Method and apparatus for collecting charging information of a data service

Abstract

The present invention discloses a charging method for collecting charging information of data service and an apparatus thereof. The method comprises: receiving service data from a gateway service node; determining a protocol type of the received service data according to an IP port number of the service data; classifying the received service data according to the protocol type of the service data; distributing the classified service data to a plurality of protocol processing modules; at each of the plurality of protocol processing modules, extracting charging information of the classified service data, wherein the charging information comprises the protocol type of the service data; sending the charging information to a charging system for charging by a charging mode; and transmitting the respective classified service data transparently to a packet switched domain network. This invention can accurately collect the charging information of service data of various classes.

1 . A charging method for data service in a wireless network, by a collecting apparatus which comprises a protocol distribution processing module and one or more than one protocol processing module, each of which corresponds to a protocol type, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a protocol distribution processing service data from a gateway service node;   determining, by the protocol distribution processing module, a protocol type of the received service data according to an Internet Protocol (IP) port number of the service data;   classifying the received service data according to the protocol type of the service data;   sending the classified service data to a protocol processing modules of the corresponding protocol type;   receiving, by the protocol processing module of the corresponding protocol type, the classified service data from the protocol distribution processing module;   extracting charging information of the received classified service data, wherein the charging information comprises the protocol type of the service data; and   sending the charging information to a charging system for charging by a charging mode.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said protocol type of the service data comprises at least one of the following: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or Real Time Protocol/Real Time Session Protocol (RTP/RTSP). 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the charging information comprises: time and date for receiving the service data, Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number (MSISDN) of a MS for receiving the service data, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), protocol type adopted by the service data, Internet Protocol (IP) port number of the service data, Access Point Name (APN), Quality of Service (QoS), and transmitted bytes of uplink or downlink service data. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the charging information comprises: time and date when the transmission of the service data starts, MSISDN for receiving and sending the service data, an IMSI, HTTP transport protocol of the service data, a URL, a GGSN IP address, a SGSN IP address, uplink number of bytes transmitted and downlink number of bytes transmitted. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein extracting charging information further comprises: extracting a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the service data to identify a service class;
 wherein the charging system presets different charging modes according to the service classes or the URL of the service data, wherein the charging modes include volume based charging mode and time-duration based charging mode.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein charging at a charging system comprises:
 deciding, according to the charging information, whether the service data captured at the protocol processing module has the same protocol type as a service data which is captured at a service server and has been charged in the charging system, if yes, the charging system does not charge for the service data captured at the protocol processing module; otherwise, performing charging for the service data captured at the protocol processing module according to the charging information.   
     
     
         7 . An apparatus applied in a wireless network for collecting charging information of a service data, the apparatus comprising:
 a protocol distribution processing module, configured to receive service data from a gateway service node, decide a protocol type of the received service data according to an Internet Protocol (IP) port number of the service data, classify service data received by protocol type of service data, send the classified service data to a protocol processing modules of the corresponding protocol type, receive service data from the protocol processing module of the corresponding protocol type, and send service data to the gateway service node; and   the protocol processing module of the corresponding protocol type is configured to receive the classified service data from the protocol distribution processing module, extract charging information of the classified service data, send the charging information to a charging system for charging based on a charging mode, and transmit the service data transparently to a packet switched domain network, wherein the charging information comprises the protocol type of the service data, receive service data from a packet switched domain network, obtain charging information of the service data and send the charging information to a charging system, and transmit the service data transparently to the protocol distribution processing module.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein said apparatus is located between the gateway service node and the packet switched domain network. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the apparatus is integrated into the gateway service node of the wireless network or a Wireless Application Protocol gateway of the wireless network. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the protocol type of the service data comprises at least one of the following: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or Real Time Protocol/Real Time Session Protocol (RTP/RTSP). 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein said protocol processing module comprises at least one of following modules:
 a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) processing module, for receiving HTTP service data from the protocol distribution processing module, obtaining charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the packet switched domain network; receiving HTTP service data from the packet switched domain network, obtaining charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the protocol distribution processing module;   a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) processing module, for receiving WAP service data from the protocol distribution processing module, obtaining charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the packet switched domain network; receiving WAP service data from the packet switched domain network, obtaining charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the protocol distribution processing module;   a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) processing module, for receiving TCP/IP service data from the protocol distribution processing module, obtaining charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the packet switched domain network;   receiving TCP/IP service data from the packet switched domain network, obtaining the charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the protocol distribution processing module; or   a Real Time Protocol/Real Time Session Protocol (RTP/RTSP) processing module, for receiving RTP/RTSP service data from the protocol distribution processing module, obtaining charging information of the service data and sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the packet switched domain network; receiving RTP/RTSP service data from the packet switched domain network and obtaining charging information of the service data, sending the charging information to the charging system, and transparently transmitting the service data to the protocol distribution processing module.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the charging information comprises: time and date for receiving the service data, MSISDN of a Mobile Station (MS) for receiving the service data, an IMSI, protocol type adopted by the service data, IP port number of the service data, Access Point Name (APN), Quality of Service (QoS), and transmitted bytes of uplink or downlink service data. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein when the protocol processing module is an HTTP processing module, said charging information further comprises:
 a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the charging information comprises:
 time and date when the transmission of the service data starts, MSISDN for receiving and sending the service data, an IMSI, HTTP transport protocol of the service data, a URL, a GGSN IP address, a SGSN IP address, uplink number of bytes transmitted and downlink number of bytes transmitted.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the one or more than one protocol processing module is further configured to extract a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the service data to identify a service class; and
 wherein different charging modes are preset according to the service classes or the URL of the service data, wherein the charging modes include volume based charging mode and time-duration based charging mode.