CN109274507B - Charging control method, device and system - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application provide a charging control method, device and system, which can implement carrier-level charging requirements by extending OpenFlow, and can avoid the hysteresis of data packet processing when the charging quota is exhausted. The method includes: after the switch receives the first data packet from the terminal, the switch matches the bearer identification corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identification in the flow table entry; if the matching is successful, the switch according to the charging identification in the flow table entry Find the charging table; the switch performs charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table; The first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table are used for charging control.

Description

Charging control method, device and system

technical field

The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a charging control method, device, and system.

Background technique

Software Defined Network (SDN) is an implementation of network virtualization. Its core technology, OpenFlow, separates the control plane and data plane of network devices, thereby realizing flexible control of network traffic and making network Become smarter as a pipeline.

However, on the one hand, OpenFlow currently supports few types of statistics. For some typical service scenarios in telecom networks, such as charging based on service duration, OpenFlow cannot satisfy them; on the other hand, although OpenFlow currently supports a threshold-based message reporting mechanism, When the charging quota is exhausted, the user plane must first notify the control plane that the user plane statistics have reached the threshold, and then the SDN controller refreshes the relevant table entries after receiving the message to perform packet loss or forward the packet to a specific account. fee server etc. Obviously, there is a certain hysteresis in this mechanism.

Therefore, how to extend OpenFlow to meet carrier-level billing requirements and avoid the lag of data packet processing when the billing quota is exhausted is an urgent problem to be solved at present.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present application provide a charging control method, device, and system, which can implement carrier-level charging requirements by extending OpenFlow, and can avoid the hysteresis of data packet processing when the charging quota is exhausted.

To achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application provide the following technical solutions:

A first aspect provides a charging control method, the method comprising: after a switch receives a first data packet from a terminal, the switch matches a bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with a bearer identifier in a flow table entry ; If the match is successful, the switch looks up a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow entry, and the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistics of the charging quota object value, wherein, when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota threshold is based on the last effective new charging quota When the quota is determined, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; the switch performs charging statistics on the charging quota objects in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics results of the charging quota objects into the In the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table; the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. This embodiment of the present application directly indicates corresponding actions in the charging table. For example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action in the charging table The type is the action type corresponding to the arrears, so it can avoid the processing lag caused by the current OpenFlow only supports the threshold-based message reporting mechanism.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the switch receives a flow entry creation message from the software-defined network SDN controller, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate the flow entry; the switch receives the flow entry according to the flow entry. Entry creation messages generate flow entries. Since the flow entry table creation information is generated by the SDN controller according to the charging identifier and the bearer identifier, the flow entry can point to the charging table corresponding to the charging identifier.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the switch receives a charging table creation message from the SDN controller, where the charging table creation message is used to generate the charging table; the switch creates the charging table message according to the charging table Generate the billing table. Since the charging table creation information is generated by the SDN controller according to the charging information, and the charging information may be charging information in various business scenarios, the charging control method provided by the embodiments of the present application can meet various business scenarios telecom billing needs.

In a possible design, the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table, including: when the first charging quota When the charging quota threshold is less than the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is greater than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the switch sends charging statistical information to the SDN controller, and the charging The statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; the switch receives a charging table update message from the SDN controller, and the charging table update message includes the charging identifier and the second charging quota threshold and the second action type, wherein, when the second charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last valid new charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid charging quota When the newly added charging quota is determined, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; after the switch finds the charging table according to the charging identifier, the switch determines the first charging in the charging table The quota threshold is updated to the second charging quota threshold; and, the switch updates the first action type in the charging table to the second action type; the switch is based on the second charging in the charging table The quota threshold, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object perform charging control. Based on this solution, charging control can be realized.

In a possible design, the switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table, including: when the first charging When the quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota contracted by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, the switch manages the received data packets according to the action type corresponding to the arrears. Based on this solution, charging control can be realized.

In a possible design, the charging quota object includes the service duration; the switch performs charging statistics according to the charging quota object, including: the switch determines whether the idle time is greater than a preset value, and the idle time is received by the switch The interval between the time to the first data packet and the time when the switch receives the second data packet, the second data packet is the previous data packet of the first data packet; if the idle time is greater than the preset value, the The switch determines the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration; if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the switch combines the idle time with the value in the charging table. The sum of the statistical values of the charging quota objects is determined as the charging statistical result of the service duration. Based on this solution, billing statistics can be implemented.

In a second aspect, a charging control method is provided. The method includes: a software-defined network SDN controller receives charging policy information, first charging quota information, and bearer identification from a control plane entity, wherein the first accounting The charging quota information includes the first charging quota and the first action type. When the first charging quota is not the last effective charging quota added, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota is the last When the charging quota is effectively added once, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; if the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller determines the charging policy according to the charging policy. information and the first charging quota information to generate a charging table creation message, and send the charging table creation message to the target switch, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control , the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object; the SDN controller generates a flow entry according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier Create a message, and send the flow entry creation message to the target switch, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein the flow entry includes the bearer identification and the charging identification; the SDN controller stores the corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identification. Based on the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, in the charging control method, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, so that the target switch can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information sent by the SDN controller. The billing table is generated from the table creation information, and billing statistics are performed according to the billing table, so that the telecom billing requirements of various business scenarios can be met; on the other hand, the embodiment of the present application directly indicates corresponding actions in the billing table For example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrears. Supports the processing hysteresis brought by the threshold-based message reporting mechanism. To sum up, the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirements of the carrier level.

In a possible design, after the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity, the method further includes: if the SDN controller determines to store the charging policy information The corresponding charging identification, the SDN controller generates a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identification and the charging identification, and sends the flow entry creation message to the target switch, and the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow table item, the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein the flow entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. Since the flow entry table creation information is generated by the SDN controller according to the charging identifier and the bearer identifier, the flow entry can point to the charging table corresponding to the charging identifier.

In a possible design, the method further includes: the SDN controller receives charging statistical information from the target switch, where the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; the SDN The controller determines the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier, and sends the charging policy information to the control plane entity; the SDN controller receives the charging policy information and the second charging from the control plane entity Quota information, wherein the second charging quota information includes a second charging quota and a second action type, and when the second charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty; When the second charging quota is the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; the SDN controller according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota Determine a second charging quota threshold; the SDN controller determines the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information; the SDN controller sends a charging table update message to the target switch, and the charging table update message includes the charging table update message. fee identifier, the second charging quota threshold and the second action type. Based on this scheme, the charging table can be updated.

In a third aspect, a switch is provided, and the switch has the function of implementing the method described in the first aspect. This function can be implemented by hardware or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a fourth aspect, a switch is provided, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus and a communication interface; the memory is used to store computer execution instructions, the processor and the memory are connected through the bus, and when the switch operates, the processing The computer executes the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory, so that the switch executes the charging control method according to any one of the first aspects above.

In a fifth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, so that when the computer-readable storage medium runs on a computer, the computer can execute the charging control method according to any one of the above-mentioned first aspects. .

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions, which, when run on a computer, enable the computer to execute the charging control method according to any one of the above-mentioned first aspects.

In a seventh aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system includes a processor for searching a charging table according to a charging identifier in a flow table entry. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data of the switch. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

Wherein, for the technical effects brought by any one of the design methods in the third aspect to the seventh aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought by different design methods in the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

In an eighth aspect, an SDN controller is provided, and the SDN controller has the function of implementing the method described in the second aspect above. This function can be implemented by hardware or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a ninth aspect, an SDN controller is provided, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus and a communication interface; the memory is used to store computer execution instructions, the processor and the memory are connected through the bus, and when the SDN controller runs At this time, the processor executes the computer-executable instruction stored in the memory, so that the SDN controller executes the charging control method according to any one of the above-mentioned second aspects.

In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, so that when the computer-readable storage medium runs on a computer, the computer can execute the charging control method according to any one of the above-mentioned second aspects. .

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the charging control method according to any one of the above-mentioned second aspects.

A twelfth aspect provides a chip system, the chip system includes a processor for supporting the SDN controller to implement the functions involved in the above aspects, for example, generating charging according to charging policy information and first charging quota information A table creation message is sent to the target switch. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data of the SDN controller. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices.

Wherein, for the technical effect brought by any one of the design methods in the eighth aspect to the twelfth aspect, reference may be made to the technical effect brought by the different design methods in the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

A thirteenth aspect provides a charging control system, and the service session establishment system includes the switch described in any one of the above aspects and the SDN controller described in any one of the above aspects.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more clearly understood in the description of the following embodiments.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging control system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the application of the charging control system provided by the embodiment of the present application in the 4G network architecture;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the application of the charging control system provided by the embodiment of the present application in the 5G network architecture;

4 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a network device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart 1 of a charging control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

6 is a second schematic flowchart of a charging control method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

7 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging table and a flow table entry provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram 1 of a switch according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a second schematic structural diagram of a switch according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram 1 of an SDN controller provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a second schematic structural diagram of an SDN controller provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Wherein, in the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "/" means or means, for example, A/B can mean A or B; "and/or" in this document is only an association to describe the associated object Relation, it means that there can be three kinds of relations, for example, A and/or B can mean that A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. Also, in the description of the present application, unless stated otherwise, "plurality" means two or more than two. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first", "second" and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first", "second" and the like are not necessarily different. For example, the first action type and the second action type in this embodiment of the present application may be the same action type, or may be different action types, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are for the purpose of illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. The evolution of the architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

As shown in FIG. 1 , in the charging control system 10 provided by the embodiment of the present application, the charging control system 10 includes a control plane entity 101 , an SDN controller 102 and one or more switches 103 .

The SDN controller 102 is configured to receive the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity 101, where the first charging quota information includes the first charging quota and the first action type , when the first charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota is the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is corresponding to arrears action type.

The SDN controller 102 is further configured to generate a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information if it is determined that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, and send the charging table to the target switch 103 Create message, the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, wherein the charging table includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a charging table. Statistical value of the fee quota object.

The SDN controller 102 is further configured to generate a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identification and the charging identification, and send a flow entry creation message to the target switch 103, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, the flow entry The entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein the flow table entry includes the bearer identification and the charging identification.

The SDN controller 102 is further configured to store the corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier.

The target switch 103 is configured to receive a flow entry creation message from the SDN controller 102, and generate a flow entry according to the flow entry creation message.

The target switch 103 is further configured to receive a charging table creation message from the SDN controller 102, and generate a charging table according to the charging table creation message.

The target switch 103 is further configured to, after receiving the first data packet from the terminal, match the bearer identification corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identification in the flow table entry, and if the matching is successful, according to the calculation in the flow table entry. The corresponding charging table is searched by the charging identifier, and then charging statistics are performed on the charging quota objects in the charging table, and the charging statistics results of the charging quota objects are written into the statistics of the charging quota objects in the charging table. value.

The target switch 103 is further configured to perform charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

The destination switch in this embodiment of the present application may be any switch in the charging control system 10 shown in FIG. 1 , which is determined by the SDN controller 102 according to the switch identifier sent by the control plane gateway 101 , and is unified here. Description, which will not be repeated below.

Optionally, the switch in this embodiment of the present application may be an OpenFlow switch, which will be uniformly described here, and will not be repeated below.

Optionally, the control plane entity 101 and the SDN controller 102 in FIG. 1 may communicate directly or communicate through forwarding by other network devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the switch 103 and the SDN controller 102 in FIG. 1 may communicate directly, or may communicate through forwarding by other network devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Based on the charging control system provided by the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, in the charging control system, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, and the target switch can generate charging table creation information according to the charging table sent by the SDN controller. Create information to generate a billing table, and perform billing statistics according to the billing table, so it can meet the telecom billing requirements of various business scenarios; on the other hand, the embodiment of the present application directly indicates corresponding actions in the billing table, For example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrears, so it can be avoided that the current OpenFlow only supports The processing lag caused by the threshold-based message reporting mechanism. To sum up, the charging control system provided by the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirements of the carrier level.

Specifically, the above charging control system 10 can be applied to the current fourth generation (English: 4rd-Generation, abbreviation: 4G) network, and can also be applied to the future fifth generation (English: 5rd-Generation, abbreviation: 5G) network The network and other future networks are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein, if the above charging control system 10 is applied to the current 4G network, as shown in FIG. 2 , the network element or entity corresponding to the control plane entity 101 may be a gateway control plane function (Gateway Control plane function, GW-C) entity; the network element or entity corresponding to the SDN controller 102 may be an SDN controller; the switch 103 may be used to implement the function of the gateway user plane function (Gateway User plane function, GW-U) entity. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the 4G network may also include terminals, base stations, mobility management entities (MME), policy and charging rules function (PCRF), online charging system (Online Charging System, OCS) and Offline Charging System (Offline Charging System, OFCS) and so on.

Wherein, if the above charging control system 10 is applied to a 5G network, as shown in FIG. 3 , the network element or entity corresponding to the control plane entity 101 may be a session management function (SMF) entity; the SDN controller 102 The corresponding network element or entity may be an SDN controller; the switch 103 may be used to implement the function of a user plane function (userplane function, UPF) entity. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3 , the 5G network may further include a terminal, an access device, an access and mobility management function (AMF) entity, a policy control function (PCF) entity, an OCS and OFCS et al.

It should be noted that the access device, the AMF entity, the SMF entity, the PCF entity, the OCS, and the OFCS in FIG. 3 are only a name, and the name does not limit the device itself. In the 5G network and other future networks, the access device, the AMF entity, the SMF entity, the PCF entity, the OCS, and the OFCS may also have other names, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

For the specific functions of each network element in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , reference may be made to the following method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the terminal (terminal) involved in the embodiments of the present application may include various handheld devices with wireless communication functions, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem; Including subscriber unit (subscriber unit), cellular phone (cellular phone), smart phone (smart phone), wireless data card, personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA) computer, tablet computer, wireless modem (modem), handheld devices (handheld), laptop computer (laptopcomputer), cordless phone (cordless phone) or wireless local loop (wireless local loop, WLL) station, machine type communication (machine type communication, MTC) terminal, user equipment (user equipment, UE), mobile station (mobile station, MS), terminal device (terminal device) and so on. For convenience of description, in this application, the devices mentioned above are collectively referred to as terminals.

Optionally, the access device involved in this embodiment of the present application refers to a device that accesses the core network, and may be, for example, a base station, a broadband network gateway (BNG), an aggregation switch, or a non-3GPP access device. equipment, etc. The base station may include various forms of base stations, such as: a macro base station, a micro base station (also called a small station), a relay station, an access point, and the like.

Optionally, the SDN controller 102 and the switch 103 in FIG. 1 may be implemented by one entity device, or may be implemented jointly by multiple entity devices, and may also be a logical function module in one entity device, the embodiment of the present application. This is not specifically limited.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , both the SDN controller 102 and the switch 103 in FIG. 1 can be implemented by the network device in FIG. 4 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device 400 includes at least one processor 401 , a communication bus 402 , a memory 403 and at least one communication interface 404 .

The processor 401 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more processors for controlling the execution of the programs of the present application. integrated circuit.

Communication bus 402 may include a path to communicate information between the above-described components.

The communication interface 404, using any transceiver-like device, is used to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, radio access networks (RAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), and the like.

Memory 403 may be read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM) or other type of static storage device that can store information and instructions It can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage ( including compact discs, laser discs, compact discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or capable of carrying or storing desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and capable of being stored by a computer any other medium taken, but not limited to this. The memory can exist independently and be connected to the processor through a bus. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

Wherein, the memory 403 is used for storing the application code for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 401 . The processor 401 is configured to execute the application program code stored in the memory 403, thereby implementing the charging control method provided by the following embodiments of the present application.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 401 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 4 .

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the network device 400 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 401 and the processor 408 in FIG. 4 . Each of these processors can be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (eg, computer program instructions).

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the network device 400 may further include an output device 405 and an input device 406 . The output device 405 is in communication with the processor 401 and can display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 405 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector (projector) Wait. Input device 406 is in communication with processor 401 and can accept user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 406 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, a sensor device, or the like.

The above-mentioned network device 400 may be a general network device or a dedicated network device. In a specific implementation, the network device 400 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure in FIG. 4 . . This embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the network device 400 .

The charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 .

First, with reference to the charging control system 10 shown in FIG. 1 , a schematic flowchart of the service control method provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Interaction, including the following steps:

S501. The control plane entity sends the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity .

Wherein, the first charging quota information includes a first charging quota and a first action type. When the first charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; It is the last time when the billing quota is effectively added, and the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears.

S502. If the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information.

The charging table creation message in this embodiment of the present application includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, and a first action type. The first charging quota threshold is determined according to the first charging quota in the first charging quota information.

S503. The SDN controller sends a charging table creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the charging table creation message from the SDN controller. The charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, wherein the charging table includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a charging quota object statistic value.

S504. The SDN controller generates a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier.

S505. The SDN controller sends a flow entry creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the flow entry creation message from the SDN controller. The flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up a charging table, wherein the flow entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier.

S506. The SDN controller stores the corresponding relationship between the charging identifier and the charging policy information.

S507. The target switch generates a flow entry according to the flow entry creation message.

S508. The target switch generates a charging table according to the charging table creation message.

So far, the creation of the charging table and the flow table entry is completed, and the target switch can perform charging control according to the flow table entry and the charging table, as follows:

S509. After receiving the first data packet from the terminal, the target switch matches the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow entry.

S510. If the match is successful, the target switch searches for the corresponding charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow table entry.

S511. The target switch performs charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

S512: The target switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

The related implementation of steps S501-S512 will be described in detail in the following embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

Based on the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, in the charging control method, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, and the target switch can generate charging table creation information according to the charging table sent by the SDN controller. Create information to generate a billing table, and perform billing statistics according to the billing table, so it can meet the telecom billing requirements of various business scenarios; on the other hand, the embodiment of the present application directly indicates corresponding actions in the billing table, For example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrears, so it can be avoided that the current OpenFlow only supports The processing lag caused by the threshold-based message reporting mechanism. To sum up, the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirements of the carrier level.

The actions of the SDN controller in the above steps S501-S512 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in FIG. 4 calling the application code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The actions of the target switch in the above steps S501-S512 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in FIG. 4 calling the application code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Next, taking the charging control system 10 shown in FIG. 1 applied to the 4G network shown in FIG. 2 as an example, the charging control method shown in FIG. 5 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6 , a schematic flowchart of a charging control method provided in an embodiment of the present application involves the interaction between the GW-C entity, the SDN controller, the target switch, the PCRF, and the OCS, including the following steps:

S601. During the bearer establishment process, the PCRF sends charging policy information to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives the charging policy information from the PCRF entity.

Optionally, the charging policy information in this embodiment of the present application includes an internet protocol (IP) address for interconnection between networks of terminals, online charging information or offline charging information, a charging group identifier, and a charging quota. objects, etc., which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the charging quota object in this embodiment of the present application includes traffic or service duration, that is, charging based on traffic or charging based on service duration, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S602. During the bearer establishment process, the OCS sends the charging quota information 1 to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives the charging quota information 1 from the OCS.

Optionally, the charging quota information 1 in the embodiment of the present application includes charging quota.

Optionally, the charging quota information 1 in this embodiment of the present application may further include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, for example, when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 1 may further include the charging quota The exhaustion flag is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S603, the GW-C entity sends the charging policy information, the charging quota information 2, the bearer identifier and the identifier of the target switch to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the charging policy information and charging quota from the GW-C entity Information 2. The bearer identification and the identification of the target switch.

The charging quota information 2 in the embodiment of the present application includes the charging quota in the charging quota information 1 .

Optionally, if the charging quota information 1 in step S602 further includes information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 2 in this embodiment of the present application also includes information related to whether the charging quota is exhausted. The information corresponding to the action type. For example, if the charging quota information 1 may further include a charging quota exhaustion identifier, correspondingly, the charging quota information 2 further includes an action type corresponding to the arrears. The action type corresponding to the arrears may be, for example, packet loss or rerouting to the arrears server, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. Or, for example, if the charging quota information 1 further includes information indicating that the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 2 also includes an empty action type, that is, the operation corresponding to the arrears is not performed.

Of course, when the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 1 may not include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, but only when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 1 includes the indication For the information about the exhaustion of the charging quota, the charging quota information 2 includes the action type corresponding to the arrears, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, the GW-C entity may select a target switch according to the function set required for the bearer and the load condition of the switch, and then the GW-C entity may store the charging policy information and charging quota information. 2. The bearer identifier and the identifier of the target switch are sent to the SDN controller, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. The interface between the GW-C entity and the SDN controller adopts a Restful application programming interface (Application Programming Interface, API).

S604. If the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the charging quota information 3. The charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, wherein the charging table includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold, a first action type, and a charging quota object statistic value.

The charging quota information 3 in this embodiment of the present application includes a first charging quota threshold and a first action type. The first charging quota threshold is the charging quota in the charging quota information 2 .

The charging table creation message includes a charging identifier, a first charging quota threshold and a first action type. The charging identifier is generated according to the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information, for example, it may be generated based on the charging group identifier; the first charging quota threshold and the first action type are based on the charging quota information 3 Generated.

Wherein, the first charging quota in the embodiment of the present application corresponds to the first action type, and when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; When the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears.

S605. The SDN controller sends a charging table creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the charging table creation message from the SDN controller.

Optionally, if the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is stored, steps S604 and S605 may not be performed.

S606. The SDN controller generates a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier.

S607. The SDN controller sends a flow entry creation message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the flow entry creation message from the SDN controller. The flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up a charging table, wherein the flow entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier.

Since the flow table entry includes the charging identifier, the charging table can be found according to the flow table entry. As shown in FIG. 7 , it is a schematic structural diagram of a possible structure of the flow table entry and the charging table provided by the embodiment of the present application. The flow entry includes a matching field field, a priority field, a statistical value field, an instruction field, and the like. In the embodiment of the present application, the charging identifier is written in the instruction field of the flow entry, that is, the flow entry points to the charging table corresponding to the charging identifier. The charging table includes a charging identification field, a charging quota threshold field, an action type field and a statistical value field. The action type in this embodiment of the present application may include an action type corresponding to empty or arrears, and the action type corresponding to arrears may be, for example, packet loss or rerouting to arrears server, etc., which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application . The statistical value field in the embodiment of the present application includes a statistical value field of a charging quota object, such as a statistical value field of service duration. Of course, the statistic value field of the billing table may also include statistic value fields of other parameters, such as the statistic value field of traffic, the statistic value field of the number of input bytes, the statistic value field of the number of output bytes, etc., for SDN control The controller checks the statistical values of these parameters and performs related operations, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the SDN controller may query the statistical information (stats) and configuration information (desc) of the charging table through an OpenFlow Multipart message. Among them, the OpenFlow Multipart message includes the charging identifier, and the type in the OpenFlow Multipart message header is used to distinguish whether to query the statistical information or the configuration information. For details, see the description of the OpenFlow Multipart message header, which will not be repeated here.

S608: The SDN controller stores the corresponding relationship between the charging identifier and the charging policy information.

In this way, when the charging table is updated subsequently, the charging identifier corresponding to the charging table can be obtained according to the corresponding relationship.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the SDN controller further stores the correspondence between the flow entry, the bearer identifier, and the identifier of the target switch, so that when the subsequent SDN controller receives the bearer modification information, it can identify the corresponding relation by querying the corresponding relation. to the corresponding flow entry and switch.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the SDN controller also stores the corresponding relationship between the charging identifier and the identifier of the target switch, so that when the charging table is updated subsequently, the charging table update information can be sent to the target according to the corresponding relationship. switch.

S609. The target switch generates a flow entry according to the flow entry creation message.

S610. The target switch generates a charging table according to the charging table creation message.

The related structure of the flow table entry and the charging table may refer to FIG. 7 , which will not be repeated here.

So far, the creation of the charging table and the flow table entry is completed, and the target switch can perform charging control according to the flow table entry and the charging table, as follows:

S611. After receiving the first data packet from the terminal, the target switch matches the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identifier in the flow entry.

Specifically, after receiving the first data packet, the target switch can obtain the bearer identifier of the bearer where the first data packet is carried by means of bearer matching, etc., and then can compare the bearer identifier corresponding to the first data packet with the flow entry in the target switch. to match the bearer ID.

S612. If the matching is successful, the target switch searches for the corresponding charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow table entry.

S613: The target switch performs charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Optionally, the charging quota object includes the service duration. Correspondingly, the target switch performs accounting statistics on the charging quota objects in the charging table, which may specifically include: determining whether the idle time is greater than a preset value by the target switch, where the idle time is the difference between the time when the target switch receives the first data packet and the The time interval when the target switch receives the second data packet, the second data packet is the previous data packet of the first data packet; if the idle time is greater than the preset value, the target switch will use the charging quota object in the charging table If the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the target switch determines the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistics of the service duration. result.

Optionally, when the first charging quota threshold is less than the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, the following steps S614-S622 are performed;

When the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, the following step S623 is performed.

S614. When the first charging quota threshold is less than the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is greater than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the target switch sends the charging statistical information to the SDN controller, so that the The SDN controller receives billing statistics from the target switch. The charging statistical information includes a charging identifier and a statistical value of a charging quota object, and the charging statistical information is used to request a second quota threshold and a second action type.

Optionally, the charging statistical information in this embodiment of the present application may be reported to the SDN controller through an ofp_charging_stats message, where the ofp_charging_stats message includes the charging statistical information and the type of the charging statistical information, and the type of the charging statistical information Indicates that the accounting statistics are statistics reported by the target switch.

S615: The SDN controller sends the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information from the SDN controller.

Wherein, after receiving the charging statistical information from the target switch, the SDN controller can obtain the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier according to the pre-stored correspondence between the charging identifier and the charging policy information, and then can determine the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier. After the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information, the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information is sent to the GW-C entity through the Restful API.

Optionally, the SDN controller may also send the statistical value of the charging quota object to the GW-C entity, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S616: The GW-C entity sends the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information to the OCS, so that the OCS receives the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information from the GW-C entity.

Optionally, the GW-C entity may also send the statistical value of the charging quota object to the OCS, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S617: The OCS sends the information corresponding to the charging identifier and the charging quota information 4 in the charging policy information to the GW-C entity, so that the GW-C entity receives the information corresponding to the charging identifier in the charging policy information from the OCS and billing quota information 4.

Optionally, the charging quota information 4 in the embodiment of the present application includes the newly added charging quota.

Optionally, the charging quota information 4 in this embodiment of the present application may further include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, for example, when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 4 may further include the charging quota The exhaustion flag is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S618: The GW-C entity sends the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier and charging quota information 5 to the SDN controller, so that the SDN controller receives the charging policy information from the GW-C entity and the charging Identify the corresponding information and charging quota information 5 .

The charging quota information 5 in the embodiment of the present application includes the newly added charging quota in the charging quota information 4 .

Optionally, if the charging quota information 4 in step S617 further includes information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 5 in this embodiment of the present application also includes information related to whether the charging quota is exhausted. The information corresponding to the action type. For example, if the charging quota information 4 may further include a charging quota exhaustion identifier, correspondingly, the charging quota information 5 also includes an action type corresponding to the arrears. The action type corresponding to the arrears may be, for example, packet loss or rerouting to the arrears server, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. Or, for example, if the charging quota information 4 further includes information indicating that the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 5 also includes an empty action type, that is, the operation corresponding to the arrears is not performed.

Of course, when the charging quota is not exhausted, the charging quota information 4 may not include information indicating whether the charging quota is exhausted, but only when the charging quota is exhausted, the charging quota information 4 includes the indication For the information about the exhaustion of the charging quota, the charging quota information 5 includes the action type corresponding to the arrears, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S619: The SDN controller generates a charging table update message according to the information corresponding to the charging identifier and the charging quota information 6 in the charging policy information.

The charging quota information 6 in this embodiment of the present application includes a second charging quota threshold and a second action type. The second charging quota threshold is determined according to the newly added charging quota in the charging quota information 5, that is:

The second charging quota threshold = the first charging quota threshold + the newly added quota threshold.

Wherein, the second charging quota in the embodiment of the present application corresponds to the second action type, and when the second charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty; When the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears.

In the embodiment of the present application, the SDN controller may determine the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information according to the corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier, and then may generate the charging identifier according to the charging identifier and the charging quota information 6 Table update message.

S620. The SDN controller sends a charging table update message to the target switch, so that the target switch receives the charging table update message from the SDN controller, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold and the first charging table update message. Two action types.

The SDN controller can determine the target switch corresponding to the charging identifier according to the stored correspondence between the charging identifier and the identifier of the target switch, and then can send the charging table update information to the target switch.

S621. After the target switch finds the charging table according to the charging identifier, updates the first charging quota threshold in the charging table to the second charging quota threshold; and updates the first action type in the charging table to second action type;

S622: The target switch performs charging control according to the second charging quota threshold, the second action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Specifically, the specific implementation of charging control performed by the target switch according to the second charging quota threshold, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table may refer to steps S614-S622, which will not be repeated here.

S623. When the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, the target switch manages the received data according to the action type corresponding to the arrears Bag.

For example, if the action type corresponding to the arrears is packet loss, the target switch can discard the received data packets;

Or, if the action type corresponding to the arrears is rerouting to the arrears server, the target switch can reroute the received data packets to the arrears server.

Based on the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application, on the one hand, in the charging control method, the SDN controller can generate charging table creation information according to the charging information, and the target switch can generate charging table creation information according to the charging table sent by the SDN controller. Create information to generate a billing table, and perform billing statistics according to the billing table, so it can meet the telecom billing requirements of various business scenarios; on the other hand, the embodiment of the present application directly indicates corresponding actions in the billing table, For example, when the first charging quota threshold in the charging table is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type in the charging table is the action type corresponding to the arrears, so it can be avoided that the current OpenFlow only supports The processing lag caused by the threshold-based message reporting mechanism. To sum up, the charging control method provided by the embodiment of the present application can meet the charging requirements of the carrier level.

The actions of the SDN controller in the above steps S601-S623 may be performed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in FIG. 4 calling the application code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The actions of the target switch in the above steps S601-S623 may be executed by the processor 401 in the communication device 400 shown in FIG. 4 calling the application code stored in the memory 403, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 , the charging control method shown in FIG. 5 is described by taking the charging control system 10 applied to the 4G network shown in FIG. 2 as an example. Of course, as mentioned above, the charging control system 10 also It can be applied to the 5G network shown in FIG. 3, and the corresponding charging control method can refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, only the GW-C entity in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 needs to be replaced with the SMF in the 5G network Entity, the PCRF entity can be replaced with the PCF entity in the 5G network, and details are not repeated here.

The foregoing mainly introduces the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between various network elements. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above-mentioned functions, the above-mentioned target switch and SDN controller include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that the present application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed by hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

In this embodiment of the present application, the session management functional entity and the control device may be divided into functional modules according to the foregoing method examples. For example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. middle. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware, and can also be implemented in the form of software function modules. It should be noted that, the division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and there may be other division manners in actual implementation.

For example, in the case where each functional module is divided corresponding to each function, FIG. 8 shows a possible schematic structural diagram of the switch 80 involved in the above embodiment. The switch 80 includes: a receiving module 801 , a matching module 802 , a search module 803 , a statistics module 804 and a control module 805 . The receiving module 801 is configured to receive the first data packet from the terminal. The matching module 802 is configured to match the bearer identification corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identification in the flow entry. The search module 803 is configured to search for a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow table entry if the matching module 802 is successfully matched, where the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the charging Statistical value of quota objects, wherein, when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last valid addition of the charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid addition of the charging quota When the fee quota is determined, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears. The statistics module 804 is configured to perform charging statistics on the charging quota objects in the charging table, and write the charging statistics results of the charging quota objects into the statistical values of the charging quota objects in the charging table. The control module 805 is configured to perform charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 8 , the switch 80 provided in this embodiment of the present application further includes: a generating module 806 . The receiving module 801 is further configured to receive a flow entry creation message from the SDN controller, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry. The generating module 806 is configured to generate a flow entry according to the flow entry creation message.

Optionally, the receiving module 801 is configured to receive a charging table creation message from the SDN controller, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table. The generating module 806 is configured to generate a charging table according to the charging table creation message.

Optionally, the control module 805 is specifically configured to: when the first charging quota threshold is less than the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is greater than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, send the data to the SDN controller. Charging statistical information, the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; the charging table update message from the SDN controller is received, and the charging table update message includes the charging identifier and the second charging quota threshold and the second action type, wherein, when the second charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last valid addition of the charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last valid addition of the charging quota When the charging quota is determined, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; after finding the charging table according to the charging identifier, update the first charging quota threshold in the charging table to the second charging quota threshold; and , the first action type in the charging table is updated to the second action type; charging control is performed according to the second charging quota threshold, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table.

Optionally, the control module 805 is specifically configured to: when the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, according to the corresponding amount of arrears. Action types manage received packets.

Optionally, the charging quota object includes the service duration. The statistics module 804 is specifically used to: determine whether the idle time is greater than the preset value, the idle time is the interval between the time when the receiving module 801 receives the first data packet and the time when the receiving module 801 receives the second data packet, and the second data packet is The previous data packet of the first data packet; if the idle time is greater than the preset value, the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table is determined as the charging statistical result of the service duration; if the idle time is not greater than the preset value, The sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table is determined as the charging statistical result of the service duration.

In the case where each functional module is divided in an integrated manner, FIG. 9 shows a possible schematic structural diagram of the switch 90 involved in the above embodiment. The switch 90 includes a processing module 902 and a communication module 901 . Wherein, the communication module 901 can be used to perform the operations that can be performed by the receiving module 801 in FIG. 8; the processing module 902 can be used to perform the matching module 802, the search module 803, the statistics module 804, the control module 805 and the generation module 806 in FIG. 8 For specific operations that can be performed, reference may be made to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 , and details are not described herein again in this embodiment of the present application.

Wherein, all relevant contents of the steps involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the functional descriptions of the corresponding functional modules, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the switch is presented in a form of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, or the switch is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. "Module" herein may refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or others that may provide the above-described functions device. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art can imagine that the switch 80 or the switch 90 may take the form shown in FIG. 4 . For example, the receiving module 801 , the matching module 802 , the searching module 803 , the statistics module 804 , the control module 805 and the generating module 806 in FIG. 8 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in FIG. 4 . Specifically, the receiving module 801 , the matching module 802 , the searching module 803 , the statistics module 804 , the control module 805 and the generating module 806 can be executed by the processor 401 calling the application code stored in the memory 403 . This does not impose any restrictions. Or, for example, the processing module 902 and the communication module 901 in FIG. 9 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in FIG. 4 . Specifically, the processing module 902 and the communication module 901 may be executed by calling the application program code stored in the memory 403 by the processor 401, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Since the switch provided in the embodiment of the present application can be used to execute the above charging control method, the technical effect that can be obtained may refer to the above method embodiment, which is not repeated here.

Or, for example, in the case where each functional module is divided according to each function, FIG. 10 shows a possible schematic structural diagram of the SDN controller 100 involved in the foregoing embodiment. The SDN controller 100 includes: a receiving module 1001 , a determining module 1002 , a generating module 1003 , a sending module 1004 and a storage module 1005 . A receiving module 1001, configured to receive charging policy information, first charging quota information and bearer identification from a control plane entity, wherein the first charging quota information includes a first charging quota and a first action type, when the first charging quota information When the charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota is the last effective charging quota added, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears. The determining module 1002 is configured to determine the charging identifier corresponding to the unstored charging policy information. The generating module 1003 is configured to generate a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information. The sending module 1004 is configured to send a charging table creation message to the target switch, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, the charging table is used for charging control, and the charging table includes a charging identifier and a first charging quota Threshold, first action type, and statistics of billing quota objects. The generating module 1003 is configured to generate a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. The sending module 1004 is configured to send a flow entry creation message to the target switch, the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up a charging table, wherein the flow entry includes a bearer identifier and a charging identifier . The storage module 1005 is used for storing the corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier.

Optionally, the determining module 1002 further determines the charging identifier corresponding to the storage charging policy information after the receiving module 1001 receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity. The generating module 1003 is further configured to generate a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. The sending module 1004 is further configured to send a flow entry creation message to the target switch, the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein the flow entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging logo.

Optionally, the receiving module 1001 is further configured to receive charging statistical information from the target switch, where the charging statistical information includes a charging identifier and a statistical value of a charging quota object. The determining module 1002 is further configured to determine charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier. The sending module 1004 is further configured to send charging policy information to the control plane entity. The receiving module 1001 is further configured to receive the charging policy information and the second charging quota information from the control plane entity, wherein the second charging quota information includes the second charging quota and the second action type. When the quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota is the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears. The determining module 1002 is further configured to determine the second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota. The determining module 1002 is further configured to determine a charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information. The sending module 1004 is further configured to send a charging table update message to the target switch, where the charging table update message includes a charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold and a second action type.

In the case where each functional module is divided in an integrated manner, FIG. 11 shows a possible schematic structural diagram of the SDN controller 110 involved in the above embodiment. The session management functional entity 110 includes: a communication module 1101, a processing module 1102 and storage module 1103. Wherein, the communication module 1101 can be used to perform the operations that can be performed by the receiving module 1001 and the sending module 1004 in FIG. 10 , the processing module 1102 can be used to perform the operations that can be performed by the determining module 1002 and the generating module 1003 in FIG. 10 , the storage The module 1103 may be configured to perform operations that the storage module 1005 in FIG. 10 can perform. For details, reference may be made to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10 , and details are not described herein again in this embodiment of the present application.

Wherein, all relevant contents of the steps involved in the above method embodiments can be cited in the functional descriptions of the corresponding functional modules, which will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, the SDN controller is presented in the form of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function, or the SDN controller is presented in the form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. "Module" herein may refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or others that may provide the above-described functions device. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art can imagine that the SDN controller 100 or the SDN controller 110 may take the form shown in FIG. 4 . For example, the receiving module 1001 , the determining module 1002 , the generating module 1003 , the sending module 1004 and the storage module 1005 in FIG. 10 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in FIG. 4 . The specific receiving module 1001 , determining module 1002 , generating module 1003 , sending module 1004 and storage module 1005 may be executed by the processor 401 calling the application code stored in the memory 403 , which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. Or, for example, the communication module 1101 , the processing module 1102 and the storage module 1103 in FIG. 11 may be implemented by the processor 401 and the memory 403 in FIG. 4 . Specifically, the communication module 1101 , the processing module 1102 and the storage module 1103 may be executed by the processor 401 calling the application code stored in the memory 403 , which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Since the SDN controller provided by the embodiment of the present application can be used to execute the above charging control method, the technical effect obtained by the SDN controller may refer to the above method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, and is configured to support a switch to implement the functions involved in the above aspects, such as searching for a charging table according to a charging identifier in a flow table entry. In one possible design, the system-on-a-chip also includes memory. This memory is used to save the necessary program instructions and data of the switch. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor to support the SDN controller to implement the functions involved in the above aspects, for example, according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information. Generate an accounting table creation message, and send the accounting table creation message to the target switch. In one possible design, the system-on-a-chip also includes memory. The memory is used to save the necessary program instructions and data of the SDN controller. The chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices, which are not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server, or data center The transmission is carried out to another website site, computer, server or data center by wire (eg coaxial cable, optical fiber, Digital Subscriber Line, DSL) or wireless (eg infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices including one or more servers, data centers, etc. that can be integrated with the medium. The usable media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, DVD), or semiconductor media (eg, Solid State Disk (SSD)), and the like.

Although the application is described herein in conjunction with the various embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand and understand from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims in practicing the claimed application. Other variations of the disclosed embodiments are implemented. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that these measures cannot be combined to advantage.

Although the application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, this specification and drawings are merely exemplary illustrations of the application as defined by the appended claims, and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of this application. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims (21)

1. A charging control method, wherein the method comprises: After the switch receives the first data packet from the terminal, the switch matches the bearer identification corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identification in the flow table entry; If the match is successful, the switch looks up a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow entry, and the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the charging quota The statistical value of the object, wherein, when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective charging quota When an effective new charging quota is determined, the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; The switch performs charging statistics on the charging quota object in the charging table, and writes the charging statistics result of the charging quota object into the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table middle; The switch performs charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: The switch receives a flow entry creation message from the software-defined network SDN controller, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate the flow entry; The switch generates the flow entry according to the flow entry creation message. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: The switch receives a charging table creation message from the SDN controller, where the charging table creation message is used to generate the charging table; The switch generates the charging table according to the charging table creation message. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, the switch uses the first charging quota threshold in the charging table, the first action type, and the accounting The statistical value of the fee quota object is used for charging control, including: When the first charging quota threshold is less than the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is greater than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the switch sends a message to the SDN controller. Charging statistical information, the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; The switch receives a charging table update message from the SDN controller, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold and the second action type, wherein when the second charging table update message is When the charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last effective newly added charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective newly added charging quota, the second action type is empty; The second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; After the switch finds the charging table according to the charging identifier, the switch updates the first charging quota threshold in the charging table to the second charging quota threshold; and, The switch updates the first action type in the charging table to the second action type; The switch performs charging control according to the second charging quota threshold, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, the switch performs the method according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type, and the charging quota object in the charging table. Statistical values for billing control, including: When the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, and if the statistical value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold The corresponding action type manages the received packets. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the charging quota object comprises a service duration; The switch performs charging statistics according to the charging quota object, including: The switch determines whether the idle time is greater than a preset value, and the idle time is the interval between the time when the switch receives the first data packet and the time when the switch receives the second data packet. The packet is the previous data packet of the first data packet; If the idle time is greater than the preset value, the switch determines the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration; If the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the switch determines the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration. 7. A charging control method, characterized in that the method comprises: The software-defined network SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity, wherein the first charging quota information includes the first charging quota and the first action type, When the first charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota is the last effective charging quota added, the first action type is empty; An action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; If the SDN controller determines that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored, the SDN controller generates a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information, and Send the charging table creation message to the target switch, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, the charging table is used for charging control, and the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first a charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object; The SDN controller generates a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and sends the flow entry creation message to the target switch, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow table item, the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein the flow entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier; The SDN controller stores the corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein after the SDN controller receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity, the method further comprises: If the SDN controller determines to store the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information, the SDN controller generates a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier, and sends a message to the target switch. The flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein the flow entry includes the bearer identifier and all the billing identifier. 9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the SDN controller, charging statistical information from the target switch, where the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; The SDN controller determines the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier, and sends the charging policy information to the control plane entity; The SDN controller receives the charging policy information and the second charging quota information from the control plane entity, wherein the second charging quota information includes the second charging quota and the second action type, when When the second charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota is the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty. The action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; The SDN controller determines a second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota; determining, by the SDN controller, the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information; The SDN controller sends a charging table update message to the target switch, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold and the second action type. 10. A switch, characterized in that the switch comprises: a receiving module, a matching module, a search module, a statistics module and a control module; the receiving module, configured to receive the first data packet from the terminal; the matching module, configured to match the bearer identification corresponding to the first data packet with the bearer identification in the flow entry; The search module is configured to search for a charging table according to the charging identifier in the flow entry if the matching module is successfully matched, where the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first charging quota threshold, The first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object, wherein, when the first charging quota threshold is not determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; A charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, and the first action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; The statistics module is configured to perform charging statistics on the charging quota objects in the charging table, and write the charging statistics results of the charging quota objects into the charging quota of the charging table in the statistical value of the object; The control module is configured to perform charging control according to the first charging quota threshold, the first action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. 11. The switch according to claim 10, wherein the switch further comprises: a generating module; The receiving module is further configured to receive a flow entry creation message from a software-defined network SDN controller, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate the flow entry; The generating module is configured to generate the flow entry according to the flow entry creation message. 12. The switch according to claim 10, wherein the switch further comprises: a generating module; The receiving module is configured to receive a charging table creation message from the SDN controller, where the charging table creation message is used to generate the charging table; The generating module is configured to generate the charging table according to the charging table creation message. 13. The switch according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the control module is specifically configured to: When the first charging quota threshold is less than the effective charging quota subscribed by the terminal, if the statistical value of the charging quota object is greater than the first charging quota threshold for the first time, the charging statistics are sent to the SDN controller information, the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; Receive a charging table update message from the SDN controller, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, a second charging quota threshold and a second action type, wherein when the second charging quota When the threshold value is not determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota threshold is determined according to the last effective new charging quota, the second action Type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; After finding the charging table according to the charging identifier, update the first charging quota threshold in the charging table to the second charging quota threshold; and update the charging table The first action type in is updated to the second action type; Charging control is performed according to the second charging quota threshold, the second action type and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table. 14. The switch according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the control module is specifically configured to: When the first charging quota threshold is equal to the effective charging quota contracted by the terminal, and if the statistical value of the charging quota object is not less than the first charging quota threshold, the action corresponding to the arrears Type manages received packets. 15. The switch according to any one of claims 10-12, wherein the charging quota object includes a service duration; and the statistics module is specifically used for: Determine whether the idle time is greater than a preset value, the idle time is the interval between the time when the receiving module receives the first data packet and the time when the receiving module receives the second data packet, the second data packet is the last data packet of the first data packet; If the idle time is greater than the preset value, determining the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table as the charging statistical result of the service duration; If the idle time is not greater than the preset value, the sum of the idle time and the statistical value of the charging quota object in the charging table is determined as the charging statistical result of the service duration. 16. A software-defined network SDN controller, characterized in that the SDN controller comprises: a receiving module, a determining module, a generating module, a sending module, and a storage module; The receiving module is configured to receive the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity, wherein the first charging quota information includes the first charging quota and the first action type, When the first charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the first action type is empty; when the first charging quota is the last effective charging quota added, the first action type is empty; An action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; The determining module is configured to determine that the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information is not stored; the generating module, configured to generate a charging table creation message according to the charging policy information and the first charging quota information; The sending module is configured to send the charging table creation message to the target switch, where the charging table creation message is used to generate a charging table, and the charging table is used for charging control, and the charging table includes the charging identifier, the first charging quota threshold, the first action type, and the statistical value of the charging quota object; the generating module, configured to generate a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier; The sending module is configured to send the flow entry creation message to the target switch, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, wherein , the flow entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier; The storage module is configured to store the corresponding relationship between the charging policy information and the charging identifier. 17. The SDN controller of claim 16, wherein: The determining module further determines to store the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information after the receiving module receives the charging policy information, the first charging quota information and the bearer identifier from the control plane entity; The generating module is further configured to generate a flow entry creation message according to the bearer identifier and the charging identifier; The sending module is further configured to send the flow entry creation message to the target switch, where the flow entry creation message is used to generate a flow entry, and the flow entry is used to look up the charging table, Wherein, the flow entry includes the bearer identifier and the charging identifier. 18. The SDN controller according to claim 16 or 17, wherein, The receiving module is further configured to receive charging statistical information from the target switch, where the charging statistical information includes the charging identifier and the statistical value of the charging quota object; The determining module is further configured to determine the charging policy information corresponding to the charging identifier; The sending module is further configured to send the charging policy information to the control plane entity; The receiving module is further configured to receive the charging policy information and second charging quota information from the control plane entity, where the second charging quota information includes a second charging quota and a second action type, when the second charging quota is not the last effective new charging quota, the second action type is empty; when the second charging quota is the last effective new charging quota, the The second action type is the action type corresponding to the arrears; The determining module is further configured to determine a second charging quota threshold according to the first charging quota threshold and the second charging quota; The determining module is further configured to determine the charging identifier corresponding to the charging policy information; The sending module is further configured to send a charging table update message to the target switch, where the charging table update message includes the charging identifier, the second charging quota threshold and the second action type. 19. A switch, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus and a communication interface; The memory is used to store computer-executed instructions, the processor and the memory are connected through the bus, and when the switch operates, the processor executes the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory, so that all the The switch executes the charging control method according to any one of claims 1-6. 20. A software-defined network SDN controller, comprising: a processor, a memory, a bus, and a communication interface; The memory is used to store computer-executed instructions, the processor and the memory are connected through the bus, and when the SDN controller is running, the processor executes the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory to The SDN controller is made to execute the charging control method according to any one of claims 7-9. 21. A charging control system, characterized in that the charging control system comprises the switch according to any one of claims 10-15, and the SDN controller according to any one of claims 16-18 ; Alternatively, the charging control system includes the switch as claimed in claim 19 , and the SDN controller as claimed in claim 20 .

Images