Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing billing and usage data to downstream applications

• US 20080273679A1
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Published: 11/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tekelec, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Tekelec
• Inventors: Marsico, Peter J., Russell, Travis E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,379,898 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/114.28
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing

Abstract

It is an object of the presently disclosed subject matter to provide billing and usage data to downstream applications. According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for acquiring billing and usage data in an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) environment. The method includes copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message relating to an IMS transaction upstream from a billing system (BS) and providing the at least one copied message to an application for one of billing verification, fraud detection, revenue assurance, and data analysis. The types of acquired data may be copied separately or in combination, and the copied data may be examined, compared, or otherwise utilized separately or in combination.

Claims

1. A method for acquiring billing and usage data in an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) environment, the method comprising:

copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message relating to an IMS transaction upstream from a billing system (BS); and

providing the at least one copied message to an application for one of billing verification, fraud detection, revenue assurance, and data analysis.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising examining one of the at least one copied call signaling message and IMS accounting message for one of billing verification, fraud detection, revenue assurance, and data analysis.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message and wherein the method further comprises comparing the copied call signaling message and the copied IMS accounting message.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying a call signaling message that includes one of a signaling system 7 (SS7) message, a session initiation protocol (SIP) message, a SIGTRAN message, and a call detail record (CLDR).

5. The method of claim 4 wherein copying a CLDR includes copying a CLDR that includes one of an SS7 call detail record, an Internet Protocol call detail record (IPDR), a session call detail record (SDR), and a transaction call detail record (TDR).

6. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying a Diameter accounting message.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying a raw IMS accounting message that includes at least one of charging event information, rated charging event information, and rated charging event and credit information, where the copied IMS accounting message is not an charging detail record.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying an IMS accounting message that includes a charging detail record.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying a call signaling message and wherein the method further comprises generating an IMS accounting message based on the copied call signaling message.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message and wherein the method further comprises correcting information contained in the IMS accounting message based on the copied call signaling message.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying the IMS accounting message at a charging gateway function (CGF) in an offline IMS charging system.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying the IMS accounting message at a charging data function (CDF) in an offline IMS billing system.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying the call signaling message at an IMS network entity (NE).

14. The method of claim 13 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying the call signaling message at one of a call session control function (CSCF), a circuit-switched network element (CS-NE), a service network element, a session initiation protocol (SIP) application server (AS), a media resource function controller (MRFC), a media gateway controller function (MGCF), a border gateway controller function (BGCF), a proxy call session control function (P-CSCF), an interrogating call session control function (I-CSCF), a serving call session control function (S-CSCF), a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN).

15. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying an IMS accounting message received from a rating function (RF) in an online IMS charging system.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message includes copying an IMS accounting message received from an account balance management (ABMF) function in an online IMS charging system.

17. A system for acquiring billing and usage data in an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) environment, the system comprising:

a message copy function (MCF) for copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message relating to an IMS transaction upstream from a billing system (BS); and

a communications function for providing the at least one copied message to a downstream application for one of billing verification, fraud detection, revenue assurance, and data analysis.

18. The system of claim 17 comprising a verification application for examining one of the at least one copied call signaling message and IMS accounting message for one of billing verification, fraud detection, revenue assurance, and data analysis.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is configured to copy a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message and wherein the system further comprises a billing verification application configured to compare the copied call signaling message and the copied IMS accounting message.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein the at least one call signaling message includes one of a signaling system number 7 (SS7) message, a session initiation protocol (SIP).message, a SIGTRAN message, and a call detail record (CLDR), and wherein the at least one IMS accounting message includes one of a raw IMS accounting message and a charging detail record.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein the at least one IMS accounting message includes a Diameter accounting message.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein a raw IMS accounting message includes at least one of charging event information, rated charging event information, and rated charging event and credit information, where the copied raw IMS accounting message is not a charging detail record.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the CLDR includes at least one of an SS7 call detail record, an Internet protocol (IP) call detail record (IPDR), a session call detail record (SDR), and a transaction call detail record (TDR).

24. The system of claim 17 comprising a billing verification application configured to, based on a copied call signaling message, at least one of generate an IMS accounting message, correct information contained in an IMS accounting message, and complete information missing from a copied IMS accounting message.

25. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is located at a network entity (NE).

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the NE is one of a call session control function (CSCF), a circuit-switched network element (CS-NE), a service network element, a session initiation protocol (SIP) application server (AS), a media resource function controller (MRFC), a media gateway controller function (MGCF), a border gateway controller function (BGCF), a proxy call session control function (P-CSCF), an interrogating call session control function (I-CSCF), a serving call session control function (S-CSCF), a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), and a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN).

27. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is located at a charging gateway function (CGF) in an offline IMS charging system.

28. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is located at a charging data function (CDF) in an offline IMS charging system.

29. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is integrated with an online charging system (OCS).

30. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is configured to receive an IMS accounting message from a rating function (RF) in an online IMS charging system.

31. The system of claim 17 wherein the MCF is configured to copy an IMS accounting message received from an account billing management function (ABMF) in an online IMS charging system.

32. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions embodied in a computer-readable medium for performing steps comprising:

in an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) environment;

copying at least one of a call signaling message and an IMS accounting message relating to an IMS transaction upstream from a billing system (BS); and

providing the at least one copied message to an application for one of billing verification, fraud detection, revenue assurance, and data analysis.