WO2020119325A1

WO2020119325A1 - Charging processing method and device, storage medium, and electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2020119325A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/115136
Authority: WO
Inventors: 谢连升
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2018-12-14
Filing date: 2019-11-01
Publication date: 2020-06-18
Also published as: CN111327432A; CN111327432B

Abstract

Provided in the present invention are a charging processing method and device, a storage medium, and an electronic device. The method comprises: receiving target identifier information corresponding to a target session sent by a session management function (SMF) entity, the target identifier information being used for uniquely identifying the target session in the SMF entity; and performing charging processing on the target session on the basis of the target identifier information. By means of the present invention, the problem in the related art that a charging error is present in charging for a session is solved, and thus the effect of improving session charging accuracy is yielded.

Description

Charging processing method and device, storage medium and electronic device

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a charging processing method and device, storage medium, and electronic device.

Background technique

The 5G (the 5th Generation mobile communication technology) network, as the fifth generation mobile communication standard, is an extension of the LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. ITU (International Telecommunication Union) defines three typical application scenarios of 5G networks, including: eMBB (Enhance Mobile Broadband, enhanced mobile broadband), mMTC (Massive Machine Type of Communication), uRLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication, ultra-reliable and low-latency communication). 5G networks include: UE (User Equipment), (R) AN (Radio Access Network), (Wireless Access Network), CN (Core Network) and DN (Data Network), As shown in Figure 1.

The 5G core network includes the following network function entities: UPF (User Plane Function), SMF (Session Management Function, Session Management Function), AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function, Access and Mobility Management Function), AUSF (Authentication Server Function, authentication service function), NSSF (Network Slice Selection Function, network slice selection function), NEF (Network Exposure Function, network business presentation function), NRF (NF Repository Function, network element data warehouse function), PCF (Policy Control Function, policy control function), UDM (Unified Data Management, unified data management function), AF (Application Function), application layer function), where SMF entities interact with AMF entities and UPF entities to complete charging data collection, and Provide external billing interface functions, as shown in Figure 2.

NS (Network Slice) is a key feature of NFV (Network Function Virtualization) applied to 5G networks. Network slicing is a set of professional and specialized logical networks. This set serves as a service and supports network differentiation to meet the diversified needs of vertical industries. Network slicing essentially divides the operator's physical network into multiple virtual networks. In order to respond flexibly to different network application scenarios, network slices should be isolated from each other, for example, resources, security, data, QoS (Quality of Service), reliability, billing, and operation and maintenance isolation.

NSI (Network Slice Instance) is the realization of the concept of network slice. NSI is an end-to-end logical network, including a set of network functions, resources, and connection relationships. An NSI usually spans multiple technical domains, including access network, transmission network and core network, and can also include third-party applications in vertical industries. Each NSI is composed of an S-NSSAI (Single Network, Slice Selection, Assistance, Information, single network slice selection) Auxiliary information, a kind of network slice identification), S-NSSAI may include: SST (Slice/Service type, slice service type) and SD (Slice/Differentiator, slice area molecule), where SST is used to represent network slice behavior, SD It is used to supplement the information for further distinguishing network slices under the same SST.

The billing function is an indispensable function of the 5G network and is related to the operator's revenue. As shown in Figure 3, 5G charging is done in the core network. Among them, the CTF (Charging Trigger Function) unit is embedded in the SMF entity, and the CTF unit collects each UE for use with the wireless network and with external data networks. Related billing information. After collecting charging information, the CTF unit passes it to the CHF (Charging Function) entity through the Nchf interface. The CHF entity includes: CDF (Charging Data Function) and OCF (Online Charging Function), online charging Function) Two parts. For offline charging, the CDF unit constructs the bill and passes the bill to the CGF (Charging Gateway Function) entity. The CGF entity generates a CDR (Charging Details Record, billing detail record, billing detail) file, And transmitted to BD (Billing Domain, billing domain), BD complete the final billing of users. For online billing, the OCF unit completes the authorization of the user to use network resources. The OCF unit passes the resource usage request to the RF (Rating Function) entity. The RF entity approves the requested resource and returns the appraisal result to the OCF Unit, the OCF unit further approves the balance and approval results through the ABMF (Account, Balance, Management, Function) entity, and obtains the corresponding authorization quota. Users can only use the corresponding network resources after obtaining the authorization permission from the OCF unit .

During network deployment, one SMF entity can serve multiple network slices. Network slices can be of different slice types and serve different services. In network slice-based applications, different network slices have different service rates, so different network slices need to be differentiated for charging to avoid charging errors caused by mixing the charging information of different network slices.

In practical applications, the SMF entity creates a PDU (Protocol Data Unit) protocol for each network slice, and generates a CID (Charging Identifier, charging ID) for each PDU session, so it is sliced in multiple networks When sharing the same SMF entity, the charging IDs of different network slices may overlap. When a PDU session is online for a long time, multiple charging information can be generated due to factors such as data flow restrictions and duration restrictions. The charging ID in the multiple charging information generated by the same PDU session remains unchanged. The same PDU needs to be charged during charging The charging information of the session is associated, and the charging ID is the main parameter associated with multiple charging information.

In the traditional LTE network, PGW (Packet Data Network Gateway) is assigned a charging ID for IP-CAN (Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network), and the charging ID within a PGW is unique Yes, the charging system can perform charging information association according to the charging ID, as shown in FIG. 4. In 5G-based network slicing applications, the SMF entity generates charging IDs for each network slice separately. As shown in Figure 3, charging IDs for different network slices may be repeated. If the charging association is performed according to the charging ID, the charging information of different network slices will be associated together, resulting in charging errors.

Summary of the invention

An embodiment of the present invention provides a charging processing method and device, a storage medium, and an electronic device, so as to at least solve the problem that there is a charging error for charging for a session in the related art.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a charging processing method is provided, including: receiving target identification information corresponding to a target session sent by an SMF entity, wherein the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity; Based on the target identification information, the target session is charged.

Optionally, charging the target session based on the target identification information includes: when the charging method corresponding to the target session is offline charging, generating a target bill corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information;

The target bill is transmitted to the BD, so that the BD charges the target session according to the target bill.

Optionally, before generating a target CDR corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information, the method further includes: collecting one or more target CDR CDRs generated by the CDF unit in the CHF entity, where one or more targets Each target CDR bill in the CDR bill carries target identification information; according to the target identification information, generating a target bill corresponding to the target session includes: according to the target identification information, one or more target CDR bills are billed Merge to generate the target bill.

Optionally, according to the target identification information, combining one or more target CDR bills with the bills to generate the target bills includes: separately extracting charging parameters from each target CDR bill of the one or more CDR bills Information, combined to form a target merge keyword set to merge target CDR bills, where the target merge keyword contains target identification information; merge one or more target CDR bills corresponding to the target merge keyword with the bill merge, Generate target bills.

Optionally, according to the target identification information, merging one or more target CDR bills to generate the target bill includes: determining the target identification information carried by each target CDR bill in the one or more target CDR bills And the target service ID used to identify the target business or target application of the target session; associate and merge one or more target CDR bills carrying the target identification information and the target service ID to generate a target bill.

Optionally, based on the target identification information, charging the target session includes: when the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging, using the target identification information to obtain the target session for identification from the RF entity The result information of the evaluation, where the result information includes at least one of the following: cumulative information of business resources corresponding to the target session, rate information of business resources corresponding to the target session; using target identification information, obtained from the ABMF entity Target account information of the target account corresponding to the target session, where the target account information includes at least one of the following: the available value of the cumulative amount of business resources corresponding to the target session, account balance information; based on the result information and target account information, Charge the target session.

Optionally, charging the target session based on the result information and the target account information includes: determining the quota information of the business resource used by the target session based on the result information and the target account information; and sending the quota information to the SMF entity, where the quota The information is used to instruct the SMF entity to monitor the business resources used during the target session to obtain the monitoring result; receive the target request sent by the SMF entity according to the monitoring result, and the target request is used to request deduction of the target account; send the target request To the ABMF entity, where the target request is used to instruct the ABMF entity to deduct the target account.

Optionally, the target identification information includes a charging identification ID corresponding to the target session and a slice discrimination parameter used to distinguish the network slice that generates the charging ID, or the target identification information includes the charging ID corresponding to the target session.

Optionally, the slice discrimination parameter includes one of the following: S-NSSAI, NSI identifier, and slice name of the network slice.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a charging processing apparatus, including: a receiving module configured to receive target identification information corresponding to a target session sent by an SMF entity, wherein the target identification information is used in the SMF entity The target session is uniquely identified; the charging module is set to charge the target session based on the target identification information.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a storage medium is also provided. The storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute any of the steps in the above method embodiments during runtime.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is also provided an electronic device, including a memory and a processor, a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to perform the steps in any of the above method embodiments .

Through the present invention, the target identification information corresponding to the target session sent by the SMF entity of the session management function is adopted, wherein the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity; based on the target identification information, the target session is charged Processing, because the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity, and the target session is charged based on the target identification information, the charging information of the sessions of multiple network slices served by the SMF entity can be effectively distinguished, so It can solve the problem of charging errors in session charging in related technologies and achieve the technical effect of improving the accuracy of session charging.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and form a part of the present application. The schematic embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute an undue limitation on the present invention. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture in the related art;

2 is a schematic diagram of the core network of the 5G network in the related art;

3 is a schematic diagram of the 5G network charging function in the related art;

4 is a schematic diagram of the LTE network charging function in the related art;

5 is a block diagram of a hardware structure of a network device of a charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a flowchart of an optional charging processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a schematic diagram of an optional charging parameter delivery process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a schematic diagram of an optional offline charging process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a schematic diagram of an optional bill association merging process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

10 is a schematic diagram of an optional online charging process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

11 is a flowchart of another optional charging processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a structural block diagram of a charging processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings and in conjunction with the embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other if there is no conflict.

It should be noted that the terms “first” and “second” in the description and claims of the present invention and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and do not have to be used to describe a specific order or sequence.

Example 1

The method embodiment provided in Embodiment 1 of the present application may be executed in a network device, a computer device, or a similar computing device. Taking running on a network device as an example, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a hardware structure of a network device of a charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network device may be a PC, a server device, a combination of devices, or a virtual device. The device is equipped with a charging system on the network device. As shown in FIG. 5, the network device 50 may include one or more (only one is shown in FIG. 5) processor 502 (the processor 502 may include but is not limited to an MCU (Microprogrammed Control Unit, microprocessor)) and A memory 504 for storing data. Optionally, the above network device may further include a transmission device 506 for communication function and an input/output device 508. Those of ordinary skill in the art may understand that the structure shown in FIG. 5 is only schematic, and The structure of the above network device is not limited. For example, the network device 50 may further include more or fewer components than those shown in FIG. 5, or have a different configuration from that shown in FIG. 5. The network device 50 may also include multiple Device: Each device in the multiple devices may have the same or different structure.

The memory 504 may be configured to store computer programs, for example, software programs and modules of application software, such as the computer program corresponding to the charging processing method in the embodiment of the present invention, and the processor 502 runs the computer program stored in the memory 504, thereby Implementation of various functional applications and data processing, that is, to achieve the above method. The memory 504 may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some examples, the memory 504 may further include memories remotely provided with respect to the processor 502, and these remote memories may be connected to the network device 50 through a network. Examples of the above network include but are not limited to the Internet, intranet, local area network, mobile communication network, and combinations thereof.

The transmission device 506 is configured to receive or transmit data via a network. The above specific example of the network may include a communication network provided by a communication provider of the network device 50. In one example, the transmission device 506 includes a NIC (Network Interface Controller, network adapter), which can be connected to other network devices through the base station to communicate with the Internet.

The embodiment of the present application may run on the network architecture shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the network architecture includes: multiple network slices, a charging system, and a charging center.

In this embodiment, a charging processing method running on the above network device or network architecture is provided. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an optional charging processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6 , The process includes the following steps:

Step S602: Receive target identification information corresponding to the target session sent by the SMF entity, where the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity;

Step S604: Perform charging processing on the target session based on the target identification information.

Through the above steps, the charging system receives target identification information corresponding to the target PDU session sent by the SMF entity, where the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity; based on the target identification information, the target session is charged Processing, because the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session in the SMF entity, and the target PDU session is charged based on the target identification information, the charging information of the sessions of multiple network slices served by the SMF entity can be effectively distinguished. It solves the problem of charging error in session charging in related technologies, and improves the accuracy of session charging.

Optionally, the execution body of the above steps may be a charging system, for example, a CHF entity (CDF unit and OCF unit), a CGF entity or a combination thereof in the charging system, but it is not limited thereto.

Optionally, the execution order of step S602 and step S604 is interchangeable, and step S604 may be executed first, and then S602 may be executed. That is, the charging process can be performed multiple times.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the target identification information corresponding to the target session sent by the SMF entity is received, where the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity.

The target identification information may be any information that can uniquely identify a target session (for example, a PDU session) within the SMF entity. Using the target identification information, the correct association of charging information can be ensured to improve the accuracy of charging.

As an optional implementation manner, the target identification information may include: a charging ID corresponding to the target session and a slice distinguishing parameter used to distinguish the network slice generating the charging ID.

In order to distinguish the charging information of different network slices, the charging information output by the SMF entity can add a slice distinguishing parameter. The slice distinguishing parameter is used to distinguish the charging information generated by different network slices. It can be S-NSSAI or NSI logo. , Can also be the slice name of the network slice, or other parameters that can distinguish different slices.

The SMF entity transmits the slicing distinguishing parameters and the charging information to the charging system together. The charging system combines the slicing distinguishing parameters and the charging ID to perform charging association to complete the charging of the user. The newly added slicing differentiation parameter can be applied to offline charging scenarios and also to online charging scenarios.

As another optional implementation manner, the target identification information may include: a charging ID corresponding to the target PDU session.

When multiple network slices share an SMF entity, the charging ID can be uniformly assigned by the SMF entity, that is, the charging ID is unique within an SMF entity, and the charging system distinguishes parameters by charging ID (or charging ID and slice ) Differentiate between different sessions to complete the association of charging information.

The SMF entity transfers the charging information (or the charging information and the slicing parameter together) to the charging system, and the charging system performs charging association according to the charging ID (or the charging ID and the slicing parameter) to complete the Billing. The above-mentioned charging ID uniformly allocated by the SMF entity can be applied to offline charging scenarios and also to online charging scenarios.

The target identification information received by the charging system may be sent through the target message. The above target message may be a request message for creating a session management context, a request message for charging (for example, a rating request), or a message for transmitting charging information.

After receiving the target identification information, the charging system may perform charging processing on the target PDU session in various ways. The charging method corresponding to the above charging process may be offline charging or online charging.

As an optional implementation manner, in a case where the charging method corresponding to the target session is offline charging, charging the target session based on the target identification information may include: generating a target session based on the target identification information Corresponding target bill; transmit the target bill to BD, so that BD can charge the target session according to the target bill.

The target bill may be a bill generated based on one-time charging information or a bill generated based on multiple charging information.

As an optional implementation manner, after obtaining a bill (target bill, for example, CDR bill) generated based on the one-time charging information, the charging system directly transmits the bill to the BD, and the BD performs the target conversation Perform billing processing.

As another optional implementation manner, after obtaining a plurality of bills (for example, CDR bills) generated based on one-time charging information, the charging system merges the multiple bills to generate a target bill .

Optionally, before generating the target CDR corresponding to the PDU session according to the target identification information, before generating the target CDR corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information, one or more generated by the CDF unit in the CHF entity may be collected Multiple target CDR bills, where each target CDR bill in one or more target CDR bills carries target identification information; according to the target identification information, one or more target CDR bills are merged into bills, Generate target bills.

For offline charging, the CDF unit in the CHF entity of the charging system collects the charging information sent by the SMF through the Nchf interface, fills in the information in the charging information into the corresponding position of the predetermined bill, and constructs and generates the CDR bill ( SMF-CDR bill), and send the generated CDR bill to the CGF entity.

The CGF entity collects CDR bills generated by the CDF unit. There may be multiple CDR bills collected. Multiple CDR CDRs may correspond to multiple PDU sessions, and multiple collected CDR CDRs may carry multiple identification information. Each identification information is used to uniquely identify a PDU session within the SMF entity. The identification information carried in multiple CDR bills contains target identification information.

Among multiple CDR bills, the CDR bill carrying the target identification information is the target CDR bill, and the number of target CDR bills may be one or more. One or more target CDR bills in the multiple CDR bills are merged to generate a target bill.

Optionally, in addition to the identification information, the CGF unit may extract other charging parameter information from each CDR bill of multiple CDR bills, and combine the charging parameter information to form a CDR bill merger Combine keywords (or call list keywords). For the target session, the merge keyword corresponding to it is the target merge keyword, and the target merge keyword contains the target identification information. The CDR bill corresponding to the target merge keyword is the target CDR bill. One or more target CDR bills corresponding to the target merge keyword (one or more target CDR bills may be all target CDR bills corresponding to the target merge keyword or part of the target CDR bills) Bills are merged to generate target bills.

For example, the CGF entity can extract SUPI (Subscriber Permanent Identifier, user permanent identifier), billing ID, AMF address, SMF address, access type AN Type from the CDR bill, and form a bill keyword; and further from the CDR bill The slice discrimination parameters are extracted from the list, and combined with the above bill keywords to form a final merged keyword. The CGF entity merges the bills according to the final associated keywords: if the keywords are the same, it is considered to be the same PDU session bill of the same slice, and the CGF merges these bills together to form a final bill.

Through the above technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, by merging one or more target CDR bills carrying target identification information to generate a target bill, it is convenient for BD to charge the target session and reduce BD processing burden.

To achieve more accurate billing, you can add a service ID parameter to the billing information. The service ID is used to identify different services or applications, such as HTTP services, MMS services, WAP browsing services, and video services. The billing system combines target identification information (for example, billing ID, or slice discrimination parameter and billing ID), and service ID to complete billing association, which can realize accurate billing based on service type.

Optionally, according to the target identification information, merging one or more target CDR bills to generate a target bill may include: determining the target identifier carried by each target CDR bill in one or more target CDR bills Information and the target service ID used to identify the target business or target application of the target session; one or more target CDR bills that will carry the target identification information and the target service ID (one or more target CDR bills may be related to the target All target CDR bills corresponding to the merge keywords may also be part of target CDR bills) to be associated and merged to generate a target bill.

Through the above technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and combining the target identification information and the service ID to complete the charging association, accurate charging based on service type can be realized.

As another optional embodiment, in the case where the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging, the CGF entity may obtain the evaluation result of the evaluation of the target session from the RF entity and obtain the account from the ABMF entity Balance information, and charge the target session according to the approval result and account balance information.

Optionally, in a case where the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging, based on the target identification information, charging the target session may include: when the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging In the case, using the target identification information, the result information used to identify the target session's rating is obtained from the RF function of the rating function, where the result information includes at least one of the following: the cumulative amount of business resources corresponding to the target session, Rate information of business resources corresponding to the target session; using target identification information, the target account information of the target account corresponding to the target session is obtained from the account balance management function ABMF entity, where the target account information contains at least one of the following: The available value of the accumulated amount of business resources corresponding to the target session, account balance information; and charging processing for the target session according to the result information and target account information.

Through the above technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, the charging system obtains the rating results and target account information from the RF entity and the ABMF entity, respectively, to perform the charging process for the target session, which can realize the target-based identification in the online charging scenario Information billing.

According to the result information and the target account information, the target session can be billed in various ways. For example, according to the result information and the target account information, the amount of the business resource used by the target session may be reserved, and the usage of the business resource by the target session may be monitored. When the amount of service resources used by the target session is less than the reserved quota and the difference from the reserved quota is smaller than the target threshold, a reminder message is sent to the UE corresponding to the target session to remind that the account balance is insufficient, and it can also prompt to save the data ; When the amount of business resources used by the target session is equal to the reserved quota, or when the instruction message indicating the end of the target session is received, the target session is ended, and a deduction application is sent to the ABMF entity for the target session, so that the ABMF entity matches the target The account corresponding to the session is deducted and the account information is updated.

The monitoring of the usage of the above service resources may be performed by the SMF entity, and the resource reservation and the sending of the deduction application may be performed by the OCF unit.

Optionally, charging the target session based on the result information and the target account information may include: determining the quota information of the business resource used by the target session based on the result information and the target account information; and sending the quota information to the SMF entity, where, The quota information is used to instruct the SMF entity to monitor the business resources used in the target session to obtain the monitoring result; receive the target request sent by the SMF entity according to the monitoring result, and the target request is used to request a charge to the target account; the target request Sent to the ABMF entity, where the target request is used to instruct the ABMF entity to deduct the target account.

Through the above technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, the charging system reserves quotas for the usage of business resources used by the target session, which can avoid the excessive usage of business resources by the target session, and the usage of business resources monitored by the SMF entity can be reduced The interaction between network elements ensures the reliability and effectiveness of the billing process.

The above charging processing method will be described below in conjunction with the following application examples. It should be noted that each application example can be applied to the 5G network architecture shown in FIG. 3. In the following application example, SMF is SMF entity, AMF is AMF entity, UPF is UPF entity, CHF is CHF entity, CDF is CDF unit, OCF is PCF unit, CGF is CGF entity, RF is RF entity, ABMF is ABMF entity , The target session is a PDU session.

Application example 1

7 is a schematic diagram of an optional charging parameter transfer process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The charging parameter transfer process can be applied to network slice-based charging parameter transfer in a 5G network. As shown in Figure 7, the above charging parameter delivery process includes the following steps:

Step S702, the UE sends a PDU session creation request to the AMF.

The UE accesses the (R)AN network, and establishes a PDU session by sending a PDU session creation request (PDU Session Establishment Request) to the AMF.

In step S704, the AMF selects the SMF of the PDU session.

AMF determines the final NSSAI based on the NSSAI provided by the UE and the contracted NSSAI, and determines the SMF serving the PDU session.

In step S706, the AMF sends Namf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the SMF.

The above request message may be a Namf_PDUSession_CreateSMContextRequest request, which is used to create a session management context. The request message carries PDU session context information, which may include, but is not limited to: SUPI, AMF address, access type ANType, and slice differentiation parameter.

Step S708, SMF sends Namf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response to AMF.

The SMF identifies the slice serving the session, saves SUPI, AMF address, access type ANType, and slice discrimination parameters, and assigns a billing ID to the PDU session based on the slice, and then responds to the AMF with a Namf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Response message.

Step S710, the SMF establishes a session with the UPF.

After sending this response message to AMF, SMF establishes a session with UPF through N4SessionEstablishment.

Step S712, the UE triggers the service and generates uplink and downlink traffic.

The UE uses the service to trigger the generation of UpLink Data traffic (upstream data traffic) and DownLink Data traffic (downstream data traffic).

In step S714, the SMF sends charging information and slice discrimination parameters to the CHF.

SMF collects business usage information from UPF. The collected business usage information may include but not limited to: business data flow, business usage time and business usage duration. The SMF determines the charging information corresponding to the PDU session based on the collected service usage information, and transmits the charging information to the charging system through the target interface.

For example, SMF transmits charging information (which may include SUPI, charging ID, AMF address, SMF address, access type AN Type, service usage information), and slice segmentation parameters to CHF through the Nchf interface.

Figure 7 does not indicate the detailed flow of UE PDU session establishment and service interaction.

Application example 2

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an optional offline charging process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The offline charging process may be applied to the charging process of 5G network slices. As shown in Figure 8, the above offline charging process includes the following steps:

In step S802, the UE triggers the service, the SMF generates charging information, and the SMF sends the charging information and the slicing distinguishing parameter to the CDF of the CHF.

After the UE triggers the service, the SMF collects the service usage information from the UPF, and sends the charging information and slice discrimination parameters to the CDF of the CHF through the Nchf interface, where the charging information may include but is not limited to: SUPI, charging ID, AMF address , SMF address, access type AN Type, service usage information.

In step S804, the CDF collects the charging information sent by the SMF, fills the charging information into the bill, and fills in the slice discrimination parameters into the bill at the same time, constructs and generates the SMF-CDR bill.

In step S806, the CDF sends the SMF-CDR bill to the CGF.

In step S808, the CGF extracts charging parameters from the SMF-CDR bill, generates a billing merge keyword, and merges part of the bill in the same PDU session.

The above charging parameters may include but are not limited to: charging information and slice distinguishing parameters. It is an optional step to merge part of the bills of the same PDU session according to the charging merge keywords.

In step S810, the CGF saves the SMF-CDR bill and generates a bill file that meets the BD requirements.

In step S812, the CGF sends the bill file to the BD, and the BD completes charging the user.

Application example 3

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an optional bill association merging process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The offline charging process can be applied to the charging process of 5G network slices. As shown in Fig. 9, the above-mentioned bill association merging process includes the following steps:

In step S902, the CGF collects the SMF-CDR CDR generated by the CDF in the CHF.

In step S904, the CGF extracts the bill parameters and generates merge keywords.

The CGF extracts SUPI, billing ID, AMF address, and SMF address from the bill, and access type AN Type to form a bill key.

In step S906, the CGF extracts the slice discrimination parameter from the bill, and combines the extracted slice discrimination parameter with the bill keyword to form a final merge keyword.

For example, CGF can extract S-NSSAI (a slice discrimination parameter) from the CDR, combine S-NSSAI with the generated merge keywords, and generate merge keywords based on the final network slice.

In step S908, the CGF merges the bills of the same merge keyword.

If the keywords are the same, it is considered to be the same PDU session bill for the same slice. CGF merges the bills according to the final related keywords, and merges the bills with the same keywords together to form a final bill and outputs it to BD.

Application example 4

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an optional online charging process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The online charging process may be applied to the charging process of 5G network slices. As shown in FIG. 10, the above online charging process includes the following steps:

In step S1002, the SMF sends online charging information and slice discrimination parameters to the CHF.

The UE triggers the service, and the SMF creates an online charging session, and sends the online charging information and slice distinguishing parameters to the CHF.

In step S1004, the OCF interacts with the RF, sends a rating request to the RF and receives the RF response.

The OCF of the CHF interacts with the RF. The OCF sends a request for pricing to the RF, which carries SUPI, slice differentiation parameters, and resource usage request information. The RF distinguishes parameters based on slices, judges the session type, and provides corresponding cumulative amount information or rate information. RF completes the pricing process based on SUPI, slice differentiation parameters, and resource usage request information.

In step S1006, OCF interacts with ABMF, sends an account balance query request to ABMF and receives a response from ABMF.

The OCF of the CHF interacts with the ABMF. The OCF sends an account balance query request to the ABMF. The ABMF returns the available values of the corresponding user account balance and accumulated amount to the OCF.

In step S1008, the OCF sends the reserved quota to the SMF to control the PDU session.

The CHF’s OCF calculates the quota granted to the user based on the resource usage request information and service rate, and passes the approved quota (reserved quota) to the SMF.

In step S1010, SMF sends a deduction application to ABMF via OCF to complete the deduction.

SMF monitors the usage of the execution unit according to the reserved amount of OCF, and sends a deduction application to OCF. OCF submits the deduction application to ABMF, and ABMF updates the account.

Application example 5

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of another optional charging processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the charging processing method, the charging ID is uniformly assigned by SMF. As shown in FIG. 11, the charging processing method includes the following steps:

In step S1102, the AMF sends Namf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to the SMF.

Users access the network, trigger services, and establish PDU sessions.

AMF sends Namf_PDUSession_CreateSMContext Request to SMF. The request message carries PDU session context information, including SUPI, AMF address, access type ANType, and slice discrimination parameters.

In step S1104, SMF uniformly allocates a charging ID for the PDU session.

SMF recognizes the slicing of the session, saves SUPI, AMF address, access type AN Type, slicing distinguishing parameters, uniformly assigns a charging ID to the PDU session (the charging ID is unique within the SMF range), and collects service usage information Determine charging information (may include SUPI, charging ID, AMF address, SMF address, access type AN Type, service usage information).

In step S1106, the SMF sends charging information and slice discrimination parameters to the CHF.

The SMF sends charging information and slice discrimination parameters to the CHF, and the CHF completes the subsequent charging process.

At the same time, the above billing processing method can also be applied to billing of Internet of Things applications implemented by network slicing.

Through the above application example, for the charging based on network slicing in 5G networks, the PDU sessions of different network slices can be distinguished by the slicing parameter and charging ID, and the service ID can accurately distinguish the charging information of different business applications, so that Accurately perform billing correlation, avoiding the correlation of billing information of different network slices, and ensuring billing accuracy.

Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method according to the above embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is Better implementation. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention can be embodied in the form of software products in essence or part of contributions to the existing technology, and the computer software products are stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, The CD-ROM includes several instructions to enable a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present invention.

Example 2

In this embodiment, a charging processing device is also provided. The device is used to implement the above-mentioned embodiments and preferred implementation modes, and those that have already been described will not be repeated. As used below, the term "module" may implement a combination of software and/or hardware that performs predetermined functions. Although the devices described in the following embodiments are preferably implemented in software, implementation of hardware or a combination of software and hardware is also possible and conceived.

FIG. 12 is a structural block diagram of a charging processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the device includes:

The receiving module 1202 is configured to receive target identification information corresponding to the target session sent by the session management function SMF entity, where the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity;

The charging module 1204 is connected to the receiving module 1202, and is configured to perform charging processing on the target session based on the target identification information.

As an optional embodiment, the charging module 1204 may include: a generating unit configured to generate a target corresponding to the target session according to target identification information when the charging mode corresponding to the target session is offline charging The bill; the sending unit, connected to the generating unit, is set to transmit the target bill to the BD, so that the BD charges the target session according to the target bill.

Optionally, the above device may further include a collection module, and the generating unit may include a generating subunit, where,

The collection module is configured to collect one or more target charging detailed record CDR bills generated by the charging data function CDF unit in the charging function CHF entity before generating the target bill corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information , Where each target CDR bill in one or more target CDR bills carries target identification information;

The generating subunit is configured to merge one or more target CDR bills according to the target identification information to generate a target bill.

Optionally, the generating subunit may include:

The combining submodule is configured to extract charging parameter information from each target CDR bill of the one or more CDR bills, and combine to form a target merge keyword for merging the target CDR bills, wherein The target merge keyword contains the target identification information;

The first merging sub-module is connected to the combining sub-module, and is configured to merge the one or more target CDR bills corresponding to the target merge keyword to generate the target bill.

Optionally, the generating subunit may include:

The determination submodule is set to determine the target identification information carried in each target CDR bill in one or more target CDR bills and the target service ID used to identify the target business or target application of the target session;

The second merging submodule is connected to the determining submodule, and is configured to associate and merge one or more target CDR bills carrying the target identification information and the target service ID to generate a target bill.

As another optional implementation manner, the charging module 1204 may include:

The first obtaining unit is configured to use the target identification information to obtain the result information used to identify the rating of the target session from the RF entity when the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging. It includes at least one of the following: cumulative amount information of business resources corresponding to the target session, and tariff information of business resources corresponding to the target session;

The second acquiring unit, connected to the first acquiring unit, is configured to acquire target account information of the target account corresponding to the target session from the account balance management function ABMF entity using target identification information, wherein the target account information includes at least one of the following : The available value of the cumulative amount of business resources corresponding to the target session, account balance information;

The charging unit, connected to the second obtaining unit, is configured to perform charging processing on the target session according to the result information and the target account information.

Optionally, the charging unit may include:

The determination subunit is set to determine the quota information of business resources used by the target session according to the result information and the target account information;

The first sending subunit, connected to the determining subunit, is configured to send quota information to the SMF entity, where the quota information is used to instruct the SMF entity to monitor the business resources used during the target session and obtain the monitoring result;

The receiving subunit is connected to the first sending subunit, and is configured to receive a target request sent by the SMF entity according to the monitoring result, and the target request is used to request deduction of the target account;

The second sending subunit, connected to the receiving subunit, is configured to send the target request to the account balance management function ABMF entity, where the target request is used to instruct the ABMF entity to deduct the target account.

Optionally, the target identification information may include a charging ID corresponding to the target session and a slice discrimination parameter used to distinguish the network slice that generates the charging ID, or the target identification information includes the charging ID corresponding to the target session.

It should be noted that the above modules can be implemented by software or hardware, and the latter can be implemented by the following methods, but not limited to this: the above modules are all located in the same processor; or, the above modules can be combined in any combination The forms are located in different processors.

Example 3

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program is configured to execute any of the steps in the above method embodiments during runtime.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the above storage medium may be set to store a computer program for performing the following steps:

S1. Receive target identification information corresponding to the target session sent by the SMF entity, where the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity;

S2, based on the target identification information, charge the target session.

Optionally, the storage medium is also configured to store a computer program for performing the following steps:

S1. In the case that the charging method corresponding to the target session is offline charging, generate a target bill corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information;

S2. Transmit the target bill to the BD, so that the BD charges the target session according to the target bill.

S1, before generating the target bill corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information, collect one or more target charging CDR bills generated by the CDF unit in the CHF entity, where one or more target CDR bills Each target CDR bill carries the target identification information;

S2, according to the target identification information, merge one or more target CDR bills into bills to generate a target bill.

S1: Extract charging parameter information from each target CDR bill of one or more CDR bills, and combine to form a target merge keyword for merging the target CDR bills, wherein the target merge keyword contains the target identifier information;

S2, merge one or more target CDR bills corresponding to the target merge keyword to generate a bill.

S1. Determine the target identification information carried in each target CDR bill in one or more target CDR bills and the target service identification ID used to identify the target business or target application of the target session;

S2. Associate and merge one or more target CDR bills carrying the target identification information and the target service ID to generate a target bill.

S1. In the case that the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging, use the target identification information to obtain the result information for identifying the rating of the target session from the RF entity, where the result information includes at least one of the following : Cumulative amount information of business resources corresponding to the target session, rate information of business resources corresponding to the target session;

S2. Using target identification information, obtain target account information of the target account corresponding to the target session from the ABMF entity, where the target account information includes at least one of the following: the available value of the cumulative amount of business resources corresponding to the target session, account Balance information

S3, according to the result information and the target account information, charge the target session.

S1, according to the result information and the target account information, determine the quota information of the target session using business resources;

S2. Send quota information to the SMF entity, where the quota information is used to instruct the SMF entity to monitor the business resources used during the target session to obtain the monitoring result;

S3. Receive a target request sent by the SMF entity according to the monitoring result. The target request is used to request a fee deduction for the target account;

S4. Send the target request to the ABMF entity, where the target request is used to instruct the ABMF entity to deduct the target account.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the above storage medium may include, but is not limited to: U disk, ROM (Read-Only Memory, read-only memory), RAM (Random Access Memory, random access memory), mobile hard disk, magnetic Various media such as compact discs or optical discs that can store computer programs.

Example 4

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, including a memory and a processor, where the computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to perform any of the steps in the above method embodiments.

Optionally, the electronic device may further include a transmission device and an input-output device, wherein the transmission device is connected to the processor, and the input-output device is connected to the processor.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the foregoing processor may be configured to perform the following steps through a computer program:

S2, based on the target identification information, charge the target session.

S1. Before generating the target bill corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information, collect one or more target charging CDR bills generated by the CDF unit in the CHF entity, where one or more target CDR bills Each target CDR bill carries the target identification information;

S1, separately extracting charging parameter information from each target CDR bill of one or more CDR bills, and combining to form a target merge keyword for merging the target CDR bills, wherein the target merge keyword includes a target identifier information;

S2, sending the quota information to the SMF entity, where the quota information is set to instruct the SMF entity to monitor the business resources used during the target session, and obtain the monitoring result;

Optionally, for specific examples in this embodiment, reference may be made to the examples described in the foregoing embodiments and optional implementation manners, and details are not repeated in this embodiment.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the above-mentioned modules or steps of the present invention can be implemented by a universal computing device, they can be concentrated on a single computing device, or distributed in a network composed of multiple computing devices Above, optionally, they can be implemented with program code executable by the computing device, so that they can be stored in the storage device to be executed by the computing device, and in some cases, can be in a different order than here The steps shown or described are performed, or they are made into individual integrated circuit modules respectively, or multiple modules or steps among them are made into a single integrated circuit module to achieve. In this way, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and changes. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvement made within the principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

A billing processing method, including:

Receiving target identification information corresponding to a target session sent by a session management function SMF entity, wherein the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity;

Based on the target identification information, the target session is charged.
The method according to claim 1, wherein, based on the target identification information, performing charging processing on the target session includes:

In the case that the charging method corresponding to the target session is offline charging, a target bill corresponding to the target session is generated according to the target identification information;

Transmitting the target bill to the charging center BD, so that the BD performs charging processing on the target session according to the target bill.
The method according to claim 2, wherein

Before generating the target bill corresponding to the target session according to the target identification information, the method further includes: collecting one or more targets generated by a charging data function CDF unit in the charging function CHF entity Charging detailed record CDR bills, wherein each target CDR bill in the one or more target CDR bills carries the target identification information;

According to the target identification information, generating the target bill corresponding to the target session includes: according to the target identification information, combining the one or more target CDR bills with bills to generate the target speech single.
The method according to claim 3, wherein, according to the target identification information, merging the one or more target CDR CDRs to generate the target CDR includes:

Billing parameter information is extracted from each target CDR bill of the one or more CDR bills, and combined to form a target merge keyword for merging the target CDR bills, wherein the target merge keyword includes The target identification information;

One or more target CDR bills corresponding to the target merge keyword are merged to generate the target bill.
The method according to claim 3, wherein, according to the target identification information, merging the one or more target CDR CDRs to generate the target CDR includes:

Determining the target identification information carried in each target CDR bill in the one or more target CDR bills and the target service identification ID for identifying the target business or target application of the target session;

Associate and merge one or more target CDR bills carrying the target identification information and the target service ID to generate the target bill.
The method according to claim 1, wherein, based on the target identification information, performing charging processing on the target session includes:

In the case that the charging method corresponding to the target session is online charging, the target identification information is used to obtain the result information for identifying the rating of the target session from the RF function of the rating function, wherein, The result information includes at least one of the following: cumulative information of business resources corresponding to the target session, and tariff information of business resources corresponding to the target session;

Use the target identification information to obtain target account information of a target account corresponding to the target session from an account balance management function ABMF entity, wherein the target account information includes at least one of the following: the corresponding to the target session The available value of the accumulated amount of business resources, account balance information;

According to the result information and the target account information, the target session is charged.
The method according to claim 6, wherein charging the target session based on the result information and the target account information includes:

Determining, according to the result information and the target account information, quota information for using the business resources by the target session;

Sending the quota information to the SMF entity, where the quota information is used to instruct the SMF entity to monitor the service resources used during the target session to obtain a monitoring result;

Receiving a target request sent by the SMF entity according to the monitoring result, where the target request is used to request a fee deduction for the target account;

Sending the target request to the ABMF entity, wherein the target request is used to instruct the ABMF entity to deduct the target account.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the target identification information includes a charging identification ID corresponding to the target session and a slice distinction for distinguishing network slices generating the charging ID Parameters, or the target identification information includes a charging identification ID corresponding to the target session.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the slice discrimination parameter includes one of the following: single network slice selection auxiliary information S-NSSAI, network slice instance NSI identification, and network slice name.
A charging processing device, including:

The receiving module is configured to receive target identification information corresponding to the target session sent by the session management function SMF entity, wherein the target identification information is used to uniquely identify the target session within the SMF entity;

The charging module is configured to perform charging processing on the target session based on the target identification information.
A storage medium in which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program is set to execute the method described in any one of claims 1 to 9 when it is run.
An electronic device includes a memory and a processor, a computer program is stored in the memory, the processor is configured to run the computer program to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 9.