WO2023078149A1

WO2023078149A1 - Charging method, apparatus and system

Info

Publication number: WO2023078149A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/127905
Authority: WO
Inventors: 柴晓前
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-11-03
Filing date: 2022-10-27
Publication date: 2023-05-11
Also published as: CN116074775A

Abstract

A charging method, apparatus and system. The method comprises: a charging policy entity generating a rate charging policy for a data connection service of a user equipment, and sending the rate charging policy to a rate charging information collection entity, wherein the rate charging policy is used for instructing the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service, each piece of rate charging information comprises information of a data transmission rate interval and corresponding usage information, the data transmission rate interval is one of a plurality of data transmission rate intervals, which are acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes an accumulative usage amount for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval. In the embodiments of the present application, since rate charging information comprises information of a data transmission rate interval and corresponding usage information, charging processing can be performed on a user equipment on the basis of a data transmission rate.

Description

Billing method, device and system

Cross References to Related Applications

This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application with the application number 202111296505.3 and the application title "A billing method, device and system" submitted to the China Patent Office on November 03, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Applying.

technical field

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and in particular to a charging method, device and system.

Background technique

With the continuous development of mobile communication networks, operators can provide users with more and more colorful services such as voice and video. At present, operators mainly charge user equipment according to traffic. Taking the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) communication system as an example, the session management entity can obtain the usage amount corresponding to the data connection session of the user equipment. The usage amount is Refers to the traffic generated by the data transmission of the business in the data connection session, and the usage is reported to the charging functional entity, and then the charging functional entity performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the usage.

However, due to reasons such as the complex environment of the wireless air interface and the diversification of services, the data transmission rate may change frequently. The above method of billing according to traffic does not consider the data transmission rate. How to charge the user equipment based on the data transmission rate is an urgent problem to be solved.

Contents of the invention

The present application provides a charging method, device and system, which are used to implement charging processing on user equipment based on a data transmission rate.

In the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a charging method, which can be used to realize the function of the charging policy entity side, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific execution subject of the method. Taking this method applied to a charging policy entity as an example, in this method, the charging policy entity determines the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment, and the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate At least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service, each piece of rate charging information includes information on a data rate range and corresponding usage information, and the data transmission rate range is a plurality of data obtained by the rate charging information collection entity One of the data transmission rate intervals, the usage information includes the accumulated usage amount for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval; and, charging for the rate The information collection entity sends the rate charging policy.

In this way, since each piece of rate charging information in this embodiment of the present application may include information on a data transmission rate interval and corresponding usage information, it is possible to perform charging processing on the user equipment based on the data transmission rate. Furthermore, the billing method provided by the embodiment of the present application performs billing from two dimensions of data transmission rate and usage (such as traffic), and can set prices for operators according to data transmission rate (different data transmission rate intervals correspond to different rates ) provides technical support to meet the rate monetization needs of operators and facilitate the improvement of network resource utilization.

In a possible design, the data connection service is a collection of service data flows in a data connection session of the user equipment.

In a possible design, the data connection service includes all service data flows in the data connection session of the user equipment; or, the data connection service includes a quality of service in the data connection session of the user equipment Multiple service data flows corresponding to the QoS flow; or, the data connection service includes multiple service data flows corresponding to one rate group in the data connection session of the user equipment; or, the data connection service includes the A service data stream in a data connection session of a user equipment.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes information about the multiple data transmission rate intervals.

In this way, when the charging policy entity determines different rate charging policies, it may have different data transmission rate interval division methods (that is, the manner of dividing into multiple data transmission rate intervals). For example, the division methods of data transmission rate intervals of rate charging policies of different user equipments can be different, and for example, the division methods of data transmission rate intervals of rate accounting policies of different PDU sessions of the same user equipment can also be different. For example, PDU session The data transmission rate interval of the rate billing policy of 1 includes the following three intervals: (0,5Mbps], (5Mbps,10Mbps], (10Mbps,∝), and the data transmission rate interval of the rate billing policy of PDU session 2 includes the following Three intervals: (0,8Mbps], (8Mbps,15Mbps], (15Mbps,∝). For example, the data transmission rate interval division method of the rate charging policy of different services of the user equipment can also be different, so that the determined The rate charging policy is more flexible and can effectively meet the charging requirements of different scenarios.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes a time range, and the time range is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one rate meter of the data connection service within the time range. fee information.

In this way, when the rate charging policy includes a time range, the charging policy entity can flexibly define the time of rate charging through the time range.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes a time unit, and the time unit is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to determine the data connection service in the time unit every time unit data transfer rate.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes mode information, and the mode information is used to indicate a mode of determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit.

In a possible design, the manner indicated by the manner information is the first manner or the second manner; wherein, the first manner is to calculate the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of the time unit The data transmission rate (such as calculating the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the traffic in the time unit and the duration of the time unit); the second method is based on the Calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit according to the duration of traffic generation (for example, calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the traffic in the time unit and the duration of traffic generation in the time unit data transfer rate).

In this way, when the rate charging policy includes time unit and/or mode information, the charging policy entity can dynamically adjust the duration of the time unit and the way of calculating the rate according to the charging requirements of different scenarios and the computing burden of the system, which has a strong flexibility. For example, when the duration of the time unit is short and/or the method of calculating the rate is the second method, the calculation burden of the rate charging information collection entity is relatively large, and when the duration of the time unit is long and/or the method of calculating the rate is In the first mode, the calculation burden of the rate charging information collection entity is relatively small.

In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving a first charging request message from a charging trigger entity; and determining the rate charging policy based on the first charging request message.

In a possible design, the charging policy entity is a charging function CHF entity or a policy control function PCF entity.

In the second aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a charging method, which can be used to realize the function of the charging processing entity side, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific execution subject of the method. Taking this method applied to the charging processing entity as an example, in this method, the charging processing entity receives at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the rate charging information collection entity, and each piece of rate charging information Including information on the data transmission rate range and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate range is one of the multiple data transmission rate ranges obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data connection service The accumulated usage of the data connection service when the data transmission rate is within the data transmission rate range; and performing charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information.

In a possible design, receiving the rate charging information from the rate charging information collection entity includes: receiving a second charging request message from the rate charging information collection entity, the second charging request message Include the at least one piece of rate charging information.

In a possible design, receiving the rate charging information from the rate charging information collection entity includes: receiving a subscription notification message from the rate charging information collection entity, the subscription notification message including the at least one rate charging information collection entity. billing information.

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending quotas corresponding to the plurality of data transmission rate intervals to the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage amount is the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate intervals The usage of the quota.

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending trigger condition information to the rate charging information collection entity; wherein the trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota, and the trigger condition information is used to Instructing that when the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate range is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to the first quota, report the rate charging information to the charging processing entity; and/or, the trigger condition information includes The validity period of the first quota, the trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the validity period expires, report the rate charging information to the charging processing entity; the first quota is the first data transmission rate interval For a corresponding quota, the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.

In a possible design, the charging processing entity is a CHF entity.

In the third aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a charging method, which can be used to realize the function of the rate charging information collection entity side, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific execution subject of the method. Taking this method applied to the rate charging information collection entity as an example, in this method, the rate charging information collection entity receives the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the charging policy entity, and the rate charging policy Used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service; and, according to the rate charging policy, generate the at least one piece of rate charging information; wherein, each rate The billing information includes information on data transmission rate ranges and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the The usage amount accumulated for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes information on the multiple data transmission rate ranges, and the method further includes: acquiring the multiple data transmission rate ranges from the rate charging policy.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes a time range; generating the rate charging information of the user equipment according to the rate charging policy includes: according to the rate charging policy, in the At least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service is generated within the time range.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes a time unit; generating the rate charging information of the user equipment according to the rate charging policy includes: determining the time unit every time unit The data transmission rate of the data connection service mentioned in the above.

In a possible design, the data connection service corresponds to multiple user plane functional entities; the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit is The total data transmission rate; wherein, the total data transmission rate is obtained based on the total traffic of the data connection service on the multiple user plane functional entities; or, the total data transmission rate is the multiple The sum of the data transmission rates of the data connection services respectively corresponding to the user plane functional entities.

In a possible design, the rate charging policy includes mode information; determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service within the time unit includes: determining the time according to the mode indicated by the mode information The data transmission rate of the data connection service in the unit.

In a possible design, the mode indicated by the mode information is the first mode or the second mode; when the mode indicated by the mode information is the first mode, determine the data connection within the time unit The data transmission rate of the service, including: calculating the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of the time unit; when the mode indicated by the mode information is the second mode, determining the The data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit includes: calculating the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of traffic generation in the time unit.

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending the at least one piece of rate charging information to a charging processing entity.

It can be understood that, in various possible designs described in the third aspect above, the rate charging information collection entity may be an SMF entity or an NWDAF entity. Further, when the rate charging information collection entity can be an NWDAF entity, the following possible designs may also be included:

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending a subscription notification message to the charging processing entity, where the subscription notification message includes the at least one piece of rate charging information.

When the rate charging information collection entity can be an SMF entity, the following possible designs can also be included:

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending a second charging request message to the charging processing entity, where the second charging request message includes the at least one piece of rate charging information.

In a possible design, the method further includes: sending a first charging request message to the charging policy entity, where the first charging request message is used to determine the rate charging policy.

In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving quotas corresponding to the plurality of data transmission rate intervals sent by the charging processing entity, and the usage amount is the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate intervals usage.

In a possible design, the method further includes: receiving trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity; the trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota; sending the rate meter to the charging processing entity charging information, including: after determining that the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate range is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to the first quota, sending the rate charging information to the charging processing entity; and/or, the The trigger condition information includes the validity period of the first quota; sending the rate charging information to the charging processing entity includes: after determining that the validity period of the first quota expires, sending the rate charging information to the charging processing entity ; The first quota is a quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval, and the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.

It can be understood that the method described in the above-mentioned second aspect or the third aspect corresponds to the method described in the above-mentioned first aspect, therefore, the beneficial effects of the relevant technical features in the method described in the second aspect or the third aspect can be referred to The first aspect will not be described in detail.

In a fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a charging policy entity, where the charging policy entity has the function of implementing the first aspect above. For example, the charging policy entity includes a module or unit or means (means) for performing the steps involved in the first aspect above, and the function, unit or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware corresponding software implementation.

In a possible design, the charging policy entity includes a processing module and a communication module, wherein the communication module can be used to send and receive signals to realize communication between the charging policy entity and other devices; the processing module can use It is used to perform some internal operations of the charging policy entity.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing module is configured to: determine a rate charging policy of the user equipment, where the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate a rate meter for the data connection service of the user equipment. A fee policy, the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service, each piece of rate charging information includes information on the data rate interval and corresponding usage information, The data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate range For the accumulated usage of the data connection service; the communication module is configured to: send the rate charging policy to the rate charging information collection entity.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: receive a first charging request message from a charging trigger entity; the processing module is specifically configured to: determine the Rate billing policy.

In a possible design, the billing policy entity includes a processor, and may further include a transceiver, where the transceiver is used to send and receive signals, and the processor executes program instructions to implement any possible A method in design or implementation. Wherein, the charging policy entity may further include one or more memories, the memories are used to be coupled with the processor, and the memories may store necessary computer programs or instructions for realizing the functions involved in the first aspect above. The processor can execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the billing policy entity implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect above .

In a possible design, the charging policy entity includes a processor, and the processor can be used to be coupled with the memory. The memory may store necessary computer programs or instructions to realize the functions referred to in the first aspect above. The processor can execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the billing policy entity implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the first aspect above .

In a possible design, the billing policy entity includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is configured to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit, and execute any possible design or implementation in the first aspect above method in .

In the fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a charging processing entity, the charging processing entity has the function of realizing the above-mentioned second aspect, for example, the charging processing entity includes a method for performing the steps involved in the above-mentioned second aspect The module or unit or means, the function or unit or means may be realized by software, or by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware.

In a possible design, the billing processing entity includes a processing module and a communication module, wherein the communication module can be used to send and receive signals to realize communication between the billing processing entity and other devices; the processing module can use To perform some internal operations of the billing processing entity.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication module is configured to: receive at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the rate charging information collection entity, each piece of rate charging information includes information on the data transmission rate range and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate interval is one of multiple data transmission rate intervals obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the The accumulated usage of the data connection service when the data transmission rate is within the interval; the processing module is configured to: perform charging processing on the user equipment based on the rate charging information.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is specifically configured to: receive a second charging request message from the rate charging information collection entity, where the second charging request message includes the at least one piece of rate charging information .

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: send the quotas corresponding to the plurality of data transmission rate intervals to the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage amount is the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate intervals. The usage of the quota.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: send trigger condition information to the rate charging information collection entity; wherein the trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota, and the trigger condition information uses Instructing to report the rate charging information to the charging processing entity when the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to the first quota; and/or, the triggering The condition information includes the validity period of the first quota, and the trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the validity period expires, the rate charging information is reported to the charging processing entity; the first quota is the first data transmission rate A quota corresponding to an interval, wherein the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.

In a possible design, the billing processing entity includes a processor, and may further include a transceiver, where the transceiver is used to send and receive signals, and the processor executes program instructions to implement any of the possible tasks in the second aspect above. A method in design or implementation. Wherein, the billing processing entity may further include one or more memories, the memories are used to be coupled with the processor, and the memories may store necessary computer programs or instructions for realizing the functions involved in the second aspect above. The processor may execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the billing processing entity implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above .

In a possible design, the billing processing entity includes a processor, and the processor can be used to be coupled with the memory. The memory may store necessary computer programs or instructions to realize the functions referred to in the second aspect above. The processor may execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the billing processing entity implements the method in any possible design or implementation of the second aspect above .

In a possible design, the billing processing entity includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is configured to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit, and execute any possible design or implementation in the second aspect above method in .

In the sixth aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a rate charging information collection entity, the rate charging information collection entity has the function of realizing the third aspect above, for example, the rate charging information collection entity includes the above third The modules, units, or means of the steps involved in the aspect, the functions, units, or means may be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware.

In a possible design, the rate charging information collection entity includes a processing module and a communication module, wherein the communication module can be used to send and receive signals to realize communication between the rate charging information collection entity and other devices; The processing module can be used to execute some internal operations of the rate charging information collection entity.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication module is configured to: receive the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the charging policy entity, the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity Generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service; the processing module is configured to: generate the at least one piece of rate charging information according to the rate charging policy; wherein each piece of rate charging information includes a data transmission rate interval information and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within The accumulated usage for the data connection service when the data transmission rate is within the interval.

As a possible implementation, the rate charging policy includes a time range; the processing module is specifically configured to: generate at least one rate meter of the data connection service within the time range according to the rate charging policy fee information.

As a possible implementation, the rate charging policy includes a time unit; the processing module is specifically configured to: determine the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit every time unit.

As a possible implementation, the rate charging policy includes mode information; the processing module is specifically configured to: determine the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit according to the mode indicated by the mode information .

As a possible implementation, the manner indicated by the manner information is the first manner or the second manner; when the manner indicated by the manner information is the first manner, the processing module is specifically configured to: based on the The duration of the time unit calculates the data transmission rate of the data connection service within the time unit; when the mode indicated by the mode information is the second mode, the processing module is specifically configured to: The duration of traffic generation is used to calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: send the at least one piece of rate charging information to a charging processing entity.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: receive the quotas corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate intervals sent by the charging processing entity, and the usage amount is the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate intervals The usage of the quota.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: receive validity periods of quotas respectively corresponding to the plurality of data transmission rate intervals sent by the charging processing entity.

As a possible implementation, the communication module is further configured to: receive trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity; the trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota; the processing module is further configured to: determine After the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate range is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to the first quota, control the communication module to send the rate charging information to the charging processing entity; and/or, the triggering The condition information includes the validity period of the first quota; the processing module is further configured to: after determining that the validity period of the first quota expires, control the communication module to send the rate charging information to the charging processing entity; the The first quota is a quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval, and the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.

In a possible design, the rate charging information collection entity includes a processor, and may also include a transceiver, the transceiver is used to send and receive signals, and the processor executes program instructions to complete any of the above third aspects. A method in a possible design or implementation. Wherein, the rate charging information collection entity may further include one or more memories, the memories are used to be coupled with the processor, and the memories may store necessary computer programs or instructions for realizing the functions involved in the third aspect above. The processor may execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the rate charging information collection entity may implement any possible design or implementation in the third aspect above. Methods.

In a possible design, the entity for collecting rate and charging information includes a processor, and the processor may be used to be coupled with a memory. The memory may store necessary computer programs or instructions to realize the functions mentioned in the above third aspect. The processor may execute the computer program or instruction stored in the memory, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the rate charging information collection entity may implement any possible design or implementation in the third aspect above. Methods.

In a possible design, the rate charging information collection entity includes a processor and an interface circuit, where the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit, and execute any possible design or method in the implementation.

It can be understood that, in the fourth aspect to the sixth aspect above, the processor can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc.; when implemented by software When implemented, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, which is realized by reading software codes stored in the memory. In addition, there may be one or more processors, and one or more memories. The memory can be integrated with the processor, or the memory can be separated from the processor. In a specific implementation process, the memory and the processor can be integrated on the same chip, or they can be respectively arranged on different chips. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the memory and the arrangement of the memory and the processor.

In the seventh aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes the charging policy entity provided in the fourth aspect above, the charging processing entity provided in the fifth aspect above, and the rate rate provided in the sixth aspect above. Billing information collection entity.

In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where computer-readable instructions are stored in the computer-readable medium, and when a computer reads and executes the computer-readable instructions, the computer executes the above-mentioned first aspect to A method in any possible design of the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product. When a computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer is made to execute the method in any possible design of the above first aspect to the third aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip, the chip includes a processor, the processor is coupled with a memory, and is used to read and execute a software program stored in the memory, so as to realize the first to third aspects above. Aspects of any one of the possible design methods.

Combining the above aspects, in a possible design, the rate charging information also includes mode information, so that the rate charging information collection entity can adopt the rate calculation method more flexibly, and the charging processing entity can accurately know the The rate calculation method used.

These or other aspects of the present application will be more concise and understandable in the description of the following embodiments.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of communication between an SMF entity and a CHF entity provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of data transmission rate characteristics in three scenarios provided by the embodiment of the present application;

5A to 5E are schematic diagrams of network architectures applicable to embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 1 of the present application;

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of generating rate charging information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7B is another schematic diagram of generating rate charging information provided by the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 2 of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 3 of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 4 of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the charging method provided in Embodiment 5 of the present application;

Fig. 12 is a possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the device involved in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application, taking the network architecture of a 5G communication system based on a service interface as an example. As shown in FIG. 1, the user equipment can be connected to a wireless network, so as to obtain services of an external network (such as a data network (DN)) through the wireless network, or communicate with other devices through the wireless network. The wireless network may also be referred to as an operator network, and the wireless network may include a (wireless) access network ((radio) access network, (R)AN) and a core network (core network, CN), wherein the (R)AN (hereinafter collectively described as RAN) is used to connect the user equipment to the wireless network, and the CN is used to manage the user equipment and provide a gateway for communicating with the DN.

The user equipment, RAN, CN, and DN will be described in detail below.

(1) User equipment

A user device (user device) is a terminal user's device; the device may have a wireless communication capability to be connected to a wireless access device through an air interface, or may have a wired communication capability to be connected to a wired access device through a wired interface; from In terms of product form, the device can be a smartphone, a laptop with wireless communication function (Laptop), a tablet, a wearable device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) device, an Internet of things (IoT) ) device, a desktop computer on an office desktop, etc.; the device can consume application services provided by an application server in a data network through a data connection session.

The user equipment may include user equipment (user equipment, UE) functions defined by the 3rd generation partnership project (the 3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) standard specification.

(2)RAN

The RAN may include one or more access network devices, and the interface between the access network device and the terminal device may be a Uu interface (or called an air interface). An access network device is a node or device that connects a terminal device to a wireless network. Access network equipment includes, but is not limited to, a new generation base station (generation node B, gNB), an evolved node B (evolved node B, eNB), a next generation evolved node B (next generation eNB, ng -eNB), home base station ((home evolved nodeB, HeNB) or (home node B, HNB)), etc.

(3) CN

The CN may include one or more core network elements or core network entities, for example, the CN may include a policy control function (policy control function, PCF) entity, a unified data management (unified data management, UDM) entity, a unified database ( unified data repository, UDR), access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) entity, session management function (session management function, SMF) entity and user plane function (user plane function, UPF) entity, etc.

Among them, the AMF entity is a control plane entity provided by the operator's network, responsible for access control and mobility management of terminal equipment accessing the operator's network, such as including user location update, user registration network, user switching, etc.

The UPF entity is the gateway for communication between the carrier network and the DN. The UPF entity includes functions related to the user plane such as data packet routing and transmission, packet detection, quality of service (QoS) processing, lawful interception, uplink packet detection, and downlink data packet storage.

The SMF entity is responsible for session management in the mobile network (such as session establishment, modification, release), Internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of UPF entities, service and session continuity (service and session continuity, SSC) mode selection, roaming and other session-related functions.

The PCF entity is responsible for generating some policies, such as UE access policies, QoS flow control policies, and policies related to charging.

The UDM entity is responsible for storing information such as the subscriber permanent identifier (SUPI) and subscription data of subscribers in the operator's network.

UDR provides storage capabilities for contract data, policy data, and capability opening-related data.

In the embodiment of the present application, the definitions and functions of each core network entity included in the CN may refer to the 3GPP standard specifications.

(4)DN

The DN may also be called a packet data network (PDN), which is a network outside the operator's network. The DN is identified by the data network name (DNN) in the 5G communication network. A typical DN may include the Internet, an IP multimedia service (IP multi-media service, IMS) network, and the like.

In addition, although not shown, the above network architecture may also include other possible entities, such as a network data analysis function (network data analytics function, NWDAF) entity. The NWDAF entity is a data-aware analysis entity that analyzes network data based on network data Carry out automatic perception and analysis, and participate in the whole life cycle of network planning, construction, operation and maintenance, network optimization, and operation, making the network easy to maintain and control, and improving the efficiency of network resource usage.

It can be understood that in the network architecture in the embodiment of the present application (such as the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 and the network architecture shown in FIG. 2 below), the letters and numbers near the lines between the entities represent the entities The names of the communication interfaces between, the meaning of these communication interfaces can refer to the meaning defined in the relevant standard protocols. The communication interface between various entities may also have other names, which are not specifically limited.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture provided by the embodiment of the present application, taking the network architecture of converged charging as an example. As shown in FIG. 2, the network architecture may include a charging trigger function (charging trigger function, CTF) entity defined in 3GPP standard specifications and a charging function (charging function, CHF) entity defined in 3GPP standard specifications. Wherein, the CTF entity may be integrated in the SMF entity shown in FIG. 1 as a part of the SMF entity. The CHF entity can perform converged charging, and converged charging can include online charging and offline charging.

Optionally, the foregoing network architecture may further include a billing domain (billing domain) or a billing entity, and the billing entity and the CHF entity may communicate through a charging gateway function (charging gateway function, CGF) entity. The CGF entity may be integrated in the billing entity, as a part of the billing entity, or may exist as an independent entity, which is not specifically limited. In FIG. 2, the CGF entity is taken as an independent entity for illustration.

Wherein, the SMF entity (or CTF entity) can communicate with the CHF entity through the service interface. Some possible communications between the SMF entity and the CHF entity are described below in conjunction with FIG. 3 .

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of communication between the SMF entity and the CHF entity, as shown in Figure 3, including:

S301. The SMF entity receives a session establishment request message from a user equipment, where the session establishment request message is used to request establishment of a data connection session for the user equipment.

Here, the data connection session is an association between the user equipment and the data network, and is used to provide connection services for communication between the user equipment and the data network, so that communication data packets (packets) can be transmitted between the user equipment and the data network. Data networks are transmitted back and forth; the creation process can be initiated by the user equipment, and the teardown process can be initiated by the user equipment or other equipment. The data connection session may be a protocol data unit (protocol data unit, PDU) session applicable to the 5G communication system, or other sessions applicable to other networks, such as an IP connection access network session (IP- connectivity access network, IP-CAN session), the embodiment of this application is not limited here. In this embodiment of the present application, the description will be made by taking the data connection session as an example of a PDU session, and the PDU session may be used to transmit service data streams of the user equipment.

S302, the SMF entity sends a charging request message 1 to the CHF entity, where the charging request message 1 may include the identification of the user equipment, the identification of the PDU session, and the like.

Here, the charging request message 1 may be an initial charging data request message or a charging resource creation request message. Charging request message 1 is used to request the CHF entity to create a corresponding charging resource for the PDU session. The charging resource is used to manage the application for the quota of the data connection service in the PDU session and the reporting of the usage. For example, the SMF entity can pass The charging resource management request message (such as the charging resource update request message) applies to the CHF entity for the quota of the data connection service, and reports the usage amount of the data connection service, and the usage amount includes duration or traffic. Wherein, the data connection service can be understood as a collection of service data flows (service data flow, SDF) in the data connection session of the user equipment.

The identifier of the user equipment may be an international mobile subscriber identification number (IMSI) or a user Internet protocol version 6 (internet protocol version 6, IPv6) address, etc.

S303, the CHF entity receives the charging request message 1, and sends a charging response message 1 to the SMF entity, the charging response message 1 may include a charging resource identifier, and the charging resource identifier is used to identify the charging created by the CHF entity for the PDU session resource.

Here, the charging response message 1 may be an initial charging data response message or a charging resource creation response message.

S304. During the data transmission process of the user equipment using the data connection session, if the SMF entity determines that the trigger condition is met (for example, the previously obtained quota is about to be exhausted, a certain rate switching time point is reached, the user equipment transfers from an access network device Switching to another access network device, etc.), the charging request message 2 may be sent to the CHF entity, and the charging request message 2 includes the charging resource identifier and the related information of the usage amount of the user equipment for the data connection service.

Here, the charging request message 2 may be a charging data update request message or a charging resource update request message.

S305, the CHF entity receives the charging request message 2, performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the usage amount of the data connection service by the user equipment, and sends a charging response message 2 to the SMF entity.

Here, the charging response message 2 may be a charging data update response message or a charging resource update response message.

S306, after the PDU session of the user equipment is released, the SMF entity may send a charging request message 3 to the CHF entity, where the charging request message 3 is used to request the CHF entity to terminate charging processing for the data connection service in the PDU session. Optionally, the charging request message 3 includes information about the usage of the data connection service by the user equipment before the PDU session is released.

Here, the charging request message 2 may be a charging data termination request message or a charging resource release request message.

S307, the CHF entity receives the charging request message 3, terminates the charging process for the data connection service in the PDU session, and sends the charging response message 3 to the SMF entity. If the charging request message 3 contains information about the usage of the data connection service by the user equipment, the CHF entity also performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the usage.

Here, the charging response message 3 may be a charging data termination response message or a charging resource release response message.

It can be understood that during the data transmission process of the user equipment using the data connection session, the SMF entity may send multiple update charging data request messages to the CHF entity (for example, if the SMF entity determines that the trigger condition is met, the SMF entity sends an update charging data request message once). ), correspondingly, the CHF entity may also send multiple update charging data response messages to the SMF entity.

Combining the network architecture shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, the current SMF entity can obtain the usage volume (such as traffic) of the data connection service of the user equipment, and report it to the CHF entity, and then the CHF entity charges the user equipment based on the traffic deal with.

Since the 5G communication system can provide communication services for a variety of applications, different applications may have significantly different data transmission rate characteristics. For example, referring to FIG. 4 , the data transmission rate characteristics in three scenarios are schematically shown. As shown in Figure 4, in Scenario 1 (such as movie playback without barrage), the data transmission rate is high in some short periods of time, but in many long periods of time, the data transmission rate is 0; Scenario 2 (such as movie playback with barrage), in some short periods of time, the data transmission rate is very high, but in multiple long periods of time, the data transmission rate is very low; in scene 3 (such as live video broadcasting), the data transmission rate The rate is high at the beginning, and after a subsequent decrease, it is more stable. However, the above-mentioned manner of charging according to the flow rate does not consider the data transmission rate of the user equipment.

In order to implement charging processing for user equipment based on the data transmission rate, one possible way is to set one or more rate thresholds for the data connection service of the user equipment, when the data transmission rate of the data connection service exceeds a certain rate threshold , the real-time data transmission rate and usage amount are reported to the charging processing entity, and then the charging processing entity can perform charging processing on the user equipment according to the real-time data transmission rate and usage amount. However, since the data transmission rate of the data connection service is dynamically changed, it may cause the data transmission rate to frequently cross the rate threshold, and then need to frequently report the real-time data transmission rate and usage. Accordingly, the charging processing entity needs to frequently perform Accounting processing, so that the overhead of transmission resources is relatively large, and the processing burden of the charging processing entity is relatively heavy.

Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a charging method. In this method, the charging policy entity can generate a corresponding rate charging policy for the data connection service of the user equipment, and send the rate meter to the rate charging information collection entity. A charging policy, so that the rate charging information collection entity can generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service according to the rate charging policy, and then the charging processing entity can perform charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information. Compared with the method of billing by flow rate, since each piece of rate billing information in the embodiment of the present application can include the information of the data transmission rate range and the corresponding usage information, it is possible to realize the charging of the user equipment based on the data transmission rate. Perform charging processing (that is, "rate charging" for the user equipment can be implemented). In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the rate charging information collection entity can summarize the usage amount according to multiple data transmission rate intervals according to the rate charging policy, for example, when the data transmission rate of the data connection service changes in different data transmission rate intervals When the rate charging information collection entity can count the usage corresponding to different data transmission rate intervals, it does not need to report to the billing processing entity frequently because the data transmission rate changes in different data transmission rate intervals, thus effectively saving transmission resources and reducing The processing burden of the billing processing entity.

Understandably: the unit of the data transmission rate can be bit rate or bit/second (bits per second, bps), for the convenience of description, sometimes the data transmission rate is also referred to simply as the rate in the embodiment of the present application; In some occasions, the rate is also called for the bandwidth. Further, the data transmission rate may refer to the uplink data transmission rate, or may also refer to the downlink data transmission rate, or may also refer to the total data transmission rate of the uplink and downlink (that is, the difference between the uplink data flow and the downlink data flow per unit time). and). Rate billing refers to charging according to different data transmission rate ranges, and the rates corresponding to different data transmission rate ranges may be different, or in other words, different data transmission rate ranges may have different rate gears. For example, the rate corresponding to the data transmission rate interval (0,5Mbps] is: the fee per megabyte of traffic is 0.5 yuan, which is called "the data transmission rate interval of 0.5 yuan/megabyte"; the data transmission rate interval (5Mbps, 10Mbps ] The corresponding rate rate is: the cost per megabyte of traffic is 0.8 yuan, which is called "0.8 yuan/megabit data transmission rate range"; the corresponding rate rate for the data transmission rate range (10Mbps, ∝) is: per megabyte of traffic The fee is 1 yuan, which is called "the data transmission rate interval of 1 yuan/megabyte".

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of a network architecture applicable to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5A , the network architecture may include a charging policy entity, a charging processing entity, and a rate charging information collection entity, and optionally, may also include a charging triggering entity.

The above entities can communicate with each other. For example, the charging policy entity may generate a rate charging policy for the data connection service, and send the rate charging policy to the rate charging information collection entity. The rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service. Each piece of rate charging information includes information on the data transmission rate range and corresponding usage information. The data transmission rate range is One of the multiple data transmission rate intervals obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, the usage information includes the accumulated usage for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval. The rate charging information collection entity can generate at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service according to the rate charging policy, and can also send at least one piece of rate charging information to the charging processing entity. The charging processing entity may perform charging processing on the user equipment based on at least one piece of rate charging information sent by the rate charging information collection entity. The charging triggering entity can trigger the charging processing entity to perform charging processing on the user equipment. For example, the charging triggering entity can send other possible charging information (different from rate charging information) to the charging processing entity, and then the charging processing entity Charging processing can be performed on the user equipment.

Understandably, each entity shown in FIG. 5A can be deployed as an independent entity, or multiple entities can be integrated or deployed as one entity (that is, one entity implements the functions of multiple entities). Implementation 6 describes several possible scenarios.

Implementation 1, as shown in FIG. 5B , the functions of the charging policy entity and the charging processing entity can be implemented by the CHF entity, and the functions of the rate charging information collection entity and the charging trigger entity can be implemented by the SMF entity.

Implementation mode 2, as shown in Figure 5C, the functions of the charging policy entity and the charging processing entity can be realized by the CHF entity, the function of the rate charging information collection entity can be realized by the NWDAF entity, and the function of the charging trigger entity can be realized by This is achieved through SMF entities.

Implementation mode 3, as shown in Figure 5D, the function of the charging policy entity can be realized by the PCF entity, the function of the charging processing entity can be realized by the CHF entity, and the functions of the rate charging information collection entity and the charging trigger entity can be realized by This is achieved through SMF entities.

Implementation mode 4, as shown in Figure 5E, the function of the charging policy entity can be realized by the PCF entity and the CHF entity, the function of the charging processing entity can be realized by the CHF entity, the rate charging information collection entity and the charging trigger entity The functions can be realized by SMF entities.

It can be understood that: the above implementations 1 to 4 are only some possible deployment examples, and the network architecture shown in FIG. 5A may also have other possible deployment scenarios. For example, the function of the charging policy entity is implemented by the PCF entity, the function of the charging processing entity is implemented by the CHF entity, the function of the charging trigger entity is implemented by the SMF entity, and the function of the rate charging information collection entity is implemented by the NWDAF entity accomplish. For another example, the function of the charging policy entity is realized by the PCF entity and the CHF entity, the function of the charging processing entity is realized by the CHF entity, the function of the charging triggering entity is realized by the SMF entity, and the function of the rate charging information collection entity This is achieved through NWDAF entities.

The entities described in the embodiments of the present application (such as the entities described in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 5A to FIG. 5E) may also be referred to as functional entities or network elements, for example, the SMF entity in FIG. 1 may also be referred to as SMF Functional entity or SMF network element. The above-mentioned entities may be network elements in hardware devices, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (for example, a cloud platform). Optionally, the foregoing entity may be implemented by one device, or jointly implemented by multiple devices, or may be a functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The charging method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described below in conjunction with Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 5.

Embodiment one

In Embodiment 1, based on the network architecture shown in FIG. 5A , a possible implementation process of the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 1 of the present application. As shown in Fig. 6, the method may include:

S601. The charging policy entity generates a rate charging policy for the data connection service of the user equipment.

Here, the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service, each piece of rate charging information includes information on the data rate interval and corresponding usage information, and the data transmission rate The interval is one of multiple data transmission rate intervals obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes the accumulated usage for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval. Therefore, the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service. It can also be understood that the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to transmit The rate interval generates at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service. It can be understood that the at least one piece of rate charging information can also be replaced with other possible descriptions, such as at least one piece of rate charging information; the rate charging policy can also have other possible names, for example, it can also be called "rate charging information acquisition strategy".

It can be understood from this that the rate charging policy corresponds to the data connection service, and "generating a rate charging policy for the data connection service of the user equipment" is equivalent to "generating a rate charging policy corresponding to the data connection service of the user equipment" or "generating a user equipment The rate charging policy of the data connection service of the device".

The content included in the rate charging policy is described below.

As a possible implementation, the rate charging policy may include at least one of the following: granularity information, information of multiple data transmission rate intervals, time range, time unit, and mode information. These items are described in detail below.

(1) Granularity information

The granularity information is used to indicate the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy, or in other words, to indicate the scope of the rate charging policy.

In an example, the granularity information indicates that the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is a data connection session. For example, the granularity information may include an identifier of the data connection session. In this case, the data connection service may include all service data flows in the data connection session of the user equipment, and the rate charging policy may be used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection session, and the rate The usage amount included in the charging information may refer to the traffic generated by data transmission of all service data flows in the data connection session, or the duration of data transmission of all service data flows in the data connection session. In addition, "the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is the data connection session" can also be described as "the rate charging policy corresponds to the data connection session", or "the scope of the rate charging policy is all business data in the data connection session flow". The rate charging policy may also be called a session granular rate charging policy, a session-level rate charging policy, or a data connection session rate charging policy.

In yet another example, the granularity information indicates that the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is a QoS flow, for example, the granularity information may include a QoS flow identifier (QoS flow identifier, QFI). In this case, the data connection service may include multiple service data flows corresponding to one QoS flow in the data connection session of the user equipment, and the rate charging policy may be used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one rate of the QoS flow Billing information, the usage included in the rate billing information can refer to the traffic generated by the data transmission of multiple service data flows corresponding to one QoS flow in the data connection session, or the traffic corresponding to one QoS flow in the data connection session The duration of data transmission for multiple business data streams. In addition, "the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is the QoS flow" can also be described as "the rate charging policy corresponds to the QoS flow", or "the scope of the rate charging policy is the multi-QoS flow corresponding to the data connection session". a business data stream". The rate charging policy may also be called a QoS flow granular rate charging policy, a QoS flow level rate charging policy, or a QoS flow rate charging policy.

In yet another example, the granularity information indicates that the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is a rating group (Rating Group, RG). rate business. In this case, the data connection service may include multiple service data flows corresponding to one rate group in the data connection session of the user equipment, and the rate charging policy may be used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least A piece of rate charging information. The usage included in the rate charging information can refer to the traffic generated by the data transmission of multiple service data streams corresponding to a rate group in a data connection session, or a rate group in a data connection session. The duration of data transmission for multiple service data streams corresponding to the rate group. In addition, "the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is the rate group", which can also be described as "the rate charging policy corresponds to the rate group", or "the scope of the rate charging policy is a rate group in the data connection session Corresponding multiple business data streams". The rate charging policy may also be called rate group granularity rate charging policy or rate group level rate charging policy or rate group rate charging policy.

In yet another example, the granularity information indicates that the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is a service data flow. For example, the granularity information may include a service data flow ID (service data flow ID). In this case, the data connection service may include a service data flow in the data connection session of the user equipment, and the rate charging policy may be used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information of the service data flow. The usage amount included in the charging information may refer to the traffic generated by data transmission of one service data flow in the data connection session, or the duration of data transmission of one service data flow in the data connection session. In addition, "the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy is the service data flow" can also be described as "the rate charging policy corresponds to the service data flow", or "the scope of the rate charging policy is a service data flow in the data connection session ". The rate charging policy may also be called a service granular rate charging policy, a service-level rate charging policy, or a service rate charging policy.

It can be understood that the rate charging policy can explicitly indicate the granularity corresponding to the rate charging policy by carrying granularity information; or, the rate charging policy can also not carry granularity information, but indicate the rate meter The granularity corresponding to the charging policy, for example, the rate charging policy can be placed at different levels of the charging response message to represent different granularities. For details, refer to the subsequent embodiments of this application, such as Table 1A, Table 1B, and Table 1 in Embodiment 2. An example corresponding to Table 2 and Table 3.

(2) Information of multiple data transmission rate intervals

The information of the data transmission rate range is used to indicate the data transmission rate range, for example, the information of the data transmission rate range may include at least one of the following ①, ② and ③:

①The upper limit and/or lower limit of the data transmission rate range.

②The identification or name of the data transmission rate range, such as "rate range 1", "rate range 2", etc., or "rate range A", "rate range B", etc.

③The rate or rate identification corresponding to the data transmission rate range, such as "1 yuan/GB rate range", "2 yuan/GB rate range", "3 yuan/GB rate range", etc., and for example "rate 1 rate range", "rate 2 rate range", "rate 3 rate range", etc.

A data transmission rate interval in this embodiment of the present application may refer to a data transmission rate range, that is, the upper limit and the lower limit of the data transmission rate interval are different, and the lower limit is smaller than the upper limit.

For example, multiple data transmission rate intervals include data transmission rate interval rng1, data transmission rate interval rng2 and data transmission rate interval rng3, then the information of multiple data transmission rate intervals may include the information of data transmission rate interval rng1, data transmission The information of the rate range rng2 and the information of the data transmission rate range rng3. The information of the data transmission rate interval rng1 may include a lower limit value (such as 0) and an upper limit value (such as 5 Mbps) of the data transmission rate interval rng1, and the information of the data transmission rate interval rng2 may include a lower limit value of the data transmission rate interval rng2 ( For example, 5Mbps) and an upper limit value (for example, 10Mbps), the information of the data transmission rate interval rng3 may include a lower limit value (for example, 10Mbps) and an upper limit value (for example, infinity) for the data transmission rate interval rng3.

In this way, when the charging policy entity determines different rate charging policies, it may have different data transmission rate interval division methods (that is, the manner of dividing into multiple data transmission rate intervals). For example, the division methods of data transmission rate intervals for rate charging policies of different user equipment can be different, and for example, the division methods of data transmission rate intervals of rate accounting policies for different PDU sessions of the same user equipment can also be different. For example, PDU session The data transmission rate interval of the rate billing policy of 1 includes the following three intervals: (0,5Mbps], (5Mbps,10Mbps], (10Mbps,∝), and the data transmission rate interval of the rate billing policy of PDU session 2 includes the following Three intervals: (0,8Mbps], (8Mbps,15Mbps], (15Mbps,∝). For example, the data transmission rate interval division method of the rate charging policy of different services of the same user equipment can also be different, so that the determined The rate billing policy is more flexible and can effectively meet the billing requirements of different scenarios.

Regarding the data transmission rate range, the description is as follows:

① Taking the data transmission rate interval rng1 as an example, when a certain data transmission rate is greater than the lower limit value of the data transmission rate interval rng1 and less than or equal to the upper limit value of the data transmission rate interval rng1, the data transmission rate belongs to the data transmission rate interval rng1; or, when a certain data transmission rate is greater than or equal to the lower limit value of the data transmission rate range rng1 and less than the upper limit value of the data transmission rate range rng1, the data transmission rate belongs to the data transmission rate range rng1.

②In other possible examples, the information of the data transmission rate interval rng1 may include the upper limit value of the data transmission rate interval rng1 (such as 5Mbps), but not the lower limit value of the data transmission rate interval rng1. In this case, the data The lower limit value of the transmission rate range rng1 is 0 by default; the information of the data transmission rate range rng3 can include the lower limit value of the data transmission rate range rng3 (such as 10Mbps), but not the upper limit value of the data transmission rate range rng3. In some cases, the upper limit value of the data transmission rate range rng3 defaults to infinity.

③ For multiple data transmission rate intervals, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific value of "multiple". In specific implementation, the number of data transmission rate intervals can be set according to actual needs. The more the number of data transmission rate intervals, the finer the usage statistics will be.

It can be understood that the data transmission rate interval can be a fully open interval (such as "(downlimit, uplimit)"), or it can also be a fully closed interval (such as "[downlimit, uplimit]"), or it can also be half open and half closed The interval (such as “(downlimit, uplimit]” or “[downlimit, uplimit)”), etc., is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

(2) Time frame

The time range is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service within the time range.

The time range may include a start time and/or an end time; or, the time range may include a start time and a duration; or, the time range may include an end time and a duration. Exemplarily, the start time or the end time can be coordinated universal time (coordinated universal time, UTC), for example, the start time is X hour X minute X second on X year X month X day, and the end time is Y year Y month Y day Y hour Y minutes and Y seconds.

(3) Time unit

The time unit is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to determine the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit every said time unit, and may also indicate the rate charging information collection entity based on the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit , accumulating the usage amount in the time unit to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval in which the data transmission rate of the data connection service is located in the time unit. The above-mentioned rate charging information collection entity determines the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit every time unit, which may mean that the rate charging information collection entity determines the data connection rate in the time unit at the end of each time unit. The data transfer rate of the business.

The time unit can also be called the base time, or the basic computing time period. In an example, the duration of the time unit may be 10 seconds (ie 10s).

(4) Method information

The method information is used to indicate the rate calculation method or rate calculation method, that is, the method of determining or calculating the data transmission rate of the data connection service within a time unit. For example, the method indicated by the method information can be the first method or the second method; the first method is The data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit is calculated based on the duration of the time unit, and the data transmission rate calculated by using the first method may be called an average data transmission rate. The second method is to calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of traffic generation in the time unit, and the data transmission rate calculated by using the second method may be called the real data transmission rate.

There may be multiple indication manners in which the manner information indicates the first manner or the second manner. For example, when the mode information includes the identifier of the first mode, the representation mode information indicates the first mode, and when the mode information includes the identifier of the second mode, the representation mode information indicates the second mode. For another example, the mode information includes the identifier of the first mode and the corresponding judgment parameters (such as true (TRUE)) and the logo of the second mode and the corresponding judgment parameters (such as false (FALSE)). A mode; or, the mode information includes the identifier of the first mode and the corresponding judgment parameter (such as FALSE) and the logo of the second mode and the corresponding judgment parameter (such as TRUE), which indicates that the mode information indicates the second mode. The identifier of the first manner (or the second manner) may be information for identifying the first manner (or the second manner), which is not specifically limited.

In this way, when the rate charging policy includes time unit and/or mode information, the charging policy entity can dynamically adjust the duration of the time unit and the calculation rate based on the charging requirements of different scenarios and the computing burden of the system, which has a strong flexibility. For example, when the duration of the time unit is short and/or the method of calculating the rate is the second method, the calculation burden of the rate charging information collection entity is relatively large, and when the duration of the time unit is long and/or the method of calculating the rate is In the first mode, the calculation burden of the rate charging information collection entity is relatively small.

In the following embodiments of the present application, the rate charging policy includes information of multiple data transmission rate intervals, time range, time unit and mode information as an example for description. It can be understood that when the rate charging policy does not include information on multiple data transmission rate intervals or time range or time unit or method information, multiple data transmission rate intervals or time ranges or time units or methods for determining the data transmission rate may be It is pre-agreed by the protocol, or it may be pre-configured, or it may also be the default. For example, taking multiple data transmission rate intervals as an example, multiple data transmission rate intervals can be configured in advance by the operation and maintenance personnel on entities such as the rate charging information collection entity, charging policy entity, and charging processing entity, or they can also be It is dynamically determined by the charging policy entity and sent to the rate charging information collection entity. For example, the rate charging policy sent to the rate charging information collection entity includes information of multiple data transmission rate ranges.

There are many ways for the charging policy entity to determine the rate charging policy of the data connection service. For example, the charging policy entity can obtain the subscription information of the user equipment, and then determine the rate charging policy of the data connection service based on the subscription information and preset rules. The preset rule can be pre-configured in the charging policy entity, or it can also be pre-agreed by the agreement. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the charging policy entity obtains the subscription information.

S602. The charging policy entity sends the rate charging policy of the data connection service to the rate charging information collection entity, and correspondingly, the rate charging information collection entity receives the rate charging policy of the data connection service.

S603. The rate charging information collection entity generates at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service according to the rate charging policy.

As mentioned above, each piece of rate charging information includes the information of the data rate interval and the corresponding usage information. The data transmission rate interval is one of the multiple data transmission rate intervals obtained by the rate charging information collection entity. The usage information includes The usage amount accumulated for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate range. Wherein, "the data transmission rate is within the data transmission rate range" may also be described as "the data transmission rate is within the data transmission rate range" or "the data transmission rate falls within the data transmission rate range".

Among them, the rate charging information collection entity can obtain multiple data transmission rate intervals in various ways. strategy to obtain multiple data transmission rate intervals; as another example, operation and maintenance personnel can pre-configure multiple data transmission rate intervals in the rate charging information collection entity; The implementation of the rate range is not limited.

The information of the data transmission rate range included in the rate charging information can be the same as the information of the data transmission rate range included in the rate charging policy, for example, the information of the data transmission rate range included in the rate charging information can include the data transmission rate range upper and/or lower bounds. In an example, if the information on the data transmission rate range carried in the rate charging policy includes the upper limit value and/or lower limit value of the data transmission rate range, and the identification of the data transmission rate range, then the rate charging information includes The information of the data transmission rate interval may include the identification of the data transmission rate interval, but not the upper limit and/or lower limit of the data transmission rate interval, so as to reduce the amount of reported information and save transmission resources.

Exemplarily, the rate charging information collection entity may take the start time of the time range as the start time of collecting rate charging information (at this time, the usage corresponding to each data transmission rate interval is 0), and determine the time every time unit The data transmission rate of the data connection service of the user equipment in the unit, and based on the data transmission rate of the data connection service of the user equipment in the time unit, the usage amount in the time unit is added to the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit In the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate interval, the corresponding relationship between different data transmission rate intervals and usage (or the corresponding relationship between usage and different data transmission rate intervals) can be obtained, for example: the data transmission rate interval rng1 corresponds to the usage Quantity 1, data transmission rate range rng2 corresponds to usage volume 2, and data transmission rate range rng3 corresponds to usage volume 3. In an example, when the amount of usage is the traffic generated by data transmission, the above correspondence can be: the data transmission rate range rng1 corresponds to the usage amount 1 (such as 30M traffic), and the data transmission rate range rng2 corresponds to the usage amount 2 (such as 20M traffic), the data transmission rate range rng3 corresponds to usage 3 (for example, 50M traffic). When the amount of usage is the duration of data transmission, the above correspondence can be: data transfer rate interval rng1 corresponds to usage amount 1 (for example, 5 minutes), data transfer rate interval rng2 corresponds to usage amount 2 (for example, 2 minutes), data transfer rate interval rng3 corresponds to usage 3 (for example, 10 minutes). It can be understood that, if the rate charging policy does not include the start time of the time range, the rate charging information collection entity may also use the time when the rate charging policy is received as the start time.

Figure 7A or Figure 7B shows the generation process of the rate charging information; taking Figure 7A as an example, the time point t0 is the starting time, and at the time point t1, the rate charging information collection entity can determine the data connection service in the time unit tu1 If the data transmission rate r1 is in the data transmission rate interval rng1, the usage amount u1 in the time unit tu1 is added to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1; at the time point t2, the rate billing information The acquisition entity can determine the data transmission rate r2 of the data connection service in the time unit tu2. If the data transmission rate r2 is still in the data transmission rate interval rng1, the usage amount u2 in the time unit tu2 will be added to the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1. In volume. and so on. It can be understood that, taking the time unit tu1 as an example, the usage amount u1 in the time unit tu1 refers to the usage amount of the user equipment for the data connection service in the time unit tu1.

The difference between the above-mentioned FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B is that: in FIG. 7A, the data transmission rate of the data connection service in consecutive time units is the same, for example, the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit tu1, time unit tu2 and time unit tu3 is the same, That is to say, the change of the data transmission rate is relatively small; in Fig. 7B, the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the intermittent time unit is the same, such as the data transmission of the data connection service in the time unit tu1, the time unit tu3 and the time unit tu5 The rate is the same, that is to say, the change in the data transmission rate is relatively large. According to Fig. 7A and Fig. 7B, it can be seen that the method in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario where the data transmission rate changes greatly or with little change, and there is no need to report frequently because the data transmission rate changes in different data transmission rate intervals, thus The transmission resources can be effectively saved, and the processing burden of the charging processing entity can be reduced.

From the perspective of each time unit, taking the time unit tu1 as an example, considering that the data connection service can correspond to one or more UPF entities (for example, a PDU session can correspond to one or more UPF entities), when the data connection service corresponds to one When the UPF entity is used, the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 refers to the data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity. When the data connection service corresponds to multiple UPF entities, the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 may refer to the total data transmission rate of the data connection service on multiple UPF entities. The following takes the time unit tu1 (other time units can be implemented by reference) as an example to describe the realization of at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service collected by the rate charging information collection entity.

(1) The mode information in the rate charging policy indicates the first mode

When the data connection service corresponds to a UPF entity, the rate charging information collection entity can calculate the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 based on the flow of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 and the duration of the time unit tu1. For example, the rate charging information collection entity divides the traffic of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 by the duration of the time unit tu1 to obtain the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1.

For example, if the traffic of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is 30M, and the duration of the time unit tu1 is 10s, then the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is 30M/10s=3Mbps. Since the data transmission rate r1 (3Mbps) of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng1, the usage amount u1 (30M) in the time unit tu1 can be added to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1.

When the data connection service corresponds to multiple UPF entities, two possible implementations are described below in conjunction with implementation 1 and implementation 2.

Implementation method 1

In implementation mode 1, the rate charging information collection entity can obtain the total traffic of data connection services on multiple UPF entities in the time unit tu1, and then calculate the data connection in the time unit tu1 based on the total traffic and the duration of the time unit tu1 The data transmission rate r1 of the business. For example, the rate charging information collection entity divides the total traffic by the duration of the time unit tu1 to obtain the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1.

For example, the total traffic of data connection services on multiple UPF entities in time unit tu1 is 30M, and the duration of time unit tu1 is 10s, then the data transmission rate r1 of data connection services in time unit tu1 is 30M/10s=3Mbps . Since the data transmission rate r1 (3Mbps) of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng1, the usage amount u1 (that is, the total traffic 30M) of the data connection service on multiple UPF entities in the time unit tu1 can be accumulated to the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1.

Implementation method 2

In implementation mode 2, the rate charging information collection entity can separately calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service on each UPF entity in the time unit tu1, and then calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service corresponding to each UPF entity in the time unit tu1 The sum is used as the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1. For example, multiple UPF entities include UPF entity 1 and UPF entity 2; the rate charging information collection entity divides the traffic of the data connection service on UPF entity 1 in the time unit tu1 by the duration of the time unit tu1 to obtain the data connection service in the time unit tu1 The data transmission rate on the UPF entity 1; and, divide the flow of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 by the duration of the time unit tu1 to obtain the data transmission of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 rate; furthermore, the data transmission rate of the data connection service on UPF entity 1 in the time unit tu1 is added to the data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 to obtain the data of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 Transmission rate r1.

For example, if the traffic of data connection services on UPF entity 1 in time unit tu1 is 10M, and the duration of time unit tu1 is 10s, then the data transmission rate of data connection services on UPF entity 1 in time unit tu1 is 10M/10s =1Mbps; the flow rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 is 20M, then the data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 is 20M/10s=2Mbps; and then, in the time unit tu1 The data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service is 1+2=3Mbps. Since the data transmission rate (3Mbps) of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng1, the usage amount u1 (30M) of the data connection service on multiple UPF entities in the time unit tu1 can be added to the data transmission rate The usage amount corresponding to the interval rng1.

It can be understood that when the data connection service corresponds to multiple UPF entities, which of the

implementation modes

1 and 2 is adopted by the rate charging information collection entity depends on the internal implementation, and this embodiment of the present application does not do this limited.

(2) The mode information in the rate charging policy indicates the second mode

When the data connection service corresponds to a UPF entity, the rate charging information collection entity can calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 based on the traffic of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 and the duration of the traffic generation in the time unit tu1 r1. For example, the rate charging information collection entity divides the flow of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 by the duration of the flow generated in the time unit tu1 to obtain the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1.

For example, the traffic of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is 30M, and the duration of the traffic generated in the time unit tu1 is 6s, then the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is 30M/6s=5Mbps. Since the data transmission rate r1 (5Mbps) of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng1, the usage amount u1 (30M) in the time unit tu1 can be added to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1.

When the data connection service corresponds to multiple UPF entities, in a possible implementation, the rate charging information collection entity can calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service on each UPF entity in the time unit tu1, and then divide the time unit The sum of the data transmission rates of the data connection services corresponding to each UPF entity in tu1 is taken as the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection services in the time unit tu1. For example, multiple UPF entities include UPF entity 1 and UPF entity 2; the rate charging information collection entity divides the traffic of data connection services on UPF entity 1 in time unit tu1 by the duration of generating traffic on UPF entity 1 in time unit tu1 Obtain the data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 1 in the time unit tu1; and divide the flow of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 by the duration of the flow generated on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 to obtain The data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1; furthermore, the data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 1 in the time unit tu1 and the data transmission rate of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 The data transmission rates are added to obtain the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1.

For example, the traffic of data connection service on UPF entity 1 in time unit tu1 is 10M, and the duration of traffic generated on UPF entity 1 in time unit tu1 is 5s, then the data connection service in time unit tu1 on UPF entity 1 The data transmission rate is 10M/5s=2Mbps; the traffic of the data connection service on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 is 20M, then the duration of the traffic generated on the UPF entity 2 in the time unit tu1 is 4s, and the data connection in the time unit tu1 The data transmission rate of the service on the UPF entity 2 is 20M/4s=5Mbps; furthermore, the data transmission rate r1 of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is 2+5=7Mbps. Since the data transmission rate r1 (7Mbps) of the data connection service in the time unit tu1 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng2, the usage amount u1 (30M) in the time unit tu1 can be added to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng2.

S604. The charging processing entity sends the quota and trigger condition information to the rate charging information collection entity; correspondingly, the rate charging information collection entity may receive the quota and trigger condition information.

The quota and trigger condition information are described respectively below.

(1) quota

Exemplarily, when the granularity of the rate charging policy is a rate group, for example, the rate charging policy corresponds to the first rate group, and the rate charging information collection entity has a quota management function, then in a possible implementation The charging processing entity may send the quotas respectively corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate ranges indicated by the rate charging policy of the first rate group to the rate charging information collection entity. Wherein, the charging processing entity can obtain information of multiple data transmission rate ranges, and then allocate corresponding quotas for multiple data transmission rate ranges. The embodiment of the present application realizes that the charging processing entity obtains information of multiple data transmission rate ranges No limit.

In yet another possible implementation manner, the charging processing entity may send the quota corresponding to the first rate group to the rate charging information collection entity (the quota is the multiple rate indicated by the rate charging policy of the first rate group). total quota corresponding to each data transfer rate range).

(2) Trigger condition information

Scenario 1: The rate charging policy of the user equipment corresponds to the data connection session of the user equipment

In this case, the trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity to the rate charging information collection entity may include trigger condition information corresponding to the data connection session (for ease of description, referred to as the first type of trigger condition information). For example, the first type of trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the location of the user equipment changes (for example, the user equipment switches from access network device 1 to access network device 2), report to the charging processing entity At least one piece of rate charging information of the obtained data connection session.

Scenario 2: The rate charging policy of the user equipment corresponds to the service of the user equipment

In this case, the trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity to the rate charging information collection entity may include the first type of trigger condition information and the second type of trigger condition information (such as the corresponding rate group or QoS flow or service, The following will take the rate group as an example), the third type of trigger condition information (corresponding to the data transmission rate interval).

Wherein, the first type of trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the location of the user equipment changes, report to the charging processing entity according to each rate group (or QoS flow or service in the data connection session, where the rate group is Example) The rate charging information of each rate group obtained by the rate charging policy.

Taking the rate charging policy corresponding to the first rate group as an example, the second type of trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the available quota corresponding to the first rate group is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to quota 1 (for ease of description, it is called threshold 1), report to the charging processing entity the rate charging information of the first rate group obtained according to the rate charging policy of the first rate group; in this case, the second type of trigger condition information may include quota 1 corresponds to the threshold. Alternatively, the second type of trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the validity period of quota 1 expires, the rate charging information of the first rate group obtained according to the rate charging policy of the first rate group is reported to the charging processing entity ; In this case, the second type of trigger condition information may include the validity period of quota 1. Wherein, quota 1 is the quota corresponding to the first rate group.

Taking the rate charging policy corresponding to the first rate group as an example, the third type of trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate range is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to quota 2 (for convenience of description, it is called When threshold 2), report to the charging processing entity the rate charging information of the first rate group obtained according to the rate charging policy of the first rate group; in this case, the third type of trigger condition information may include The threshold corresponding to quota 2. Alternatively, the third type of trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the validity period of the quota 2 expires, the rate charging information of the first rate group obtained according to the rate charging policy of the first rate group is reported to the charging processing entity ; In this case, the third type of trigger condition information may include the validity period of the quota 2. Wherein, quota 2 is a quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate range, and the first data transmission rate range is any one of the multiple data transmission rate ranges indicated by the rate charging policy of the first rate group.

In an example, the threshold corresponding to the above quota (such as the above threshold 1 or threshold 2) may be a value less than or equal to the quota, for example, the threshold corresponding to the quota may be 10% of the quota. The available quota corresponding to the first rate group can be the difference between the quota corresponding to the first rate group minus the usage amount corresponding to the first rate group, and the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate range can be the first data transmission The difference between the quota corresponding to the rate range minus the usage corresponding to the first data transmission rate range. In addition, when the charging processing entity allocates a corresponding quota for the data transmission rate interval, the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval refers to the usage amount of the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate interval.

In an example, the above validity period can be a point in time in the future, such as "202110280000", which means that the validity period will expire at 00:00 on October 28, 2021; or, the validity period can also be a time range. The end time validity period expires.

S605. The rate charging information collection entity sends the rate charging information of the user equipment to the charging processing entity.

Exemplarily, the rate charging information collection entity may send the rate charging information of the user equipment to the charging processing entity after determining that the trigger condition is met according to the trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 7A, if the rate charging information collection entity determines that the trigger condition is satisfied at the time point tn, the rate charging information collection entity may determine the data transmission rate rn of the data connection service within the time period from time point tn-1 to tn , if the data transmission rate rn is in the data transmission rate interval rngm, then add the usage amount from the time point tn-1 to tn to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rngm, and add the starting time to the time The rate charging information collected during the period of time at point tn is reported to the charging processing entity. Among them, the rate billing information reported at time point tn may include m pieces of rate billing information, which are rate billing information 1, rate billing information 2, rate billing information 3, ... rate billing information m, specifically as follows Shown:

Rate billing information 1{rng1,u1+u2+u3+...};

Rate billing information 2{rng2,u4+u5+...};

Rate billing information 3{rng3,u6+...};

...

Rate billing information m{rngm,...+un}.

It can be understood that, the duration of the above time period from time point tn-1 to tn may be equal to the duration of the time unit, or may be shorter than the duration of the time unit.

It can be understood that the representations of the above-mentioned rate charging information 1 to rate charging information m are only examples and not limiting, and the rate charging information may include other Information related to usage, such as uplink and downlink indication information, time stamps for recording usage, etc., can form usage information together with usage.

It can be understood that the rate charging information may also include other possible information, such as time unit, mode information, quota management identifier (quota management identifier, QMI) corresponding to the data transmission rate range, and the like. Taking the data transmission rate range rng1 as an example, the QMI corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is used to indicate whether the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is quota-managed usage. For example, when the QMI corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is taken When the value is 1, it means that the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is the usage managed by the quota, or the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is the quota usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1. When the value of the QMI corresponding to the rate range rng1 is 0, it means that the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is the usage without quota management. For the specific form of carrying the time unit, mode information or quota management identifier in the rate charging information, refer to the examples corresponding to Table 4A, Table 5, and Table 6 in Embodiment 2.

In addition, after reporting the rate charging information of the data connection service to the charging processing entity, the rate charging information collection entity can reset the usage amount to 0 (that is, the usage amount corresponding to each data transmission rate range is reset to 0), and at the time point tn+1, determine the data transmission rate rn+1 of the data connection service in the time unit tun+1, if the data transmission rate rn+1 is in the data transmission rate interval rng1, then set the time unit tun+1 The usage amount u n+1 within is added to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1, and so on.

S606. The charging processing entity receives at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service, and performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information.

Exemplarily, the charging processing entity performs charging processing on the user equipment based on at least one piece of rate charging information, which may include at least one of the following:

(1) Based on at least one piece of rate charging information, perform quota deduction or fee deduction on the user equipment.

For example, the charging processing entity receives at least one piece of rate charging information of a certain rate group sent by the rate charging information collection entity, and the at least one piece of rate charging information of the rate group includes the following content: data transmission rate range rng1 corresponds to 20M traffic, and rng2 corresponds to 10M traffic in the data transmission rate range. Assume that the quota allocated by the billing processing entity for data transmission interval 1 is 30M traffic (that is, freeze 30M traffic or the equivalent amount of frozen 30M traffic), and the quota allocated for data transmission rate interval rng2 is 40M traffic (that is, freeze 40M traffic or Freeze the equivalent amount of 40M traffic), then the billing processing entity can unfreeze the 30M traffic (or the equivalent amount of 30M traffic) corresponding to the data transmission interval 1, and from the user account (that is, the account of the user corresponding to the user device, Subtract 20M (or deduct the equivalent amount of 20M traffic from the amount of the account) from the traffic corresponding to data transmission interval 1 in the user device ID), and subtract the 40M traffic corresponding to data transmission interval 2 (or the equivalent amount of 40M traffic) unfreeze, and subtract 10M traffic from the traffic corresponding to data transmission interval 2 in the user account (that is, quota deduction). Furthermore, if the rate charging information acquisition entity sends the rate charging information while also sending quota requests corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals, the charging processing entity can also set multiple data transmission rate ranges according to the quota request. Intervals are assigned new quotas respectively. Or, assuming that the rate corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is: 0.5 yuan per megabyte of traffic, and the rate corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng2 is 0.8 yuan per megabyte of traffic, the billing processing entity can also A fee of 0.5*20+0.8*10=18 yuan is deducted from the user account (that is, fee deduction). Exemplarily, the charging type of the rate group may be online charging.

(2) Write the rate charging information into the charging bill corresponding to the user equipment or user account, such as charging data record (charging data record, CDR). For example, the billing processing entity receives the rate billing information of the rate group sent by the rate billing information collection entity, and the rate billing information of the rate group includes the following content: the usage amount 1 (20M) corresponds to the data transmission rate range rng1, usage 2 (10M) correspond to the data transmission rate interval rng2, then the charging processing entity can write the rate charging information (that is, usage 1 corresponds to the data transmission rate interval rng1, usage 2 corresponds to the data transmission rate interval rng2) In the charging bill corresponding to the user equipment; for example, the charging type of the rate group may be offline charging.

(3) Based on the rate charging information, accumulating the usage amount of the data connection service of the user equipment according to the data transmission rate range. Specifically, the billing processing entity may receive the rate billing information reported by the rate billing information collection entity multiple times, and then may transmit the rate billing information according to the data transmission Rate range accumulative user equipment usage.

For example, the billing processing entity collects the rate billing information previously reported by the entity according to the rate billing information, and accumulates: the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng1 is 200M, and the usage corresponding to the data transmission rate range rng2 is 300M. When the charging processing entity receives the rate charging information of the user equipment sent by the rate charging information collection entity again, the rate charging information includes the following content: the data transmission rate interval rng1 corresponds to 20M, and the data transmission rate interval rng2 corresponds to 10M, then it can Add 20M to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1. At this time, the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1 is 220M, and add 10M to the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng2. At this time, the data transmission rate The usage corresponding to interval rng2 is 310M. Further, the charging processing entity may notify the corresponding core network entity to limit the data transmission rate of the user equipment after determining that the usage amount corresponding to a certain data transmission rate range is greater than or equal to the traffic subscribed by the user corresponding to the user equipment. For example, it is determined that the traffic corresponding to the data transmission rate range (10Mbps, ∝) ordered by the user equipment has been exhausted, and the corresponding core network entity may be notified to limit the data transmission rate of the user equipment to below 10Mbps.

Using the above method, the charging strategy entity determines the rate charging strategy, and sends the rate charging strategy to the rate charging information collection entity, so that the rate charging information collection entity can perform multiple data transmission rate intervals according to the rate charging strategy. The rate charging information of the user equipment is generated and reported to the charging processing entity, and then the charging processing entity can perform charging processing on the user equipment based on the rate charging information. Compared with the method of billing by flow rate, since the rate billing information in the embodiment of the present application may include the information of the data transmission rate interval and the corresponding usage information, it is possible to implement the billing of the user equipment based on the data transmission rate. fee processing. Furthermore, the billing method provided by the embodiment of the present application performs billing from two dimensions of data transmission rate and usage (such as traffic), and can set prices for operators according to data transmission rate (different data transmission rate intervals correspond to different rates ) provides technical support to meet the rate monetization needs of operators and facilitate the improvement of network resource utilization.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the rate charging information collection entity can summarize the usage amount according to multiple data transmission rate intervals according to the rate charging policy. For example, in the above-mentioned Figure 7B, the data transmission rate of the user equipment in the time unit tu1 r1 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng1, and the data transmission rate r2 in the time unit tu2 is located in the data transmission rate interval rng2, that is, the data transmission rate of the user equipment changes in different data transmission rate intervals. In this case, rate charging The information collection entity may aggregate (i.e. accumulate) the usage amount u1 of the user equipment in the time unit tu1 into the usage amount corresponding to the data transmission rate interval rng1, and summarize the usage amount u2 of the user equipment in the time unit tu2 into the data transmission rate interval rng2 In the corresponding usage, there is no need to frequently report the usage of the user equipment because the data transmission rate changes in different data transmission rate intervals, effectively saving transmission resources and reducing the processing burden of the charging processing entity.

It can be understood from the above description that "charging the user equipment" can also be understood as "charging the user corresponding to the user equipment" or "charging the user account corresponding to the user equipment".

Embodiment two

In Embodiment 2, based on the network architecture shown in FIG. 5B , a possible implementation process of the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 2 of the present application. As shown in Fig. 8, the method may include:

S801. The SMF entity receives a PDU session establishment request message from a user equipment.

S802. The SMF entity sends a session policy request message to the PCF entity, where the session policy request message includes the identifier of the user equipment; correspondingly, the PCF entity may receive the session policy request message.

S803, the PCF entity sends a session policy response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the session policy request message.

Exemplarily, the PCF entity may obtain the subscription information of the user equipment from the UDM entity or UDR based on the identifier of the user equipment included in the session policy request message, and then determine the charging types of multiple charging rate groups of the user equipment based on the subscription information, The charging type can include online charging or offline charging. The foregoing session policy response message may include identifiers of multiple rate group services of the user equipment and corresponding charging types.

S804, the SMF entity sends the first charging request message to the CHF entity; correspondingly, the CHF entity may receive the first charging request message.

Exemplarily, the first charging request message may be an initial charging data request message or a charging resource creation request message. For example, the first charging request message may include an ID of the user equipment, an ID of the PDU session, IDs of multiple rate groups of the user equipment, and optionally, may also include a quota request corresponding to the rate group of the online charging.

S805, the CHF entity sends the first charging response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the first charging response message.

Here, the first charging response message may be an initial charging data response message or a charging resource creation response message, and the description below takes the first charging response message as an initial charging data response message as an example.

As a possible implementation, after receiving the first charging request message (that is, the initial charging data request message), the CHF entity may obtain the subscription information of the user equipment based on the identifier of the user equipment included in the initial charging data request message , and then determine the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment based on the subscription information of the user equipment and preset rules, and send the rate charging policy of the data connection service to the SMF entity through an initial charging data response message. Wherein, the preset rule may be pre-configured in the CHF entity, or may be pre-agreed by the protocol. Exemplarily, after a user subscribes to a customer relationship management (customer relationship management, CRM) system for a service (such as purchasing a traffic package) through a user equipment, the CRM system may send the subscription information of the user equipment to the CHF entity, and the CHF entity may store the user equipment contract information. Furthermore, after the CHF entity receives the initial charging data request message, it can query and obtain the subscription information of the user equipment according to the identifier of the user equipment.

Further optionally, the CHF entity may allocate a quota for the online charging rate group based on the quota request corresponding to the online charging rate group, and send the quota to the SMF entity through an initial charging data response message. The quota can refer to the quota corresponding to the rate group for online charging (that is, the total quota corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals indicated by the rate charging policy of the rate group), or it can refer to the rate group Quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate ranges of the rate billing policy.

That is to say, the initial charging data response message may include the rate charging policy of the data connection service, and may also include other possible information, such as quotas (take the quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals as an example), trigger condition information . Understandably, this embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the initial charging data response message carries the quota and trigger condition information.

For example, the rate charging policy corresponds to a data connection session (such as a PDU session) of the user equipment, see Table 1A, which is an example format of the initial charging data response message.

Table 1A: Initial Accounting Data Response Message Example 1

Understandably, the "baseTime", "method", "startTime", and "endTime" corresponding to the three data transmission rate intervals in Table 1A may be the same, and Table 1A is only an example of a possible format. In other possible situations, "baseTime", "method", "startTime", and "endTime" can also be used as common parameters for the three data transmission rate intervals, as shown in Table 1B below:

Table 1B: Yet another scenario of Initial Charging Data Response Message Example 1

For another example, if the rate charging policy corresponds to the first rate group, and the charging type of the first rate group is online charging, then the CHF entity can also provide multiple data rates indicated by the rate charging policy of the first rate group Corresponding quotas are assigned to the transmission rate intervals, or a total quota can be assigned to multiple data transmission rate intervals. Taking the CHF entity as an example to allocate corresponding quotas for multiple data transmission rate ranges, in this case, the initial charging data response message may also include the respective quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate ranges. See Table 2 for an example format of the initial charging data response message.

Table 2: Initial Accounting Data Response Message Example 2

For another example, the rate charging policy corresponds to the second rate group, and the charging type of the second rate group is offline charging. See Table 3 for an example format of the initial charging data response message.

Table 3: Initial Accounting Data Response Message Example 3

It can be understood that the above is described as an example with the initial charging data response message including one of the rate charging policy of the PDU session, the rate charging policy of the first rate group and the rate charging policy of the second rate group of. In other possible embodiments, the initial charging data response message may also include the rate charging policy of the PDU session, and/or, the rate charging policy of one or more rate groups; wherein, one or more rate groups The groups may include the above-mentioned first rate group and/or the second rate group.

It can be understood that in the above Table 1A or Table 1B, the rate charging policy is carried in the SessionPolicy level of Charging data Response, and in the above Table 2 or Table 3, the rate charging policy is carried in the MUI of Charging data Response In the level of RatingGroupPolicy, SessionPolicy and MUI belong to the same level, so that different granularities can be expressed by carrying rate charging policies at different levels.

S806. The SMF entity generates at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service according to the rate charging policy for the data connection service.

Exemplarily, the SMF entity may communicate with the UPF entity corresponding to the data connection service, and then obtain the usage amount from the UPF entity; for example, the UPF entity may periodically report the usage amount to the SMF entity.

For the specific implementation of generating at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service by the SMF entity, reference may be made to S603 in Embodiment 1, and details are not repeated here.

S807. The SMF entity sends at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity.

Exemplarily, the SMF entity may send at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity after determining that the trigger condition is met according to the trigger condition information.

As a possible implementation, the SMF entity may send a second charging request message to the CHF entity, where the second charging request message includes at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service. The second charging request message may be a charging data update request message or a charging resource update request message, and the description below takes the second charging request message as an updating charging data request message as an example.

For example, the rate charging policy of the user equipment corresponds to the PDU session, then when the trigger condition is met (see the description in Embodiment 1), the SMF entity can send the rate charging of the PDU session to the CHF entity through an update charging data request message information. Refer to Table 4A for an example format of the charging data update request message.

Table 4A: Update Accounting Data Request Message Example 1

Understandably, the rate billing information in Table 4A may include not only data transmission rate interval information and corresponding usage information, but also time unit "baseTime" and method information "method". Table 4A is only one possible format example. In other possible situations, the rate charging information may not include "baseTime" and method information "method", that is, "baseTime" and "method" may be carried as common parameters of the three data transmission rate intervals in the updated charging data In the request message, an example is shown in Table 4B below.

Table 4B: Yet another situation of update charging data request message example 1

For another example, if the rate charging policy corresponds to the first rate group, then when the second type of trigger condition or the third type of trigger condition (see the description in Embodiment 1) is met, the SMF entity can update the charging data by The request message sends the rate charging information of the first rate group to the CHF entity. Exemplarily, the charging data update request message may also include QMIs respectively corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals. See Table 5 for an example format of the charging data update request message.

Table 5: Update Accounting Data Request Message Example 2

For another example, the rate charging policy corresponds to the second rate group, then when the second type of trigger condition or the third type of trigger condition (see the description in Embodiment 1) is met, the SMF entity can update the charging data by The request message sends the rate charging information of the second rate group to the CHF entity. Refer to Table 6 for an example format of the charging data update request message.

Table 6: Update Accounting Data Request Message Example 3

It can be understood that the above is described as an example of one of the rate charging information of the update charging data request message including the rate charging information of the PDU session, the rate charging information of the first rate group and the rate charging information of the second rate group of. In other possible embodiments, the update charging data request message may also include the rate charging information of the PDU session, and/or, the rate charging information of one or more rate groups; wherein, one or more rate groups The groups may include the above-mentioned first rate group and/or the second rate group.

S808. The CHF entity receives the second charging request message, and performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the second charging request message.

Exemplarily, the CHF entity may also send a second charging response message to the SMF entity, and the second charging response message is used to notify the SMF entity of the charging processing result. The second charging response message may be a charging data update response message or a charging resource update response message. For the implementation of the CHF entity charging the user equipment, reference may be made to the description in Embodiment 1, and details are not repeated here.

Exemplarily, if the second charging request message includes at least one rate charging information of the first rate group and a quota request corresponding to the first rate group, the CHF entity performs charging processing based on at least one rate charging information Afterwards, new quotas (such as quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate ranges, or total quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate ranges) can also be allocated to the first rate group, and sent to the SMF entity.

Embodiment three

In the third embodiment, based on the network architecture shown in FIG. 5C , a possible implementation process of the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 3 of the present application. As shown in Fig. 9, the method may include:

S901. The SMF entity receives a PDU session establishment request message from a user equipment.

S902. The SMF entity sends a session policy request message to the PCF entity, where the session policy request message includes the identifier of the user equipment; correspondingly, the PCF entity may receive the session policy request message.

S903, the PCF entity sends a session policy response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the session policy request message, and the session policy response message may include identifiers of multiple charging rate groups of the user equipment and corresponding charging types.

S904, the SMF entity sends the first charging request message to the CHF entity; correspondingly, the CHF entity may receive the first charging request message. Wherein, the first charging request message may include the identification of the user equipment, the identification of the PDU session, the identifications of multiple charging rate groups of the user equipment, and optionally, may also include a quota request corresponding to the charging rate group of the online charging.

S905, the CHF entity sends the first charging response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the first charging response message.

As a possible implementation, after receiving the first charging request message, the CHF entity may acquire subscription information of the user equipment based on the identifier of the user equipment included in the first charging request message. Then, based on the subscription information and the quota request corresponding to the online charging rate group, allocate a quota for the online charging rate group, and send the quota to the SMF entity through the first charging response message, the quota may refer to the online charging The quota corresponding to the rate group.

S906, the CHF entity sends the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment to the NWDAF entity; correspondingly, the NWDAF entity may receive the rate charging policy of the data connection service.

As a possible implementation, the CHF entity can determine the rate charging policy of the data connection service based on the subscription information of the user equipment and preset rules, and send the rate charging policy of the data connection service to the NWDAF entity through a subscription request message, and also The trigger condition information can be sent to the NWDAF entity through a subscription request message. That is to say, the subscription request message may include the rate charging policy of the data connection service, trigger condition information, and optionally, may also include other possible information, such as the identifier of the user equipment, etc., which are not specifically limited. Wherein, the preset rule may be pre-configured in the CHF entity, or may be pre-agreed by the protocol. In addition, after receiving the subscription request message, the NWDAF entity may send a response to the subscription request message to the CHF entity, for notifying the CHF entity that the subscription is successful.

Understandably, when the rate charging policy corresponds to the PDU session or the second rate group (offline charging), the information sent by the CHF entity to the NWDAF entity may be the same as the information sent by the CHF entity to the SMF entity in Embodiment 2. When the rate charging policy corresponds to the first rate group (online charging), the difference between the information sent by the CHF entity to the NWDAF entity and the information sent by the CHF entity to the SMF entity in Embodiment 2 is that the NWDAF entity usually does not have a quota management function, therefore, the information sent by the CHF entity to the NWDAF entity does not include quotas; and because the SMF entity has the quota management function, the information sent by the CHF entity to the SMF entity may include quotas (for example, multiple data transmission rate intervals corresponding to quota, or the total quota corresponding to multiple data transfer rate intervals).

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of S905 and S906. For example, S906 may be executed before S905, or S906 may be executed after S905, or S906 and S905 may be executed simultaneously.

S907. The NWDAF entity generates at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service according to the rate charging policy for the data connection service.

Exemplarily, the NWDAF entity may communicate with the UPF entity corresponding to the data connection service, and then obtain the usage amount from the UPF entity. For example, the UPF entity may periodically report the usage amount to the NWDAF entity.

For the specific implementation of generating at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service by the NWDAF entity, reference may be made to S603 in Embodiment 1, and details are not repeated here.

S908. The NWDAF entity sends at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity.

Exemplarily, after the NWDAF entity determines that the trigger condition indicated by the trigger condition information is satisfied, it may send at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity through a subscription notification message.

It can be understood that when the rate charging policy corresponds to the PDU session, the information (including rate charging information) reported by the NWDAF entity may be the same as the information reported by the SMF entity in Embodiment 2. When the rate charging policy corresponds to the first rate group (online charging) or the second rate group, the difference between the information reported by the SMF entity and the information reported by the NWDAF entity in Embodiment 2 is that the information reported by the SMF entity may include QMI, while the information reported by NWDAF entities may not include QMI.

S909. The CHF entity receives at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service, and performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service.

Here, the implementation of the CHF entity charging the user equipment may refer to the description in Embodiment 1, and details are not repeated here.

It can be understood that in the third embodiment, the NWDAF entity collects the rate charging information, and the SMF entity can follow the implementation in the prior art. For example, the SMF entity can collect the traffic of the user equipment, and perform quota management based on the traffic of the user equipment, etc. .

Embodiment four

In Embodiment 4, based on the network architecture shown in FIG. 5D , a possible implementation process of the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 4 of the present application. As shown in Fig. 10, the method may include:

S1001. An SMF entity receives a PDU session establishment request message from a user equipment.

S1002. The SMF entity sends a session policy request message to the PCF entity, where the session policy request message includes the identifier of the user equipment; correspondingly, the PCF entity may receive the session policy request message.

S1003, the PCF entity sends a session policy response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the session policy request message.

Exemplarily, the PCF entity may obtain the subscription information of the user equipment from the UDM entity or UDR based on the identifier of the user equipment included in the session policy request message, and then determine the charging types of multiple charging rate groups of the user equipment based on the subscription information, The charging type may include online charging and offline charging. And, the PCF entity may also determine the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment based on the subscription information of the user equipment and preset rules. Wherein, the preset rule may be pre-configured in the PCF entity, or may be pre-agreed by the protocol.

The above session policy response message may include identifiers of multiple rate groups of the user equipment and corresponding charging types, and may also include a rate charging policy of the data connection service. It can be understood that the PCF entity may also send the rate charging policy of the data connection service to the SMF entity through other possible messages, which is not specifically limited.

S1004, the SMF entity sends the first charging request message to the CHF entity; correspondingly, the CHF entity may receive the first charging request message.

The first charging request message may include an identifier of the user equipment, an identifier of a PDU session, and identifiers of multiple charging rate groups of the user equipment. Optionally, the first charging request message may also include a rate charging policy, for example, the first charging request message may include information on multiple data transmission rate intervals included in the rate charging policy. Optionally, assuming that the rate charging policy corresponds to a rate group for online charging, the first charging request may also include a quota request corresponding to the rate group for online charging, or quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate ranges ask. Wherein, the quota request corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals may include information about the first data transmission rate.

S1005, the CHF entity sends the first charging response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the first charging response message.

Exemplarily, if the first charging request message includes a quota request corresponding to the rate group of online charging, after receiving the first charging request message, the CHF entity may request based on the quota request corresponding to the rate group of online charging Assign a quota, and send the quota to the SMF entity through the first charging response message, the quota may refer to the quota corresponding to the rate group of online charging (that is, the total quota corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate intervals of the rate charging policy) , or may also refer to the respective quotas corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate ranges of the rate charging policy (for example, the CHF entity may, according to the information of the multiple data transmission rate ranges included in the first charging request message, set the quota for multiple data transmission rate ranges Quota corresponding to rate range allocation).

If the first charging request message includes quota requests corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals, the CHF entity may, after receiving the first charging request message, The data transmission rate ranges are allocated with quotas respectively, and the quotas respectively corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate ranges are sent to the SMF entity through the first charging response message.

In addition, the CHF entity may also send trigger condition information to the SMF entity through the first charging response message.

S1006. The SMF entity generates at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service according to the rate charging policy for the data connection service.

Here, for the specific implementation of generating at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service by the SMF entity, reference may be made to S603 in Embodiment 1, and details are not repeated here.

S1007. The SMF entity sends a second charging request message to the CHF entity, where the second charging request message includes at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service.

Here, the specific implementation of the SMF entity sending at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity may refer to S807 in Embodiment 2, and details are not repeated here.

S1008. The CHF entity receives at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service, and performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service.

Here, the implementation of the CHF entity charging the user equipment may refer to the description in Embodiment 1, and details are not repeated here. Further, if the second charging request message sent by the SMF entity also includes a quota request corresponding to the rate group of online charging, the CHF entity may also allocate a new quota according to the quota request, and the new quota may refer to the online charging The quota corresponding to the rate group of the rate group, or the quota corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate ranges of the rate charging policy of the rate group. If the second charging request message sent by the SMF entity also includes quota requests corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals of the rate charging policy of the rate group, the CHF entity may also use the quota request corresponding to multiple data transmission rate intervals. , allocating new quotas for multiple data transmission rate intervals, and sending them to the SMF entity through the second charging response message.

Embodiment five

In the fifth embodiment, based on the network architecture shown in Figure 5E, a possible implementation process of the charging method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described.

Fig. 11 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to the billing method provided in Embodiment 5 of the present application. As shown in Fig. 11, the method may include:

S1101. The SMF entity receives a PDU session establishment request message from a user equipment.

S1102. The SMF entity sends a session policy request message to the PCF entity, where the session policy request message includes the identifier of the user equipment; correspondingly, the PCF entity may receive the session policy request message.

S1103, the PCF entity sends a session policy response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the session policy request message.

Exemplarily, the PCF entity may obtain the subscription information of the user equipment from the UDM entity or UDR based on the identifier of the user equipment included in the session policy request message, and then determine the charging types of multiple charging rate groups of the user equipment based on the subscription information, The charging type may include online charging and offline charging. And, the PCF entity may also determine the part-rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment based on the subscription information of the user equipment and preset rule 1. Wherein, the preset rule 1 may be pre-configured in the PCF entity, or may be pre-agreed by a protocol.

The above session policy response message may include identifiers of multiple rate groups of the user equipment and corresponding charging types, and may also include a partial rate charging policy of the data connection service.

S1104, the SMF entity sends the first charging request message to the CHF entity; correspondingly, the CHF entity may receive the first charging request message.

The first charging request message may include an identifier of the user equipment, an identifier of the PDU session, identifiers of multiple rate groups of the user equipment, and optionally, may also include a quota request corresponding to the rate group of the online charging.

In addition, the first charging request message may also include a partial rate charging policy.

S1105, the CHF entity sends the first charging response message to the SMF entity; correspondingly, the SMF entity may receive the first charging response message.

Exemplarily, after the CHF entity receives the first charging request message, it can determine another part of the rate charging policy for the data connection service based on the subscription information of the user equipment and the preset rule 2, and send it to the SMF entity. And, the CHF entity may also allocate a quota for the online charging rate group based on the quota request corresponding to the online charging rate group, and send the quota to the SMF entity through the first charging response message. The quota can refer to the quota corresponding to the rate group of online charging (that is, the total quota corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate ranges of the rate charging policy of the rate group), or it can refer to the rate of the rate group Quotas corresponding to multiple data transmission rate ranges of the billing policy. In addition, the CHF entity may also send trigger condition information to the SMF entity through the first charging response message.

For example, the part-rate charging policy determined by the PCF entity may include information on multiple data transmission rate ranges, and the part-rate charging policy determined by the CHF entity may include time range, time unit, and time information. It can be understood that in this embodiment of the present application, there is no limitation on the content included in the part-rate charging policy determined by the PCF entity, and the content included in the other part-rate charging policy determined by the CHF entity.

S1106. The SMF entity generates at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service according to the rate charging policy of the data connection service (including a part of the rate charging policy from the PCF entity and another part of the rate charging policy from the CHF entity).

S1107. The SMF entity sends at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity.

Here, the specific implementation of the SMF entity sending at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service to the CHF entity can refer to S807 in the second embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

S1108. The CHF entity receives at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service, and performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service.

With regard to the above-mentioned embodiment 1 to embodiment 5, it can be understood that:

(1) The step numbers of the various flow charts described in Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 5 are only an example of the execution flow, and do not constitute a restriction on the order of execution of the steps. There is no timing dependency between each other in the embodiments of the present application There is no strict order of execution among the steps. Not all the steps illustrated in each flow chart are necessary steps, and some steps may be deleted on the basis of each flow chart according to actual needs, or other possible steps may be added on the basis of each flow chart according to actual needs.

(2) The above emphatically describes the differences between different embodiments in Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 5. Except for other content of differences, Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 5 can be referred to each other; in addition, in the same embodiment , different implementations or different examples can also refer to each other.

The foregoing mainly introduces the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of entity interaction. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above functions, the charging policy entity, the charging processing entity, and the rate charging information collection entity may include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing respective functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed by hardware or computer software drives hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be regarded as exceeding the scope of the present application.

The embodiments of the present application can divide the functional modules or units of the charging policy entity, charging processing entity, and rate charging information collection entity according to the above method example, for example, each functional module or unit can be divided corresponding to each function, or can be divided into Two or more functions are integrated in one module or unit. The above-mentioned integrated modules or units can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software function modules or units.

In the case of using an integrated unit, FIG. 12 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the device involved in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12 , an apparatus 1200 may include: a processing module 1202 and a communication module 1203 . The processing module 1202 is used to control and manage the actions of the device 1200 . The communication module 1203 is used to support the communication between the apparatus 1200 and other devices. Optionally, the communication module 1203 is also called a transceiver module, and may include a receiving module and/or a sending module, configured to perform receiving and sending operations respectively. The device 1200 may further include a storage module 1201 for storing program codes and/or data of the device 1200 .

(1) The apparatus 1200 may be the charging policy entity in the above embodiment. The processing module 1202 may support the apparatus 1200 to execute the actions of the charging policy entity in each method example above. Alternatively, the processing module 1202 mainly executes internal actions of the charging policy entity in the method example, and the communication module 1203 may support communication between the apparatus 1200 and other entities.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing module 1202 is configured to: determine the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment, and the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate the rate charging policy of the data connection service At least one piece of rate charging information, each piece of rate charging information includes information on a data rate range and corresponding usage information, and the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity , the usage information includes the accumulated usage of the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval; and the communication module 1203 is configured to: charge the rate The information collection entity sends the rate charging policy. For a more detailed description of the processing module 1202 and the communication module 1203, reference may be made directly to relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

(2) The apparatus 1200 may be the charging processing entity in the above embodiment. The processing module 1202 may support the apparatus 1200 to execute the actions of the charging processing entity in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing module 1202 mainly executes internal actions of the charging processing entity in the method example, and the communication module 1203 may support communication between the apparatus 1200 and other entities.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication module 1203 is configured to: receive at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the rate charging information collection entity, each piece of rate charging information includes information and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the range The accumulated usage for the data connection service when the data transmission rate is within the range; the processing module 1202 is configured to: perform charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information. For a more detailed description of the processing module 1202 and the communication module 1203, reference may be made directly to relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

(3) The apparatus 1200 may be the rate charging information collection entity in the above embodiment. The processing module 1202 may support the apparatus 1200 to execute the actions of the rate charging information collection entity in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing module 1202 mainly executes the internal actions of the rate charging information collection entity in the method example, and the communication module 1203 may support communication between the apparatus 1200 and other entities.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the communication module 1203 is configured to: receive the rate charging policy of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the charging policy entity, the rate charging policy is used to indicate that the rate charging information collection The entity generates at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service; the processing module 1202 is configured to: generate the at least one piece of rate charging information according to the rate charging policy; wherein each piece of rate charging information includes data transmission Information about the rate interval and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate interval is one of the multiple data transmission rate intervals obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data transmission rate of the data connection service The usage amount accumulated for the data connection service when the rate is within the data transmission rate interval. For a more detailed description of the processing module 1202 and the communication module 1203, reference may be made directly to relevant descriptions in the above method embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

The division of modules in the above device is only a division of logical functions, and may be fully or partially integrated into a physical entity or physically separated during actual implementation. Moreover, all the modules in the device can be realized in the form of software called by the processing element; they can also be realized in the form of hardware; some modules can also be realized in the form of software called by the processing element, and some modules can be realized in the form of hardware. For example, each module can be a separate processing element, or it can be integrated in a certain chip of the device. In addition, it can also be stored in the memory in the form of a program, which is called and executed by a certain processing element of the device. Function. In addition, all or part of these modules can be integrated together, and can also be implemented independently. The processing element mentioned here may also be a processor, which may be an integrated circuit with signal processing capability. In the process of implementation, each step of the above method or each module above may be realized by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor element, or implemented in the form of software called by the processing element.

In one example, the modules in any of the above devices may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, for example: one or more specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), or, one or Multiple microprocessors (digital signal processor, DSP), or, one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), or a combination of at least two of these integrated circuit forms. For another example, when the modules in the device can be implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element can be a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), or other processors that can call programs. For another example, these modules can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

The above module for receiving is an interface circuit of the device for receiving signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the receiving module is an interface circuit for the chip to receive signals from other chips or devices. The above sending module is an interface circuit of the device, and is used to send signals to other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the sending module is an interface circuit used by the chip to send signals to other chips or devices.

Referring to FIG. 13 , it is a schematic structural diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Apparatus 1300 may be the charging policy entity, charging processing entity, or rate charging information collection entity in the above embodiments, and is used to implement the charging policy entity, charging processing entity, or rate charging information collection entity in the above embodiments. Function.

As shown in FIG. 13 , the device 1300 may include a processor 1301 , a memory 1302 and an interface circuit 1303 . The processor 1301 can be used for processing the communication protocol and communication data, and controlling the device 1300 . The memory 1302 may be used to store programs and data, and the processor 1301 may execute the method performed by the device 1300 in the embodiment of the present application based on the programs. The interface circuit 1303 can be used for the apparatus 1300 to communicate with other devices, the communication can be wired communication or wireless communication, and the interface circuit can be, for example, a service interface.

The above memory 1302 may also be externally connected to the device 1300 , and the device 1300 may include an interface circuit 1303 and a processor 1301 at this time. The above interface circuit 1303 may also be externally connected to the device 1300 , and in this case the device 1300 may include a memory 1302 and a processor 1301 . When both the interface circuit 1303 and the memory 1302 are externally connected to the device 1300 , the device 1300 may include a processor 1301 .

The apparatus 1300 shown in FIG. 13 can implement various processes related to the apparatus 1300 in the foregoing method embodiments. The operations and/or functions of the various modules in the apparatus 1300 shown in FIG. 13 are respectively for implementing the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments. For details, reference may be made to the descriptions in the foregoing method embodiments, and detailed descriptions are appropriately omitted here to avoid repetition.

The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application may be used interchangeably. "And/or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three types of relationships, for example, A and/or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A, B can be singular or plural. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example "at least one of A, B and C" includes A, B, C, AB, AC, BC or ABC. And, unless otherwise specified, ordinal numerals such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects, and are not used to limit the order, timing, priority or importance of multiple objects degree.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, optical storage, etc.) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. Each procedure and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram, and a combination of procedures and/or blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be realized by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or processor of other programmable data processing equipment to produce a machine such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment produce a An apparatus for realizing the functions specified in one or more procedures of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to operate in a specific manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising instruction means, the instructions The device realizes the function specified in one or more procedures of the flowchart and/or one or more blocks of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, causing a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flow chart or blocks of the flowchart and/or the block or blocks of the block diagrams.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. In this way, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A charging method applied to a rate charging information collection entity, characterized in that the method includes:

receiving the rate charging policy for the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the charging policy entity, where the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service;

generating the at least one piece of rate charging information according to the rate charging policy;

Wherein, each piece of rate charging information includes information on a data transmission rate range and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage The information includes usage accumulated for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval.
The method of claim 1, characterized in that:

The data connection service includes all service data flows in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes multiple service data flows corresponding to one quality of service QoS flow in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes multiple service data streams corresponding to one rate group in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes a service data flow in the data connection session of the user equipment.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rate charging policy includes information on the multiple data transmission rate intervals;

The method further includes: acquiring the multiple data transmission rate intervals from the rate charging policy.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rate charging strategy includes a time range;

Generating at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service according to the rate charging policy includes: generating at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service within the time range according to the rate charging policy information.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rate charging policy includes a time unit;

The method further includes: determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit every time unit.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the data connection service corresponds to a plurality of user plane functional entities;

The data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit is the total data transmission rate of the data connection service on the multiple user plane functional entities;

Wherein, the total data transmission rate is obtained based on the total traffic of the data connection service on the multiple user plane functional entities; or, the total data transmission rate is obtained by corresponding to the multiple user plane functional entities respectively The sum of the data transmission rates of the data connection services.
The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the rate charging policy includes mode information, and the mode information is used to indicate the first mode or the second mode;

When the mode information indicates the first mode, determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit includes: calculating the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of the time unit data transfer rate;

When the mode information indicates the second mode, determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit includes: calculating the data in the time unit based on the duration of traffic generation in the time unit The data transfer rate of the connection service.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

Sending the at least one piece of rate charging information to a charging processing entity.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the rate charging information collection entity is a session management function entity or a network data analysis function entity.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the rate charging information collection entity is a session management function entity, and the method further comprises:

receiving quotas respectively corresponding to the plurality of data transmission rate intervals sent by the charging processing entity;

Wherein, the usage amount is the usage amount of the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate range.
The method according to claim 10, further comprising: receiving trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity;

The trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota; sending the at least one piece of rate charging information to the charging processing entity includes: determining that the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval is less than or equal to the first quota corresponding to After the threshold value of , sending the at least one piece of rate charging information to the charging processing entity; and/or,

The trigger condition information includes the validity period of the first quota; sending the at least one piece of rate charging information to the charging processing entity includes: after determining that the validity period of the first quota expires, sending the charging processing entity the At least one piece of rate charging information;

The first quota is a quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval, and the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.
A charging method applied to a charging policy entity, characterized in that the method includes:

Generate a rate charging policy for the data connection service of the user equipment, the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service, each piece of rate charging information includes data Information on the transmission rate range and corresponding usage information, the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage information includes when the data connection service data the accumulated usage for the data connection service when the transmission rate is within the data transmission rate interval;

Sending the rate charging policy to the rate charging information collection entity.
The method of claim 12, wherein:

The data connection service includes all service data flows in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes multiple service data flows corresponding to one quality of service QoS flow in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes multiple service data streams corresponding to one rate group in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes a service data flow in the data connection session of the user equipment.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the rate charging policy includes information of the multiple data transmission rate intervals.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the rate charging policy includes a time range, and the time range is used to indicate that the rate charging information collection entity is within the time range Generate at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the rate charging policy includes a time unit, and the time unit is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity to Determine the data transmission rate of the data connection service within the time unit.
The method according to claim 16, wherein the rate charging policy includes mode information, and the mode information is used to indicate the first mode or the second mode;

The first way is to calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of the time unit;

The second way is to calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit based on the duration of traffic generation in the time unit.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, further comprising:

receiving a first charging request message from a charging triggering entity;

Determine the rate charging policy based on the first charging request message.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the charging policy entity is a charging function entity or a policy control function entity.
A charging method applied to a charging processing entity, characterized in that the method includes:

Receive at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the rate charging information collection entity, each piece of rate charging information includes information on the data transmission rate interval and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate interval is the One of the multiple data transmission rate intervals obtained by the rate charging information collection entity, the usage information includes the accumulated data transfer rate for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval Usage amount;

Perform charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information.
The method according to claim 20, wherein the receiving at least one piece of rate charging information of the data connection service of the user equipment sent by the rate charging information collection entity includes:

Receive a subscription notification message from the rate charging information collection entity, where the subscription notification message includes the at least one piece of rate charging information.
The method according to claim 20 or 21, further comprising:

sending quotas respectively corresponding to the plurality of data transmission rate intervals to the rate charging information collection entity;

Wherein, the usage amount is the usage amount of the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate interval.
The method of claim 22, further comprising:

sending trigger condition information to the rate charging information collection entity;

Wherein, the trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota, and the trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the available quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to the first quota, the The charging processing entity reports the at least one piece of rate charging information; and/or, the trigger condition information includes a validity period of the first quota, and the trigger condition information is used to indicate that when the validity period expires, the charging The processing entity reports the at least one piece of rate charging information;

The first quota is a quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval, and the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.
The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, wherein the charging processing entity is a charging function entity.
A billing method, characterized in that the method comprises:

The charging policy entity generates a rate charging policy for the data connection service of the user equipment, and sends the rate charging policy to the rate charging information collection entity, and the rate charging policy is used to instruct the rate charging information collection entity generating at least one piece of rate charging information for the data connection service;

The rate charging information collection entity receives the rate charging policy sent by the charging policy entity, and generates the at least one piece of rate charging information according to the rate charging policy;

Wherein, each piece of rate charging information includes information on a data transmission rate range and corresponding usage information; the data transmission rate range is one of multiple data transmission rate ranges acquired by the rate charging information collection entity, and the usage The information includes usage accumulated for the data connection service when the data transmission rate of the data connection service is within the data transmission rate interval.
The method of claim 25, wherein:

The data connection service includes all service data flows in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes multiple service data flows corresponding to one quality of service QoS flow in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes multiple service data streams corresponding to one rate group in the data connection session of the user equipment; or,

The data connection service includes a service data flow in the data connection session of the user equipment.
The method according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the rate charging policy includes information on the multiple data transmission rate intervals;

The method further includes: the rate charging information collection entity acquires the multiple data transmission rate ranges from the rate charging policy.
The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein the rate charging policy includes a time range; and the rate charging information collection entity generates the at least one item according to the rate charging policy. The rate charging information includes: the at least one piece of rate charging information generated by the rate charging information acquisition entity within the time range according to the rate charging policy.
The method according to any one of claims 25 to 28, wherein the rate charging strategy includes a time unit;

The method further includes: the rate charging information collection entity determines the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit every time unit.
The method according to claim 29, wherein the data connection service corresponds to a plurality of user plane functional entities;

The data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit is the total data transmission rate of the data connection service on the multiple user plane functional entities;

Wherein, the total data transmission rate is obtained based on the total traffic of the data connection service on the multiple user plane functional entities; or, the total data transmission rate is obtained by corresponding to the multiple user plane functional entities respectively The sum of the data transmission rates of the data connection services.
The method according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the rate charging policy includes mode information, and the mode information is used to indicate the first mode or the second mode;

When the mode information indicates the first mode, the rate charging information collection entity determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service within the time unit includes: the rate charging information collection entity based on the calculating the data transmission rate of the data connection service within the time unit by the duration of the time unit;

When the mode information indicates the second mode, the rate charging information collection entity determining the data transmission rate of the data connection service within the time unit includes: the rate charging information collection entity based on the Calculate the data transmission rate of the data connection service in the time unit for the duration of traffic generation in the time unit.
The method according to any one of claims 25 to 31, further comprising:

The charging policy entity receives a first charging request message from a charging triggering entity;

The charging policy entity determines the rate charging policy based on the first charging request message.
The method according to any one of claims 25 to 32, further comprising:

The rate charging information collection entity sends the at least one piece of rate charging information to a charging processing entity;

The charging processing entity receives the at least one piece of rate charging information sent by the rate charging information collection entity, and performs charging processing on the user equipment based on the at least one piece of rate charging information.
The method according to claim 33, wherein the charging processing entity receives the at least one piece of rate charging information sent by the rate charging information collection entity, comprising:

The charging processing entity receives a subscription notification message from the rate charging information collection entity, where the subscription notification message includes the at least one piece of rate charging information.
The method according to claim 33 or 34, further comprising:

The charging processing entity sends quotas respectively corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate intervals to the rate charging information collection entity;

The rate charging information collection entity receives quotas respectively corresponding to the multiple data transmission rate ranges sent by the charging processing entity;

Wherein, the usage amount is the usage amount of the quota corresponding to the data transmission rate range.
The method according to claim 35, further comprising: the charging processing entity sending trigger condition information to the rate charging information collection entity; and the rate charging information collection entity receiving The trigger condition information sent by the charging processing entity;

Wherein, the trigger condition information includes a threshold corresponding to the first quota; the rate charging information collection entity sends the at least one piece of rate charging information to the charging processing entity, including: the rate charging information collection actually determines the first After the available quota corresponding to a data transmission rate range is less than or equal to the threshold corresponding to the first quota, sending the rate charging information to the charging processing entity; and/or,

The trigger condition information includes the validity period of the first quota; the rate charging information collection entity sends the at least one piece of rate charging information to the charging processing entity, including: the rate charging information collection actually determines the first After the validity period of the quota expires, send the rate charging information to the charging processing entity;

The first quota is a quota corresponding to the first data transmission rate interval, and the first data transmission rate interval is any data transmission rate interval in the plurality of data transmission rate intervals.
An entity for collecting rate charging information, characterized by comprising a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-11.
A charging policy entity, characterized by comprising a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 12-19.
A charging processing entity, characterized by comprising a module for performing the method according to any one of claims 20-24.
A rate charging information collection entity, characterized in that it includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call the computer program in the memory, so that the The charging policy entity executes the method according to any one of claims 1-11.
A billing policy entity, characterized in that it includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call the computer program in the memory, so that the computer The device executes the method as claimed in any one of claims 12-19.
A billing processing entity, characterized in that it includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, and a computer program is stored in the memory; the processor is used to call the computer program in the memory, so that the computer The device performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 20-24.
A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises the rate charging information collection entity as claimed in claim 37 or 40, the charging policy entity as claimed in claim 38 or 41, and the charging policy entity as claimed in claim 39 or 42 The charging processing entity.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that computer programs or instructions are stored in the storage medium, and when the computer programs or instructions are executed by a computer, the method described in any one of claims 1 to 11 is realized. A method, or a method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, or a method according to any one of claims 20 to 24.
A computer program product, characterized in that, when the computer reads and executes the computer program product, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or the method according to any one of claims 12 to 19 A method according to any one of claims 20 to 24.