System and method for a SIP server with offline charging
First Claim
1. A system for providing offline charging and processing of a plurality of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication sessions in a telecommunications network, said system comprising:
- a network layer in the telecommunications network comprising a stateless tier and a stateful tier;
a charging data function (CDF) server in the telecommunications network external to the network layer;
said stateless tier of the network layer comprising a plurality of stateless server nodes;
said stateful tier of the network layer comprising an n-way peer-replicated Random Access Memory (RAM) store accessible from the stateless tier;
a plurality of SIP server application instances operating on said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the plurality of SIP server application instances process SIP communications for said plurality of SIP communication sessions;
an offline charging application operating on one of said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the offline charging application communicates with the plurality of SIP server application instances;
wherein for each SIP communication session of said plurality of SIP communication sessions,one of said plurality of SIP server application instances receives and processes SIP communications for said SIP communication session and stores a call state for said SIP communication session in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier;
one of said plurality of SIP server application instances communicates a charging request for said SIP communication session to the offline charging application,the offline charging application transmits an accounting request for said SIP communication session to the charging data function (CDF) server, and receives an accounting answer from the CDF server including a timer value,the offline charging application creates an accounting session state object for said SIP communication session in the call state for said SIP communication session stored in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier and a timer object based on the timer value received from the CDF server; and
upon expiration of the timer object, if the SIP communication session has not ended, the offline charging application transmits an interim accounting request to the CDF server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The SIP server can be comprised of an engine tier that is designed for high throughput processing of SIP communications and a state tier that maintains state information for access by the engine tier. A Java-based offline charging application can be deployed on the SIP server engine tier in order to allow the SIP server to generate offline charging events and transmit them to a charging data function (CDF) server. The state data for the offline accounting session can be maintained on the state tier. Furthermore, timers set to accounting interim interval value can be used to indicate expiration times for the accounting session. The SIP server can use the timers to send periodic interim requests in order to update and maintain the accounting session open.
80 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for providing offline charging and processing of a plurality of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication sessions in a telecommunications network, said system comprising:
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a network layer in the telecommunications network comprising a stateless tier and a stateful tier; a charging data function (CDF) server in the telecommunications network external to the network layer; said stateless tier of the network layer comprising a plurality of stateless server nodes; said stateful tier of the network layer comprising an n-way peer-replicated Random Access Memory (RAM) store accessible from the stateless tier; a plurality of SIP server application instances operating on said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the plurality of SIP server application instances process SIP communications for said plurality of SIP communication sessions; an offline charging application operating on one of said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the offline charging application communicates with the plurality of SIP server application instances; wherein for each SIP communication session of said plurality of SIP communication sessions, one of said plurality of SIP server application instances receives and processes SIP communications for said SIP communication session and stores a call state for said SIP communication session in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier; one of said plurality of SIP server application instances communicates a charging request for said SIP communication session to the offline charging application, the offline charging application transmits an accounting request for said SIP communication session to the charging data function (CDF) server, and receives an accounting answer from the CDF server including a timer value, the offline charging application creates an accounting session state object for said SIP communication session in the call state for said SIP communication session stored in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier and a timer object based on the timer value received from the CDF server; and upon expiration of the timer object, if the SIP communication session has not ended, the offline charging application transmits an interim accounting request to the CDF server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for providing offline charging and processing of a plurality of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication sessions in a telecommunications network, said method comprising:
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providing a network layer in the telecommunications network comprising a stateless tier and a stateful tier; providing a charging data function (CDF) server in the telecommunications network external to the network layer; said stateless tier of the network layer comprising a plurality of stateless server nodes; said stateful tier of the network layer comprising an n-way peer-replicated Random Access Memory (RAM) store accessible from the stateless tier; providing a plurality of SIP server application instances operating on said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the plurality of SIP server application instances process SIP communications for said plurality of SIP communication sessions; providing an offline charging application operating on one of said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the offline charging application communicates with the plurality of SIP server application instances; and for each SIP communication session of said plurality of SIP communication sessions, receiving and processing SIP communications for said SIP communication session with one of said plurality of SIP server application instances and storing a call state for said SIP communication session in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier; communicating a charging request for said SIP communication session from one of said plurality of SIP server application instances to the offline charging application; transmitting an accounting request for said SIP communication session from said offline charging application to the charging data function (CDF) server; receiving an accounting answer including a timer value at said offline charging application from the CDF server, creating, using said offline charging application, an accounting session state object for said SIP communication session in the call state for said SIP communication session stored in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier and a timer object based on the timer value received from the CDF server; and transmitting an interim accounting request from said offline charging application to the CDF server upon expiration of the timer object, if the SIP communication session has not ended. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon for providing offline charging and processing of a plurality of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) communication sessions in a telecommunications network, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
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providing a network layer comprising a stateless tier and a stateful tier; providing a charging data function (CDF) server external to the network layer; said stateless tier of the network layer comprising a plurality of stateless server nodes; said stateful tier of the network layer comprising an n-way peer-replicated Random Access Memory (RAM) store accessible from the stateless tier; providing a plurality of SIP server application instances operating on said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the plurality of SIP server application instances process SIP communications for said plurality of SIP communication sessions; providing an offline charging application operating on one of said plurality of stateless server nodes in the stateless tier of the network layer, wherein the offline charging application communicates with the plurality of SIP server application instances; and for each SIP communication session of said plurality of SIP communication sessions, receiving and processing SIP communications for said SIP communication session with one of said plurality of SIP server application instances and storing a call state for said SIP communication session in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier; communicating a charging request for said SIP communication session from one of said plurality of SIP server application instances to the offline charging application; transmitting an accounting request for said SIP communication session from said offline charging application to the charging data function (CDF) server; receiving an accounting answer including a timer value at said offline charging application from the CDF server, creating, using said offline charging application, an accounting session state object for said SIP communication session in the call state for said SIP communication session stored in said n-way peer-replicated RAM store of said stateful tier and a timer object based on the timer value received from the CDF server; and transmitting an interim accounting request from said offline charging application to the CDF server upon expiration of the timer object, if the SIP communication session has not ended.
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Specification