JP4256403B2 - Billing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging apparatus.

In Patent Document 1 below, as a charging method for acquiring content by HTTP communication, an HTTP request and an HTTP response are treated as a single charging unit, and communication charges required for HTTP request and HTTP response communication are totaled. A method of charging is disclosed. Specifically, when an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request transmitted from the communication terminal is received from the content server, the charging information is generated according to the charging rule included in the header information of the HTTP response, and this charging information is used. To charge.
JP 2003-173398 A

  By the way, when acquiring the one content using the internet etc., a some HTTP request and HTTP response may be used. For example, when a communication terminal acquires moving image content from a content server, two types of HTTP communication are used. In one HTTP communication, the communication terminal receives video data or the like from the content server using an HTTP response for data transmitted from the content server in response to an HTTP request for data. In the other HTTP communication, the communication terminal transmits a control signal (for example, a reproduction instruction signal or a pause instruction signal) to the content server using an HTTP request for control. These HTTP communications are continued until browsing of the moving image is completed.

  There is no corresponding HTTP response in the control HTTP request described above. That is, even if a control signal is transmitted from the communication terminal, a response to the control signal is not transmitted from the content server. Therefore, when the charging process is performed according to the charging rule included in the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request as in the charging method of Patent Document 1 described above, the communication fee for the control HTTP request cannot be charged. .

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a charging apparatus that can appropriately charge a request for which a response cannot be expected in order to solve the above-described problem.

  The charging apparatus according to the present invention includes a first receiving unit that receives a plurality of request signals that are transmitted from a communication terminal to a content server and that are assigned a common identification code in order to acquire one content, and a request signal A second receiving means for receiving a response signal corresponding to the content server, and a response signal corresponding to one request signal received by the first receiving means is received by the second receiving means, Storage means for storing the identification code included in one request signal and the charging coefficient included in the response signal corresponding to the one request signal in association with each other, and charging included in the response signal corresponding to the one request signal Using the coefficient, the one request signal and the response signal corresponding to the one request signal A first charging information generating unit that generates charging information to be determined, and a determination unit that determines whether another request signal received by the first receiving unit has a response signal corresponding to the other request signal When the determination unit determines that the response signal is not included, the charging coefficient stored corresponding to the identification code included in the other request signal is extracted from the charging coefficient stored by the storage unit. And a second billing information generating unit for generating billing information related to another request signal using the billing coefficient extracted by the extracting unit.

  According to the present invention, when a response signal corresponding to one request signal is received, the identification code included in the one request signal, and the accounting coefficient included in the response signal corresponding to the one request signal, And charging information on the one request signal and the response signal corresponding to the one request signal can be generated using the charging coefficient, and the other request signal can be stored in the other request signal. When it is determined that there is no response signal corresponding to the request signal, the charging coefficient stored corresponding to the identification code included in the other request signal is extracted from the stored charging coefficient, By using the extracted charging coefficient, charging information related to other request signals can be generated. This makes it possible to charge appropriately even for a request signal that does not have a response signal.

  The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention preferably further includes a billing processing unit that executes billing processing using each billing information generated by the first billing information generating unit and the second billing information generating unit. .

  According to the mobile communication terminal of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately charge a request for which a response cannot be expected.

  Embodiments of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same element and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of a communication system and a functional configuration of a charging apparatus 20 in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system includes a mobile phone 10 (communication terminal), a charging device 20, and a content providing server 30 (content server).

  The mobile phone 10 is a mobile communication terminal that performs wireless communication with a base station (not shown) that covers a wireless area in which the mobile phone is located and receives a call service or a packet communication service. In the communication system in the present embodiment, the mobile phone 10 is described as a specific example of the communication terminal. However, the specific example of the communication terminal is not limited to this, and for example, a simple mobile phone (PHS) or communication It may be a mobile communication terminal such as a portable information terminal (PDA) having a function, or a fixed terminal such as a personal computer having a communication function.

  The billing device 20 is connected to a mobile communication network, and is a device that calculates and manages a fee charged when the mobile phone 10 acquires content from the content providing server 30.

  The content providing server 30 is a well-known server that provides content such as a moving image in response to a request transmitted from the mobile phone 10. The content providing server 30 manages the accounting coefficient.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the charging device 20 functionally includes a packet communication unit 21 (first receiving unit, second receiving unit), a charging coefficient information management unit 22 (storage unit), A billing processing unit 23 (billing processing means). The charging processing unit 23 includes a response presence / absence determination unit 24 (determination unit), a charging coefficient extraction unit 25 (extraction unit), and a charging information generation unit 26 (first charging information generation unit, second charging information generation unit). ) And

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the charging apparatus 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the billing apparatus 20 is physically configured as a computer system including a CPU 201, a memory 202 such as a ROM, a RAM, and a hard disk, and a communication device 203 that is a data transmission / reception device. The function of each component of the charging apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the CPU 101 executing the computer software installed in the memory 202. Note that the cellular phone 10 physically includes a CPU, a memory such as a ROM, a RAM, and an EEPROM, a communication device that is a data transmission / reception device, an input key that is an input device, and a display that is an output device. It is configured as a computer system.

  Hereinafter, each functional element of the charging apparatus 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The packet communication unit 21 transmits and receives TCP packets used for HTTP communication performed between the mobile phone 10 and the content providing server 30. That is, the packet communication unit 21 relays TCP packets exchanged between the mobile phone 10 and the content providing server 30.

  Here, the TCP packet transmitted from the mobile phone 10 to the content providing server 30 includes, for example, an HTTP request (request signal). As this HTTP request, there are an HTTP request for data (one request signal) and an HTTP request for control (other request signal). The data HTTP request is transmitted, for example, when a content acquisition instruction is detected, and the control HTTP request is, for example, a content reproduction instruction, a pause instruction, a fast-forward instruction, a rewind instruction, or the like. This is a request signal transmitted when a control instruction is first detected. Note that the various control instructions described above may be detected a plurality of times, but if detected for the second time or later, a control signal corresponding to the detected control instruction is transmitted as a TCP packet. This control signal is transmitted in the same TCP session as the HTTP request transmitted by the first detection.

  These data and control HTTP requests are provided with an identification code and a response presence / absence identification flag. The identification code is identification information that is commonly given to a plurality of HTTP requests transmitted to the content providing server 30 when the mobile phone 10 acquires / plays back one content. As a result, the same identification code is given to the HTTP request for data and the HTTP request for control transmitted when acquiring / reproducing one content. The response presence / absence identification flag is a flag for storing information indicating whether or not an HTTP response (response signal) corresponding to the HTTP request exists. For example, when an HTTP response corresponding to an HTTP request exists, “0” indicating that a corresponding response exists is stored in this response presence / absence identification flag. On the other hand, when there is no HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, “1” indicating that there is no corresponding response is stored in this response presence / absence identification flag. In the present embodiment, “0” is stored in the response presence / absence identification flag of the HTTP request for data, and “1” is stored in the response presence / absence identification flag of the control HTTP request.

  The data structure of the HTTP request will be specifically described with reference to FIG. The HTTP request for data and control includes, for example, an HTTP header and HTTP data. The identification code and the response presence / absence identification flag are added to the HTTP header. On the IP network, an IP header and a TCP header are added to an HTTP request.

  Here, the identification code and the response presence / absence identification flag are provided by the identification information adding unit of the mobile phone 10. The identification information adding unit stores an identification code and a response presence / absence identification flag in the HTTP header of the data and control HTTP requests transmitted to the content providing server 30 when the same content data is acquired / reproduced. . The identification code is issued by the identification information adding unit that detects the content acquisition instruction when the content acquisition instruction for acquiring the desired content data from the content providing server 30 is output according to the user operation instruction, and is temporarily stored in the memory. Memorized. The response presence / absence identification flag is set to “0” by the identification information adding unit when the HTTP request is for data, and the identification flag is set by the identification information adding unit when the HTTP request is for control. Is set to “1”.

  Further, as a TCP packet transmitted from the content providing server 30 to the mobile phone 10, for example, there is an HTTP response. This HTTP response includes a charging coefficient and content data such as video data provided from the content providing server 30. The charging coefficient is a charging rule indicating a communication charge burden ratio on the mobile phone 10 side and the content providing server 30 side of a communication charge imposed on HTTP communication. For example, when the charging coefficient is “100”, it means that all (100%) of the communication charge imposed on the HTTP communication is imposed on the mobile phone 10 side, and when the charging coefficient is “10”. This means that 10% of the communication charge imposed on HTTP communication is imposed on the mobile phone 10 side. This accounting coefficient is managed by the content providing server 30, and is set for each content URI, for example.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the data structure of the HTTP response will be specifically described. The HTTP response includes, for example, an HTTP header and HTTP data. A charging coefficient is assigned to the HTTP header, and content data is included in the HTTP data. On the IP network, an IP header and a TCP header are added to the HTTP response.

  When the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request for data received by the packet communication unit 21 is received by the packet communication unit 21, the charging coefficient information management unit 22 receives the identification code included in the HTTP request for data The charging coefficient included in the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request for data is associated and stored in the charging coefficient information table.

  Here, the data structure of the accounting coefficient information table will be described with reference to FIG. The accounting coefficient information table has, for example, an identification code and an accounting coefficient as data items. The identification code shown in FIG. 5 stores identification information for uniquely identifying a plurality of HTTP request groups issued when acquiring one content. The charging coefficient stores the proportion of the communication fee borne by the mobile phone 10 out of the communication fee required for HTTP communication between the mobile phone 10 and the content providing server 30. For example, in the charging coefficient information whose identification code is “0001” shown in FIG. 5, “100” is stored in the charging coefficient. This means that all (100%) of the communication charge imposed on HTTP communication is charged on the mobile phone 10 side.

  The response presence / absence determination unit 24 illustrated in FIG. 1 determines whether or not the HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 has an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request. More specifically, the response presence / absence determination unit 24 responds to the HTTP request when the response presence / absence identification flag included in the header information of the HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 is “0”. It is determined that an HTTP response exists. On the other hand, when the response presence / absence identification flag included in the header information of the HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 is “1”, the response presence / absence determination unit 24 includes a corresponding HTTP response. Judge that not.

  When the response presence / absence determination unit 24 determines that there is no HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, the charging coefficient extraction unit 25 illustrated in FIG. 1 adds the identification code included in the HTTP request from the charging coefficient information table. The charging coefficient stored correspondingly is extracted.

  The charging information generation unit 26 illustrated in FIG. 1 generates charging information related to the HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21. More specifically, when the response presence / absence determination unit 24 determines that there is an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, the charging information generation unit 26 uses the charging coefficient included in the HTTP response. Is generated. In addition, when the response presence / absence determination unit 24 determines that there is no HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, the charging information generation unit 26 uses the charging coefficient extracted by the charging coefficient extraction unit 25 to generate the charging information. Generate.

  The billing information is generated as follows. First, the billing information generation unit 26 measures the data amount of the HTTP request and the HTT response. The measurement of the data amount can be realized, for example, by referring to information included in the IP header, TCP header, and HTTP header of the HTTP request and HTTP response. Next, the billing information generation unit 26 generates billing information on the mobile phone 10 side by calculating the data amount on the mobile phone 10 side by multiplying the data amount by the billing coefficient. Further, the billing information generation unit 26 generates billing information on the content providing server 30 side by calculating the data amount on the content providing server 30 side by subtracting the data amount on the mobile phone 10 side from the total data amount.

  The billing processing unit 23 shown in FIG. 1 performs billing processing using one or a plurality of billing information generated by the billing information generating unit 26. That is, the billing processing unit 23 separately counts the data amount on the mobile phone 10 side and the data amount on the content providing server 30 side, and determines the data amount on the mobile phone 10 side and the content providing server 30 side according to the summed data amount. Charge. The unit for collecting the data amount may be an HTTP request and an HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request, or may be a connection ID unit managed between the mobile phone 10 and the charging device 20. When tabulating by connection ID, it is only necessary to assign an identification number that can be uniquely specified in the connection ID. Therefore, management of the identification number can be facilitated and resource resources can be validated. Further, the timing for executing this billing process can be arbitrarily set. For example, it may be executed at a predetermined date and time, or may be executed every time HTTP communication ends.

  Next, the operation of the communication system in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a sequence chart for explaining a flow of a charging process related to an HTTP request for data.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6, the identification information providing unit of the mobile phone 10 performs identification when detecting a content acquisition instruction for acquiring desired content data from the content providing server 30 according to a user operation instruction (step S <b> 1). A code is issued (step S2) and temporarily stored in the memory.

  Next, the identification information adding unit of the mobile phone 10 stores the issued identification code in the HTTP header of the data HTTP request, and then transmits the data HTTP request to the content providing server 30 (step S3). As a result, the packet communication unit 21 of the charging apparatus 20 receives the data HTTP request transmitted from the mobile phone 10.

  Next, the accounting coefficient information management unit 22 of the accounting device 20 reads the identification code from the HTTP header of the data HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 (step S4) and temporarily stores it in the memory.

  Next, the packet communication unit 21 of the billing apparatus 20 transmits a data HTTP request to the content providing server 30 (step S5).

  Next, the response presence / absence determination unit 24 of the charging apparatus 20 determines whether or not the data HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 has an HTTP response corresponding to the data HTTP request (step S6). . Here, “0” is stored in the response presence / absence identification flag of the HTTP header of the data HTTP request. Therefore, in the determination in step S6, the response presence / absence determination unit 24 determines that a corresponding HTTP response exists.

  Next, the content providing server 30 stores the accounting coefficient in the HTTP header of the HTTP response to the HTTP request transmitted from the mobile phone 10, stores the content data in the HTTP data of the HTTP response, and then carries the HTTP response. It transmits to the telephone 10 (step S7). Thereby, the packet communication unit 21 of the charging apparatus 20 receives the HTTP response transmitted from the content providing server 30.

  Next, the accounting coefficient information management unit 22 of the accounting apparatus 20 reads the accounting coefficient from the HTTP header of the HTTP response received by the packet communication unit 21 (step S8) and temporarily stores it in the memory.

  Next, the packet communication unit 21 of the charging apparatus 20 transmits an HTTP response to the mobile phone 10 (step S9). Thereby, the mobile phone 10 acquires content data.

  Next, the charging coefficient information management unit 22 of the charging apparatus 20 sets charging coefficient information in which the identification code read in step S4 described above is associated with the charging coefficient read in step S8 described above. Register in the coefficient information table (step S10).

  Next, the billing information generation unit 26 of the billing device 20 uses the billing coefficient read in step S8 described above to generate billing information related to HTTP communication using the data HTTP request and HTTP response (step S11).

  Next, FIG. 7 is a sequence chart for explaining the flow of the accounting process related to the control HTTP request.

  First, as shown in FIG. 7, when the identification information providing unit of the mobile phone 10 detects a content reproduction instruction instructing reproduction of content in accordance with a user operation instruction (step S21), for example, in step S2 described above. The issued identification code is stored in the HTTP header of the control HTTP request, and the control HTTP request is transmitted to the content providing server 30 (step S22). Thereby, the packet communication unit 21 of the charging device 20 receives the control HTTP request transmitted from the mobile phone 10.

  Next, the accounting coefficient information management unit 22 of the accounting apparatus 20 reads the identification code from the HTTP header of the control HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 (step S23) and temporarily stores it in the memory.

  Next, the packet communication unit 21 of the billing apparatus 20 transmits a control HTTP request to the content providing server 30 (step S24).

  Next, the response presence / absence determination unit 24 of the billing apparatus 20 determines whether or not the control HTTP request received by the packet communication unit 21 has an HTTP response corresponding to the control HTTP request (step S25). . Here, “1” is stored in the response presence / absence identification flag of the HTTP header of the control HTTP request. Therefore, in the determination in step S25, the response presence / absence determination unit 24 determines that there is no corresponding HTTP response.

  Next, the charging coefficient extraction unit 25 of the charging apparatus 20 extracts the charging coefficient stored in correspondence with the identification code included in the HTTP header of the control HTTP request from the charging coefficient information table (step S26).

  Next, the billing information generation unit 26 of the billing device 20 uses the billing coefficient extracted by the billing coefficient extraction unit 25 to generate billing information related to HTTP communication by the control HTTP request (step S27).

  Note that the above-described charging process related to the HTTP request for data and the charging process related to the HTTP request for control are repeatedly performed until the content acquisition / reproduction is completed.

  As described above, according to the communication system of the present embodiment, when an HTTP response corresponding to an HTTP request for data is received, the identification code included in the HTTP request for data and the HTTP for this data The charging coefficient included in the HTTP response corresponding to the request is associated and stored in the charging coefficient information table, and using this charging coefficient, charging information relating to the HTTP request for data and the HTTP response corresponding to the HTTP request for data Can be generated, and when the control HTTP request having no corresponding HTTP response is received, the identification included in the control HTTP request is determined from the charging coefficient stored in the charging coefficient information table. Memorized corresponding to the code Extracting accounting coefficients are, using the extracted billing factor, it is possible to generate charging information on the HTTP request for control. As a result, it is possible to appropriately charge a control HTTP request for which no response exists.

  In addition, although embodiment mentioned above demonstrated the case where this invention was applied to the charge of HTTP communication, it is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to charging for communication in which a plurality of messages such as FTP communication are exchanged.

  In the above-described embodiment, the content providing server manages the charging coefficient, but the charging coefficient is not limited to the content providing server. For example, a gateway device may be provided between the charging device and the content providing server, and the charging coefficient may be managed by this gateway device. As a result, the accounting coefficient managed for each content providing server can be collectively managed by the gateway device.

It is a figure which illustrates the system configuration | structure of the communication system in embodiment, and the function structure of a charging device. It is a block diagram which illustrates the hardware constitutions of the charging device shown in FIG. It is a figure which illustrates the data structure of an HTTP request. It is a figure which illustrates the data structure of an HTTP response. It is a figure which illustrates the data structure of an accounting coefficient information table. It is a sequence chart which illustrates the flow of the accounting process regarding the HTTP request for data. It is a sequence chart which illustrates the flow of the accounting process regarding the HTTP request for control.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Mobile phone, 20 ... Billing device, 21 ... Packet communication unit, 22 ... Billing coefficient information management unit, 23 ... Billing processing unit, 24 ... Response presence / absence judgment unit, 25 ... charging coefficient extraction unit, 26 ... charging information generation unit, 30 ... content providing server.

Claims (2)

First receiving means for receiving a plurality of request signals, which are transmitted from a communication terminal to a content server in order to acquire a single content and to which a common identification code is assigned;
Second receiving means for receiving a response signal corresponding to the request signal from the content server;
When the response signal corresponding to the one request signal received by the first receiving means is received by the second receiving means, the identification code included in the one request signal; and Storage means for storing the accounting coefficient included in the response signal corresponding to the one request signal in association with each other;
A first billing that generates billing information related to the one request signal and the response signal corresponding to the one request signal using a billing coefficient included in the response signal corresponding to the one request signal Information generating means;
Determining means for determining whether the other request signal received by the first receiving means has the response signal corresponding to the other request signal;
When it is determined by the determination means that the response signal is not included, the charge code stored by the storage means is stored corresponding to the identification code included in the other request signal. An extraction means for extracting a charging coefficient;
Second charging information generating means for generating charging information related to the other request signal using the charging coefficient extracted by the extracting means;
A charging device comprising: 2. The accounting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising accounting processing means for executing accounting processing using each accounting information generated by said first accounting information generating means and said second accounting information generating means. .

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