KR20140044958A - Charging method, apparatus for contents delivery network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a billing processing method in a content delivery network (CDN), and more particularly, by collecting information on the packet usage from a plurality of cache devices for providing content to a user terminal, The present invention relates to a billing processing method and apparatus for the content delivery system that can more accurately generate billing data of a user terminal using content.
To this end, the billing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention mirrors the packet usage transmitted / received through the session to perform charging for the packet usage transmitted / received through the session connected to the user terminal on the network. A charging data record processing unit for generating a charging data record or collecting the charging data record through the cache controller, and a user data record corresponding to the session from any one network device controlling the session connection on the network. And a billing data generator for integrating the charging data record and the user data record to generate one billing data.

Description

Charging method for content delivery system and apparatus therefor {Charging method, apparatus for Contents Delivery Network}

The present invention relates to a billing processing method in a content delivery network (CDN), and more particularly, by collecting information on the packet usage from a plurality of cache devices for providing content to a user terminal, The present invention relates to a billing processing method and apparatus for the content delivery system that can more accurately generate billing data of a user terminal using content.

Recently, with the improvement of performance of user terminals such as smart phones and the development of mobile communication technology, a user accesses a web server provided by a content provider (CP) through a user terminal anytime and anywhere through a user terminal. Various contents such as, audio, application, etc. can be used.

However, the number of web servers provided by the content provider (CP) is limited, but the number of users who want to access the web server is increasing rapidly, which causes various problems such as data loss, bottlenecks, transmission delays, and instability such as data loss. Has occurred.

In order to solve this problem, a CDN (Contents Delivery Network) service has emerged.

The CDN service is a service for stably delivering various types of content such as photos, movies, music videos, etc. to a user terminal. The CDN service provides various contents, such as images, on a web server of a content provider (CP) that is far from the user terminal. Some or all of the contents, such as video and audio, which are large or frequently requested by the user, are copied and stored in advance in a cache device distributed in a main point of the network, especially near the user terminal, and then a content request message is received from the user terminal. When received, the cache device located closest to the user terminal in response to this, by transmitting the content from the cache device to the user terminal, it is a technology that can improve the content access speed of the user terminal and provide more stable content have.

As the demand to use the CDN service having various advantages has continuously increased, the demand for the billing processing technology capable of efficiently processing the billing process for the user terminal using the CDN service is continuously increased have.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in particular, a billing processing method for a content delivery system that can effectively handle billing according to content delivery in a content delivery system providing a CDN service, apparatus for the same The purpose is to provide.

Another object of the present invention is to more accurately calculate the billing according to the content provided by the user using the CDN service, billing processing for the content delivery system that can perform the billing processing between the user using the CDN service and the user more organically It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus therefor.

Billing processing apparatus for a content delivery system including a plurality of cache devices of the present invention and a cache controller for controlling the plurality of cache devices for achieving the above object is transmitted and received through a session connected to the user terminal on the network Charging data record processing unit for generating a charging data record (CDR) by mirroring the packet usage transmitted and received through the session to charge the packet usage, or collect the charging data record through the cache controller ; A user data record processor configured to collect a user data record (UDR) corresponding to the session from any one network device controlling the session connection on the network; And a charging data generator for integrating the charging data record and the user data record to generate one charging data.

In this case, the user data record includes any one of session start information, connection intermediate information, connection end information, access equipment identification information according to session connection, and session connection time information corresponding to the identification information of the user terminal. It can be configured.

In this case, the charging data record corresponds to the identification information of the user terminal, the access time with the content providing device, the start of download, the end and elapsed time of the packet, the download progress information, the total packet size, the type of service of the packet, the number of download iterations It may be configured to include information of any one of, instantaneous and average transmission rate.

The charging data record processor may further include: a generation module configured to generate charging data records by mirroring information on packet usage transmitted / received through the session; And a collection module for collecting charging data records generated by the cache controller.

The billing data generator may generate billing data in a form supported by a carrier billing device after integrating the charging data record and the user data record based on the identification information of the user terminal.

In the billing processing method for a content delivery system comprising a plurality of cache apparatuses of the present invention and a cache controller for controlling the plurality of cache apparatuses for achieving the above object, the billing processing method comprises: Collecting charging data records on packet usage transmitted / received through a session connected to a user terminal through the cache controller; Collecting, by the accounting apparatus, a user data record of the user terminal corresponding to the session; And generating the charging data by integrating the charging data record and the user data record by the charging processing apparatus.

Wherein before the collecting of the charging data record, the cache controller collects packet usage information on content transmitted from the plurality of cache devices to the user terminal through the session; Generating, by the cache controller, packet usage information collected from a plurality of cache devices into one charging data record; And transmitting the charging data record to the charging processor connected to the cache controller.

In the collecting of the charging data record, when the charging data record is not collected through the cache controller, the charging processing apparatus mirrors the information on the packet usage transmitted / received through the session on the network to charge the charging data. You can also create a record.

In addition, the collecting of the user data record may include: requesting, by the billing apparatus, a user data record of the user terminal from any network device that controls the session connection; And receiving, by the billing apparatus, a user data record of the user terminal from any one of the network devices.

In the generating of the charging data, the charging processing apparatus may generate the charging data record and the user data record in the form of charging data supported by the carrier billing apparatus based on the identification information of the user terminal. have.

According to a billing processing method and apparatus therefor for a content delivery system of the present invention, there is provided a module for detecting a packet usage provided to a user terminal through a cache controller in a conventional billing processing system, thereby making a different design change. If not, the charging process of the user terminal using the CDN service can be easily performed.

In addition, according to the billing processing method and apparatus for the content delivery system of the present invention, there is an excellent effect that the billing processing between the user who uses the CDN service and the user who does not have a more organic.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system for explaining a problem occurring in the billing process in a conventional content delivery system.
2 is a diagram illustrating a system for describing a billing processing method for a content delivery system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the billing apparatus of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a step in which a cache controller collects charging data records from a plurality of cache devices according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a charging data generation step according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention. This is to omit the unnecessary description so as to convey the key of the present invention more clearly without fading. Also, the terms first, second, etc. are used for describing various components and are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, and are not used to define the components.

The same reference numerals are used for portions having similar functions and functions throughout the drawings.

Prior to the description, the user terminal described in the specification of the present invention may be implemented in various forms. For example, mobile terminals such as smart phones, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants, portable multimedia players, and MP3 players, as well as smart TVs and desktop computers. A fixed terminal may be used, and any terminal may be used as a user terminal of the present invention as long as the terminal can request content from the content providing device through a network, and receive and use the content.

In addition, the content providing device described in the specification of the present invention is to provide a variety of content, such as photos, video, audio, applications, etc. to the user terminal, at least one content from a content provider (CP; Content Provider) Received and managed, and can transmit the corresponding content at the request of the user terminal, preferably to provide the content agreed with the communication service provider providing the CDN service.

Hereinafter, prior to describing the billing processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, a problem caused during billing processing in a conventional content delivery system will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system for explaining a problem occurring in the billing process in a conventional content delivery system.

Referring to FIG. 1, in general, the user terminal 100 may request content from the content providing device 200 through the network 300, and receive and use content provided from the content providing device 200.

Here, the user terminal 100 is preferably a user terminal 100 subscribed to a data service of a communication service provided by a specific communication service provider, for example, a CDN service, and the network 300 is also the communication service provider. It is preferable that the network 300 operates, but is not limited thereto.

The billing processing system 400 is a system capable of billing for packet usage transmitted / received through a session connected to a user terminal 100 on a network, and generates a charging data record (CDR) for billing. And a billing processing device 410 for changing the billing data that the carrier billing device 420 can process.

Referring to the charging data generation method in the charging processing system 400 in more detail, in order to use the content provided by the content providing device 200 to the user terminal 100, through a wired or wireless access network 330 nearby When a session connection is normally established to the core network 320 that provides a packet data service, the packet core device 322 that monitors such a series of processes generates a user data record (UDR) according to the session connection. can do.

Here, the user data record is user information related to the session connection. When the user terminal 100 is successfully connected to the core network 320 through the access network 330, the packet core device 322 is connected to the user terminal 100. In accordance with the identification information of the IP address, for example, the connection start information, the connection intermediate information, the connection termination information indicating the start of the session is generated. In addition, user information related to the session connection, such as identification information (e.g., identification information of a mobile switching center, a base station controller, and a base station transmitter), session connection time information, .

Subsequently, when the session is normally connected, the packet core device 322 allocates an appropriate IP to the user terminal 100 and accesses the content providing device 200 via the switching device 323, the gateway 321, or the like. You control a series of processes.

When the user terminal 100 transmits a content request message to the content providing device 200 through the above process, and the content is received from the content providing device 200 through the network 300, the packet core device 322 is connected to the network. The packet usage of the content transmitted through the 300 is monitored, and the information on the packet usage and the user data record are transmitted to the billing processing device 410.

The charging processing device 410 generates a charging data record based on the information on the packet usage received from the packet core device 322, where the packet processing information is received from the packet core device 322. If not, the accounting apparatus 410 may generate a charging data record for charging by mirroring the packet usage transmitted and received directly through the network 300.

Here, the charging data record is a service usage, and the user terminal 100 requests the content to the various services used by the user, for example, the content providing device 200 after the session connection, and receives and uses the content from the content providing device 200. As related information, in response to identification information of the user terminal 100, for example, an IP address, a connection time with the content providing device 200, a download start, end and elapsed time of a data packet, download progress information, total data packet size, and a packet This refers to information related to content delivery such as service type, download repetition frequency, instantaneous time and average transmission speed.

That is, as in ① general traffic flow of FIG. 1, since all traffic passing between the user terminal 100 and the content providing device 200 is transmitted and received through a predetermined path on the network 300, the charging processing apparatus 410 is Collect user data records through any one of a plurality of network devices on the network 300, for example, packet core device 322, and charging by mirroring information on packet usage from the packet core device 322. You can create data records.

Thereafter, the billing processing device 410 integrates the user data record and the charging data record for each session based on identification information of the user terminal 100, for example, an IP address, and processes the billing data required by the carrier billing device 420. To be transmitted to the carrier billing device 420. Here, the billing processing device 410 may process and transmit the unified billing data using various billing protocols such as Radius, Diameter, and GTPP.

Then, the communication company charging apparatus 420 requests charging of the contents used by the user in the form set by the user of the user terminal 100, for example, mail, e-mail, or the like.

As such, during normal content transmission, the charging processing system 400 collects user data records through the packet core device 322 that controls data traffic on the network 300, and generates charging data records based on packet usage. However, in a CDN service based network environment, devices such as the packet core device 322 have a problem in that it is difficult to grasp the exact flow of the content provided to the user terminal 100.

This will be described in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, a contents delivery network (hereinafter referred to as a CDN service) includes a plurality of caches distributed on the user terminal 100, the content providing apparatus 200, and the network 300. And a cache controller 340 for controlling the devices 350a and 350b and the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b.

Here, the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b are preferably located near the edge of the network 300, that is, near the user terminal 100, and replace the content providing device 200 with the user terminal 100. ) To provide content.

To this end, the plurality of cache apparatuses 350a and 350b previously store some or all of the contents serviced from the contents providing apparatus 200 in accordance with a predetermined content distribution policy. Herein, the content distribution policy may be set differently according to the CDN service provider, and the plurality of cache apparatuses 350a and 350b may store content that is likely to be requested by the user terminal 100 in advance, and then store the content from the user terminal 100. When the content request message transmitted to the providing device 200 is detected, a cache device, for example, the first cache device 350a, which caches the content corresponding to the content request message among the plurality of cache devices 350a and 360b, may receive the content. The content is transmitted to the user terminal 100 in place of the providing device 200.

Here, in order to transmit the content to the user terminal 100 on behalf of the content providing apparatus 200, the first cache apparatus 350a that caches the content corresponding to the content request message is first sent to the cache controller 340. It informs that the content corresponding to this content request message is being cached (cache hit information).

Here, the cache hit determination is basically determined based on the URL address of the content providing apparatus 200 included in the content request message, but is not limited thereto. The cache hit determination may also be performed based on the content such as continuous matching of the number of content chunks. have.

The cache controller 340 controls the management of the plurality of cache devices 300 distributed on the network 300 and the contents delivery process by the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b. For example, the first cache device When the cache hit information is received from the 350a, the cache controller 340 blocks the flow of the content transmitted from the content providing apparatus 200 to the user terminal 100, and the first cache apparatus 350a determines the user terminal ( 100, the control command is transmitted to transmit the content.

Here, the cache controller 340 transmits a control command according to the byte caching scheme.

The byte caching method is a method of dividing the content serviced by the content providing device 200 in chunks in advance, and for this purpose, each of the cache devices 350a and 350b is provided by the content providing device 200. Some or all of the serviced content may be stored in chunk units, and when the cache controller 400 transmits the label information of the chunk data to, for example, the first cache device 350a, the received first cache device ( 350a checks the chunk data corresponding to the received label information and transmits the checked chunk data to the user terminal 100.

That is, the first cache apparatus 350a transmits the chunk data of the content to the user terminal 100 in the order indicated by the control of the cache controller 400.

Traffic flow in the CDN service is as follows.

In this case, the packet core device 322 may generate a user data record according to a session connection between the user terminal 100 and the content providing device 200 and transmit the generated user data record to the billing processing device 410. The information becomes impossible to verify.

In other words, the packet core device 322 can only check the label information transmitted from the cache controller 340 to the first cache device 350a, and the actual first cache device 350a is transmitted to the user terminal 100. The exact information about the packet usage cannot be confirmed, and the charging processing device 410 also cannot mirror the packet usage transmitted / received through the packet core device 322, so that charging data records cannot be generated. have.

The present invention is to solve this problem, it will be described with reference to Figure 2 the billing processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Prior to the description, the charging processing device 410 has been described as an example of collecting information on the user data record and the packet usage from the packet core device 322 in the core network 320, but is not limited thereto. The information may be collected through the gateway 321.

The plurality of gateways may be configured to include a serving gateway (SGW), a packet data network gateway (PGW), and the like. For example, in the LTE network, the serving gateway serves as a mobility anchor during eNodeB handover of the user terminal 100. , The role of mobility anchor when moving between 3GPP wireless networks, the packet data network gateway allocates the IP address of the user terminal 100, and other packet data related functions in the core network 220, such as a user Different terminals perform different QoS policies and control traffic and the like.

The user data record generated through the serving gateway among the plurality of gateways may include identification information about the serving gateway, and the user data record generated through the packet data network gateway may include identification information of the packet data network gateway. have.

In addition, the packet core device 322 performs user authentication of the user terminal 100, and a communication channel for connecting the user terminal 100 to a PDN (destination server of a content providing device), for example, a user terminal-eNodeB-SGW -PGW-Mobility Management Entity (MME) that manages the creation, change, release, etc. of communication channels leading to the PDN, and manages whether the user terminal 100 is connected to the core network 320, etc. Preferably, the user data record generated by the MME may include identification information of the MME.

In addition, the billing processing unit 410 mirrors the packet usage transmitted and received through the session connected to the user terminal 100 to segment the service or content included in the traffic to generate a charging data record (IUX) Internet Usage Extractor (IUX) And an Internet Protocol Mediation System (IPMS) for receiving a user data record received from one of the network devices and a charging data record generated through the IUX and generating a partial charging data record which is real time charging information on a predetermined time basis. In the following, an embodiment of the present invention does not distinguish the above configuration, and will be described as an example in which the charging processing apparatus 410 performs the functions of the IUX and the IPMS integrally.

In addition, the charging processing device 410 operates as an online charging system (prepayment system), and may further include an offline charging system (OFCS) for an offline charging system (postpayment system). It will be described by taking an example that the billing processing device 410 is integrally performed.

However, it is not limited to the above, it is obvious that the billing apparatus 410 may be classified into IUX, IPMS, OFCS, etc. according to a system design scheme.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the cache controller 340 transmits the label information to each of the cache devices 350a and 350b according to the byte caching scheme, each of the cache devices 350a and 350b may have the label information. An example of transmitting chunk data of the content corresponding to the user terminal 100 is described as an example, but is not limited thereto. Each cache device 350a or 350b may be configured to transmit content service information, for example, TCP, from the cache controller 340. After receiving only flow information necessary for processing a packet, the content may be transmitted to the user terminal 100.

In addition to the above-described functions, the cache controller 340 selects a specific cache device to provide content to the user terminal 100 in an environment in which predetermined content is stored in the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b. It can also play a role.

More specifically, the user terminal 100 generates a content request message (eg, an HTTP GET message) when a URL information about specific content that the user wants to use is input by a user's request, and generates a local DNS (not shown). After acquiring address information of the content providing apparatus 200, the content request message is transmitted to the content providing apparatus 200. Thereafter, the cache controller 340 connected to the content providing device 200 monitors this, and an optimal cache device, for example, a first cache device (eg, a first cache device) among the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b distributed and distributed on the network 300. 350a), the address information on the selected first cache device 350a is returned to the user terminal 100.

The optimal cache device may be selected based on the cache device of the closest distance to the user terminal 100, and the optimal cache device may be selected in consideration of the current load state of the cache device or the type of content stored in the cache device. Can be selected.

In this case, the IP address transfer may be implemented in various ways, for example, HTTP redirection.

Then, when the address information about the optimal cache device, the first cache device 350a is returned from the cache controller 340, the user terminal 100 transmits a content request message to the first cache device 350a, The first cache device 350a may provide content corresponding to the content request message to the user terminal 100.

In addition, if the cache hit information is not received from the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b near the user terminal 100, after checking other cache devices that are farther from the user terminal 100 but are caching content, The cache device may request that the content be provided to the user terminal 100.

The detailed description of the operation process of the cache controller 340 and the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b will be omitted and will be described below with reference to the charging processing method of the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating a system for describing a billing processing method for a content delivery system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Prior to describing the charging processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. 2, the description of the main configuration of the content delivery network described with reference to FIG. 1 will be omitted and billing according to an embodiment of the present invention. The description will focus on the treatment method.

As described above, when the user terminal 100 is connected with the content providing apparatus 200 through the network 300, the user terminal 100 transmits a content request message to the content providing apparatus 200, and the user. When the content request message is detected, the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b monitoring the packet between the terminal 100 and the content providing device 200 may generate cache hit information and transmit the cache hit information to the cache controller 340. .

For example, the first cache device 350a is caching the content corresponding to the front of the content requested by the user terminal 100, and the second cache device 350b is caching the content corresponding to the back. This will be described as an example.

The cache controller 340 blocks the content transmitted from the content providing device 200 to the user terminal 100 and transmits label information to each of the cache devices 350a and 350b.

Each cache device 350a or 350b may provide content that is cached to the user terminal 100 according to label information received from the cache controller 340.

Then, each of the cache device (350a, 350b) is completed, the content providing to the user terminal 100, the information on the packet usage according to the content transmission to the user terminal 100, identification information of the user terminal 100, That is, the IP address is transmitted to the cache controller 340 together with the IP address.

When the cache controller 340 receives the packet usage information from the cache apparatuses 350a and 350b that have transmitted the content to the user terminal 100, the cache controller 340 stores one charging data record based on the IP address of the user terminal 100. And the integrated charging data record is transmitted to the billing apparatus 410.

The billing processing device 410 is a device for performing a billing processing for the content delivery system, in particular, the billing processing device 410 according to an embodiment of the present invention uses the content of the user and the user who does not use the content through the CDN service. All charges in accordance with

The billing processing unit 410 is physically or logically connected to any one network device on the network 300, for example, the packet core device 322 and the cache controller 340 that provides the CDN service. The device 322 may collect the information on the packet usage for the session connected to the user terminal 100 to generate a charging data record or to collect the charging data record generated from the cache controller 340.

In addition, the charging processing device 410 collects the user data record corresponding to the session from any one network device on the network 300, for example, the packet core device 322, and the charging data record and the user data record into one The billing data is generated in the form of billing data supported by the carrier billing device 420.

To this end, the charging processing device 410 may be implemented by further including a separate module that can collect charging data from the cache controller 340, through which the user using the CDN service and the other users are mixed environment In, it becomes possible to perform charging data generation organically.

In addition, the cache devices 350a and 350b providing the content cached to the user terminal 100 check the packet usage information on the content directly transmitted to the user terminal 100, and then the cache controller 340. By transmitting, there is an advantage that the charging can be performed according to the use of the content of the user terminal 100 more accurately.

More specifically, the charging processing method in the charging processing apparatus 410 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

In the above, the schematic configuration and operation method of the charging processing system for the content delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described.

The network 300 in which the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b of the present invention are distributed and distributed at a main point means a communication network for transmitting and receiving information between the user terminal 100 and the content providing device 200. Instead of a single communication network type, a communication network implemented using various types of wired and wireless communication technologies such as an internet network, an intranet network, a mobile communication network, and a satellite communication network may be mixed. The network 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention is preferably a network in which a mobile network and an internet network are mixed, but any type of network may be applied to the network 300 of the present invention.

For example, the network 300 may be configured to include an external network, for example, an internet network 310, connected to a mobile network including a plurality of wired / wireless access networks 330 and a core network 320.

Here, the wired / wireless access network 330 constituting the mobile network is an access network performing wired / wireless communication with the user terminal 100. For example, a plurality of base stations (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), NodeB, eNodeB, etc. A base station and a base station controller such as a base station controller (BSC) and a radio network controller (RNC) can be implemented.

As another method, a digital signal processor and a wireless signal processor, which are integrally implemented in the base station, are divided into digital units (hereinafter referred to as DUs and radio units (hereinafter referred to as RUs)). Each of the plurality of RUs (not shown) may be installed in the region of the plurality, and the plurality of RUs (not shown) may be configured by connecting with a centralized DU (not shown).

In addition, the core network 320 constituting the mobile network together with the wired / wireless access network 330 serves to connect the wired / wireless access network 330 and an external network, for example, the internet network 310.

As described above, the core network 320 is a network system that performs a main function for mobile communication services such as mobility control and switching between wired and wireless access networks 330, and manages and controls packet flow in a mobile network. In addition, the mobile network may perform a role for interworking with an external network such as the internet network 310.

In addition, the Internet network 310 refers to a general public communication network in which information is exchanged according to the TCP / IP protocol, and is connected to the content providing apparatus 200 to core content provided from the content providing apparatus 200. It may be provided to the user terminal 100 via the network 320 and the wired / wireless access network 330, or may be provided to the plurality of cache devices 350 and 360 according to a predetermined distribution policy.

In addition, the mobile packet transmitted and received on the mobile network may be transmitted through a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) tunnel unlike the Internet network 310. For example, when the user terminal 100 transmits a content request message for requesting content provided by the content providing apparatus 200, source address information of the user terminal 100 (IP address of the user terminal 100). ) And destination address information (IP information of the content providing device 200) to the access network 330, the base station (e.g., eNodeB) of the access network 330 is a GTP header, UDP The header and the IP header for GTP tunneling are converted into additional mobile packets and transferred to the core network 320. In this case, the GTP header may include tunneling identification information (TEID) assigned to the user terminal 100. The core network 320 removes the GTP header, the UDP header, and the IP header for GTP tunneling, and transmits the original IP packet transmitted by the user terminal 100 to the content providing device 200 through the internet network 310. Can be.

As described above, the network 300 of the present invention has been briefly described. The network 300 is coupled with a cache device to store computing resources such as hardware and software, and provides the computing resources required by the client to the corresponding terminals And a cloud computing network that can do that. Here, cloud computing refers to a computer environment in which information is permanently stored on a server on the Internet and temporarily stored in a client terminal such as a desktop, a tablet computer, a notebook, a netbook, or a smart phone. Cloud computing, Refers to a computer environment access network that stores information on a server on the Internet and makes the information available anytime and anywhere through various IT devices. The network 300 may include a closed network such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), an open network such as the Internet, and code division multiple access (CDMA) and wideband code division (WCDMA). The concept includes both networks such as multiple access (GSM), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long term evolution (LTE), and evolved packet core (EPC), as well as next-generation and cloud computing networks.

Hereinafter, the main configuration of the charging processing device 410 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the billing apparatus of the present invention.

2 and 3, the billing apparatus 410 of the present invention may include a charging data record processor 411, a user data record processor 412, and a billing data generator 413.

The charging data record processing unit 411 may generate charging data records by collecting charging data records from the cache controller 340 or by mirroring information on packet usage transmitted / received on the network 300.

To this end, the charging data record processing unit 411 collects charging data records transmitted from the generation module 411a and the cache controller 340 capable of generating charging data records by mirroring packet usage transmitted and received on the network 300. It may be configured to include a collecting module 411b.

Here, the charging data record transmitted from the cache controller 340 may be generated based on the information on the packet usage generated by the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b providing content to the user terminal 100. When the plurality of cache apparatuses 350a and 350b transmit the content requested by the user terminal 100 to the user terminal 100, the information on the data packet usage according to the content transmission corresponds to the IP address information of the user terminal 100. It generates and transmits the generated information about the packet usage to the cache controller 340.

The cache controller 340 integrates the information on the packet usage received from the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b into one charging data record corresponding to the IP address information of the user terminal 100.

Thereafter, the cache controller 340 transmits the data to the charging processing device 410 connected in a physical or logical form, and the charging module 411b of the charging data record processing unit 411 of the charging processing device 410 transmits the charging data. You will be collecting records.

Here, the charging data record is information on the packet usage according to the use of the content of the user terminal 100, for example, the connection time with the content providing apparatus 200 corresponding to the IP address of the user terminal 100, the start of downloading the packet, It may include any one of end and elapsed time, download progress information, total packet size, service type of the packet, the number of download iterations, instantaneous and average transmission rate.

The user data record processing unit 412 collects user data according to a session connection of the user terminal 100, and, for example, connection start information, connection intermediate information, and connection termination for each session corresponding to the IP address of the user terminal 100. The information may include any one of information, access equipment identification information according to session connection, and session connection time information. Such user data records may be collected from the packet core device 322 which controls the flow of data packets within the core network 320.

The charging data generation unit 413 integrates the charging data record and the user data record collected through the charging data record processing unit 411 and the user data record processing unit 412 to generate one charging data.

In this case, the billing data is generated in a form supported by the carrier billing device 420. To this end, the billing data generator 413 extracts only necessary data from the charging data record and the user data record, and extracts only the extracted data. It can also be combined to create a single billing data.

As described above, the charging processing device 410 is information about the packet usage for the content transmitted from the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b to the user terminal 100 through the cache controller 340 in the network to which the CDN service is applied. By collecting, it is possible to generate more accurate billing data.

In addition, by including a collection module that can collect the charging data records generated from the cache controller 340 in the existing billing device 410, users who use the CDN service and users who do not have a design change easily The billing data can be easily generated even in a mixed environment.

Hereinafter, a method for generating billing data according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

Prior to the description, first, a description will be given of how the cache controller 340 collects charging data records from the plurality of cache devices 350a and 350b.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a step in which a cache controller collects charging data records from a plurality of cache devices according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Before describing with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, the plurality of cache apparatuses 350a and 350b monitor packets transmitted and received between the user terminal 100 and the content providing apparatus 200, and the user terminal 100 It is assumed that the cache hit state is caching the content requested by the content providing device 200.

In this case, the cache controller 340 blocks the flow of the content transmitted from the content providing apparatus 200 to the user terminal 100, and transmits the label information to each of the cache apparatuses 350a and 350b according to the content flow do.

Each of the cache devices 350a and 350b transmits chunk data of the corresponding content to the user terminal 100 according to the label information received from the cache controller 340. Information is generated corresponding to the identification information of the user terminal 100, and transmitted to the cache controller 340.

In the content delivery system, the cache controller 340 receives the information on the packet usage generated in response to the identification information of the user terminal 100 from each of the cache devices 350a and 350b (S101). On the basis of the identification information of the terminal 100, the information on the packet usage is integrated to generate one charging data record (S103).

Thereafter, the cache controller 340 transmits the generated charging data record to the charging processing unit 410 of the charging processing system 400 physically or logically connected to the cache controller 340 (S105). 410 generates charging data based on the use of the content of the user terminal 100 based on this.

Hereinafter, the charging data generation method in the charging processing device 410 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a charging data generation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 5, the charging processing apparatus 410 according to an embodiment of the present invention may directly generate charging data records or collect charging data records generated through the cache controller 340.

Here, the charging processing apparatus 410 monitors whether the charging data record is received from the cache controller 340 (S201), and when the charging data record is not received from the cache controller 340, the user terminal 100 receives the CDN. Since the content is not used through the service, the charging data record is generated by mirroring information on the packet usage transmitted / received through the session connected to the user terminal 100 on the network 300 as in the past (S203). ).

When the charging data record is received from the cache controller 340 in step S201, the charging processing device 410 collects the user data record (S205).

Here, the charging data record includes identification information at the generated place. For example, the charging data record generated through the cache controller 340 includes identification information of the cache controller 340, and the charging processing device ( The charging data record generated through 410 may include identification information of the charging processing device 410.

In addition, charging data records may be collected through a plurality of network devices, such as a packet core device 322 or a gateway 32 on the network 300, and in this case, identification information for each generated network device may be stored. have.

As such, when the charging data record is collected, the charging processing device 410 collects the user data record, and checks the identification information, the session information, and the like of the user terminal 100 included in the charging data record to check the user. The user data record for the session of the terminal 100 may be requested to any one network device on the network 300, for example, the packet core device 322, to collect the user data record.

Here, in an embodiment of the present invention, when the charging data record is collected, the charging processing apparatus 410 collects the user data record as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Records may be collected and the process may occur simultaneously.

Thereafter, the charging processing apparatus 410 integrates the charging data record and the user data record based on the identification information of the user terminal 100 (S207), and generates one charging data (S209).

In operation S209, the billing processing device 410 may generate only one piece of data by extracting only a portion of data as necessary when generating billing data, and transmits the generated billing data to the carrier billing device 420. The charging device 420 is to transfer the charging information according to the use of the content in a manner promised to the user of the user terminal 100.

As described above, the present invention further includes a module capable of collecting charging data records through a cache controller in a conventional charging processing system, thereby easily performing charging processing of a user terminal using a CDN service without any design change. The advantage is that you can.

In addition, through this, there is an advantage in that billing processing can be organically performed between a user terminal using a CDN service and a user terminal that does not.

The billing processing method in the content transmission network according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

The billing processing method in the content transmission system according to the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented as a computer-readable code on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination, and includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include an optical recording medium such as a magnetic medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, a compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), and a digital video disk (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like, such as a magneto-optical medium such as a magneto-optical medium and a floppy disk, And hardware devices that are specifically configured to perform the functions described herein.

In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed over network-connected computer systems so that computer readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers of the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications can be made to the invention. And all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the present invention are therefore to be regarded as being within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a billing processing method in a content delivery network (CDN), and more particularly, by collecting information on the packet usage from a plurality of cache devices for providing content to a user terminal, The present invention relates to a billing processing method and apparatus for the content delivery system that can more accurately generate billing data of a user terminal using content.

According to a billing processing method and apparatus therefor for a content delivery system of the present invention, the billing processing system of the related art further includes a module capable of collecting information on packet usage of a plurality of cache devices through a cache controller. Even if the design is not changed, the billing processing of the user terminal using the CDN service can be easily performed, thereby contributing to the spread of the content delivery system technology.

In addition, since the present invention is not only possible to be marketed or operated, but also can be practically and practically carried out, it is industrially applicable.

100: user terminal 200: content providing device 300: network
310 Internet network 320 Core network 321 Gateway
322: Packet core device 323: Switching device 330: Connection network
340: cache controller 350a: first cache device 350b: second cache device
400: billing processing system 410: billing processing device
411: charging data record processing unit 411a: generation module
411b: collection module 412: user data record processing unit
413: billing data generation unit 420: carrier billing device

Claims (10)

A billing processing device for a content delivery system comprising a plurality of cache devices and a cache controller for controlling the plurality of cache devices.
In order to perform charging for packet usage transmitted / received through a session connected to a user terminal on a network, a charging data record (CDR) is generated by mirroring the packet usage transmitted / received through the session or through the cache controller. A charging data record processor for collecting the charging data record;
A user data record processor configured to collect a user data record (UDR) corresponding to the session from any one network device controlling the session connection on the network; And
A charging data generation unit for generating one charging data by integrating the charging data record and the user data record;
Charging processing apparatus comprising a. The method according to claim 1,
The user data record
Billing processing, characterized in that it includes any one of session start information, connection intermediate information, connection end information, connection equipment identification information according to the session connection, session connection time information corresponding to the identification information of the user terminal; Device. The method according to claim 1,
The charging data record
In response to the identification information of the user terminal, among the access time, content download start, end and elapsed time of the packet, download progress information, total packet size, service type of the packet, the number of download iterations, instantaneous and average transmission speed Billing processing apparatus comprising any one information. The method according to claim 1,
The charging data record processing unit
A generation module for generating charging data records by mirroring information on packet usage transmitted and received through the session; And
A collection module for collecting charging data records generated by the cache controller;
Billing processing apparatus, characterized in that configured to include. The method according to claim 1,
The charging data generation unit
And charging data in a form supported by a carrier billing device after integrating the charging data record and the user data record based on the identification information of the user terminal. In the billing processing method for a content delivery system comprising a plurality of cache devices and a cache controller for controlling the plurality of cache devices, The billing processing method is
Collecting, by a charging processing device, a charging data record on packet usage transmitted and received through a session connected to a user terminal through the cache controller;
Collecting, by the accounting apparatus, a user data record of the user terminal corresponding to the session; And
Generating, by the charging processing apparatus, one charging data by integrating the charging data record and the user data record;
And a charging step of charging the battery. The method according to claim 6,
Prior to the step of collecting the charging data record,
Collecting, by the cache controller, packet usage information on content transmitted from the plurality of cache devices to the user terminal through the session;
Generating, by the cache controller, packet usage information collected from a plurality of cache devices into one charging data record; And
Transmitting the charging data record to a charging processor to which the cache controller is connected;
Further comprising the steps of: The method according to claim 6,
In the step of collecting the charging data record,
And when the charging data record is not collected through the cache controller, the charging processing apparatus generates charging data records by mirroring information on the packet usage transmitted and received through the session on the network. The method according to claim 6,
Collecting the user data record
Requesting, by the charging processing device, a user data record of the user terminal from any one network device controlling the session connection; And
Receiving, by the billing apparatus, a user data record of the user terminal from any one of the network devices;
And a charging step of charging the battery. The method according to claim 6,
The step of generating the billing data
And the charging processing apparatus generates the charging data record and the user data record in the form of charging data supported by a carrier billing apparatus based on the identification information of the user terminal.

Images