SEQUENCE NUMBER REUSE FOR CDR TRANSPORT USING GTP

• US 20150358480A1
• Filed: 06/04/2014
• Published: 12/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Sharma, Ranjan
• Granted Patent: US 9,787,852 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1425 involving dedicated fields in the data packet for billing purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/41 Billing record details, i.e. parameters, identifiers, structure of call data record [CDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/65 Off-line charging system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels

Abstract

Systems and methods that transport Charging Data Records (CDRs) using GTP′ for offline charging. One embodiment comprises a Charging Data Function (CDF) that communicates with a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) of an offline charging system using GTP′. The CDF assembles a GTP′ request for a transaction, assigns a sequence number for the transaction, and assigns a timestamp to the sequence number. The CDF inserts the sequence number in a GTP′ header of the GTP′ request, inserts the timestamp assigned to the sequence number in the GTP′ header of the GTP′ request, and sends the GTP′ request to the CGF.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a Charging Data Function (CDF) configured to communicate with a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) of an offline charging system using GTP′

;

the CDF including a processor configured to assemble a GTP′

request for a transaction, to assign a sequence number for the transaction, to assign a timestamp to the sequence number, to insert the sequence number in a GTP′

header of the GTP′

request, to insert the timestamp assigned to the sequence number in the GTP′

header of the GTP′

request, and to send the GTP′

request to the CGF.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the CDF is configured to store an entry for the GTP′

request that is referenced by the sequence number and the timestamp.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein:

the CDF is configured to receive a GTP′

response for the transaction from the CGF, to process the GTP′

header of the GTP′

response to identify the sequence number, to process the GTP′

header of the GTP′

response to identify the timestamp assigned to the sequence number, and to identify the entry for the GTP′

request based on the sequence number and the timestamp.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

a timestamp field is defined in the GTP′

header.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein:

the timestamp field comprises a 64-bit UNIX timestamp.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein:

the timestamp field is defined as octets 7-14 of the GTP′

header.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the CDF is configured to insert the timestamp in the GTP′

header when the GTP′

request comprises a GTP′

Data Record Transfer Request.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:

the CGF is configured to receive the GTP′

request from the CDF, to process the GTP′

header of the GTP′

request to identify the sequence number, to process the GTP′

header of the GTP′

request to identify the timestamp assigned to the sequence number, and to store an entry for the GTP′

request that is referenced by the sequence number and the timestamp.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein:

the CGF is configured to store the entry for the GTP′

request that is further referenced by an identifier for the CDF.

10. A method comprising:

assembling a GTP′

request for a transaction in a Charging Data Function (CDF), wherein the CDF communicates with a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) of an offline charging system using GTP′

;

assigning a timestamp to the sequence number;

inserting the sequence number in a GTP′

header of the GTP′

request;

inserting the timestamp assigned to the sequence number in the GTP′

header of the GTP′

request; and

sending the GTP′

request from the CDF to the CGF.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

storing an entry in the CDF for the GTP′

request that is referenced by the sequence number and the timestamp.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving a GTP′

response for the transaction in the CDF from the CGF;

processing the GTP′

header of the GTP′

response to identify the sequence number;

processing the GTP′

header of the GTP′

response to identify the timestamp assigned to the sequence number; and

identifying the entry for the GTP′

request as stored in the CDF based on the sequence number and the timestamp.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein:

a timestamp field is defined in the GTP′

header.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein:

the timestamp field comprises a 64-bit UNIX timestamp.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein:

the timestamp field is defined as octets 7-14 of the GTP′

header.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein inserting the timestamp comprises:

inserting the timestamp in the GTP′

header when the GTP′

request comprises a GTP′

Data Record Transfer Request.

17. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

receiving the GTP′

request in the CGF from the CDF;

processing, by the CGF, the GTP′

header of the GTP′

request to identify the sequence number;

processing, by the CGF, the GTP′

header of the request to identify the timestamp assigned to the sequence number; and

storing an entry for the GTP′

request in the CGF that is referenced by the sequence number and the timestamp.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein storing an entry for the GTP′

request in the CGF comprises;

storing the entry for the GTP′

request that is further referenced by the sequence number, the timestamp, and an identifier for the CDF.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a Charging Gateway Function (CGF) of an offline charging system that is configured to communicate with a Charging Data Function (CDF) using GTP′

;

the CGF includes a processor configured to receive a GTP′

request from the CDF for a transaction, to process a GTP′

header of the GTP′

request to identify a sequence number assigned to the transaction, to process the GTP′

header of the GTP′

request to identify a timestamp assigned to the sequence number, and to store an entry for the GTP′

request that is referenced by the sequence number and the timestamp.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein:

a timestamp field is defined in the GTP′

header.