CN109981373B - Communication flow charging method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and a system for charging communication flow, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) pre-configures a control policy based on at least one communication service, wherein each communication service comprises a communication service identifier, Access Point Name (APN) information and target area information; the PCRF controls the network access behavior of the user equipment based on a pre-configured control strategy, generates a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to APN information and target area information of the user equipment accessing the network, and sends the network ticket to a charging server; and the charging server accumulates corresponding communication flow according to the received network ticket and the communication service identifier and sends the acquired accumulated flow bill to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) server. The invention can support flexible flow control and charging of multiple APNs and multiple target areas.

Description

Communication flow charging method and system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and a system for charging communication traffic.

Background

The existing communication flow control and charging based on the platform of the internet of things only supports flow control and charging by a single Access Point Name (APN), does not support flexible flow control and charging of multiple APNs, and also does not support flexible flow control and charging of multiple target areas (namely, accessed target addresses). In practical applications, there are often flexible flow control and charging requirements based on multiple APNs and/or multiple target areas, such as: automobile enterprises have the use requirements of multiple APNs and the requirement of multi-target regional flow operation; therefore, the existing communication flow control and charging based on the platform of the internet of things does not support flexible flow control and charging of multiple APNs and/or multiple target areas, so that some current practical application requirements cannot be met, and inconvenience is caused.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides a method and a system for charging communication traffic to solve at least the above technical problems in the prior art.

One aspect of the present invention provides a method for charging communication traffic, including:

a control strategy based on at least one item of communication service is pre-configured in a PCRF, wherein each item of communication service comprises a communication service identifier, APN information and target area information;

the PCRF controls the network access behavior of the user equipment based on the pre-configured control strategy, generates a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network, and sends the network ticket to a charging server;

and the charging server accumulates corresponding communication flow according to the received network ticket and the communication service identifier and sends the acquired accumulated flow bill to the CRM server.

In one embodiment, the communication traffic accumulation includes at least one of:

multiple communication services in the same user equipment card share the accumulated flow;

multiple user device cards share the cumulative traffic for the same communication service.

In an implementation manner, the control policy based on at least one communication service pre-configured in the PCRF is configured by the CRM server, and the CRM server sends the configured control policy to the policy server, and then the policy server synchronizes to the PCRF.

In an implementation manner, the generating a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network includes:

periodically generating the network ticket according to a preset first frequency;

or, according to a preset first flow threshold, generating the network ticket whenever the periodic flow accumulation reaches the first flow threshold;

or when the periodic accumulated flow reaches a preset second flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a second frequency; and when the periodic accumulated flow does not reach a preset third flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a third frequency.

In an implementation manner, the charging server performs corresponding communication traffic accumulation according to a preconfigured charging policy, and the received network ticket and the communication service identifier, including:

and the charging server searches pre-configured account book information according to the received corresponding communication service identification and the user equipment card identification of the network ticket, and performs corresponding communication flow accumulation according to the account book information.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a communication flow control system, including: a PCRF, a charging server and a CRM server, wherein,

the PCRF is pre-configured with a control strategy based on at least one item of communication service, wherein each item of communication service comprises a communication service identifier, Access Point Name (APN) information and target area information;

the PCRF is used for controlling the network access behavior of the user equipment based on the pre-configured control strategy, generating a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network, and sending the network ticket to a charging server;

the charging server is used for accumulating corresponding communication flow according to the received network ticket and the communication service identification and sending the obtained accumulated flow bill to the CRM server;

the CRM server is used for configuring the flow control strategy in advance and receiving a flow bill sent by the charging server.

In one embodiment, the communication traffic accumulation includes at least one of:

multiple communication services in the same user equipment card share the accumulated flow;

multiple user device cards share the cumulative traffic for the same communication service.

In one embodiment, the system further comprises a policy server,

the CRM server is further used for sending a pre-configured control strategy based on at least one communication service to the strategy server;

and the policy server is used for synchronizing the received control policy to the PCRF.

In an implementation manner, the PCRF is further configured to generate a network ticket according to the following manner:

periodically generating the network ticket according to a preset first frequency;

or, according to a preset first flow threshold, generating the network ticket whenever the periodic flow accumulation reaches the first flow threshold;

or when the periodic accumulated flow reaches a preset second flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a second frequency; and when the periodic accumulated flow does not reach a preset third flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a third frequency.

In an implementation manner, the charging server is further configured to search preconfigured book information according to the communication service identifier and the user equipment card identifier corresponding to the received network ticket, and perform corresponding communication traffic accumulation according to the book information.

The communication flow charging method and the system provided by the embodiment of the invention can split call bills based on different APNs and target area information, and support various control and charging strategies of single-APN single-target area shared flow, single-APN multi-target area shared flow and multi-APN multi-target area shared flow in terms of flow control and charging strategies, thereby realizing the functions of supporting more flexible flow control and charging of multi-APN and multi-target areas.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication service system architecture to which embodiments of the present invention are applicable;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an IP allocation process for a new application network-accessing user under the communication service system architecture of the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of traffic flow control under the communication service system architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a communication traffic charging method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Example one

First, a communication service system architecture to which communication traffic control is applicable according to an embodiment of the present invention is introduced, as shown in fig. 1, the communication service system includes a forwarding layer device and a control layer device, the forwarding layer is mainly used to provide a transmission channel for user traffic, and construct a highly reliable data transmission channel between a user and a destination node, and a topology design of the forwarding layer uses network device nodes on a forwarding layer as a criterion to be reduced as much as possible, so as to provide a better data transmission experience; the control layer mainly provides the management and control function to user's flow, realizes nimble control user equipment's the action of surfing the net through the control layer, and this control includes: blocking, releasing, redirecting and the like, and in addition, the control layer is also used for realizing the charging function of the user equipment for surfing the internet. Wherein,

the forwarding layer device mainly comprises: an L2TP Network Server (LNS, L2TP Network Server), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and an egress routing device; LNS is a device on a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) end system for processing a part of a second Layer Tunneling Protocol (L2TP, Layer 2Tunneling Protocol) server end, and in the embodiment of the present invention, LNS accesses a Private Dial-up Network gateway (PGW), where the PGW is an access gateway of a Virtual Private Dial-up Network (VPDN), and VPDN is one of Virtual Private Dial-up Network (VPN) services, and is a Virtual Private Dial-up Network service based on a Dial-up user; in addition, the LNS, the PCRF and the egress routing device in the embodiment of the present invention are connected through a forwarding layer communication link, and the egress route is used for connecting a public network (internet).

The control layer device includes: a charging server, a policy server, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) server and an authentication server; the charging server, the strategy server, the CRM and the authentication server are based on a control management switch and realize communication interconnection through a control layer link; and the policy server is in communication connection with the PCRF through the control layer link. The Authentication server may be an Authentication Authorization Accounting (AAA) server.

The system comprises an LNS and a PGW, wherein the LNS is used for establishing an L2TP VPN channel with the PGW;

the CRM server is used for carrying out customer relation management and issuing a strategy to the strategy server, wherein the strategy comprises a control strategy based on a content region;

the policy server is used for synchronizing and controlling the policy configuration of the PCRF, namely synchronizing the policy configured on the policy server to the PCRF, wherein the policy comprises a control policy based on the content and the area accessed by the user equipment and specifies the control policy of the user equipment for surfing the Internet;

the PCRF is used for recording the network ticket of the user equipment based on the configured strategy execution and controlling the network access behavior of the user equipment, including blocking the user access network, allowing the user access network, redirecting the network access of the user and the like;

the charging server is used for storing the pre-configured SIM card information and the account book information, generating a flow bill of the corresponding user equipment according to the network bill of the user equipment recorded by the PCRF and the configured SIM card information and the account book information;

and the authentication server is used for performing authentication and log recording on the user equipment applying for network access.

In an implementation manner, the control layer device establishes an IP connection with the egress routing device of the forwarding layer through the control management switch, so that the control layer device can access the public network through the egress routing device. That is to say, in order to ensure that the server of the control layer can access the public network, the control layer and the forwarding layer multiplex the public network outlet, so that the control layer and the forwarding layer have the Internet access function at the same time, and the network topology structure is simplified.

In addition, an exit firewall is deployed at the control layer to perform security protection on the internal server of the control layer, that is, a security firewall is deployed between the control management switch and the exit routing equipment, and a Traffic Policy (Traffic Policy) is configured on an interconnection port corresponding to the firewall to only allow the Traffic access of legal equipment; the equipment of the existing network is divided into different domains according to the functions and the security levels, and a strict inter-domain access strategy is configured, so that the security risk is reduced.

In an implementation manner, the LNS includes an active LNS and a standby LNS, where the active LNS and the standby LNS are active and standby, and the active LNS and the standby LNS are respectively connected to the PGW through L2 TP. LNS-1 and LNS-2 shown in fig. 1 are mutually active/standby servers, and an L2TP VPN protocol is established between the PGW and the LNS through an APN dedicated line of an operator to open a VPDN link, so that normal communication can be realized in a forwarding plane; the LNS node deployment adopts an active-standby redundancy mode, and the active-standby nodes and the PGW establish an L2TP tunnel to transmit VPN flow. When the LNS-1 has a fault, switching to the LNS-2 to execute data forwarding, wherein the LNS-2 executes data forwarding and simultaneously performs redundancy backup of related data so as to conveniently backup the related data to the LNS-1 after the LNS-1 is on line again; similarly, when LNS-2 has a fault, the data forwarding is performed by switching to LNS-1, and the redundancy backup of the related data is performed while the data forwarding is performed by LNS-1, so that the related data can be backed up to LNS-1 after the LNS-2 comes online again.

In an implementation manner, the PCRF includes a main PCRF and a standby PCRF, the main PCRF and the standby PCRF are mutually main and standby, and the main LNS and the standby LNS respectively establish communication connections with the main PCRF and the standby PCRF. As shown in fig. 1, PCRF-1 and PCRF-2 are mutually active/standby servers, PCRF-1 and PCRF-2 are both in communication connection with LNS-1 and LNS-2, PCRF adopts an active/standby redundancy mode, assuming that the current active LNS is LNS-1, when PCRF-1 fails, LNS-1 switches to a link interworking with PCRF-2 to perform data forwarding, and PCRF-2 performs data forwarding and also performs redundancy backup of related data, so as to conveniently backup the related data to PCRF-1 after PCRF-1 comes online again; similarly, when the PCRF-2 has a fault, the LNS-1 is switched to a link which is communicated with the PCRF-1 to perform data forwarding, and the PCRF-1 performs data forwarding and also performs redundancy backup of related data so as to conveniently backup the related data to the PCRF-2 after the PCRF-2 is on line again. And realizing a control strategy based on flow, forming a high-availability node by using the main PCRF and the standby PCRF, and finally realizing the control of the internet access behavior of the user equipment.

In addition, the number of the egress routing devices is multiple, and the main PCRF and the standby PCRF respectively establish communication connection with the multiple egress routing devices.

In one embodiment, the LNS and PGW establish a point-to-point PPP link based on the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP). The LNS establishes the self-dialing number of L2TP with the operator, so that the user does not need to fill in the user Name and the password when editing the Access Point Name (APN) information, and the PGW and the LNS can automatically establish the dialing connection.

In one possible embodiment, the LNS performs transport routing from the LNS to the egress routing device based on the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol. Namely, the LNS of the forwarding layer runs the OSPF dynamic routing protocol in the whole network, and the whole network routing network segment performs dynamic publishing and learning through the OSPF protocol; and meanwhile, a Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) protocol is deployed to perform rapid Detection on the link state, the link can be rapidly detected when a fault occurs, and rapid route switching is triggered, so that millisecond (ms) level switching of the network is ensured.

The communication service system of the embodiment of the invention is a communication service system architecture which is self-built under a core network element of an operator, namely a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and consists of a PCRF, a charging system, a CRM system and an authentication system, and provides charging and behavior control based on content and region (access destination address), thereby providing richer functions and more flexible expansion capability, improving access safety and charging precision.

Example two

The following describes an IP allocation process for a new application network access user in a communication service system according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to fig. 2, which mainly includes:

step 201, the new user applies for network access, and the new user registration is completed through the CRM server.

Step 202, the CRM server allocates APN information and source IP information to a user newly applying for network access, where the APN information includes an APN user name and a password, and the source IP is source address information of the user equipment internet behavior.

And 203-204, the CRM server sends the APN information and the source IP information of the user equipment newly applying for network access to the AAA server, and the AAA server stores the APN information and the source IP information. It should be noted that, after allocating the source IP information to the user newly applying for network entry, the CRM server needs to store the allocated source IP information in the AAA server instead of directly providing the source IP information to the user equipment newly applying for network entry. Only when the user equipment applies for accessing the network and passes the authentication of the AAA server, the AAA server sends the source IP information used by the corresponding user equipment for accessing the network to the user equipment.

Step 205, the user equipment newly applying for network access accesses the network for the first time, and sends a request for network access to the LNS, where the request carries APN information of the user equipment.

In step 206, after receiving the network access request sent by the user equipment newly applying for network access, the LNS needs to initiate an authentication request to the AAA server to determine whether the user equipment has the identity and the right to access the network.

Step 207, the AAA server authenticates the user equipment according to the APN information carried in the request.

Step 208, the AAA server successfully authenticates the user equipment, acquires the source IP information corresponding to the user equipment, and sends the source IP information to the corresponding user equipment. Therefore, the user equipment acquires the corresponding source IP information, and can carry the source IP information in the request message as the source address information used by the user equipment for accessing the network when the user equipment accesses the network next time. Of course, if the authentication and authorization of the user equipment by the AAA server are not passed, the LNS returns an error message to the user equipment, and the user equipment may attempt to redial and authenticate. Before the authentication is successful, the user will not have the right to access the network.

In the embodiment of the invention, an L2TP VPN + Radius mode is adopted, and an AAA server is used for carrying out authentication and dynamic IP address allocation on unique Internet of things card information (IMIS). Meanwhile, the AAA server may provide authentication information (uplink and downlink records, user traffic records, etc.) of each terminal card, so as to provide a basis for operation and maintenance management and fault handling.

EXAMPLE III

The following describes a general process of communication traffic control in a communication service system according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to fig. 3, which mainly includes:

and 301-302, configuring a control strategy for the newly applied user equipment accessing the network by the CRM server, and sending the control strategy to the strategy server.

Step 303, the policy server synchronizes the control policy of the user equipment newly applying for network access to the PCRF.

Step 304, the user equipment accesses the network and sends a request for accessing the network to the LNS, wherein the request carries APN information, source IP information and destination IP information of the user equipment.

Step 305, after receiving the network access request sent by the user equipment, the LNS needs to initiate an authentication request to the AAA server, and determine whether the user equipment has the identity and the right to access the network.

Step 306, the AAA server authenticates the user equipment according to the APN information carried in the request.

In the embodiment of the invention, an L2TP VPN + Radius mode is adopted, and an AAA server is used for carrying out authentication and dynamic IP address allocation on unique Internet of things card information (IMIS). Meanwhile, the AAA server may provide authentication information (uplink and downlink records, user traffic records, etc.) of each terminal card, so as to provide a basis for operation and maintenance management and fault handling.

Step 307, the AAA server successfully authenticates the user equipment, and informs the LNS of the result.

Of course, if the authentication and authorization of the AAA server to the user equipment is unsuccessful, the LNS is also informed of the result of the unsuccessful authentication and authorization, and the LNS returns an error message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment may attempt to redial and authenticate. Before the authentication is successful, the user will not have the right to access the network.

Step 308, when the authentication is successful, the LNS establishes a route forwarding path from the source IP information of the user equipment to the destination IP information, i.e. a route path from the forwarding layer of the communication system to the public network, according to the destination IP information carried in the user equipment request message.

Step 309, the user equipment executes the internet access operation according to the route forwarding path created by the LNS.

And 310-311, the PCRF controls the network access behavior of the user equipment according to the stored control strategy, records and generates a network phone list of the user equipment newly applying for network access, and sends the network phone list to the charging server.

And step 312-313, the charging server matches the communication service identifier in the ticket according to the network ticket of the user equipment recorded by the PCRF and the pre-configured billing information, generates a flow bill of the corresponding user equipment and sends the flow bill to the CRM.

In step 314, the CRM server presents the flow bill to the user device and completes the deduction.

In an implementation manner, the forwarding layer device constructs a routing forwarding path between a source IP and a destination IP based on an OSPF protocol according to APN information, source IP information and destination IP information carried in a network access request sent by the user equipment. Namely, the LNS of the forwarding layer runs the OSPF dynamic routing protocol in the whole network, and the whole network routing network segment performs dynamic publishing and learning through the OSPF protocol; and meanwhile, a BFD protocol is deployed to carry out rapid detection on the link state, the link can be rapidly detected when a fault occurs, and the rapid switching of the route is triggered, so that the millisecond-level switching of the network is ensured.

Example four

Under the communication service system architecture shown in the foregoing first embodiment, and on the basis of the IP allocation process and the communication flow control process in the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the embodiment of the present invention further implements a more flexible communication flow charging method supporting multiple APNs and multiple target areas, as shown in fig. 4, and mainly includes:

step 401, a control policy based on at least one communication service is preconfigured in the PCRF, where each communication service includes a communication service identifier, APN information, and target area information. The target area information is target address information for internet access, that is, the target IP information in the foregoing embodiment.

Each communication service is marked by a unique communication service identifier, and each communication service only comprises one APN information and one group of target address information, wherein the group of target address information comprises at least one piece of target address information.

When a certain communication service contains APN information and target address information, the communication service is indicated to comprise network access from the APN to the target address;

when a certain communication service comprises one APN information and a group of target address information, and the group of target address information comprises a plurality of target addresses, the communication service is indicated to comprise network access from the APN to the plurality of target addresses;

of course, the destination address information in a certain communication service may also be set to a default value of 0, which means that the communication service includes network access from the APN to any destination address, and does not limit the destination address of the network access.

It is understood that the communication traffic accumulation in the embodiment of the present invention includes at least one of the following:

multiple communication services in the same user equipment card share the accumulated flow;

multiple user device cards share the cumulative traffic for the same communication service.

The user equipment card may be an SIM card of the device, and the sharing of the accumulated traffic by multiple communication services in the same SIM card means: multiple communication services can be configured in the same SIM card, and the multiple communication services can share one flow packet for charging; the cumulative flow of the same communication service shared by the multiple SIM cards refers to: traffic packets for the same communication service may be shared for use and billing by multiple SIM cards.

That is to say, the communication service, the flow control and the charging rule in the embodiment of the present invention may be flexibly configured, specifically, the APN information and the target area information in the communication service may be flexibly configured, and the flow control and the charging rule based on the communication service may also be flexibly configured according to actual needs.

Therefore, in order to realize that the PCRF side can split the call tickets of different APNs and target areas, the flexible flow control and charging based on multiple APNs and the target areas are realized.

It should be noted that the control policy pre-configured in the PCRF is sent to the policy server after being configured by the CRM server, and then is synchronized to the PCRF by the policy server. The CRM issues the control strategy to the policy server through the API interface, and the policy server and the PCRF synchronize the policy information, so that the strategy of the CRM for the PCRF is issued. The functional role of the policy server is described in the first embodiment, and is not described herein.

In addition, after the CRM configures the control policy, it also needs to allocate user equipment cards, that is, which user equipment cards are allocated to use the configured policy, and then, the CRM sends the user equipment card information and the account book information to the charging server. The ledger information specifies which communication services aggregate traffic bills according to what rules.

Step 402, the PCRF controls the network access behavior of the user equipment based on the pre-configured control policy, generates a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network, and sends the network ticket to the charging server.

In a forwarding layer, a PCRF controls (blocks, releases, redirects and the like) network access behaviors of a user accessing a network according to a configured control strategy, generates a network call list by recording access flow of the user in real time and sends the network call list to a charging server, the charging server performs accumulative calculation of the use flow of user equipment and sends the accumulative flow bill to a CRM server, and finally the CRM server presents a flow bill for the user equipment and finishes deduction.

When the PCRF performs flow control, a network ticket of the communication service to which the PCRF belongs is correspondingly generated according to the user equipment card identifier, the APN information and the target area information of the access network, and the network ticket carries the corresponding communication service identifier, so that when the PCRF sends the network ticket to the charging server, the charging server can distinguish which package and the statistical flow packet/account book should be subjected to flow accumulation.

The method for generating the network ticket with the corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network comprises the following steps:

periodically generating a network ticket according to a preset first frequency; such as: presetting a network ticket generated every 3 minutes;

or, according to a preset first flow threshold, generating a network ticket whenever the periodic flow accumulation reaches the first flow threshold; such as: presetting a flow threshold of 1000K, and generating a new network ticket when the newly generated flow accumulation reaches 1000K;

or when the periodic accumulated flow reaches a preset second flow threshold, generating a network ticket according to a second frequency; and when the periodic accumulated flow does not reach a preset third flow threshold, generating a network ticket according to a third frequency. For example: the second flow threshold is preset to be 1000K, the third flow threshold is 500K, then when the newly generated accumulated flow reaches 1000K, a new network ticket is generated when the accumulated flow time reaches 60 seconds, and when the newly generated accumulated flow does not reach 500K (for example, when the accumulated flow is small within a period of time), a new network ticket is generated when the accumulated flow time reaches 5 minutes (even if the periodic accumulated flow does not reach 500K, but the accumulated flow time reaches 5 minutes, a new network ticket is generated by default). The configuration has the advantages that when the flow consumption in a certain period of time is large, the frequency of generating the network call ticket can be improved, and the network call ticket can be counted and updated in time; when the flow consumption in a certain period of time is small, the frequency of generating the network call ticket can be reduced, the call ticket generation times can be reduced, and calculation and communication resources can be saved.

In addition, in the control layer, the PCRF can further perform management and control on access traffic in units of communication services according to the configured control policy, including blocking, releasing, redirecting, and the like on network access.

And step 403, the charging server accumulates corresponding communication traffic according to the received network ticket and the communication service identifier, and sends the acquired accumulated traffic bill to the CRM server.

And the charging server searches the pre-configured book information according to the received corresponding communication service identification and the user equipment card identification of the network ticket, further identifies which package and the statistical flow packet/book should be subjected to flow accumulation, and completes corresponding communication flow accumulation work. And the charging server sends the obtained accumulated flow bill to the CRM server, and the CRM server presents the flow bill for the user equipment and finishes fee deduction.

EXAMPLE five

Referring to fig. 1, a communication traffic charging system provided in an embodiment of the present invention at least includes: a PCRF, a charging server and a CRM server,

a control strategy based on at least one item of communication service is pre-configured in a PCRF, wherein each item of communication service comprises a communication service identifier, APN information and target area information;

the PCRF is used for controlling the network access behavior of the user equipment based on a pre-configured control strategy, generating a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network, and sending the network ticket to the charging server;

the charging server is used for accumulating corresponding communication flow according to the received network ticket and the communication service identification and sending the obtained accumulated flow bill to the CRM server;

the CRM server is used for configuring a flow control strategy in advance and receiving a flow bill sent by the charging server.

Wherein the communication traffic accumulation comprises at least one of:

multiple communication services in the same user equipment card share the accumulated flow;

multiple user device cards share the cumulative traffic for the same communication service.

In an embodiment, the system further includes a policy server, where the function of the policy server is introduced in the first embodiment, and is not described herein again;

the CRM server is further used for sending a pre-configured control strategy based on at least one communication service to the strategy server;

and the policy server is used for synchronizing the received control policy to the PCRF.

The PCRF may generate the network ticket according to the following manner:

periodically generating the network ticket according to a preset first frequency;

or, according to a preset first flow threshold, generating a network ticket whenever the periodic flow accumulation reaches the first flow threshold;

or when the periodic accumulated flow reaches a preset second flow threshold, generating a network ticket according to a second frequency; and when the periodic accumulated flow does not reach a preset third flow threshold, generating a network ticket according to a third frequency.

Preferably, the charging server is further configured to search preconfigured bill information according to the received corresponding communication service identifier and the user equipment card identifier of the network ticket, and perform corresponding communication traffic accumulation according to the bill information.

The specific implementation process of the communication flow control system is described in detail in the foregoing embodiments, and is not described herein again.

In summary, by implementing the embodiment of the present invention, the ticket splitting can be performed based on different APNs and target area information, and multiple control and charging policies of single APN single target area shared flow, single APN multi-target area shared flow, and multi-APN multi-target area shared flow are supported in terms of flow control and charging policy, so that a more flexible flow control and charging function of supporting multiple APNs and multi-target areas is realized.

In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, various embodiments or examples and features of different embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by one skilled in the art without contradiction.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically defined otherwise.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. A communication flow charging method is applied to an intelligent Internet of things communication service system, and the system comprises the following steps: forwarding layer equipment and control layer equipment, the forwarding layer equipment includes: a second layer tunnel protocol network server LNS, a policy and charging rule functional unit PCRF and an exit routing device; the LNS is accessed to a special dialing network gateway (PGW), the LNS, the PCRF and an outlet routing device are connected through a forwarding layer communication link, and the outlet routing device is used for connecting a public network; the control layer device includes: the system comprises a charging server, a policy server, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) server and an authentication server; the charging server, the strategy server, the CRM and the authentication server are based on a control management switch and realize communication interconnection through a control layer link; the policy server is in communication connection with the PCRF through a control layer link;

the method comprises the following steps:

a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) unit is configured with a control policy based on at least one item of communication service in advance, wherein each item of communication service comprises a communication service identifier, Access Point Name (APN) information and target area information; each communication service only comprises one APN information and a group of target address information;

the PCRF manages and controls access flow by taking communication service as a unit based on the pre-configured control strategy, controls network access behavior of user equipment, generates a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to APN information and target area information of a network accessed by the user equipment, and sends the network ticket to a charging server;

the charging server accumulates corresponding communication flow according to the received network ticket and the communication service identification and sends the obtained accumulated flow bill to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) server;

the communication traffic accumulation includes at least one of:

multiple communication services in the same user equipment card share the accumulated flow;

the multi-user equipment cards share the accumulated flow of the same communication service;

the control strategy based on at least one communication service pre-configured in the PCRF is configured by the CRM server, and the CRM server sends the configured control strategy to the policy server and then the policy server synchronizes the control strategy to the PCRF;

the method further comprises the following steps: after the CRM configures the control strategy, user equipment cards are distributed, and user equipment card information and account book information are sent to the charging server, wherein the account book information specifies which communication services accumulate flow bills according to which rule;

the flow control and charging strategy supports single-APN single-target area sharing flow, single-APN multi-target area sharing flow and multi-APN multi-target area sharing flow.

2. The communication traffic charging method according to claim 1, wherein the generating a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network comprises:

periodically generating the network ticket according to a preset first frequency;

or, according to a preset first flow threshold, generating the network ticket whenever the periodic flow accumulation reaches the first flow threshold;

or when the periodic accumulated flow reaches a preset second flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a second frequency; and when the periodic accumulated flow does not reach a preset third flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a third frequency.

3. The communication traffic charging method according to claim 1, wherein the charging server performs corresponding communication traffic accumulation according to a pre-configured charging policy, and the received network ticket and the communication service identifier, and the method comprises the steps of:

and the charging server searches pre-configured account book information according to the received corresponding communication service identification and the user equipment card identification of the network ticket, and performs corresponding communication flow accumulation according to the account book information.

4. The utility model provides a communication flow charging system which characterized in that, is applied to intelligent thing networking communication service system, intelligent thing networking communication service system includes: forwarding layer equipment and control layer equipment, the forwarding layer equipment includes: a second layer tunnel protocol network server LNS, a policy and charging rule functional unit PCRF and an exit routing device; the LNS is accessed to a special dialing network gateway (PGW), the LNS, the PCRF and an outlet routing device are connected through a forwarding layer communication link, and the outlet routing device is used for connecting a public network; the control layer device includes: the system comprises a charging server, a policy server, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) server and an authentication server; the charging server, the strategy server, the CRM and the authentication server are based on a control management switch and realize communication interconnection through a control layer link; the policy server is in communication connection with the PCRF through a control layer link;

the communication traffic billing system includes: a policy and charging rules function PCRF, a charging server, and a customer relationship management CRM server, wherein,

the PCRF is pre-configured with a control strategy based on at least one item of communication service, wherein each item of communication service comprises a communication service identifier, Access Point Name (APN) information and target area information; each communication service only comprises one APN information and a group of target address information;

the PCRF is used for controlling the network access behavior of the user equipment based on the pre-configured control strategy, generating a network ticket with a corresponding communication service identifier according to the APN information and the target area information of the user equipment accessing the network, and sending the network ticket to a charging server;

the charging server is used for accumulating corresponding communication flow according to the received network ticket and the communication service identification and sending the obtained accumulated flow bill to the CRM server;

the CRM server is used for configuring a flow control strategy in advance and receiving a flow bill sent by the charging server;

the communication traffic accumulation includes at least one of:

multiple communication services in the same user equipment card share the accumulated flow;

the multi-user equipment cards share the accumulated flow of the same communication service;

the system further comprises a policy server for providing a policy service,

the CRM server is further used for sending a pre-configured control strategy based on at least one communication service to the strategy server;

the policy server is used for synchronizing the received control policy to the PCRF;

the CRM server is further configured to, after the control policy is configured, perform allocation of user equipment cards, and send user equipment card information and account book information to the charging server, where the account book information specifies which communication services accumulate traffic bills according to what rule;

the flow control and charging strategy supports single-APN single-target area sharing flow, single-APN multi-target area sharing flow and multi-APN multi-target area sharing flow.

5. The communication traffic charging system of claim 4, wherein the PCRF is further configured to generate a network ticket according to the following manner:

periodically generating the network ticket according to a preset first frequency;

or, according to a preset first flow threshold, generating the network ticket whenever the periodic flow accumulation reaches the first flow threshold;

or when the periodic accumulated flow reaches a preset second flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a second frequency; and when the periodic accumulated flow does not reach a preset third flow threshold, generating the network ticket according to a third frequency.

6. The communication traffic charging system according to claim 4, wherein the charging server is further configured to search preconfigured account book information according to the corresponding communication service identifier and the user equipment card identifier of the received network ticket, and perform corresponding communication traffic accumulation according to the account book information.

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