online request such as a game application or a mobile office application.

In step 602, the MME determines whether the location of the terminal changes, and if so, reports the location information of the terminal to the PGW.

The MME can determine whether the location of the terminal changes by determining whether the base station cell accessed by the terminal changes.

In step 603, the PGW receives the location information of the terminal from the MME, and determines whether the terminal subscribes to the zone-based differentiated traffic tariff policy.

If the terminal does not subscribe to the differentiated traffic tariff policy based on the area, the PGW directly sends the Internet access information of the terminal to the BOSS for deduction, that is, the bill is generated and sent to the BOSS based on the conventional tariff policy.

If the terminal subscribes to the area-based differentiated traffic tariff policy, the PGW sends a terminal location change message to the PCRF, where the terminal location change message carries the location information of the terminal and the like.

In step 604, the PCRF receives the terminal location change message sent by the PGW, and generates the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal carried in the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, The bill type information is sent to the PGW.

The PCRF determines the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the locally stored tariff policy.

In step 605, after receiving the CDR type information returned by the PCRF, the PGW generates a CDR of the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the CDR type information, and sends the CDR to the BOSS. The CDR can be marked with an ARP identifier. The ARP identifier indicates the charging policy corresponding to the bill.

For example, if the terminal is in the area corresponding to the preferential charging policy, the PGW generates a bill based on the preferential charging policy and sends the bill to the BOSS. The CDR can be marked with an ARP identifier. The APR identifier in the CDR indicates that the bill corresponding to the bill is a preferential billing policy.

If the terminal is outside the area corresponding to the preferential charging policy, the PGW generates a bill based on the non-concessional charging policy and sends the CDR to the BOSS. The CDRs can be marked with an ARP identifier. The value of the APR identifier in the CDR is different from the CDR corresponding to the preferential charging policy.

In step 606, the BOSS receives the terminal information and the terminal CDR sent by the PGW, and performs related charging work of the terminal according to its own logic. After the charging is completed, the service request is sent to the ECOP to load the service.

In step 607, the ECOP receives the service request from the BOSS, locates the service of the terminal according to the terminal information, performs service checksum processing according to the service type, completes the service loading, and ends.

In the solution in this embodiment, the PCRF determines the charging policy, reduces the pressure on the PGW, and improves the charging efficiency.

Embodiment 5

The 3GPP newly introduces a Presence Reporting Area (PRA) in the R12. In this embodiment, the PRA is turned on to monitor the terminal location change.

In this embodiment, the MME side starts the subscription location monitoring event. After the terminal location monitoring event is enabled, the MME monitors the situation in which the terminal enters and exits any area in the preset area set: when the terminal enters/leaves the preset area set. An area triggers a location report event. The set of the preset area to be monitored may be pre-configured on the MME. When the monitoring event is started, the PCRF only needs to notify the corresponding area of the MME by using the monitoring area ID. When the MME detects any area in the preset area set, it is detected. The PCRF is notified, and the area information of the terminal is entered at the same time, which reduces the number of logical triggers on the MME side, thereby reducing the pressure on the MME side. In this solution, the tariff policy information of the terminal is placed on the PCRF side, which reduces the logical judgment of the MME side, and the PCRF completes the determination of the charging policy.

As shown in FIG. 7, the partial network element involved in this embodiment includes:

The MME and the MME add a function of the reservation location monitoring module to monitor whether the terminal enters or leaves any one of the preset area sets. The preset area set may include at least one cell, and the cells in the preset area set may be The set of cells corresponding to the at least one charging policy of the area-based differentiated traffic rate policy provided by the operator may also be a set of cells corresponding to one or more charging policies subscribed by the terminal. Take two charging strategies as an example, a preferential charging policy and a non-privileged charging strategy. The preset area set may be a set of cells corresponding to the preferential charging policy, or may be a set of cells corresponding to the preferential charging policy subscribed by the terminal. For example, the operator provides a preferential charging policy in 10 cells, and the terminal only subscribes to the preferential charging policy of one of the cells. In this case, the preset area set may include the 10 cells, or may only include the terminal subscription. Community. When the preset area set includes the 10 cells, when the terminal enters or leaves any of the 10 cells, the charging policy may be changed. Therefore, the location information is reported, and the terminal is in the 10 cells. When the external area enters and exits, since the charging policy does not change, it is not necessary to report the location information. Specifically, it is necessary to monitor which areas can be sent to the MME by the PCRF.

The PCRF adds new judgment logic, determines the charging policy corresponding to the terminal according to the location of the terminal, and stores terminal information such as the tariff policy related to the terminal.

A POP module is added to synchronize the data of the BOSS, and the subscription information of the terminal is sent to the PCRF, where the subscription information includes the tariff policy of the terminal.

As shown in FIG. 8, the flow rate control method provided in this embodiment includes steps 801 to 806.

In step 801, the terminal sends a network related request to the MME.

In step 802, the MME starts the reservation location monitoring function, and when the terminal enters or leaves any of the preset area sets, the interception event is triggered, and the MME reports the terminal location change information to the PCRF, and carries the location information of the terminal. The information can be a cell ID.

The MME may receive area information that needs to be monitored from the PCRF.

In step 803, the PCRF receives the location change information reported by the MME, and determines the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal carried in the terminal, and generates the CDR type information.

In step 804, the PGW receives the CDR type information sent by the PCRF, generates a CDR of the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the CDR type information, sends the CDR to the BOSS, and carries the terminal information. An ARP identifier can be added to the bill, and the ARP identifier indicates the billing policy corresponding to the bill.

In step 805, the BOSS receives the terminal information sent by the PGW and the CDR of the terminal, and performs related charging work of the terminal according to its own logic. After the charging is completed, the service request is sent to the ECOP to load the service.

In step 806, the ECOP receives the service request from the BOSS, locates the service of the terminal according to the terminal information, performs service checksum processing according to the service type, completes the service loading, and ends.

In this embodiment, the locating location monitoring function is enabled on the MME side to monitor whether the terminal enters and exits a cell that may generate a charging policy change, and reports the cell to the PCRF in time, and implements the location information reporting manner in all the cells in and out of the terminal. Significantly reduced the number of reports.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment, the MME side starts the terminal location monitoring event. After the terminal location monitoring event is enabled, the MME monitors the situation in which the terminal enters and exits any area in the preset area set: when the terminal enters/leaves the preset area set. An area triggers a location report event. In this solution, the MME preset function is enabled, new business processes are not added, and the overall business process is further reduced.

As shown in FIG. 9, some network elements involved in this embodiment are as follows:

A location location module is added to the MME, and the MME can monitor 15 Tracking Area Identity (TAI) and 63 Evolved Node B (eNB). Of course, the MME can be configured to monitor more or less TAIs or eNBs. The system can carry the monitoring area list information in the message sent to the MME for monitoring events, indicating the area to be monitored. In addition, a terminal subscription information storage module may be added to synchronize the tariff policy subscription information of the terminal.

A new POP is used to synchronize the data of the BOSS, and the terminal subscription information is sent to the PCRF, where the subscription information includes the tariff policy of the terminal. It should be noted that the POP module can be located in the BOSS network element.

As shown in FIG. 10, the flow rate control method provided in this embodiment includes steps 1001 to 1006.

In step 1001, the terminal sends a network related request to the MME.

The network related request refers to an online request that needs to use the data network, and may be a request sent by a plurality of video mobile Internet APPs, or may be an online request sent by a game application or a mobile office application.

In step 1002, the MME starts the terminal location monitoring, and when the location of the terminal is changed, the CDR type information is generated according to the current location of the terminal and the traffic rate policy of the terminal, and the CDR type information indicates that the current location of the terminal corresponds to The billing policy sends the bill type information to the PCRF.

The location change of the monitored terminal refers to: listening to the terminal entering or leaving any area in the preset area set, where the preset area set is a set of areas carried in the monitoring area list. When the area-based differentiated traffic tariff policy provided by the operator includes two charging policies, the area in the monitoring area list may be an area corresponding to one of the traffic tariff policies. For example, the preferential charging policy and the non-concessional charging strategy are taken as an example, because the cell in which the preferential charging policy is usually implemented is much smaller than the cell in the non-privileged charging policy, and the cell in the monitoring area list may be a discount meter. Multiple cells corresponding to the fee policy.

Certainly, when the area-based differentiated traffic tariff policy provided by the operator includes two or more charging policies, the preset area set may also be a set of cells corresponding to multiple charging policies.

The MME stores the tariff policy information of the terminal, where the tariff policy information includes a correspondence between the location and the charging policy. In this embodiment, the charging policy of the terminal includes: when the terminal is in the preferential area, the preferential charging policy is used, and when the terminal is in the non-privileged area, the non-privileged charging policy is used.

In step 1003, the PCRF receives the CDR type information sent by the MME, and sends the CDR type information to the PGW.

In step 1004, the PGW receives the CDR type information sent by the PCRF, and generates the CDR according to the charging policy indicated by the CDR type information, where the CDR can carry an ARP identifier, where the ARP identifier indicates the The billing policy corresponding to the bill, the PGW sends the bill of the terminal to the BOSS, and carries the terminal information.

In step 1005, the BOSS receives the terminal information and the terminal CDRs sent by the PGW, and performs related charging work of the terminal according to its own logic. After the charging is completed, the service request is sent to the ECOP to load the service.

In step 1006, the ECOP receives the service request from the BOSS, locates the service of the terminal according to the terminal information, performs service checksum processing according to the service type, completes the service loading, and ends.

In this embodiment, the location monitoring function is enabled on the MME side, and the terminal tariff location related logic is implemented. The functions can be completed by the function module reserved by the MME, and the load pressure on the MME side is not increased, so no additional load is generated. Since the report is only reported when the terminal enters and exits the area in the preset area set, the number of triggers is reduced. It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the location change may be monitored: the terminal is monitored from one cell to another. That is, it is not limited to cells in the preset area set, for all cells.

The following is an example of some application scenarios of the flow rate control method provided by the present application.

Scenario 1: Company employees often access the Internet in the company area. Workers often engage in online activities within the factory. When the user moves from home to the company or the factory, it will inevitably involve changes in the location, which will cause changes in the traffic tariff. Therefore, the flow rate control method provided by the above embodiments can be applied to provide a flow preferential policy based on a company or a factory area.

Scenario 2, the university student spends most of his time on campus. When the user returns to the school from outside the school, or changes from the campus to the school, the location change causes the change of the traffic charge. The flow rate control method provided by the above embodiment can be applied. Provide traffic privilege strategies on campus.

The above application scenarios are merely examples, and the application is not limited thereto.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control system, as shown in FIG. 11, including a billing policy determining module 1101, a bill generating module 1102, and an information location reporting module 1103.

The charging policy determining module 1101 is configured to acquire location information of the terminal, and determine a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal.

The bill generation module 1102 is configured to generate a bill of the terminal based on a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.

In an embodiment, the flow rate control system further includes: a location information reporting module 1103, configured to report the location information of the terminal to the charging policy determination module 1101 when the location of the terminal changes.

In an embodiment, the charging policy determining module 1101 determines, according to the location information of the terminal, the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, where the charging policy determining module 1101 determines, according to the location information of the terminal. The bill type information, the bill type information indicates a billing policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and the bill type information is sent to the bill generating module 1102.

The CDR generation module 1102 generates the CDR of the terminal based on the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and the CDR generation module 1102 generates the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the CDR type information. single.

In an embodiment, the location information reporting module 1103 may be located at the MME, and the charging policy determination module 1101 and the bill generation module 1102 are located at the PGW.

In an embodiment, the location information reporting module 1103 and the charging policy determining module 1101 are located in the MME, and the bill generation module 1102 is located in the PGW.

In an embodiment, the location information reporting module 1103 is located at the MME, the charging policy determination module 1101 is located at the PCRF, and the CDR generation module 1102 is located at the PGW.

An embodiment of the present application provides a flow rate control device, including: a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a program, and the program implements the flow rate control method when read and executed by the processor. The flow rate control method may be the flow rate control method described in any of the above embodiments. The flow rate control device can be disposed on the MME, PGW or PCRF.

The computer readable storage medium includes: a USB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and the like, and the program code can be stored. Medium.

Claims

A flow rate control method includes:

Obtaining location information of the terminal, and determining, according to the location information of the terminal, a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal;

Generating a bill of the terminal based on a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.
The flow rate control method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the location information of the terminal, and determining the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal includes:

The packet data network gateway receives the location information of the terminal that is reported by the mobile management entity when the location of the terminal changes; the packet data network gateway determines the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal.
The method for controlling the flow rate of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the location information of the terminal comprises:

The packet data network gateway receives the location information of the terminal that is reported by the mobility management entity when the location of the terminal changes, and sends the location information of the terminal to the policy and charging rule function.
The method for controlling the flow rate of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the location information of the terminal comprises:

The policy and charging rule function receives location information of the terminal that is reported by the mobility management entity when the location of the terminal changes.
The flow rate control method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the determining the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal comprises:

The policy and charging rule function generates CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and the policy and charging rule function will be The bill type information is sent to the packet data network gateway;

The generating the CDR of the terminal based on the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal includes:

The packet data network gateway generates a bill of the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the bill type information.
The flow rate control method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining the location information of the terminal, and determining the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal according to the location information of the terminal includes:

When the location of the terminal changes, the mobility management entity generates the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal;

The mobility management entity directly sends the bill type information to a packet data network gateway, or the mobility management entity sends the bill type information to a policy and charging rule function, where the policy and charging rule function Sending the bill type information to a packet data network gateway;

The generating the CDR of the terminal based on the charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal includes:

The packet data network gateway generates a bill of the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the bill type information.
The flow rate control method according to claim 4 or 6, wherein the location change of the terminal comprises: the terminal moving from an area corresponding to one charging policy to an area corresponding to another charging policy; or The terminal enters or leaves any of the preset area sets.
The flow rate control method according to claim 7, wherein the preset area set is a set of areas corresponding to a flow rate policy, or a set of areas corresponding to a flow rate policy ordered by the terminal. .
The flow rate control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bill of the terminal carries a bill type identifier, and the bill type identifier indicates a billing strategy corresponding to the bill. .
The flow rate control method according to claim 8, wherein the bill type identifier is an address resolution protocol ARP identifier.
A flow rate control method includes:

Obtaining location information of the terminal;

Generating CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal;

The bill type information is sent to the packet data network gateway.
The flow rate control method according to claim 11, wherein the acquiring location information of the terminal comprises: acquiring location information of the terminal from a mobility management entity or the packet data network gateway.
The flow rate control method according to claim 11, wherein

The generating the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal includes: generating the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal when the location of the terminal changes;

The sending the bill type information to the packet data network gateway includes:

Sending the CDR type information directly to the packet data network gateway; or sending the CDR type information to a policy and charging rule function, where the policy and charging rule function sends the CDR type information to The packet data network gateway.
The flow rate control method according to claim 13, wherein the location change of the terminal comprises: moving the terminal from an area corresponding to one charging policy to an area corresponding to another charging policy; or The terminal enters or leaves any of the preset area sets.
The flow rate control method according to claim 14, wherein the preset area set is a set of areas corresponding to a flow rate policy, or a set of areas corresponding to a flow rate policy ordered by the terminal. .
A flow rate control system comprising:

The charging policy determining module is configured to obtain the location information of the terminal, and determine, according to the location information of the terminal, a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal;

The bill generation module is configured to generate a bill of the terminal based on a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal.
The flow rate control system of claim 16, wherein the flow rate control system further comprises: a location information reporting module;

The location information reporting module is configured to report the location information of the terminal to the charging policy determination module when the location of the terminal changes.
The flow rate control system of claim 16 wherein said charging policy determination module is configured to:

Acquiring the location information of the terminal, and determining the CDR type information according to the location information of the terminal, where the CDR type information indicates a charging policy corresponding to the current location of the terminal, and sending the CDR type information to the Bill generation module;

The bill generation module is configured to generate a bill of the terminal according to the charging policy indicated by the bill type information.
A flow rate control device comprising: a memory and a processor, the memory storing a program, the program implementing the flow according to any one of claims 1 to 15 when being read and executed by the processor Billing control method.
A computer readable storage medium storing at least one program executable by at least one processor to implement the flow metering fee of any of claims 1-15 Control Method.