Real time charging of delivery and receipt of short message service in a telecommunications network

• US 20030216147A1
• Filed: 12/23/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Morin, Stephane, Anctil, Susan, Yan, Joseph Gang, Marchut-Wierzbica, Teresa, Fernandez, Patricia
• Granted Patent: US 7,027,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/00 Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems using a coded card to authorise calls from a telephone set H04M1/675
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2026 Wireless network, e.g. GSM, PCS, TACS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/28 SMS billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

A home Message Center (MC) in a telecommunications network is capable of receiving a short message, the short message being originated by an A-subscriber and destined to a B-subscriber, and determines that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber. A PrePaid Charging Service Control Point (PPC SCP) is connected to the home MC and is responsible of prepaid accounting for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber. The home MC sends to a PPC SCP an indication for notifying the PPC SCP that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber, and based on the indication, the PPC SCP charges a prepaid account of the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber for the short message.

Claims

1. A method for PrePaid Charging of short messages in a telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a short message at a home Message Center (MC), the short message being originated by an A-subscriber and destined to a B-subscriber;

determining at the home MC that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber;

sending from the home MC to a PrePaid Charging Service Control Point (PPC SCP) an indication for notifying the PPC SCP that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber; and

charging at the PPC SCP a prepaid account of the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber for the short message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the step of receiving, the step of:

originating the short message from the A-subscriber.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the A-subscriber is a prepaid subscriber, the home MC is a home MC of the A-subscriber, and the PPC SCP is the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber wherein:

the step of determining comprises determining at the home MC of the A-subscriber that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the A-subscriber;

the step of sending comprises sending from the home MC of the A-subscriber to the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber an indication for notifying the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the A-subscriber; and

the step of charging comprises charging at the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber a prepaid account of the A-subscriber for the short message.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the B-subscriber is a prepaid subscriber, the home MC is a home MC of the B-subscriber, and the PPC SCP is the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber wherein:

the step of determining comprises determining at the home MC of the B-subscriber that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the B-subscriber;

the step of sending comprises sending from the home MC of the B-subscriber to the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber an indication for notifying the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the B-subscriber; and

the step of charging comprises charging at the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber a prepaid account of the B-subscriber for the short message.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

sending the short message in a short message delivery request message from the A-subscriber to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC);

converting at the MSC the short message delivery request message into a Short Message Delivery Point-to-Point (SMDPP); and

forwarding the SMDPP message towards the home MC.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication for notifying the PPC SCP that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber comprises a Short Message Analyzed (SM_ANLYZD) message including:

a. an SMS_Event parameter for indicating the chargeable SMS event;

b. an SMS_Bearerlength parameter for indicating the length of the short message; and

c. an SMS_BillingID parameter for correlating charging operations related to the short message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of charging further comprises the steps of:

verifying at the PPC SCP a prepaid account balance of the prepaid account;

determining at the PPC SCP that the prepaid account balance is sufficient;

updating at the PPC SCP the prepaid account balance; and

determining at the PPC SCP that the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber is to be charged for further processing of the short message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of determining at the PPC SCP that the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber is to be charged for further processing of the short message further comprises the steps of:

responsive to a receipt of the indication, sending from the PPC SCP to the home MC an sm_anlyzd message including an SMS_EventNotification parameter for indicating an SMS event notification to be reported to the PPC SCP for the short message;

responsive to a receipt of an SMDPP, sending from the home MC to the serving MSC an smdpp message;

converting at the serving MSC the smdpp message into a short message delivery acknowledge message; and

sending from the serving MSC to PPC SCP the short message delivery acknowledge message.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

determining at the home MC that an SMS event notification is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber;

sending from the home MC to the PPC SCP a second indication for notifying the PPC SCP that an SMS event notification is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber, wherein the second indication comprises an SM_ANLYZD message including;

a. a second SMS_Event parameter for indicating a chargeable SMS event;

b. the SMS_Bearerlength parameter for indicating the length of the short message; and

c. the SMS_BillingID parameter for correlating charging operations related to the short message;

charging the prepaid account of the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber for the short message; and

responsive to a receipt of the SM_ANLYZD message, sending from the PPC SCP to the home MC an sm_anlyzd message.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

sending the short message from a home MC of the A-subscriber to a home MC of the B-subscriber; and

delivering the short message from the home MC of the B-subscriber to the B-subscriber.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of charging further comprises the steps of:

verifying at the PPC SCP a prepaid account balance of the prepaid account; and

determining at the PPC SCP that the prepaid account balance is sufficient.

12. A telecommunications network comprising:

a home Message Center (MC) being capable of receiving a short message, the short message being originated by an A-subscriber and destined to a B-subscriber, and determining that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber;

a PrePaid Charging Service Control Point (PPC SCP) connected to the home MC, the PPC SCP being responsible of prepaid accounting for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber;

wherein the home MC sends to a PPC SCP an indication for notifying the PPC SCP that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber, and wherein based on the indication, the PPC SCP charges a prepaid account of the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber for the short message.

13. The telecommunications network of claim 12, wherein the A-subscriber is a prepaid subscriber, the home MC is a home MC of the A-subscriber, and the PPC SCP is the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber;

and the prepaid account is the prepaid account of the A-subscriber,

wherein the home MC of the A-subscriber determines that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the A-subscriber;

wherein the home MC of the A-subscriber sends to the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber an indication for notifying the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the A-subscriber; and

wherein the PPC SCP of the A-subscriber charges the prepaid account of the A-subscriber for the short message.

14. The telecommunications network of claim 12, wherein the B-subscriber is a prepaid subscriber, the home MC is a home MC of the B-subscriber, and the PPC SCP is the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber and the prepaid account is the prepaid account of the B-subscriber,

wherein the home MC of the B-subscriber determines that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the B-subscriber;

wherein the home MC of the B-subscriber sends to the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber an indication for notifying the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the B-subscriber; and

wherein the PPC SCP of the B-subscriber charges a prepaid account of the B-subscriber for the short message.

15. The telecommunications network of claim 12, further comprising:

a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), wherein the MSC receives from the A-subscriber a short message delivery request message including the short message, converts the short message delivery request message into a Short Message Delivery Point-to-Point (SMDPP), and forwards the SMDPP message towards the home MC.

16. The telecommunications network of claim 15, wherein the indication for notifying the PPC SCP that prepaid charging is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber comprises a Short Message Analyzed (SM_ANLYZD) message including:

a. an SMS_Event parameter for indicating the chargeable SMS event;

b. an SMS_Bearerlength parameter for indicating the length of the short message; and

c. an SMS_BillingID parameter for correlating charging operations related to the short message.

17. The telecommunications network of claim 16, wherein the PPC SCP further verifies a prepaid account balance of the prepaid account, determining that the prepaid account balance is sufficient, updates the prepaid account balance, and determines that the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber is to be charged for further processing of the short message.

18. The telecommunications network of claim 17, wherein responsive to a receipt of the indication, the PPC SCP is further sends to the home MC an sm_anlyzd message including an SMS_EventNotification parameter for indicating an SMS event notification to be reported to the PPC SCP for the short message;

wherein the home MC sends to the serving MSC an smdpp, responsive to a receipt of an SMDPP; and

wherein the serving MSC converts the smdpp message into a short message delivery acknowledge message, and sends to the PPC SCP the short message delivery acknowledge message.

19. The telecommunications network of claim 18, wherein the home MC determines that an SMS event notification is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber, and sends to the PPC SCP a second indication for notifying the PPC SCP that an SMS event notification is applicable for the short message for the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber, wherein the second indication comprises an SM_ANLYZD message including:

a. a second SMS_Event parameter for indicating a chargeable SMS event;

b. the SMS_Bearerlength parameter for indicating the length of the short message; and

c. the SMS_BillingID parameter for correlating charging operations related to the short message.

20. The telecommunications system of claim 19, wherein the PPC SCP further charges the prepaid account of the at least one of the A-subscriber and the B-subscriber for the short message, and responsive to a receipt of the SM_ANLYZD message, sending to the home MC an sm_anlyzd message.

21. The telecommunication network of claim 20, wherein the home MC of the A-subscriber is further sends the short message to the home MC of the B-subscriber, and wherein the home MC of the B-subscriber further delivers the short message to the B-subscriber.