METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR SUPPORTING DISTRIBUTED IMS CHARGING

• US 20100248685A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Li, Xiangyang, Peng, Wang, Du, Hongmei, Wang, Peng
• Granted Patent: US 8,224,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/406
• 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

The present invention relates to communication technology, and in particular, to a method, apparatus and system for supporting distributed IMS charging. The system for supporting distributed IMS charging, comprises: a plurality of nodes, and a index server (101) interconnecting the plurality of nodes, in a network; wherein, a first node (102) sends a charging request to the index server (101), the index server (101) routes the charging request to a second node (103) adapted to charge based on the charging request or returns an address of the second node (103) to the first node (102) and then the first (102) node sends the charging request to the second node (103) with the address from the index server (101); and the second node (103) charges based on the charging request. This invention enables an operator to manage the subscriber'"'"'s charging location information for distributed charging services in a centralized index server, instead of provisioning the charging locations in each separated IMS charging system. This invention greatly saves the operator'"'"'s management cost of charging.

Claims

1. A system for supporting distributed IMS charging, comprising:

a plurality of nodes, and a index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) interconnecting the plurality of nodes, in a network;

wherein,

a first node (102, 402, 502, 902) sends a charging request to the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901),

the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) routes the charging request to a second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) adapted to charge based on the charging request or returns an address of the second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) to the first node (102, 402, 502, 902) and then the first node (102, 402, 502, 902) sends the charging request to the second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) with the address from the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901); and

the second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) charges based on the charging request.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein,

the charging request includes a subscriber identifier and the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) determines the second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) based on the subscriber identifier.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein,

the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) further comprises a charging index database which includes information about the plurality of nodes in the network.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein,

the information includes the addresses of the nodes, based on which the charging request can be sent to the second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903).

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein,

the information further includes the charging modes of the nodes, based on which the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) can select the second node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) for the first node (102, 402, 502, 902).

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein,

the first node (102, 402, 502, 902) can be any one of charging trigger function, online charging system and charging gateway function, and the second node can be any one of charging data function, charging gateway function, and online charging system.

7. The system according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein,

the network is a 3GPP network or 3GPP2 network.

8. A method for supporting distributed IMS charging, comprising:

sending (S21, S31) a charging request to a index server in a network by a requesting node;

routing (S23) the charging request to a charging node in the network by the index server, wherein the charging node is responsible for charging according to the charging request;

or

returning (S33) an address of the charging node to the requesting node by the index server, and then sending (S34) the charging request to the charging node with the address from the index server by the requesting node; and

charging based on the charging request by the charging node.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein,

the charging request includes a subscriber identifier and the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) determines the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) based on the subscriber identifier.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein,

the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) further comprises a charging index database which includes information about the nodes in the network.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein,

the information includes the addresses of the nodes, based on which the charging request can be sent to the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903).

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein,

the information further includes the charging modes of the nodes, based on which the index server (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) can select the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) for the requesting node (102, 402, 502, 902).

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein,

the requesting node (102, 402, 502, 902) can be any one of charging trigger function, online charging system and charging gateway function, and the charging node can be any one of charging data function, charging gateway function, online charging system.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8-13, wherein,

the network is a 3GPP network or 3GPP2 network.

15. An apparatus (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) for supporting distributed IMS charging, which locates in a network comprising a plurality of nodes, receives a charging request from a requesting node (102, 402, 502, 902) in the network and then routes the charging request to a charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) in the network, which is responsible for charging according to the charging request, or returns an address of the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) to the requesting node (102, 402, 502, 902), and wherein,

the apparatus (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) comprises a charging index database which includes information about the nodes in the network.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein,

the charging request includes a subscriber identifier and the apparatus (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) determines the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) based on the subscriber identifier.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein,

the information includes the addresses of the nodes, based on which the charging request can be sent to the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903).

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein,

the information further includes the charging modes of the nodes, based on which the apparatus (101, 401, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901) can select the charging node (103, 403, 503, 603, 903) for the requesting node (102, 402, 502, 902).

19. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein,

the requesting node (102, 402, 502, 902) can be any one of charging trigger function, online charging system and charging gateway function, and the charging node can be any one of charging data function, charging gateway function, online charging system.

20. The apparatus according to any one of claims 15-19, wherein,

the network is a 3GPP network or 3GPP2 network.