KR101400948B1 - A method and an apparatus for data traffic accounting by using aaa server - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a certification processing method of a terminal using near field communication, an apparatus thereof and a recording medium therefor. The method in an embodiment of the present invention comprises the following steps: determining at least one certification parameter for certifying the terminal among multiple predefined parameters for the terminal; detecting an identification device storing the determined at least one certification parameter which exists within a near field communication range of the terminal; transmitting a preset identifier to the identification device over the near field communication in order to identify the terminal; receiving a certification value corresponding to at least one certification parameter from the identification device; and processing the certification for access to a network by the terminal by using the received certification value.

Description

[0001] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DATA TRAFFIC ACCOUNTING BY USING AAA SERVER [0002]

The present invention relates to a data traffic charging method and apparatus for AAA system, and more particularly, to a data traffic charging method and apparatus that minimizes the occurrence of message load even if data traffic of an AAA system increases.

As the market using the communication network becomes widespread and the types and forms of data services providing various data contents are diversified, the opportunities for users to use the data services through the terminals are increased. In addition, Explosive growth.

An AAA system exists as a system for supporting subscriber authentication, authorization and accounting for such data services. Generally, the AAA is a technology for providing authentication, authorization and accounting services for a subscriber who wishes to access a network connected to a communication service provider of a mobile communication system and a wired communication system. The authentication verifies the identity of the user before granting access to the network. In order to clearly identify the user, the authentication procedure may include a user name / password combination, a secret key, a biological method (e.g., fingerprint) Unique data that the user has is used. The AAA server compares the authentication data provided by the user with the user-related data in its own database and, if the contents match, permits access to the network. Otherwise, the AAA server determines authentication failure and does not allow the use of network resources. Authorization determines what rights and services are allowed for a user who is allowed to use the network, including determining the IP address, the applications and protocols to be provided, and so on. The authentication and authorization are generally performed together in the operating environment of the AAA server. The accounting collects information about a user's resource use, and this information is used for charge settlement, accounting and capacity addition.

In particular, in a mobile communication system, the AAA must be implemented by linking a home network and a visited network. The greatest advantage of mobile communications is that it allows users to communicate with anyone, anytime, anywhere via roaming or handoff technology. When using roaming or handoff IP-based wireless Internet, Mobile IP protocol is used for IP allocation and mobile network support. In order to provide a wireless Internet service by automatically selecting and connecting to a WLAN notarized network or a mobile communication network using a dual mode mobile phone or a PDA when roaming in mobile communication supporting the Mobile IP, It can be used by receiving authentication and IP allocation. In addition, an accounting technique is applied between the networks to charge the usage amount of the user, and an authorization technique for the authorization of the roaming user uses the authorization technique.

As described above, the RADIUS protocol is used as a standard protocol used in an AAA server that performs authentication, authorization and accounting for subscribers in a wire / wireless network. RADIUS was developed by Linvingston Enterprise in mid-1990 to provide authentication and billing services to its NAS (Network Access Server) equipment. The IETF RADIUS Working Group then standardized on the protocol in 1996 and documented the protocol primitives and message formats in RFC2138. The RADIUS system is a client-server based system. The RADIUS client is located in a NAS (Network Access Server) or a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) with many ports. The RADIUS server is a host It is located in the server.

Accordingly, a communication network operator is constructing such a data providing service as using a billing subdivision device (BSD) for subdividing data charges. However, the data traffic due to the increase of the smartphone subscribers is rapidly increasing every year, which causes a problem that the message load between the systems that process the data charging also increases sharply.

It is an object of the present invention to minimize the occurrence of a message load for data traffic charging between systems.

Another object of the present invention is to prevent the omission of billing that has not been processed for a long time based on a billing request message for billing processing when data traffic is generated.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that supports the above-described methods.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Lt; / RTI >

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing traffic charges in an AAA system including an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, an authentication server and a charging server, Assigning and setting an information confirmation session for network connection to perform user authentication, and activating a user session for the user's network connection; Determining, at the authentication server, a charging server established for data charging subdivision based on the activated user session, thereby activating the charging server connection of the user; Receiving, at the billing server, a billing request based on the user's data traffic usage every predetermined period, and transmitting billing information to the AAA server through the billing server; Receiving the charging information from the AAA server to calculate cumulative charging information, and performing billing information processing by comparing the calculated cumulative charging information with a preset MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition; And transmitting an accounting termination request from the authentication server if the user session is deactivated.

Further, the step of performing the charging information processing step may include storing the calculated accumulated charging information in the AAA server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is not satisfied, satisfying the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition The AAA server transmits the calculated charging information to the Mediation Device server.

Preferably, the billing information includes a usage amount of the data packet of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is set such that the accumulated data packet usage amount of the user included in the accumulated billing information is a predetermined data packet And when it exceeds the usage amount, it is satisfied.

Preferably, the billing information includes information about the time of the first received billing message of the user, the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition includes a time of the first received billing message included in the accumulated billing information, When the cumulative use time of the data packet based on the last time when the information is received exceeds a predetermined data packet use time.

Preferably, the billing information includes information on a usage amount of the user's data packet and an initial reception billing message time of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is included in the cumulative billing information The accumulated data packet usage amount of the user exceeds a preset data packet usage amount or the accumulated data packet usage time based on the user's first received charging message time included in the accumulated charging information and the last time when the charging information is received (MD) server, the AAA server further transmits an accounting termination request to an MD (Mediation Device) server when it satisfies the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition. have.

Preferably, the accumulated charge information stores an accumulated value of a used data packet size.

The step of performing the charging information processing step may include searching the accumulated charging information stored in the AAA server and terminating the user session if the charging request is not received within the predetermined period; And transmitting the non-transfer charging information of the user to the MD server.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for processing traffic charges in an AAA system including an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, an authentication server and a charging server, Assigning and setting an information confirmation session for network connection to perform user authentication, activating a user session for the user's network connection, checking a billing server established for data charging subdivision based on the activated user session The accounting server activates the charging server connection of the user, the charging server receives a charging request based on the user's data traffic usage every predetermined period, and transmits charging information to the AAA server, and the AAA server transmits the charging information Calculates cumulative billing information, and transmits the calculated cumulative billing information Compared to the beam with a predetermined MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition performing a billing processing information and, when said user session inactive and it may send an accounting stop request from the authentication server.

Further, the AAA server stores the calculated accumulated charging information when it does not satisfy the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition, and when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied, And transmits the calculated cumulative billing information.

Preferably, the billing information includes a usage amount of the data packet of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is set such that the usage data packet amount of the user included in the accumulated billing information is a predetermined data packet usage amount Is satisfied, it can be characterized.

Preferably, the billing information includes information on the time of the first received billing message of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition includes a first billing message time of the user included in the accumulated billing information, When the cumulative use time of the data packet based on the last time when the information is received exceeds a predetermined data packet use time.

Preferably, the billing information includes information on a usage amount of the user's data packet and an initial reception billing message time of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is included in the cumulative billing information The data packet usage time based on the user's initial depth billing message time included in the accumulated billing information and the final time when the billing information is received (AA) server to the MD (Mediation Device) server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied, when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied .

Preferably, the accumulated charge information is stored in a cumulative value of a used data packet size.

Preferably, the AAA server retrieves stored accumulated charging information, terminates the user session when the charging request is not received within the predetermined period, and transmits the non-transferred charging information of the user to the MD server And the like.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an authentication server performs user authentication by allocating and setting an information confirmation session for a user's network connection, and performs a user session for the user's network connection Means for activating; Means for, at the authentication server, identifying a charging server established for data charging subdivision based on the activated user session, thereby activating the user's charging server connection; Means for receiving, at the billing server, a billing request based on use of the user's data traffic every predetermined period, and for transmitting billing information to the AAA server through the billing server; Means for receiving billing information from the AAA server to calculate cumulative billing information, and performing billing information processing by comparing the calculated billing information with a preset MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition; And means for transmitting an accounting termination request from the authentication server when the user session is inactivated.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce a message load for a billing process with a Mediation Device (MD) server.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a billing omission by summarizing a bill for which the user's data usage does not exist for a long time.

The effects obtained in the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description .

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
1 is a diagram for explaining a conventional communication system including a terminal and a network.
2 is a diagram illustrating a billing system of a mobile communication network for a packet data service according to the related art.
3 is a reference diagram for explaining a terminal and a RADIUS server based on a 3GPP environment.
4 is a diagram illustrating a traffic charging processing method in an AAA system including an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, an authentication server, and a charging server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 to 7 are data flow charts of accounting information processing of an AAA system according to an MD transmission condition according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific operation of the AAA server when the charging request message is not received within a predetermined period according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description, together with the accompanying drawings, is intended to illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. The following detailed description includes specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In the description of the drawings, there is no description of procedures or steps that may obscure the technical gist of the present invention, nor is any description of steps or steps enough to be understood by those skilled in the art.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising" or " including ", it is meant that the element does not exclude other elements, do. Also, the terms " part, "" module," and " module ", etc. in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software have. Also, the terms " a or ", "one "," the ", and the like are synonyms in the context of describing the invention (particularly in the context of the following claims) May be used in a sense including both singular and plural, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The specific terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the use of such specific terms may be changed into other forms without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional communication system including a terminal and a network.

In the present invention, a terminal refers to a device that performs an authentication procedure for accessing a network, and may store specific parameters to perform an authentication procedure. Examples of the terminal may include a personal computer (PC), a notebook computer, a mobile phone, a tablet PC, a smart phone, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants). Of course, this is merely an example, and it should be construed as a concept including a device that is currently developed, commercialized, or capable of all communication to be developed in the future, in addition to the above-described examples.

Network means a data communication network for data transmission and information exchange between devices capable of sharing, exchanging, transmitting and receiving data with other terminals, servers or other terminals of the present invention, and the type is not particularly limited . For example, i-bimnet, which provides high-capacity data transmission and reception services through Internet Protocol (IP), and data service without disconnection, is an i-bimetal architecture that integrates different networks based on IP, It can be network. The network 140 may be a mobile communication network including a wired network, a Wibro (Wireless Broadband) network, a WCDMA, a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network and an LTE network, A network, and a Wi-Fi network.

According to a hardware implementation, the embodiments described herein may be implemented as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays May be implemented using at least one of a processor, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, and other electronic units for performing other functions. In some cases, The described embodiments may be implemented by the processor itself.

According to a software implementation, embodiments such as the procedures and functions described herein may be implemented with separate software modules. Each of the software modules may perform one or more of the functions and operations described herein. Software code can be implemented in a software application written in a suitable programming language. The software code is stored in a memory and can be executed by a processor.

2 is a diagram showing a billing system of a conventional mobile communication network for packet data service. The conventional billing system of the mobile communication network includes a base station system, a PSDN, a PCF, a data billing subdivision device, an MD (Mediation Device) server, and an SCP (Service Control Point) server.

The base station system is composed of a BTS (NodeB in 3G) and a BSC / PCF (RNC / SGSN in 3G) for processing packet data transmitted from a terminal.

The PDSN (GGSN in the case of 3G) assigns an IP to a terminal of packet data via the base station system and switches the corresponding packet data.

The PCF routes the packet data processed by the PDSN to the portal server designated by the user via the communication network, for example, the Internet, and transmits the response packet data to the PSDN.

The data charging subdivision device is installed via a switch at the rear end of the PDSN to generate billing UDR (Usage Detail Record) for the packet data transmitted and received through the communication network and transmits it to the AAA server (PCC in 3G).

The MD (Mediation Device) server executes the postpaid accounting process using the charged UDR transmitted from the data charging subdivision device via the AAA server.

The Service Control Point (SCP) server compares URL (User Resource Locator) information of the portal server accessed by the terminal with the reference URL information using the charging UDR transmitted from the data charging subdivision device via the AAA server, .

When the billing system transmits packet data information to the base station system in order to use the wireless Internet service in any terminal, the packet data is received in the PDSN via the BTS of the base station system and the BSC / PCF. The PDSN then assigns an IP to the terminal of the input packet data via the base station system and switches the packet data to the PCF. Accordingly, the PCF routes the packet data processed by the PDSN to the portal server specified by the user via the communication network, for example, the Internet, and transmits the response packet data to the PDSN.

In this case, when the packet data is transmitted / received via the communication network, a billing operation occurs. At this time, the data billing subdivision device analyzes the header of the packet data to distinguish the billing- And transmits the billing UDR to the MD server. Also, the SCP server sequentially compares the billing-related information such as the URL information of the packet data transmitted by the data charging subdivision device with the reference URL information, calculates the packet amount, and then calculates the prepaid deduction information.

3 is a reference diagram for explaining a terminal and a RADIUS server based on a 3GPP environment. The RADIUS server is located in a host server of an ISP network that provides services such as data communication to a user terminal, authenticates a subscriber terminal attempting to access a host server through a RADIUS client, Determines the service, and manages the service fee. These ISP networks include a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network, an MIP (Mobile Internet Protocol) network, or the Internet network interlocked with a GSP (General Packet Radio Service) network.

4 is a diagram illustrating a traffic charging processing method in an AAA system including an authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server, an authentication server, and a charging server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The authentication server allocates an information confirmation session for the user's network connection, and activates the user session for the user's network connection by setting a user session according to the information of the assigned user (S401).

That is, the authentication server compares the authentication data provided by the user with the data stored in the authentication server, permits access to the network if matching, and does not allow network access if matching fails. Data stored in the authentication server can be stored, for example, in an IP address, an identification module, information on an application protocol, or information that can be matched with the IP address. In addition, the authentication server determines whether to provide a specific authority and service to the user who has succeeded in authentication, or to provide it according to predetermined data. The authentication procedure and the authorization decision step for the user may be performed separately in order, but may be performed together in a general AAA operation environment.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a user session is established in a connection between a module for performing a packet control function (PCF) and a packet data serving node (PDSN) module in an EVDO data service Can be activated.

In the present invention, a user session may use session identification as a key value unique to billing information, and in a system configured by a server performing a plurality of different functions, ID < / RTI > Preferably, a specific number of unique IDs may be assigned for the session ID, and the individual session ID may be assigned such that one user session has a unique value. For example, when 256 session IDs are allocated, a maximum of 256 user sessions can be used.

Based on the activated user session in the authentication server, the charging server set for data charging subdivision is confirmed, and the user's charging server connection is activated (S402).

The billing server confirms the billing information in which the user's authentication information and the billing method are stored according to the user's session and notifies the authentication server of the confirmation result, and the authentication server accesses the billing server confirmed through the Radius protocol. At this time, the session activation procedure between the authentication server and the billing server can be performed. The session activation procedure may be performed through transmission of basic information including session information, and session activation information including peer server information for routing of the charging message, and auxiliary information including a charging record. During the session activation process according to the network connection, the authentication server can confirm the user's information by referring to the authentication information of the user and the billing method information.

The authentication server determines a charging method and a billing message sending / receiving period of the user according to the activated user session, receives a charging request based on the user's data traffic usage every predetermined period, and transmits charging information to the AAA server through the charging server (S403).

A billing server configured for billing subdivision may set a single server to a plurality of logical servers or a plurality of servers. The billing server is not functionally independent of the authentication and authorization functions but is intended to record authentication and authorized users and sessions used by authorized users. Therefore, the billing server always interacts with the authentication server and collects information about the user's resource use and stores it. This information is important data used for data such as usage charges, accounting and capacity expansion.

The charging server network management module and the like can be provided in the authentication server to manage the charging server network. The billing server network management module real-time manages the statuses of a plurality of billing servers in the billing server network through Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). In other words, the charging server may be in the state of a server failure or the reboot of the server may be in a state of a network failure or the like, and this information is monitored in real time by the charging server network management module via SNMP. That is, the billing server network management module monitors a plurality of billing servers in real time, checks the status information of the billing server to which the billing data is to be transmitted by the authentication server, and checks the status of the billing server . Then, the authentication server connects to the accounting server identified through the protocol, and transmits the session information to the connected accounting server as basic information for charging processing.

The billing information includes a start packet indicating start of billing at the start of service use of the terminal and an interim packet including a billing record for usage details periodically while the service usage is continued, At the end of use, an end packet including a total billing record is generated. Hereinafter, the charging information means either the start packet, the intermediate packet or the end packet, and the charging information generation means generation of either the start packet, the intermediate packet or the end packet. The start packet, the intermediate packet, and the end packet are distinguished as different session IDs.

The AAA server receives the charging information, calculates the accumulated charging information, and compares the calculated accumulated charging information with a preset MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition to perform charging information processing (S404).

According to the service provided by the user, the client generates new charging data, generates an ACR (Account Request) message according to the protocol, and transmits it to the authentication server. The authentication server transmits the received ACR message to the charging server, The billing server stores the received ACR message in the billing database, sends the response message to the authentication server, and the authentication server transmits the ACA to the client again.

According to the present invention, when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is not satisfied, the calculated accumulated charging information is stored in the AAA server, and when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied, And transmits the calculated accumulated billing information to the server. The calculated accumulated charging information may be stored in various forms such as an accumulated value for a data packet size used, or an accumulated usage time of data. The MD transmission conditions may be set to a combination of the user's data packet usage, the user's initial reception charging message time and the accumulated data packet usage time based on the last time the charging information was received or a combination thereof.

In addition, the step of performing the charging information processing may search the accumulated charging information stored in the AAA server and terminate the user session if the charging request is not received within the predetermined period. That is, when the AAA server fails to receive the charging request within a predetermined period, it can determine that the communication state is a failure state or that there is no additional user data usage. That is, since the session ID is limited for each port, if the response of the user is delayed or the network status is not good, it is to prevent transmission error, delay, etc. of the charging information due to lack of the session ID. In the present invention, it is preferable to set the predetermined period in consideration of data traffic and the number of message transmission, and will be described in detail later.

If the user session is inactivated due to termination or the like, the authentication server transmits an accounting termination request to the charging server and the AAA server (S405). The billing server receives the session completion request through the Radius protocol of the authentication server, terminates the session, transmits the session end message to the authentication server, and terminates the session with the authentication server. In this case, the AAA server deletes the charging information stored in the memory and returns the session ID of the deleted charging information.

5 to 7 are data flow charts of charging information processing of an AAA system according to an MD transmission condition according to an embodiment of the present invention. The MD transmission conditions can be set by combining the data packet usage, the user's initial reception billing message time information, or the like, as described above. Hereinafter, the same contents as the above-described contents are substituted for the AAA system.

According to Fig. 5, the user terminal activates a user session using an authentication server. When the user session is activated, the authentication server activates a connection with the charging server, and the authentication server transmits the charging request received from the user terminal to the charging server. The charging server sets the charging method and the charging period based on the user session, and transmits the charging information to the AAA server.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the billing information includes a data packet usage amount of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is such that the data packet usage amount of the user included in the billing information exceeds the preset data packet usage amount . That is, the AAA server checks whether the cumulative data usage of the user exceeds the preset packet usage amount. If the cumulative data usage exceeds the preset packet usage amount, the AAA server transmits cumulative billing information based on the cumulative data usage amount to the MD server send. If the accumulated data usage does not exceed the preset packet usage, the AAA server does not transmit the accumulated charging information to the MD server and stores the accumulated charging information. Therefore, the system load can be reduced by reducing the amount of data traffic generated between the AAA server and the MD server.

When the user session between the user terminal and the authentication server is inactivated (for example, when the A10 connection is terminated), an accounting termination request is sent to each server of the system to calculate accurate accounting information according to the data usage amount of the user .

According to FIG. 6, the billing information includes information on the user's initial reception billing message time, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition includes a time of the first billing message of the user included in the billing information, And when the cumulative use time of the data packet based on the last time exceeds the preset use time of the data packet. That is, the AAA server checks whether or not the accumulated usage time of the user exceeds the preset packet usage time. If the accumulated data usage exceeds the preset packet usage time, the AAA server accumulates And transmits billing information. If the cumulative packet usage data usage time does not exceed the preset packet usage time, the AAA server does not transmit the accumulated billing information to the MD server and stores it.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, the billing information includes information on a usage amount of the user's data packet and a time of the first reception charging message of the user, and the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is included in the billing information Or the accumulated data packet usage time based on the last time the billing message is received and the last time the billing information is received is included in the billing information, And when the data packet usage time exceeds a predetermined data packet usage time, it can be realized.

In addition, if the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied, the AAA server can further transmit a billing suspension request to the MD (Mediation Device) server. That is, even if the session of the user is not inactivated or terminated, if the usage of the predetermined data packet is exceeded, the billing stop request is transmitted, and the use of the user's data is stopped to prevent the user from using the indiscreet data.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific operation of the AAA server when the charging request message is not received within a predetermined period according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the charging request message check period of the AAA server may be set to a one-hour period, and the Sweep-UDR may be implemented to operate at a set period. That is, the AAA server receives the charging request message using the RADIUS protocol from the charging server, and when AAA does not satisfy the MD transmission conditions of FIGS. 5 to 7, accumulation Data can be stored. The AAA server operates the Sweep-UDR according to the set period (for example, one hour) to search for the accumulated UDR stored, and confirms the UDR that has not been received for a long time. In addition, when the Sweep-UDR operates to terminate the user session, the AAA server can transmit the unreceived charging information of the user to the MD server. For example, the Sweep-UDR of the AAA server can be implemented to transmit a Dummy RADIUS Accounting-Request message to a user corresponding to the UDR having a time of 1 hour or more generated in the DB. Preferably, the Source-IP information of the RADIUS message may be a Dummy ip. That is, according to the present invention, billing misses can be prevented by summarizing billing that has not yet been transmitted for a long time.

The embodiments described above are those in which the elements and features of the present invention are combined in a predetermined form. Each component or feature shall be considered optional unless otherwise expressly stated. Each component or feature may be implemented in a form that is not combined with other components or features. It is also possible to construct embodiments of the present invention by combining some of the elements and / or features. The order of the operations described in the embodiments of the present invention may be changed. Some configurations or features of certain embodiments may be included in other embodiments, or may be replaced with corresponding configurations or features of other embodiments. It is clear that the claims that are not expressly cited in the claims may be combined to form an embodiment or be included in a new claim by an amendment after the application.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention may be implemented by various means, for example, hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In the case of hardware implementation, an embodiment of the present invention may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs) field programmable gate arrays, processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and the like.

In the case of an implementation by firmware or software, an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in the form of a module, a procedure, a function, or the like which performs the functions or operations described above. The software code can be stored in a memory unit and driven by the processor. The memory unit is located inside or outside the processor, and can exchange data with the processor by various means already known.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the above description should not be construed in a limiting sense in all respects and should be considered illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by rational interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the scope of equivalents of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

The method of reducing data traffic in the AAA system of the present invention can be applied to various systems requiring a billing process.

Claims (15)

A method of processing traffic charges in an AAA system including an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server, an authentication server, and a billing server,
Assigning and setting an information confirmation session for a user's network connection in the authentication server to perform user authentication and activating a user session for network connection of the user;
Determining, at the authentication server, a charging server established for data charging subdivision based on the activated user session, thereby activating the charging server connection of the user;
Receiving, at the billing server, a billing request based on the user's data traffic usage every predetermined period, and transmitting billing information to the AAA server through the billing server;
Receiving the charging information from the AAA server to calculate cumulative charging information, and performing billing information processing by comparing the calculated cumulative charging information with a preset MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition; And
And if the user session is deactivated, transmitting an accounting termination request at the authentication server. The method according to claim 1,
The step of performing the charging information processing includes:
Stores the calculated accumulated charging information in the AAA server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is not satisfied,
And the calculated charging information is transmitted from the AAA server to a Mediation Device (MS) server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied. 3. The method of claim 2,
The billing information includes a usage amount of the data packet of the user,
Wherein the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied when the cumulative data packet usage amount of the user included in the cumulative charging information exceeds a preset data packet usage amount. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the billing information includes information about a time of the first received billing message of the user,
The MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition may be set such that the user's first reception charging message time included in the accumulated charging information and the accumulated data packet usage time based on the final time when the charging information is received exceed the preset data packet usage time , And the traffic rate is satisfied. 3. The method of claim 2,
The billing information includes information on the amount of data packet usage of the user and the time of the first received billing message of the user,
The MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition may be a condition that the cumulative data packet usage amount of the user included in the cumulative charging information exceeds a predetermined data packet usage amount, or the first reception charging message time included in the cumulative charging information And when the cumulative use time of the data packet based on the last time when the billing information is received exceeds a predetermined data packet use time,
Wherein the AAA server further transmits an accounting termination request from the AAA server to a Mediation Device (MS) server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the calculated accumulated charging information stores an accumulated value for a used data packet size. 3. The method of claim 2,
The step of performing the accounting information processing
Searching for the accumulated charging information stored in the AAA server and terminating the user session when the charging request is not received within the predetermined period; And
Further comprising the step of transmitting the user's untransferred billing information to the MD server. 1. An apparatus for processing traffic in an AAA system comprising an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server, an authentication server and a billing server,
Wherein the authentication server allocates and sets an information confirmation session for a user's network connection to perform user authentication, activates a user session for network connection of the user, and for data charging subdivision based on the activated user session Checking the set charging server, activating the charging server connection of the user,
Wherein the charging server receives a charging request based on the user's data traffic usage every predetermined cycle, transmits charging information to the AAA server,
The AAA server calculates the accumulated charging information by receiving the charging information, compares the calculated accumulated charging information with a preset MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition, performs charging information processing,
And transmits an accounting termination request from the authentication server if the user session is deactivated. 9. The method of claim 8,
The AAA server,
Stores the calculated accumulated charging information when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is not satisfied,
And transmits the calculated accumulated charging information to an MD (Mediation Device) server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied. 10. The method of claim 9,
The billing information includes a usage amount of the data packet of the user,
Wherein the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied when the user's data packet usage amount included in the accumulated charging information exceeds a preset data packet usage amount. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the billing information includes information about a time of the first received billing message of the user,
The MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition may be set such that the accumulated data usage time of the user based on the user's initial depth billing message time included in the accumulated charging information and the final time of receiving the charging information exceeds the predetermined data packet usage time , And satisfies the case (4). 10. The method of claim 9,
The billing information includes information on the amount of data packet usage of the user and the time of the first received billing message of the user,
The MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition may be a condition in which the data packet usage amount of the user included in the accumulated charging information exceeds a preset data packet usage amount, or the time of the first deep water charging message included in the accumulated charging information When the cumulative use time of the data packet based on the last time when the billing information is received exceeds a predetermined data packet use time,
Wherein the AAA server further transmits an accounting termination request from the AAA server to a Mediation Device (MS) server when the MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition is satisfied. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the accumulated charge information is stored in a cumulative value of a used data packet size. 10. The method of claim 9,
The AAA server
Further comprising the step of searching for the stored accumulated charging information and terminating the user session when the charging request is not received within the predetermined period and transmitting the untransmitted charging information of the user to the MD server Billing device. Means for, in the authentication server, assigning and setting an information confirmation session for the user's network connection to perform user authentication, and activating a user session for the user's network connection;
Means for, at the authentication server, identifying a charging server established for data charging subdivision based on the activated user session, thereby activating the user's charging server connection;
Means for receiving, at the billing server, a billing request based on use of the user's data traffic every predetermined period, and for transmitting billing information to the AAA server through the billing server;
Means for receiving billing information from the AAA server to calculate cumulative billing information, and performing billing information processing by comparing the calculated billing information with a preset MD (Mediation Device) transmission condition; And
And means for sending an accounting termination request from the authentication server if the user session is deactivated.
A computer-readable recording medium storing a program.

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