COMMUNICATION CONTROL METHOD IN CONNECTION-ORIENTED COMMUNICATION, RELATED TRANSFER DEVICE, AND BILLING MANAGEMENT DEVICE

• US 20090112742A1
• Filed: 12/23/2008
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagai, Ai, Suzuki, Hideharu, Sumino, Hiromitsu, Yabe, Toshiyasu, Onishi, Taku
• Application Number:
  US12/342,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20090112742A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/344 Out-of-band transfers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/163 In-band adaptation of TCP data exchange; In-band control procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• 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 15/70 Administration or customization aspects; Counter-checking correct charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/73 Validating charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8207 Time based data metric aspects, e.g. VoIP or circuit switched packet data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8214 Data or packet based
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2013 Fixed data network, e.g. PDN, ATM, B-ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/22 : Bandwidth or usage-sensitve billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 : Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/70 : Administration aspects, modify settings or limits or counter-check correct charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7072 : Validate charges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7813 : Time based data, e.g. VoIP or circuit switched packet data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/782 : Data or packet based

Abstract

A gateway server 40, in the case that discontinuation of TCP Connection A between a portable phone 10 and gateway server 40 is detected when gateway server 40 is relaying HTTP communication between portable phone 10 and a content server 70, maintains TCP Connection B1 between a billing management server 50 and gateway server 40 until gateway server 40 receives from billing management server 50 billing information for HTTP communication relayed up to the time of the discontinuation of TCP Connection A.

Claims

1. A transfer device comprising:

relaying means for relaying connection-oriented communication performed between a communication terminal and a correspondent communication device;

time keeping means for counting time from when said transfer device transmits to said communication device a request message for said communication device, said request message having received from said communication terminal, until said transfer device receives a response message transmitted from said communication device in response to said request message; and

connection control means for controlling a connection, when said connection-oriented communication is being relayed by said relaying means, so as to maintain a connection between said transfer device and said communication device until said transfer device receives billing information for said connection-oriented communication from a billing management device, said billing management device functioning as a relay node of a connection between said transfer device and said communication device, or until the time counted by said time keeping means exceeds a prescribed time, the maintaining of said connection being performed in a case that said counted time has not exceeded said prescribed time and that said transfer device has not received said billing information.

2. A transfer device according to claim 1,

wherein said billing information is transmitted to said transfer device when said billing management device transmits to said transfer device a response message responsive to a request message transmitted from said communication terminal.