Billing method and device

Abstract

The present application provides a billing method and device, which relate to the field of communication technology and can reduce the management burden of data volume information on access network devices. The method includes: the access network device receives the first service data from the user plane function UPF network element. The first service data is to be transmitted to the terminal device. Afterwards, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to the preset target time period, the first service data, and at least one of the second service data. The second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the service data in the second service data belongs to the first service data. The target indication information is used by the UPF network element to count the fees corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device in the first service data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a charging method and device. Background Art

[0002] The terminal device transmits data with the data network (DN) through the access network (AN) equipment and the user plane function (UPF) network element. The UPF network element belongs to the core network (CN) network element and is used to manage the billing of service data. Taking "service data is implemented as video data" as an example, the amount of video data flowing through the UPF network element is 100KB. Due to the deterioration of the wireless channel condition, the access network device only transmitted 60KB of video data to the terminal device. If the UPF network element is still charged based on the 100KB video data volume, the billing will be inaccurate.

[0003] In the related art, after receiving a data volume report request from a core network device, the access network device sends a data volume report to the core network device. The data volume report indicates the data volume of the service data actually transmitted by the access network device to the terminal device, so as to improve the billing accuracy of the core network device.

[0004] However, the access network device sends the data flow report to the core network device only after receiving the data flow report request. Therefore, the access network device needs to store the data flow information for a long time, which increases the management burden of the access network device on the data flow information and increases the storage resource overhead of the access network device. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a billing method and apparatus, which can reduce the management burden of data volume information on access network devices and reduce the storage resource overhead of access network devices.

[0006] In order to achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0007] In the first aspect, the embodiment of the present application provides a charging method, and the execution subject of the method can be an access network device or a chip used in the access network device. The following description is taken as an example that the execution subject is an access network device. The method includes: the access network device receives the first service data from the user plane function UPF network element. Among them, the first service data is to be transmitted to the terminal device. Afterwards, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to at least one of the preset target time period, the first service data and the second service data. Among them, the second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the service data in the second service data belongs to the first service data. The target time period can be configured for the access network by the SMF network element or the PCF network element. The target indication information is used by the UPF network element to count the fees corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device in the first service data. For example, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the access network device, or the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device, so that the UPF network element counts the fees corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device.

[0008] In this way, when the UPF network element provides the first service data to the terminal device through the access network device, the access network device can send target indication information to the UPF network element so that the UPF network element can count the fees corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device. In addition, the access network device can determine the timing of sending the target indication information based on the preset target time period, the first service data, and at least one of the second service data, and can send the target indication information to the UPF network element without waiting to receive the "data flow report request". In this way, the access network device does not need to store the data volume information for a long time, which reduces the management burden of the access network device on the data volume information and reduces the storage resource overhead of the access network device.

[0009] In one possible design, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period, at least one of the first service data and the second service data, including: if at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets a preset condition, the access network device sends the target indication information to the UPF network element. The preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0010] The first item: the number of data packets corresponding to the first business data is greater than or equal to the first data packet threshold.

[0011] Item 2: The data volume of the first business data is greater than or equal to the first data volume threshold.

[0012] Item 3: The number of data packets corresponding to the second business data is greater than or equal to the second data packet threshold.

[0013] Item 4: The data volume of the second business data is greater than or equal to the second data volume threshold.

[0014] Item 5: The first value is greater than or equal to the third data packet threshold, wherein the first value is a value determined based on the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data and the second service data, respectively.

[0015] Item 6: The second value is greater than or equal to the third data volume threshold, wherein the second value is a value determined based on the data volumes corresponding to the first service data and the second service data, respectively.

[0016] Here, the thresholds in the preset conditions (such as the first data packet threshold, the first data volume threshold, the second data packet threshold, the second data volume threshold, the third data packet threshold, the third data volume threshold) can be configured by the SMF network element or the PCF network element for the access network device.

[0017] That is to say, the access network device does not need to wait to receive the "data flow report request", but sends target indication information to the UPF network element when the preset conditions are met, so as to simplify the access network device's management burden of data volume information and save the access network device's storage resource overhead.

[0018] In one possible design, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data. Alternatively, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data. The third service data is data received by the terminal device.

[0019] In a possible design, the data indicated by the target indication information is data that has not been network-coded. Alternatively, the data indicated by the target indication information is data that has been network-coded.

[0020] In one possible design, the access network device includes a centralized unit CU and a distributed unit DU. The second service data is discarded by the DU. The access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period, the first service data, and at least one of the second service data, including: the DU sends the first indication information to the CU according to the preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data, and the CU sends the target indication information to the UPF network element. Alternatively, the DU sends the first indication information to the CU, and the CU sends the target indication information to the UPF network element according to the preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data. The first indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data, or indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data, and the third service data is the data received by the terminal device. The target indication information is determined based on the first indication information.

[0021] In this way, when the access network equipment includes CU and DU, the timing of sending the target indication information can be controlled by the DU, by the CU, or jointly by the CU and DU to ensure that the UPF network element obtains the "data transmission status between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment" and can also simplify the management burden of the access network equipment on data volume information.

[0022] In a possible design, the billing method of the embodiment of the present application also includes: the DU determines the data volume of the first coded data. The first coded data is the data after network coding. The first coded data belongs to the data discarded by the DU, or belongs to the data received by the terminal device. Afterwards, the DU determines the data volume of the data indicated by the first indication information based on the redundancy rate and the data volume of the first coded data. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0023] In this way, when "the access network equipment includes CU and DU" and "the object of DU is data after network coding", DU can perform the "conversion process" to obtain the data amount of data that has not undergone network coding, and then report it to the UPF network element.

[0024] In a possible design, the billing method of the embodiment of the present application also includes: the CU determines the data volume of the first coded data. The first coded data is the data after network coding. The first coded data belongs to the data discarded by the DU, or belongs to the data received by the terminal device. Afterwards, the CU determines the data volume of the data indicated by the target indication information based on the redundancy rate and the data volume of the first coded data. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0025] In this way, when "the access network equipment includes CU and DU" and "the object targeted by CU is data after network coding", CU can perform the "conversion process" to obtain the data amount of data that has not undergone network coding, and then report it to the UPF network element.

[0026] In a possible design, the charging method of the embodiment of the present application further includes: the access network device sends a redundancy rate to the UPF network element. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding, and the redundancy rate is used by the UPF network element to determine the amount of service data in the data indicated by the target indication information. The data indicated by the target indication information is the data after network coding.

[0027] In this way, when "the data indicated by the target indication information is the amount of data or the number of data packets after network coding", the UPF network elements can perform the "conversion process" to obtain the amount of service data received by the terminal device.

[0028] In one possible design, the charging method of the embodiment of the present application further includes: the access network device receives fourth service data from the UPF network element. The fourth service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device after the first service data, and the video encoding method of the fourth service data is determined based on the target indication information.

[0029] That is to say, the UPF network element can also determine the video encoding method of the subsequently transmitted service data based on the target indication information to improve data transmission efficiency.

[0030] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing method, and the execution subject of the method can be a terminal device or a chip applied to the terminal device. The following description is taken as an example in which the execution subject is a terminal device. The method includes: the terminal device receives third service data from the access network device. Afterwards, the terminal device sends target indication information to the user plane function UPF network element according to a preset target time period and at least one item of the third service data. Among them, the target indication information is used by the UPF network element to determine the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data in the third service data. For example, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device, so that the UPF network element counts the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device.

[0031] In this way, when the UPF network element provides the first service data to the terminal device through the access network device, the terminal device can send target indication information to the UPF network element so that the UPF network element can count the costs corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device. The access network device does not need to send target indication information to the UPF network element, thereby alleviating the access network device's management burden on data volume information and reducing the storage resource overhead of the access network device.

[0032] In one possible design, the terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to at least one of a preset target time period and the third service data, including: if the third service data meets a preset condition, the terminal device sends the target indication information to the UPF network element. The preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0033] The first item, the number of data packets corresponding to the third service data is greater than or equal to the first data packet threshold;

[0034] The data volume of the second and third business data is greater than or equal to the first data volume threshold.

[0035] That is to say, when the terminal device determines that the third service data meets the first preset condition, it sends target indication information to the UPF network element so that the UPF network element can determine the amount of service data received by the terminal device without the access network device storing the data amount information for a long time.

[0036] In one possible design, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data before network decoding. Alternatively, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data after network decoding.

[0037] In one possible design, the target indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data after network decoding. The billing method of the embodiment of the present application also includes: the terminal device determines the data volume of the third service data before network decoding. Afterwards, the terminal device determines the data volume of the third service data after network decoding based on the redundancy rate and the data volume of the third service data before network decoding. Among them, the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits after network decoding to the number of bits before network decoding.

[0038] That is to say, when the access network device provides the third service data after network encoding to the terminal device, the terminal device can perform a "conversion process" to obtain the amount of data after network decoding, and report the "amount of data of the third service data after network decoding" to the UPF network element.

[0039] In a possible design, the billing method of the embodiment of the present application further includes: the terminal device receives fifth service data from the access network device. The fifth service data is data received after the third service data, and the video encoding method of the fifth service data is determined based on the target indication information.

[0040] On the third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing method, the execution subject of the method can be a user plane function UPF network element, or it can be a chip used in the UPF network element. The following description is taken as an example that the execution subject is a UPF network element. The method includes: the UPF network element receives target indication information. Among them, the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. The second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the third service data is the data received by the terminal device. The service data in the second service data and the third service data both belong to the first service data. The first service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device through the access network device. Afterwards, the UPF network element determines the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device based on the target indication information.

[0041] In one possible design, the UPF network element receives target indication information, including: the UPF network element receives target indication information from the access network device. The data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. The second service data is data before network coding, or data after network coding. The third service data is data after network coding.

[0042] In a possible design, the UPF network element receives target indication information, including: the UPF network element receives target indication information from the terminal device. The data indicated by the target indication information includes third service data. The third service data is data before network decoding, or data after network decoding.

[0043] In one possible design, the data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding. The UPF network element determines the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device based on the target indication information, including: the UPF network element obtains the redundancy rate. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding. The UPF network element determines the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate and the target indication information. The UPF network element calculates the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device.

[0044] In one possible design, the UPF network element determines the amount of service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate and the target indication information, including: the UPF network element determines the amount of service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate, the first service data and the second service data; the data indicated by the target indication information includes the second service data.

[0045] In one possible design, the charging method of the embodiment of the present application further includes: the UPF network element determines a video encoding method according to the target indication information. The UPF network element performs video encoding on the service data to be transmitted to the terminal device using the video encoding method to obtain the fourth service data. The UPF network element sends the fourth service data to the access network device.

[0046] In the fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing method, the execution subject of the method can be an access and mobility management function AMF network element, or it can be a chip applied to the AMF network element. The following description is taken as an example that the execution subject is an AMF network element. The method includes: the AMF network element obtains the billing reduction demand of the service data. Among them, the service data includes multiple data packet detection rules PDR. The AMF network element determines the mapping relationship between multiple PDRs and service quality QoS flows based on the billing reduction demand. Afterwards, the AMF network element sends the mapping relationship to the user plane function UPF network element, enabling the UPF network element to map multiple PDRs to QoS flows according to the mapping relationship.

[0047] In this way, in the process of determining the "mapping relationship between PDR and QoS flow", the reference factor of "charging rule" is added to meet the charging requirements of different PDRs.

[0048] In a possible design, each of the multiple PDRs corresponds to a charging rate, and the PDRs corresponding to the same charging rate among the multiple PDRs are mapped to the same QoS flow.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, which includes: a unit for executing each step in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be an access network device in the above first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or a chip that implements the function of the above access network device. The billing device includes a module, unit, or means corresponding to the above method, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0050] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, including a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the billing method provided in any of the above aspects. The processor includes one or more. The billing device can be an access network device in the above first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above access network device.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the billing device executes the method described in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be an access network device in the above first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above access network device.

[0052] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, comprising: a processor; the processor is used to couple with a memory, and after reading instructions in the memory, execute the method as described in any of the above aspects according to the instructions. The billing device can be the access network device in the above first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above access network device.

[0053] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, which includes: a unit for executing each step in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be a terminal device in the above second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above terminal device. The billing device includes a module, unit, or means corresponding to the above method, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0054] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, including a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the billing method provided in any of the above aspects. The processor includes one or more. The billing device can be a terminal device in the above second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above terminal device.

[0055] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the billing device executes the method described in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be a terminal device in the above second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above terminal device.

[0056] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, comprising: a processor; the processor is coupled to a memory, and after reading instructions in the memory, executes the method as described in any of the above aspects according to the instructions. The billing device can be a terminal device in the above second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the above terminal device.

[0057] In the thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, which includes: a unit for executing each step in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be the UPF network element in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, or a chip that implements the above UPF network element function. The billing device includes a module, unit, or means corresponding to the above method, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0058] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, including a processor and an interface circuit, the processor being used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the billing method provided in any of the above aspects. The processor includes one or more. The billing device can be a UPF network element in the above third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, or a chip that implements the above UPF network element function.

[0059] In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the billing device executes the method described in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be the UPF network element in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, or a chip that implements the functions of the UPF network element.

[0060] In a sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, comprising: a processor; the processor is coupled to a memory, and after reading instructions in the memory, executes the method as described in any of the above aspects according to the instructions. The billing device can be a UPF network element in the above third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, or a chip that implements the above UPF network element function.

[0061] In the seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, which includes: a unit for executing each step in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be the AMF network element in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or a chip that implements the above AMF network element function. The billing device includes a module, unit, or means corresponding to the above method, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

[0062] In an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, including a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the processor is used to communicate with other devices through the interface circuit and execute the billing method provided in any of the above aspects. The processor includes one or more. The billing device can be the AMF network element in the above fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or a chip that implements the above AMF network element function.

[0063] In a nineteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the billing device executes the method described in any of the above aspects. The billing device can be the AMF network element in the above fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or a chip that implements the above AMF network element function.

[0064] In a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing device, comprising: a processor; the processor is used to couple with a memory, and after reading instructions in the memory, execute the method as described in any of the above aspects according to the instructions. The billing device can be the AMF network element in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect, or a chip that implements the above AMF network element function.

[0065] In the twenty-first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions. When the computer-readable storage medium is run on a computer, the computer can execute the billing method of any one of the above aspects.

[0066] In the twenty-second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any of the billing methods in any of the above aspects.

[0067] In the twenty-third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a circuit system, the circuit system includes a processing circuit, and the processing circuit is configured to execute a billing method as described in any one of the above aspects.

[0068] In the twenty-fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, the chip includes a processor, the processor is coupled to a memory, the memory stores program instructions, and when the program instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor, the billing method of any one of the above aspects is implemented.

[0069] In aspect 25, an embodiment of the present application provides a billing system, which includes the access network device, terminal device and UPF network element in the above-mentioned first aspect or any item of the first aspect, or includes the terminal device, access network device and UPF network element in the above-mentioned second aspect or any item of the second aspect.

[0070] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any design in the fifth to twenty-fifth aspects can refer to the beneficial effects in the corresponding methods provided above, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0071] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 2 A flowchart of a billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG3( a) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG3( b) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG3( c ) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG3( d) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG3( e) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG3( f) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG3( g) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG3(h) is a flow chart of another charging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Figure 4 A flowchart of another billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] Figure 5 A flowchart of another billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] Figure 6 A flowchart of another billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] Figure 7 A flowchart of another billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] Figure 8 A flowchart of another billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] Fig. 9 A flowchart of another billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a billing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of the structure of a charging device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of the structure of another charging device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of the structure of another billing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0091] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification and drawings of the present application are used to distinguish different objects, or to distinguish different treatments of the same object, rather than to describe the specific order of objects. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof mentioned in the description of the present application are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally includes other steps or units that are not listed, or optionally includes other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. In the embodiment of the present application, "multiple" includes two or more, and "system" can be replaced with "network". In the embodiment of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to represent examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiment of the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0092] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. The communication system can be a communication system supporting the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) mobile communication technology, such as new radio (new radio, NR) access technology; or, the communication system can also be a communication system supporting multiple wireless technologies, such as a communication system supporting long term evolution (long termevolution, LTE) technology and NR access technology. In addition, the communication system can also be applicable to future-oriented communication technologies.

[0093] See also Figure 1Taking the communication system supporting 5G mobile communication technology as an example, the network architecture of the communication system is introduced. The network elements in the 5G network architecture include terminal equipment, access network (AN) equipment, access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, session management function (SMF) network element, policy control function (PCF) network element, user plane function (UPF) network element, independent data management (UDM) network element, authentication server function (AUSF) network element, data network (DN), application function (AF) network element, network repository function (NRF) network element, network exposure function (NEF) network element, network slice selection function (NSSF) network element, etc.

[0094] Among them, the terminal device, also known as terminal apparatus, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc., is a device that provides voice / data connectivity to users, for example, a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with wireless connection function, etc. The terminal device can specifically be: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a PDA, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, or a wireless terminal in smart home, a terminal device in a future 5G communication network or a communication network after 5G, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this.

[0095] The access network device may also be a radio access network (RAN) device, which is a device deployed in a radio access network to provide wireless communication functions. Optionally, the RAN devices involved in the embodiments of the present application include, for example but not limited to, the following various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations (also known as small stations), relay stations, transmission reception points (TRPs), next generation network nodes (g Node B, gNB), evolved Node Bs (ng evolved Node B, ng-eNB) connected to the next generation core network, etc., and may also include RAN devices of non-third generation partnership project (3GPP) systems such as wireless local area network (WLAN) access devices.

[0096] In one possible way, the RAN device in the embodiment of the present application may be composed of a centralized unit (central unit, CU) and one or more distributed units (distributed unit, DU). CU and DU can be understood as the division of the RAN device from the perspective of logical functions. Among them, CU and DU can be physically separated or deployed together, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. CU and DU can be connected through an interface, for example, it can be an F1 interface. CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layer of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer, the service data adaptation protocol stack (SDAP) protocol layer, and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocol layer are set in the CU, while the functions of the radio link control (RLC) protocol layer, the media access control (MAC) protocol layer, the physical (PHY) protocol layer, etc. are set in the DU. It can be understood that the division of the CU and DU processing functions according to this protocol layer is only an example, and it can also be divided in other ways, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0097] Optionally, the CU can be composed of a CU control plane (CU control plane, CU-CP) and a CU user plane (CU userplane, CU-UP), and CU-CP and CU-UP can be understood as a division of the CU from the perspective of logical functions. Among them, CU-CP and CU-UP can be divided according to the protocol layer of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the RRC protocol layer and the PDCP protocol layer corresponding to the signaling radio bearer (signalradio bearer, SRB) are set in the CU-CP, and the functions of the PDCP protocol layer corresponding to the data radio bearer (data radiobearer, DRB) are set in the CU-UP. In addition, the functions of the SDAP protocol layer may also be set in the CU-UP.

[0098] The AMF network element has the functions of terminal equipment mobility management, registration management, connection management, legal monitoring, support for transmission of session management (SM) information between UE and SMF, access authentication and access authorization.

[0099] The SMF network element has functions such as session management and roaming. Among them, the session management function includes, for example, session establishment, modification and release. The roaming function may include charging data collection and support for signaling transmission for authentication / authorization with an external data network (DN).

[0100] The PCF network element includes user subscription information management function, policy control function, charging policy control function, quality of service (QoS) control, etc.

[0101] The UPF network element is a functional network element of the user plane, which is mainly responsible for connecting to the external network and processing user messages, such as forwarding, billing, and legal interception. Optionally, it can also receive data.

[0102] The UDM network element has functions such as authentication certificate processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration and mobility management, subscription management, and SMS management.

[0103] The AUSF network element has the authentication service function.

[0104] DN is a network that provides services to terminal devices. For example, some DNs provide Internet access to terminal devices, while other DNs provide SMS functions to terminal devices.

[0105] The AF network element can interact with the 3GPP core network. The AF network element can be specifically an application server, which can be used to interact with the PCF network element and customize policies for applications.

[0106] The NRF network element is a logical network element used to store and maintain information about network function (NF) instances. When receiving a user's service request, the NF instance can query the NRF network element to obtain other NF instances that can provide the network service requested by the user, thereby determining the next hop route.

[0107] The network functions that NEF network elements can provide include providing network element services, capabilities, application functions and edge computing. Optionally, NEF network elements also provide an application function that provides information to the 3GPP core network, such as mobility mode and communication mode. In this case, NEF network elements can also provide network functions for authentication, authorization and restriction of the above application functions.

[0108] The NSSF network element is mainly responsible for selecting a network slice instance for a terminal device based on the single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI). When the NSSF network element obtains the S-NSSAI sent by the terminal device, the NSSF network element selects a network slice instance (NSI) and / or a network slice subnet instance (NSSI) serving the terminal device based on the S-NSSAI.

[0109] Among them, the terminal equipment communicates with the AMF network element through the N1 interface, the RAN equipment communicates with the AMF network element through the N2 interface, the RAN equipment communicates with the UPF network element through the N3 interface, the UPF network element communicates with the SMF network element through the N4 interface, the UPF network element accesses the data network through the N6 interface, and different UPF network elements communicate through the N9 interface. The AF network element provides services to other network elements (such as UDM network elements and PCF network elements) through the Naf interface. The UDM network element provides services to other network elements (such as AF network elements and PCF network elements) through the Nudm interface. The PCF network element provides services to other network elements (such as UDM network elements and NRF network elements) through the Npcf interface. The NRF network element provides services to other network elements (such as NEF network elements and PCF network elements) through the Nnrf interface. The NEF network element provides services to other network elements (such as NRF network elements and NSSF network elements) through the Nnef interface. The NSSF network element provides services to other network elements (such as NEF network elements and NRF network elements) through the Nnssf interface. AUSF network elements provide services to other network elements (such as AMF network elements and NEF network elements) through the Nausf interface. AMF network elements provide services to other network elements (such as AUSF network elements and SMF network elements) through the Namf interface. SMF network elements provide services to other network elements (such as AUSF network elements and AMF network elements) through the Nsmf interface.

[0110] The communication system and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. It is known to those skilled in the art that with the evolution of network 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.

[0111] The following is a detailed description of the billing method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0112] It should be noted that the message names between the network elements or the names of the parameters in the messages in the following embodiments of the present application are only examples, and other names may be used in the specific implementation. In the embodiments of the present application, the data to be provided to the terminal device by the UPF network element is described as "first service data". After the access network device receives the "first service data" from the UPF network element, during the transmission of the first service data between the access network device and the terminal device, due to the deterioration of the wireless channel condition, the data discarded by the access network device is described as "second service data", and the data received by the terminal device is described as "third service data". The service data in the second service data and the third service data both belong to the first service data. This is explained uniformly here and will not be repeated below.

[0113] The present application embodiment provides a first billing method, which is applied in the billing reduction process. Figure 2 , the billing method comprises the following steps:

[0114] S201, UPF network element sends first service data to access network equipment. Correspondingly, access network equipment receives the first service data from UPF network element.

[0115] The first service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device.

[0116] Exemplarily, taking the video service that introduces the "layered coding" technology as an example, the first service data may be the video data and audio data to be provided to the terminal device. Taking the video data as an example, at the data source end, the video data is divided into the data of the basic layer (basic layer, BL) and the data of the enhanced layer (extend layer, EL). For the terminal device, if the terminal device correctly receives the video data of the basic layer, it can meet the user's most basic resolution requirements for the display interface of the terminal device. If the terminal device correctly receives the video data of the enhanced layer, the terminal device can display an interface with higher clarity. Here, the first service data may include the video data of the basic layer, may include the video data of the enhanced layer, and may also include the video data of the basic layer and the video data of the enhanced layer.

[0117] S202: The access network device sends the third service data to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third service data from the access network device.

[0118] Among them, the third service data is the data received by the terminal device. In an embodiment of the present application, due to the deterioration of the wireless channel condition, the data discarded by the access network device is described as "second service data". Exemplarily, the access network device determines the data volume of the third service data to be sent based on the data volume of the first service data to be transmitted and the air interface capacity. In the scenario of the embodiment of the present application, the most important reference factor for the access network device is the "air interface capacity". If the wireless channel condition is good and no data discard occurs, the data volume of the third service data can be equal to the data volume of the first service data, and the number of data packets of the second service data is equal to zero. If the wireless channel condition deteriorates and data discard occurs, the data volume of the third service data can be less than the data volume of the first service data, and the number of data packets of the second service data can be greater than zero.

[0119] In the case where the access network device does not perform network coding, the second service data and the third service data are data that have not been network coded. The data volume of the first service data is equal to the sum of the data volume of the second service data and the data volume of the third service data.

[0120] In the case where the access network device performs network coding, the second service data and the third service data are both data after network coding. The service data in the second service data and the third service data both belong to the first service data, and the data volume of the first service data is less than the sum of the data volume of "the service data in the second service data" and the data volume of "the service data in the third service data".

[0121] S203: The access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to at least one of the preset target time period, the first service data and the second service data. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the access network device.

[0122] The target indication information is used by the UPF network element to count the fees corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device in the first service data. The following is an explanation of the "target indication information" from two aspects: "the content reported by the target indication information" and "the triggering condition for sending the target indication information":

[0123] In the first aspect, from the content reported by the target indication information, the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. For example, the target indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data or the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data, or the target indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data or the number of data packets corresponding to the third service data, or the target indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data and the data volume of the third service data (or the corresponding number of data packets), or the target indication information indicates the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data and the data volume of the third service data (or the corresponding number of data packets).

[0124] The data indicated by the target indication information may be data that has not been network-coded. For example, the target indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets of data that has not been network-coded. The data indicated by the target indication information may also be data that has been network-coded. For example, the target indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets of data that has been network-coded. The following is a specific description through "Case 1 and Case 2":

[0125] Case 1: The data indicated by the target indication information is data that has not been network coded.

[0126] If the access network device does not include CU and DU, and the access network device does not perform network coding, the access network device can count the data volume or number of data packets of the second service data that has not undergone network coding. The data indicated by the target indication information includes the second service data, and the target indication information indicates the data volume or number of data packets of the second service data that has not undergone network coding. Of course, the access network device can also count the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data that has not undergone network coding, and the target indication information indicates "the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data that has not undergone network coding". Conversely, if the access network device performs network coding, then referring to Figure 3(a), the access network device performs the following process:

[0127] S20301. The access network device determines the data amount of the first encoded data.

[0128] The first coded data is data after network coding. Here, the first coded data can be the second service data after network coding, or the third service data after network coding. For example, the first coded data can be "the second service data after network coding discarded by the access network device" within the target time period, or "the third service data after network coding received by the terminal device" within the target time period. For the relevant description of the "target time period", please refer to the relevant description of "Example 1 of the second aspect", which will not be repeated here.

[0129] S20302. The access network device determines the amount of data indicated by the target indication information according to the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the first coded data.

[0130] The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0131] Exemplarily, the data volume of the first coded data is 100KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the access network device determines that the data volume of the data indicated by the target indication information is 80KB. Here, if the first coded data is the second service data, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data before network coding. If the first coded data is the third service data, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data before network coding.

[0132] In this way, when "the access network device performs network coding" and "the object counted by the access network device is the data after network coding", the access network device can perform a "conversion process" to obtain the data volume of the data that has not undergone network coding, and then report the data volume of the second service data that has not undergone network coding, or the data volume of the third service data that has not undergone network coding to the UPF network element.

[0133] If the access network equipment includes CU and DU, the transmission status between DU, CU and UPF network element is as follows: DU sends first indication information to CU. Correspondingly, CU receives the first indication information from DU. Afterwards, CU sends target indication information to the UPF network element. Among them, the target indication information is determined based on the first indication information. The above-mentioned "transmission status between DU, CU and UPF network elements" can refer to the relevant description of "Example 3, Example 4 or Example 5 of the second aspect", which will not be repeated here.

[0134] In the case where the DU and the CU do not perform network coding, the second service data and the third service data are data that have not undergone network coding, and the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data, and the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data that have not undergone network coding, or the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data that have not undergone network coding. For example, the DU counts the data volume or the number of data packets of the discarded second service data, and then indicates to the CU "the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data that have not undergone network coding" through the first indication information. The CU can send the first indication information as the target indication information to the UPF network element. Alternatively, the CU can also determine the target indication information based on a preset number of first indication information. For example, the CU obtains the data volume of the second service data that has not undergone network coding indicated by the target indication information based on the sum of the data volumes indicated by 5 first indication information. Alternatively, the CU can also determine the data volume of the third service data based on the first indication information and the data volume of the first service data, and then indicate the data volume of the third service data that has not undergone network coding through the target indication information. Of course, the DU may also have counted the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data, and the first indication information may indicate to the CU "the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data that have not undergone network coding" so that the CU may determine the target indication information to be reported to the UPF network element based on the first indication information.

[0135] In the case where the DU performs network coding, the second service data and the third service data are data after network coding, and the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. In this case, the DU or CU performs a "conversion process", that is, the data volume of the "data after network coding" is obtained from the data volume of the "data not subjected to network coding". As a possible implementation method, see Figure 3(b), which shows the specific processing steps of the DU performing the "conversion process":

[0136] S20303. DU determines the data amount of the first coded data.

[0137] The first coded data is data after network coding. Here, the first coded data may be data discarded by the DU, that is, the first coded data includes the second service data. The first coded data may also be data received by the terminal device, that is, the first coded data includes the third service data.

[0138] Exemplarily, the first coded data may be "second service data discarded by DU" within the target time period, or "third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period. The target time period can refer to the relevant description of "Example 1 of the second aspect", which will not be repeated here.

[0139] S20304. DU determines the amount of data indicated by the first indication information according to the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the first coded data.

[0140] Among them, the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding. Here, the redundancy rate can be configured by the CU, or the CU can be configured with a value range, and the DU determines the redundancy rate according to the value range configured by the CU. In the case where the CU configures the "value range", as a possible implementation method, the CU sends configuration information to the DU. Correspondingly, the DU receives the configuration information from the CU. Among them, the configuration information indicates the value range of the redundancy rate. After the DU receives the configuration information, the DU selects a value within the value range indicated by the configuration information as the value of the redundancy rate.

[0141] Exemplarily, the data volume of the first coded data is 100KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the DU determines that the data volume of the data indicated by the first indication information is 80KB. Here, if the first coded data is the second service data, the first indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data before network coding. If the first coded data is the third service data, the first indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data before network coding.

[0142] In this way, in the case where "the access network device includes CU and DU" and "the object targeted by DU is data after network coding", DU can perform the "conversion process" to obtain the amount of data that has not undergone network coding, and then report it to the UPF network element. For CU, after obtaining the first indication information, CU can determine the target indication information based on the first indication information. The specific implementation process can refer to the specific processing process of CU in the case of "DU and CU do not perform network coding", which will not be repeated here.

[0143] As another possible implementation, see FIG. 3( c ), which shows the specific processing steps of the CU performing the “conversion process”:

[0144] S20305. CU determines the data amount of the first encoded data.

[0145] Among them, the relevant instructions for the "first coded data" can be found in the relevant introduction of S20303, which will not be repeated here.

[0146] Exemplarily, when the CU performs the "conversion process", the data indicated by the first indication information is the data after network coding. For example, the first indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data after network coding, or the first indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data after network coding. After the CU receives the first indication information from the DU, the CU uses the data volume indicated by the first indication information as the data volume of the first coded data.

[0147] S20306. The CU determines the amount of data indicated by the target indication information based on the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the first encoded data.

[0148] Among them, the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding. Here, the "redundancy rate configuration process" can refer to the relevant instructions of S20304, which will not be repeated here. It should be noted that when the CU configures the "value range", after the DU determines the value of the redundancy rate, the DU sends the redundancy rate information to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the redundancy rate information from the DU. Among them, the redundancy rate information indicates the value of the redundancy rate.

[0149] Exemplarily, the data volume of the first coded data is 100KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the CU determines that the data volume indicated by the target indication information is 80KB. Here, the target indication information may indicate the data volume of the second service data before network coding, or may indicate the data volume of the third service data before network coding.

[0150] In this way, when "the access network equipment includes CU and DU" and "the object targeted by CU is data after network coding", CU can perform the "conversion process" to obtain the data amount of data that has not undergone network coding, and then report it to the UPF network element.

[0151] In the case where the CU performs network coding, the second service data and the third service data are still data after network coding, and the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. In this case, the CU performs a "conversion process", that is, the data volume of the "data after network coding" is obtained from the data volume of the "data not subjected to network coding". For details, please refer to the processing steps shown in FIG. 3 (c), which will not be repeated here.

[0152] It should be noted that in the processing shown in FIG. 3(a), FIG. 3(b) and FIG. 3(c), only the “data volume” is used as an example to illustrate the “conversion process”. In actual application, the “number of data packets” can also be used as the granularity to perform the “conversion process”. The specific implementation process is the same as the processing process shown in the above three diagrams (FIG. 3(a), FIG. 3(b) and FIG. 3(c)), and will not be repeated here.

[0153] Case 2: The data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding.

[0154] If the access network device does not include CU and DU, and the access network device performs network coding, the access network device can count the data volume or number of data packets of the second service data. The second service data is the data after network coding, the data indicated by the target indication information includes the second service data, and the target indication information indicates the data volume or number of data packets of the second service data after network coding. Of course, the access network device can also count the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data, and the target indication information indicates "the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data after network coding". On the contrary, if the access network device does not perform network coding, referring to Figure 3(d), the access network device performs the following process:

[0155] S20307. The access network device determines the data volume of the second service data.

[0156] The second service data is data that has not been network-coded. For example, the second service data may be "second service data discarded by the access network device" within the target time period. For the relevant description of the "target time period", please refer to the relevant description of "Example 1 of the second aspect", which will not be repeated here.

[0157] S20308. The access network device determines the amount of data indicated by the target indication information according to the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the second service data.

[0158] The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding. Here, the data after network coding has a certain redundancy. For example, in the first service data, the service data in one data packet becomes two data packets after network coding.

[0159] Exemplarily, the data volume of the second service data is 80KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the access network device determines that the data volume of the second service data after network coding is 100KB. Accordingly, the target indication information indicates that the data volume of the second service data after network coding is 100KB.

[0160] In this way, when the "access network device does not perform network coding", the access network device can perform a "conversion process", that is, obtain the data amount of "data after network coding" from the data amount of "data not subjected to network coding" to obtain the data amount of data after network coding, and then report the converted data amount to the UPF network element.

[0161] If the access network equipment includes CU and DU, the "transmission status between DU, CU and UPF network elements" can refer to the relevant description of "Example three, Example four or Example five of the second aspect", which will not be repeated here.

[0162] In the case where the DU and the CU do not perform network coding, the second service data and the third service data are data that have not been network coded, and the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. In this case, the DU or CU performs a "conversion process", that is, the data volume of the "data that has not been network coded" is obtained from the data volume of the "data that has been network coded". For example, see Figure 3(e), which shows the specific processing steps of the DU performing the "conversion process":

[0163] S20309. DU determines the data volume of the second service data.

[0164] The second service data is data that has not been network coded.

[0165] Exemplarily, the second service data may be “second service data discarded by the DU” within a target time period. The target time period may refer to the relevant description of “Example 1 of the second aspect”, which will not be described in detail here.

[0166] S20310. DU determines the amount of data indicated by the first indication information according to the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the second service data.

[0167] The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0168] Exemplarily, the data volume of the second service data is 80KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the DU determines that the data volume of the second service data after network coding is 100KB. Here, the first indication information may indicate "the data volume of the second service data after network coding". Alternatively, the DU obtains the data volume of the third service data that has not undergone network coding based on the data volume of the first service data and the data volume of the second service data that has not undergone network coding. The DU then combines the redundancy rate and the data volume of the third service data that has not undergone network coding to obtain the data volume of the third service data after network coding, and then indicates the "data volume of the third service data after network coding" with the first indication information, and reports it to the CU.

[0169] In this way, when "the access network equipment includes CU and DU" and "the object of DU statistics is data that has not undergone network coding", DU can perform a "conversion process" to obtain the data volume of the data after network coding. For the CU, after obtaining the first indication information, the CU can determine the target indication information based on the first indication information. For example, the CU reports the first indication information as the target indication information to the UPF network element. Alternatively, the CU may also determine the target indication information based on a preset number of first indication information. For example, the CU obtains the data volume of the second service data after network coding indicated by the target indication information based on the sum of the data volumes indicated by 5 first indication information. Alternatively, the CU may also determine the data volume of the third service data based on the first indication information and the data volume of the first service data, and then indicate the data volume of the third service data after network coding through the target indication information, and then report it to the UPF network element through the target indication information.

[0170] For example, see FIG3(f), which shows the specific processing steps of the CU performing the “conversion process”:

[0171] S20311. The CU determines the data volume of the second service data.

[0172] Among them, the relevant description of "second business data" can be found in the relevant introduction of S20309, which will not be repeated here. Here, when the CU executes the "conversion process", the amount of data indicated by the first indication information is the amount of data of the second business data that has not been network coded. After the CU receives the first indication information from the DU, the CU can determine the amount of data of the second business data that has not been network coded.

[0173] S20312. The CU determines the amount of data indicated by the target indication information according to the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the second service data.

[0174] The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0175] Exemplarily, the data volume of the second service data is 80KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the CU determines that the data volume of the second service data after network coding is 100KB. Here, the target indication information may indicate that the data volume of the second service data after network coding is 100KB. Alternatively, the CU obtains the data volume of the third service data that has not undergone network coding based on the data volume of the first service data and the data volume of the second service data that has not undergone network coding. The CU then combines the redundancy rate and the data volume of the third service data that has not undergone network coding to obtain the data volume of the third service data after network coding, and then indicates the "data volume of the third service data after network coding" with the target indication information and reports it to the UPF network element.

[0176] In this way, when "the access network equipment includes CU and DU" and "the object targeted by CU is data that has not undergone network coding", CU can perform the "conversion process" to obtain the amount of data after network coding, and then report it to the UPF network element.

[0177] In the case where network coding is performed by DU or CU, the second service data and the third service data are still data after network coding, and the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. In this case, the first indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data after network coding, or the first indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data after network coding. After receiving the first indication information, the CU determines the target indication information based on the first indication information. For details, please refer to the specific processing process of the CU shown in Figure 3(e), which will not be repeated here.

[0178] It should be noted that in the processing flow shown in Figures 3(d), 3(e) and 3(f), only the "data volume" is used as an example to illustrate the "conversion process". In actual application, the "conversion process" can also be performed with the "number of data packets" as the granularity. The specific implementation process is the same as the processing process shown in the above three diagrams (Figures 3(d), 3(e) and 3(f)), and will not be repeated here. Similarly, in the processing flow shown in Figures 3(d), 3(e) and 3(f), only the "second business data" is used as an example for explanation. The above three processing processes can also be adapted to the scenario where the processing object is the "third business data". The specific processing process is the same, and the target indication information indicates the "data volume or number of data packets of the third business data after network coding", which will not be repeated here.

[0179] In addition, in the scenario where "the data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding", the access network device also sends a redundancy rate to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the redundancy rate from the access network device. Afterwards, the UPF network element can determine the amount of service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate and the amount of data indicated by the target indication information. Among them, the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding. In other words, in the scenario where "the data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding", the UPF network element executes the "conversion process", and please refer to the relevant instructions of "Case 2 in S204" for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0180] Secondly, from the triggering conditions of sending the target indication information, there may be multiple triggering conditions for the access network device to send the target indication information to the UPF network element. The following five examples are used to illustrate:

[0181] Example 1: The access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the access network device.

[0182] The preset target time period may be a working period configured by a core network device (such as an SMF network element or a PCF network element). The target indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data or the corresponding number of data packets within the target time period, or the target indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data or the corresponding number of data packets within the target time period.

[0183] Exemplarily, the preset target time period is 5 minutes. In this case, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element every 5 minutes. For example, at the moment of "09:55", the access network device sends a target indication information to the UPF network element. At the moment of "10:00", the access network device sends another target indication information to the UPF network element. Here, the target time period is the time period of "09:55 to 10:00". The target indication information sent at the moment of "10:00" indicates the data volume of the second service data or the corresponding number of data packets in the time period of "09:55 to 10:00", or indicates the data volume of the third service data or the corresponding number of data packets in the time period of "09:55 to 10:00".

[0184] Exemplarily, when the access network device sends the first data packet to the terminal device, the timer is started, and when the timer times out, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element. At the same time, the access network device starts the timer again, and the cycle continues until the access network device stops sending data packets to the terminal device.

[0185] In this way, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to the preset target time period to indicate the data transmission status within the target time period, so that the UPF network element can determine the amount of service data received by the terminal device within the target time period. In other words, the access network device can send target indication information to the UPF network element without waiting to receive a data flow report request. The access network device does not need to store data volume information for a long time, which simplifies the management burden of the access network device on the data volume information and saves the storage resource overhead of the access network device.

[0186] Example 2: If at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets the first preset condition, the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the access network device.

[0187] The first preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0188] The first item, the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data is greater than or equal to the data packet threshold T 1，P . Wherein, “T” represents a threshold value, the subscript “1” represents first service data, and the subscript “P” represents a data packet.

[0189] Second item: the data volume of the first service data is greater than or equal to the data volume threshold T 1，B . Wherein, “T” represents a threshold value, the subscript “1” represents the first service data, and the subscript “B” represents the data volume.

[0190] Item 3: The number of data packets corresponding to the second service data is greater than or equal to the data packet threshold T 2，P . Wherein, “T” represents a threshold value, the subscript “2” represents second service data, and the subscript “P” represents a data packet.

[0191] Item 4: The amount of the second service data is greater than or equal to the data amount threshold T 2，B . Wherein, “T” represents a threshold value, the subscript “2” represents the second service data, and the subscript “B” represents the data volume.

[0192] Item 5: The first value is greater than or equal to the packet threshold T 12，P . Wherein, "T" represents a threshold value, the subscript "12" represents a first value, and the subscript "P" represents a data packet. The first value is a value determined based on the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data and the second service data, respectively. For example, the first value is the ratio of "the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data" to "the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data".

[0193] Item 6: The second value is greater than or equal to the data volume threshold T21，B . Wherein, "T" represents a threshold value, the subscript "21" represents a second value, and the subscript "B" represents a data volume. The second value is a value determined based on the data volumes corresponding to the first service data and the second service data, respectively. For example, the second value is a ratio of "the data volume corresponding to the second service data" to "the data volume corresponding to the first service data".

[0194] Here, the threshold value in the first preset condition (such as the packet threshold value T 1，P , data volume threshold T 1，B , Packet Threshold T 2，P , data volume threshold T 2，B , Packet Threshold T 12，P , data volume threshold T 21，B ) can be configured by SMF network elements or PCF network elements.

[0195] When the first preset condition is the first or second item, the access network device uses the "first service data" as the judgment basis, and when the number of data packets of the first service data reaches a certain level (such as greater than or equal to the data packet threshold T 1，P ), or the amount of the first service data reaches a certain level (such as greater than or equal to the data amount threshold T 1，B ), the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element to report the transmission status of the "first service data" to the UPF network element.

[0196] When the first preset condition is implemented as the third or fourth item, the access network device uses the "second service data" as the judgment basis, and when the number of data packets of the second service data reaches a certain level (such as greater than or equal to the threshold data packet threshold T 2，P ), or the amount of the second service data reaches a certain level (such as greater than or equal to the data amount threshold T 2，B ), the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element to report the transmission status of the "first service data" to the UPF network element.

[0197] In the case where the first preset condition is implemented as the fifth or sixth item, the access network device uses the “data discarding status of the access network device” as the judgment basis, and when the access network device determines that the discarded data packet ratio reaches a certain level (for example, the number of discarded data packets in every 100 data packets reaches 10, that is, the first value is greater than or equal to the data packet threshold T 12，P ), or the discarded data volume ratio reaches a certain level (for example, the discarded data volume in every 100KB of the first service data reaches 10KB, that is, the second value is greater than or equal to the data volume threshold T 21，B ), the access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element to report the transmission status of the "first service data" to the UPF network element.

[0198] In this way, when the access network device determines that the first preset condition is met, it sends target indication information to the UPF network element to indicate the transmission status of the first service data, so that the UPF network element can determine the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device. In other words, the access network device can send the target indication information to the UPF network element without waiting to receive the "data flow report request". The access network device does not need to store the data volume information for a long time, which simplifies the management burden of the access network device on the data volume information and saves the storage resource overhead of the access network device.

[0199] In some embodiments, the access network device may be composed of a CU and one or more DUs. The descriptions of the above examples 1 and 2 are also applicable. Specifically, the CU may control the timing of sending the target indication information according to the above trigger conditions, or the DU may control the timing of sending the target indication information according to the above trigger conditions, or the CU and DU may jointly control the timing of sending the target indication information. The following is an explanation through three examples of "Example 3, Example 4 and Example 5":

[0200] Example 3: The DU controls the sending timing of the target indication information according to the above triggering conditions. Referring to FIG. 3(g), the specific implementation process of S203 includes S20313a, S20313b and S20314:

[0201] S20313a. The DU determines whether to send the first indication information according to at least one of a preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data.

[0202] If the DU determines that the first indication information does not need to be sent, the DU continues to execute S20313a. If the DU determines that the first indication information needs to be sent, the DU executes S20313b:

[0203] S20313b, the DU sends first indication information to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the first indication information from the DU.

[0204] The first indication information indicates the data volume of the second business data or the number of data packets corresponding to the second business data, or the first indication information indicates the data volume of the third business data or the number of data packets corresponding to the third business data.

[0205] Exemplarily, the DU sends a first indication message to the CU according to a preset target time period to indicate the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period. Please refer to the relevant description of Example 1 for details, which will not be repeated here. Alternatively, if at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets the first preset condition, the DU sends a first indication message to the CU to indicate the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device". Please refer to the relevant description of Example 2 for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0206] S20314. The CU sends target indication information to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the CU.

[0207] The target indication information is determined by the CU based on the first indication information.

[0208] Exemplarily, the target indication information and the first indication information may be the same, for example, the target indication information and the first indication information indicate the "amount of data or number of packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" within the target time period. Alternatively, the target indication information and the first indication information indicate the "amount of data or number of packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period.

[0209] The target indication information may be different from the first indication information. For example, the first indication information indicates the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" within the target time period. The CU determines the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period based on the first indication information and the first service data. In this case, the target indication information indicates the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period. Or, conversely, the first indication information indicates the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period. The CU determines the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" within the target time period based on the first indication information and the first service data. In this case, the target indication information indicates the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" within the target time period.

[0210] In this way, when the access network equipment includes CU and DU, DU can control the sending timing of the target indication information, which can not only ensure that the UPF network element obtains the "data transmission status between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment", but also simplify the management burden of DU on data volume information.

[0211] Example 4: The CU controls the sending timing of the target indication information according to the above triggering conditions. Referring to FIG. 3(h), the specific implementation process of S2030 includes S20315, S20316a and S20316b:

[0212] S20315. The DU sends first indication information to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the first indication information from the DU.

[0213] The first indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data or the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data, or the first indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data or the number of data packets corresponding to the third service data. Here, the timing of sending the first indication information is controlled by the DU and is set independently from the timing of the CU sending the target indication information to the UPF network element. In other words, the timing of sending the first indication information and the timing of sending the target indication information are set independently of each other and are not related to each other.

[0214] Exemplarily, the DU determines the timing of sending the first indication information according to its own status. For example, the DU sends the first indication information to the CU according to the preset first time period to indicate the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the first time period. The settings of the first time period and the target time period are independent, and there may be no correlation between the two. For another example, when the DU determines that a preset data amount (such as 100KB) of the first service data is received, the DU sends the first indication information to the CU to indicate the "transmission status of the first service data". Alternatively, when the DU determines that the amount of data of the discarded second service data reaches a preset data amount (such as 20KB), the DU sends the first indication information to the CU to indicate the "transmission status of the first service data".

[0215] S20316a. The CU determines whether to send target indication information based on at least one of a preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data.

[0216] S20316b, CU sends target indication information to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the CU.

[0217] Exemplarily, the CU sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period to indicate the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the target time period. For details, please refer to the relevant description of Example 1, which will not be repeated here. Alternatively, if at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets the first preset condition, the CU sends a target indication information to the UPF network element to indicate the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or the "amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device". For details, please refer to the relevant description of Example 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0218] In this way, when the access network equipment includes CU and DU, CU can control the timing of sending the target indication information, which can not only ensure that the UPF network element obtains the "data transmission status between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment", but also simplify the CU's management burden of data volume information.

[0219] Example 5: The CU and DU jointly control the sending timing of the target indication information. Still taking the processing process shown in FIG. 3(h) as an example:

[0220] S20315. The DU sends first indication information to the CU. Correspondingly, the CU receives the first indication information from the DU.

[0221] Among them, the relevant instructions for the first indication information can be found in the introduction in Example 4, and will not be repeated here.

[0222] Exemplarily, the DU sends a first indication message to the CU according to a preset first time period to indicate "the amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or "the amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device" within the first time period. The first time period is determined based on the target time period. For example, the duration of the first time period is a multiple of the duration of the target time period. Alternatively, if at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets the second preset condition, the DU sends a first indication message to the CU to indicate "the amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the DU" or "the amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device". The second preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0223] The first item, the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data is greater than or equal to the data packet threshold t 1，P . Wherein, "t" represents the threshold value, the subscript "1" represents the first service data, and the subscript "P" represents the data packet. Here, the data packet threshold value t 1，P is the packet threshold T 1，P The divisor of .

[0224] Second item: the data volume of the first service data is greater than or equal to the data volume threshold t 1，B . Wherein, "t" represents the threshold, the subscript "1" represents the first service data, and the subscript "B" represents the data volume. Here, the data volume threshold t 1，B is the data volume threshold T 1，B The divisor of .

[0225] The third item: the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data is greater than or equal to the data packet threshold t 2，P . Wherein, "t" represents the threshold value, the subscript "2" represents the second service data, and the subscript "P" represents the data packet. Here, the data packet threshold value t 2，P is the packet threshold T 2，P The divisor of .

[0226] Item 4: The amount of the second service data is greater than or equal to the data amount threshold t 2，B . Wherein, "t" represents the threshold, the subscript "2" represents the second service data, and the subscript "B" represents the data volume. Here, the data volume threshold t 2，B is the data volume threshold T 2，B The divisor of .

[0227] Item 5: The first value is greater than or equal to the packet threshold t 12，P . Wherein, "t" represents the threshold value, the subscript "12" represents the first value, and the subscript "P" represents the data packet. The first value is a value determined based on the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data and the second service data. For example, the first value is the ratio of "the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data" to "the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data". Here, the data packet threshold t 12，P is the packet threshold T 12，P The divisor of .

[0228] Item 6: The second value is greater than or equal to the data volume threshold t 21，B . Wherein, "t" represents the threshold value, the subscript "21" represents the second value, and the subscript "B" represents the data volume. The second value is a value determined based on the data volume corresponding to the first service data and the second service data. For example, the second value is the ratio of "the data volume of the second service data" to "the data volume of the first service data". Here, the data volume threshold value t 21，B is the data volume threshold T 21，B The divisor of .

[0229] S20316a. The CU determines whether to send target indication information based on at least one of a preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data.

[0230] S20316b, CU sends target indication information to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the CU.

[0231] In this way, when the access network equipment includes CU and DU, CU and DU can jointly control the sending timing of the target indication information, which can not only ensure that the UPF network element obtains the "data transmission status between the access network equipment and the terminal equipment", but also simplify the management burden of data volume information for CU and DU.

[0232] S204. The UPF network element determines the fee corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device according to the target indication information.

[0233] Among them, the business data received by the terminal device belongs to the first business data.

[0234] The data indicated by the target indication information may be data that has not been network-coded or data that has been network-coded. The following describes two cases:

[0235] Case 1: When "the data indicated by the target indication information is data that has not been network-coded", the UPF network element determines the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device based on the target indication information. For example, the target indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data, and the UPF network element uses the "data volume indicated by the target indication information" as the "data volume of the service data received by the terminal device".

[0236] Case 2: When the data indicated by the target indication information is network-coded data, the UPF network element performs a "conversion process", that is, the data volume of "data not network-coded" is obtained from the data volume of "data after network coding". Figure 4 , S204 is specifically implemented as follows:

[0237] S2041. The UPF network element obtains the redundancy rate.

[0238] The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0239] Exemplarily, the access network device sends the redundancy rate to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the redundancy rate from the access network device.

[0240] S2042. The UPF network element determines the amount of service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate and the target indication information.

[0241] Exemplarily, if the target indication information indicates the data volume or data volume quantity of the third service data, the UPF network element determines the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate and the target indication information. For example, the data volume of the data indicated by the target indication information is 100KB. The redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the UPF network element determines that the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device is 80KB.

[0242] If the target indication information indicates the data volume or data volume quantity of the second service data, the UPF network element determines the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device based on the redundancy rate, the first service data and the second service data. For example, the data volume of the first service data is 120KB. The data volume of the second service data after network coding is 50KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5, that is, the data volume of the valid service data in the second service data is 40KB. In this case, the UPF network element determines that the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device is 80KB.

[0243] In this way, whether the target indication information indicates the data volume of the second service data discarded by the access network device or the data volume of the third service data received by the terminal device, the UPF network element can execute the "conversion process" to obtain the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device.

[0244] S2043. The UPF network element calculates the fees corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device.

[0245] Among them, the service data received by the terminal device includes one or more packet detection rules (packet detection rule, PDR). For different PDRs, the billing rules of different PDRs can be the same or different. Here, there is a mapping relationship between the PDRs corresponding to the same billing rate in multiple PDRs and the same QoS flow. The billing rules of a PDR can be as follows: no billing reduction is required; billing reduction is required, and the billing rate is N yuan / MB. Among them, N is greater than zero. Among them, the specific processing process of "mapping the PDRs corresponding to the same billing rate in multiple PDRs to the same QoS flow" can be found in Figure 8 The introduction of will not be repeated here.

[0246] Exemplarily, the UPF network element charges at the granularity of "PDR". When the service data received by the terminal device includes 5 PDRs, and all 5 PDRs need to be charged and reduced, the UPF network element determines the QoS flow where the above 5 PDRs are located. For example, the above 5 PDRs are mapped to 3 QoS flows. For the QoS flow where the service data of the terminal device is located, the UPF network element counts the data volume of the service data in each QoS flow and the charging rules of the QoS flow, so as to determine the corresponding fee for the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device.

[0247] In the billing method provided by the embodiment of the present application, when the UPF network element provides the first service data to the terminal device through the access network device, the access network device can send target indication information to the UPF network element, for example, the target indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets of the second service data discarded by the access network device, or the target indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device, so that the UPF network element can count the fees corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device. In addition, the access network device can determine the timing of sending the target indication information based on the preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data, and can send the target indication information to the UPF network element without waiting for receiving the "data traffic report request". In this way, the access network device does not need to store the data volume information for a long time, which reduces the management burden of the access network device on the data volume information and reduces the storage resource overhead of the access network device.

[0248] In some embodiments, see Figure 5 The billing method of the embodiment of the present application also includes the following processing steps:

[0249] S205. The UPF network element determines the video encoding method according to the target indication information.

[0250] Exemplarily, the UPF network element determines, based on the target indication information, that the data volume of the third service data exceeds a preset data volume threshold. That is, during the execution of S202, the wireless channel condition between the access network device and the terminal device is good. In the case where "service data is implemented as video data", the UPF network element can increase the coding compression degree of the video data, and use a video coding method with a higher coding compression degree to encode the video data to be transmitted, so as to remove the redundancy of the video data to be transmitted. Conversely, the UPF network element determines, based on the target indication information, that the data volume of the third service data does not exceed the preset data volume threshold. That is, during the execution of S202, the wireless channel condition between the access network device and the terminal device deteriorates. In the case where "service data is implemented as video data", the UPF network element can reduce the coding compression degree of the video data, and use a video coding method with a lower coding compression degree to encode the video data to be transmitted.

[0251] S206. The UPF network element performs video encoding on the service data to be transmitted to the terminal device using the video encoding method to obtain fourth service data.

[0252] Exemplarily, the video encoding method adopted by the UPF network element is a technology, namely, a motion joint photographic experts group (MJPEG) technology. The UPF network element adopts the MJPEG algorithm to perform video encoding on the service data to be transmitted to obtain fourth service data.

[0253] S207, the UPF network element sends the fourth service data to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the fourth service data from the UPF network element.

[0254] Among them, the fourth service data is the data sent by the UPF network element to the access network device after executing S201. Here, the coding compression degree of the fourth service data may be the same as or different from the coding compression degree of the first service data. For example, when the UPF network element determines that the data volume of the third service data exceeds the preset data volume threshold, the coding compression degree of the fourth service data is higher than the coding compression degree of the first service data. When the UPF network element determines that the data volume of the third service data does not exceed the preset data volume threshold, the coding compression degree of the fourth service data is lower than the coding compression degree of the first service data, or the coding compression degree of the fourth service data is the same as the coding compression degree of the first service data.

[0255] S208: The access network device sends the fifth service data to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the fifth service data from the access network device.

[0256] Among them, in the process of transmitting the fourth service data between the access network device and the terminal device, there is a phenomenon of data discarding. Here, the fifth service data refers to the data received by the terminal device. The sixth service data refers to the data discarded by the access network device. The service data in the fifth service data and the sixth service data all belong to the fourth service data. Exemplarily, the access network device determines the data volume of the fifth service data to be sent according to the data volume of the fourth service data to be transmitted and the air interface capacity. If the wireless channel condition is good and no data discard occurs, the data volume of the fifth service data can be equal to the data volume of the fourth service data, and the number of data packets of the sixth service data is equal to zero. If the wireless channel condition deteriorates and data discard occurs, the data volume of the fifth service data can be less than the data volume of the fourth service data, and the number of data packets of the sixth service data can be greater than zero. The fifth service data and the sixth service data can be data that has not been network coded or data that has been network coded.

[0257] In this way, the UPF network element can also determine the video encoding method of the service data to be subsequently transmitted based on the target indication information. For example, when the UPF network element determines that the data volume of the third service data is large based on the target indication information, the UPF network element can increase the video encoding compression level of the fourth service data to reduce the data transmission volume. Due to the lag effect of the human eye, if only short-term video data is lost, it is difficult for the human eye to detect, and it does not affect the user's subjective experience and the normal business process of the terminal device. Conversely, when the UPF network element determines that the data volume of the third service data is small based on the target indication information, the UPF network element can reduce the video encoding compression level of the fourth service data to ensure the normal business process of the terminal device.

[0258] The present application embodiment provides a second billing method, which is applied in the billing reduction process. Figure 6 , the billing method comprises the following steps:

[0259] S601, UPF network element sends first service data to access network equipment. Correspondingly, access network equipment receives the first service data from UPF network element.

[0260] The first service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device. For the relevant description of the “first service data”, please refer to the introduction of S201 and will not be repeated here.

[0261] S602: The access network device sends the third service data to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the third service data from the access network device.

[0262] The specific implementation process of S602 can refer to the relevant description of S202, which will not be repeated here.

[0263] S603: The terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to at least one of the preset target time period and the third service data. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the terminal device.

[0264] The data indicated by the target indication information includes the third service data. The third service data can be data before network decoding or after network decoding. Below, the "target indication information" is explained from two aspects: "content reported by the target indication information" and "trigger condition for sending the target indication information":

[0265] First, from the content reported by the target indication information, the target indication information can indicate the amount of data or the number of data packets before network decoding, and the target indication information can also indicate the amount of data or the number of data packets after network decoding. The following is explained through "Case 1 and Case 2":

[0266] Case 1: The target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the data before network decoding.

[0267] In this case, if the data received by the terminal device is network-coded data, and correspondingly, the third service data is network-coded data, the terminal device can first count the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data before network decoding, and then report the transmission status of the "third service data" to the UPF network element through the target indication information.

[0268] Case 2: The target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the data decoded by the network.

[0269] In this case, if the data received by the terminal device is data after network coding, and correspondingly, the third service data is data after network coding, then the terminal device can count the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data after network decoding, and then report the transmission status of the "third service data" to the UPF network element through the target indication information. Alternatively, the terminal device can also count the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data before network decoding, and then perform the "conversion process" to obtain the data volume of the "data after network coding" from the data volume of the "data before network decoding". See Figure 7 The specific processing process is as follows:

[0270] S6031. The terminal device determines the data volume of the third service data before network decoding.

[0271] Exemplarily, before network decoding, the terminal device counts the data volume of the third service data as 100 KB.

[0272] S6032. The terminal device determines the data volume of the third service data after network decoding according to the redundancy rate and the data volume of the third service data before network decoding.

[0273] The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits after network decoding to the number of bits before network decoding.

[0274] Exemplarily, the data volume of the third service data before network decoding is 100KB, and the redundancy rate is 4 / 5. In this case, the terminal device determines that the data volume of the third service data after network decoding is 80KB.

[0275] That is to say, when the access network device provides the third service data after network encoding to the terminal device, the terminal device can perform a "conversion process" to obtain the amount of data after network decoding, and report the "amount of data of the third service data after network decoding" to the UPF network element.

[0276] Secondly, from the triggering conditions of sending the target indication information, there may be multiple triggering conditions for the terminal device to send the target indication information to the UPF network element. The following two examples are used to illustrate:

[0277] Example 1: The terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the terminal device.

[0278] The preset target time period may be a working period set by the terminal device or a working period preset by the core network device (such as a UPF network element). The target indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data or the corresponding data packet quantity within the target time period.

[0279] Exemplarily, the preset target time period is 5 minutes. In this case, the terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element every 5 minutes. For example, at the moment of "09:55", the terminal device sends a target indication information to the UPF network element. At the moment of "10:00", the terminal device sends another target indication information to the UPF network element. Here, the target time period is the time period of "09:55 to 10:00". The target indication information sent at the moment of "10:00" indicates the data volume of the third service data or the corresponding number of data packets in the time period of "09:55 to 10:00".

[0280] In this way, the terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to the preset target time period to indicate the data transmission status within the target time period, so that the UPF network element can determine the amount of service data received by the terminal device within the target time period.

[0281] Example 2: If the third service data meets the first preset condition, the terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the target indication information from the terminal device.

[0282] The first preset condition includes at least one of the following:

[0283] The number of data packets corresponding to the first and third service data is greater than or equal to the data packet threshold T 3，P . Wherein, “T” represents a threshold value, the subscript “3” represents the third service data, and the subscript “P” represents a data packet.

[0284] The data volume of the second and third service data is greater than or equal to the data volume threshold T 3，B . Wherein, "T" represents the threshold, the subscript "3" represents the third service data, and the subscript "B" represents the data volume.

[0285] Here, when the first preset condition is the first item or the second item, the terminal device uses the "third service data" as the judgment basis, and when the number of data packets of the third service data reaches a certain level (such as greater than or equal to the data packet threshold T 3，P ), or the amount of the third service data reaches a certain level (such as greater than or equal to the data amount threshold T 3，B ), the terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element to report the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data to the UPF network element.

[0286] In this way, when the terminal device determines that the third service data meets the first preset condition, the terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element to indicate the transmission status of the third service data, so that the UPF network element can determine the amount of service data received by the terminal device.

[0287] S604: The UPF network element determines the fee corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device according to the target indication information. The specific implementation process of S604 can refer to the relevant description of S204, which will not be repeated here.

[0288] The target indication information may indicate the amount of data or the number of data packets before network decoding, or the amount of data or the number of data packets after network decoding. Accordingly, the specific implementation process of S604 is described in the following two cases:

[0289] Case 1: The target indication information indicates the amount of data or the number of data packets before network decoding. In this case, the UPF network element performs a "conversion process", that is, the amount of data before "network decoding" is used to obtain the amount of data after "network coding". For details, please refer to Figure 4 The processing process shown will not be repeated here.

[0290] Case 2: The target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the data decoded by the network.

[0291] In this case, the UPF network element uses the "data amount indicated by the target indication information" as the "data amount of service data received by the terminal device", or the UPF network element uses the "number of data packets indicated by the target indication information" as the "number of data packets of service data received by the terminal device".

[0292] In the scenarios described in Case 1 and Case 2, after the UPF network element determines the amount of service data received by the terminal device, the UPF network element executes S2043, which will not be repeated here.

[0293] In the charging method provided in the embodiment of the present application, when the UPF network element provides the first service data to the terminal device through the access network device, the terminal device can send target indication information to the UPF network element, for example, the target indication information indicates the data volume or number of data packets of the third service data received by the terminal device, so that the UPF network element can count the fees corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device, without the access network device sending the target indication information to the UPF network element. In this way, the access network device does not need to store the data volume information for a long time, which reduces the management burden of the access network device on the data volume information and reduces the storage resource overhead of the access network device.

[0294] In some embodiments, the UPF network element can determine the video encoding method of the fourth service data to be subsequently transmitted based on the target indication information from the terminal device. For details, see Figure 5 The processing process shown will not be repeated here.

[0295] The above contents are all descriptions of the transmission process of "target indication information". Next, the specific processing process of "PDRs corresponding to the same billing rate in multiple PDRs are mapped to the same QoS flow" is introduced. For example, Figure 8 As shown, Figure 8 One possible processing step is shown:

[0296] S801, AMF network element obtains the billing reduction requirements of business data.

[0297] The service data includes multiple PDRs. The charging rules of a PDR may be as follows: no charge reduction is required; charge reduction is required, and the charge rate is N yuan / MB. Where N is greater than zero. Accordingly, the charge reduction requirement of the service data includes the charging rules of each PDR in the multiple PDRs.

[0298] For example, see Fig. 9 The process of "obtaining the billing reduction requirements for service data" of the AMF network element is as follows:

[0299] Step 1: The terminal device sends a PDU session modification request to the AMF network element. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the PDU session modification request from the terminal device.

[0300] The PDU session modification request includes service information, such as the number of PDRs, the number of QoS flows, and PDR charging rules.

[0301] For example, see Fig.10, the PDU session modification request includes 5 PDRs and 3 QoS flows. Since the PDU session modification request includes the PDR charging rules, that is, the terminal device can recommend the PDR charging rules to the AMF network element.

[0302] Step 2: The AMF network element sends a PDU session update context (Nsmf_PDU session_updateSM context) to the SMF network element. Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the PDU session update context from the AMF network element.

[0303] Among them, the PDU session update context is used to request the SMF network element to update the context of the PDU session.

[0304] Step 3: The PCF network element sends the PDR charging rules to the SMF network element. Correspondingly, the SMF network element receives the PDR charging rules from the PCF network element.

[0305] Step 4: The SMF network element determines the PDR charging rules in the PDU session modification request based on the PDR charging rules provided by the PCF network element and the PDR charging rules provided by the terminal device.

[0306] Exemplarily, if the PDR charging rule provided by the PCF network element is consistent with the PDR charging rule provided by the terminal device, the charging rule of the PDR in the PDU session is the charging rule of the PDR in the PDU session modification request.

[0307] Step 5: The SMF network element sends the PDR charging rules to the AMF network element. Correspondingly, the AMF network element receives the PDR charging rules from the SMF network element.

[0308] Among them, the charging rules of PDR are determined by the SMF network element by executing step 4. The charging rules of PDR are carried in the PDU session update context (Namf_PDU session_update SM context) sent by the SMF network element to the AMF network element.

[0309] S802. The AMF network element determines the mapping relationship between multiple PDRs and QoS flows based on the billing reduction requirements.

[0310] For example, for the PDRs that need to be charged, the AMF network element determines the mapping relationship between the above multiple PDRs and QoS flows according to the charging rates of each PDR. Here, PDRs with the same charging rate are mapped to the same QoS flow, and PDRs with different charging rates are mapped to different QoS flows. For example, see Fig.10 ,5 PDRs are mapped to 3 QoS flows.

[0311] S803, the AMF network element sends the mapping relationship to the UPF network element. Correspondingly, the UPF network element receives the mapping relationship from the AMF network element.

[0312] The mapping relationship is determined by the AMF network element by executing S802. The mapping relationship includes the mapping relationship between the above-mentioned multiple PDRs and QoS flows.

[0313] For example, Fig.10 Taking the scenario shown as an example, the mapping relationship sent by the AMF network element to the UPF network element is "the mapping relationship between the above 5 PDRs and 3 QoS flows".

[0314] S804. The UPF network element maps multiple PDRs to QoS flows according to the mapping relationship.

[0315] For example, Fig.10 Taking the scenario shown in the figure as an example, the UPF network element maps the above 5 PDRs to 3 QoS flows according to the mapping relationship from the AMF network element. Fig.10 In the example, the access network equipment maps three QoS flows to two radio bearers.

[0316] The billing method provided in the embodiment of the present application determines the mapping relationship between the PDR and the QoS flow according to the billing rules of the PDR after the AMF network element obtains the billing reduction demand of the PDR, so that the UPF network element maps the PDR to the QoS flow based on the mapping relationship determined by the AMF network element. In other words, in the process of determining the "mapping relationship between the PDR and the QoS flow", the reference factor of "billing rules" is added to meet the billing requirements of different PDRs.

[0317] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of interaction between various network elements. Accordingly, the embodiment of the present application also provides a billing device, which can be a network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above network element, or a component that can be used for a network element. It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the billing device includes a hardware structure and / or software module corresponding to each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this article, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of this application.

[0318] Fig.11The schematic diagram of the structure of a charging device 1100 is shown. The charging device 1100 includes a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102 .

[0319] For example, the charging device 1100 is used as the charging device in the above method embodiment. Figure 2 Taking the access network device as an example, the transceiver unit 1101 is used to receive the first service data from the user plane function UPF network element. The first service data is to be transmitted to the terminal device. The processing unit 1102 is used to control the transceiver unit 1101 to send target indication information to the UPF network element according to the preset target time period, the first service data and the second service data. The second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the service data in the second service data belongs to the first service data. The target indication information is used by the UPF network element to count the fees corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device in the first service data.

[0320] In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is specifically used to: if at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets a preset condition, control the transceiver unit 1101 to send target indication information to the UPF network element, wherein the preset condition includes at least one of the following: the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data is greater than or equal to the first data packet threshold; the data volume of the first service data is greater than or equal to the first data volume threshold; the number of data packets corresponding to the second service data is greater than or equal to the second data packet threshold; the data volume of the second service data is greater than or equal to the second data volume threshold; the first value is greater than or equal to the third data packet threshold. The first value is a value determined based on the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data and the second service data, respectively. The second value is greater than or equal to the third data volume threshold. The second value is a value determined based on the data volume corresponding to the first service data and the second service data, respectively.

[0321] In one possible design, the transceiver unit 1101 is further used to send a redundancy rate to the UPF network element. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding, and the redundancy rate is used by the UPF network element to determine the amount of service data in the data indicated by the target indication information. The data indicated by the target indication information is the data after network coding.

[0322] In a possible design, the transceiver unit 1101 is also used to receive fourth service data from the UPF network element, wherein the fourth service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device after the first service data, and the video encoding method of the fourth service data is determined based on the target indication information.

[0323] In one possible design, see Fig.12, the charging device 1100 includes a centralized unit 1104 and a distributed unit 1105. The second service data is discarded by the distributed unit 1105. The processing unit 1102 is specifically used for: the distributed unit 1105 is used to send the first indication information to the centralized unit 1104 according to the preset target time period, at least one of the first service data and the second service data, and the centralized unit 1104 is used to send the target indication information to the UPF network element. Alternatively, the distributed unit 1105 is used to send the first indication information to the centralized unit 1104, and the centralized unit 1104 is used to send the target indication information to the UPF network element according to the preset target time period, at least one of the first service data and the second service data. The first indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data, or indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data, and the third service data is the data received by the terminal device. The target indication information is determined based on the first indication information.

[0324] In a possible design, the distribution unit 1105 is also used to determine the data volume of the first coded data. The first coded data is data after network coding; the first coded data belongs to data discarded by the distribution unit 1105, or belongs to data received by the terminal device. The distribution unit 1105 is also used to determine the data volume of the data indicated by the first indication information according to the redundancy rate and the data volume of the first coded data. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0325] In a possible design, the centralized unit 1104 is further used to determine the data volume of the first coded data. The first coded data is data after network coding. The first coded data belongs to data discarded by the distribution unit 1105, or belongs to data received by the terminal device. The centralized unit 1104 is also used to determine the data volume of the data indicated by the target indication information according to the redundancy rate and the data volume of the first coded data. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

[0326] For example, the charging device 1100 is used as the charging device in the above method embodiment. Figure 6 Taking the terminal device of the access network as an example, the transceiver unit 1101 is used to receive the third service data from the access network device. The processing unit 1102 is used to control the transceiver unit 1101 to send target indication information to the user plane function UPF network element according to the preset target time period and at least one of the third service data. The target indication information is used by the UPF network element to determine the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data in the third service data.

[0327] In one possible design, the processing unit 1102 is specifically configured to: if the third service data meets a preset condition, control the transceiver unit 1101 to send target indication information to the UPF network element. The preset condition includes at least one of the following: the number of data packets corresponding to the third service data is greater than or equal to the first data packet threshold; the data volume of the third service data is greater than or equal to the first data volume threshold.

[0328] In one possible design, the target indication information indicates the amount of data of the third service data after network decoding. The processing unit 1102 is also used to determine the amount of data of the third service data before network decoding. The processing unit 1102 is also used to determine the amount of data of the third service data after network decoding according to the redundancy rate and the amount of data of the third service data before network decoding. The redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits after network decoding to the number of bits before network decoding.

[0329] In a possible design, the transceiver unit 1101 is further configured to receive fifth service data from the access network device, wherein the fifth service data is data received after the third service data, and the video encoding method of the fifth service data is determined based on the target indication information.

[0330] For example, the charging device 1100 is used as the charging device in the above method embodiment. Figure 2 or Figure 6 Taking the UPF network element in as an example, the transceiver unit 1101 is used to receive target indication information. The data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. The second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the third service data is the data received by the terminal device. The service data in the second service data and the third service data both belong to the first service data. The first service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device through the access network device. The processing unit 1102 is used to determine the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device according to the target indication information.

[0331] In one possible design, the transceiver unit 1101 is specifically used to: receive target indication information from the access network device. The data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data. The second service data is data before network coding, or data after network coding. The third service data is data after network coding.

[0332] In a possible design, the transceiver unit 1101 is specifically used to: receive target indication information from a terminal device, wherein the data indicated by the target indication information includes third service data, and the third service data is data before network decoding or data after network decoding.

[0333] In a possible design, the data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding. The processing unit 1102 is specifically used to: obtain a redundancy rate, wherein the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding, determine the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device according to the redundancy rate and the target indication information, and then calculate the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device.

[0334] In a possible design, the processing unit 1102 is specifically used to: determine the amount of service data received by the terminal device according to the redundancy rate, the first service data and the second service data, wherein the data indicated by the target indication information includes the second service data.

[0335] In one possible design, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to determine a video encoding method according to the target indication information. The processing unit 1102 is further configured to perform video encoding on the service data to be transmitted to the terminal device using the video encoding method to obtain fourth service data. The processing unit 1102 is further configured to send the fourth service data to the access network device.

[0336] Among them, all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here.

[0337] It should be understood that the processing unit 1102 in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a processor or a processor-related circuit component, and the transceiver unit 1101 can be implemented by a transceiver or a transceiver-related circuit component.

[0338] Optionally, the charging device 1100 may further include a storage unit 1103 for storing program codes and data of the charging device 1100 . The data may include but are not limited to original data or intermediate data.

[0339] In one possible manner, the processing unit 1102 may be a processor or a controller, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processing (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. It may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor may also be a combination that implements a computing function, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like. The transceiver unit 1101 may be a transceiver, a transceiver circuit or a communication interface, and the like. The storage unit 1103 may be a memory.

[0340] In one possible manner, when the processing unit 1102 is a processor, the transceiver unit 1101 is a communication interface, the storage unit 1103 is a memory, or the central unit 1104 is implemented as "a processor, a communication interface, and a memory", or the distribution unit 1105 is implemented as "a processor, a communication interface, and a memory", the structure of the charging device involved in the embodiment of the present application can be: Fig.13 shown.

[0341] Fig.13 A simplified schematic diagram of a possible design structure of a billing device involved in an embodiment of the present application is shown. The billing device 1300 includes: a processor 1302, a communication interface 1303, and a memory 1301. Optionally, the billing device 1300 may also include a bus 1304. Among them, the communication interface 1303, the processor 1302 and the memory 1301 can be interconnected through the bus 1304. The bus 1304 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus 1304 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.13 The fact that only one line is used in the diagram does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0342] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When a computer program instruction is loaded and executed on a computer, a process or function according to an embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. Computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, computer instructions may be transmitted from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. A computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. Available media may be magnetic media (eg, floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (eg, digital video discs (DVDs)), or semiconductor media (eg, solid state disks (SSDs)).

[0343] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of modules is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or modules, which can be electrical or other forms.

[0344] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on multiple network devices (such as terminal devices). Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0345] In addition, each functional module in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into one processing module, or each functional module can exist independently, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional modules.

[0346] Through the description of the above implementation methods, the technicians in the relevant field can clearly understand that the present application can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general hardware, and of course by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a readable storage medium, such as a computer floppy disk, hard disk or optical disk, etc., and includes a number of instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0347] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A charging method, characterized in that: include: The access network device receives first service data from a user plane function UPF network element, wherein the first service data is to be transmitted to the terminal device; The access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period, the first service data, and at least one of the second service data; wherein the second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the service data in the second service data belongs to the first service data; the target indication information is used by the UPF network element to count the fees corresponding to the data volume of the service data received by the terminal device in the first service data; The access network device receives fourth service data from the UPF network element, wherein the fourth service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device after the first service data, and the video encoding method of the fourth service data is determined based on the target indication information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period, the first service data, and at least one of the second service data, including: If at least one of the first service data and the second service data meets a preset condition, the access network device sends the target indication information to the UPF network element, wherein the preset condition includes at least one of the following: The number of data packets corresponding to the first service data is greater than or equal to a first data packet threshold; The data volume of the first service data is greater than or equal to a first data volume threshold; The number of data packets corresponding to the second service data is greater than or equal to a second data packet threshold; The data volume of the second service data is greater than or equal to a second data volume threshold; The first value is greater than or equal to a third data packet threshold, wherein the first value is a value determined based on the number of data packets corresponding to the first service data and the second service data respectively; The second value is greater than or equal to a third data volume threshold, wherein the second value is a value determined based on the data volumes corresponding to the first business data and the second business data respectively.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second service data; Alternatively, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data; the third service data is the data received by the terminal device.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The data indicated by the target indication information is data that has not been network coded; Alternatively, the data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The access network device includes a centralized unit CU and a distributed unit DU; the second service data is discarded by the DU; The access network device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period, the first service data, and at least one of the second service data, including: The DU sends first indication information to the CU according to at least one of the preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data; the CU sends the target indication information to the UPF network element; Alternatively, the DU sends first indication information to the CU; the CU sends the target indication information to the UPF network element according to at least one of the preset target time period, the first service data, and the second service data; Among them, the first indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the second business data, or indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third business data, and the third business data is the data received by the terminal device; the target indication information is determined based on the first indication information.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The DU determines the amount of first coded data, wherein the first coded data is data after network coding; the first coded data belongs to data discarded by the DU, or belongs to data received by the terminal device; The DU determines the data amount of the data indicated by the first indication information according to the redundancy rate and the data amount of the first coded data, wherein the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The CU determines a data amount of first coded data, wherein the first coded data is data after network coding; the first coded data belongs to data discarded by the DU, or belongs to data received by the terminal device; The CU determines the amount of data indicated by the target indication information according to a redundancy rate and the amount of data of the first encoded data, wherein the redundancy rate represents a ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The access network device sends a redundancy rate to the UPF network element, wherein the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding, and the redundancy rate is used by the UPF network element to determine the amount of business data in the data indicated by the target indication information; the data indicated by the target indication information is the data after network coding.

9. A charging method, characterized in that: include: The terminal device receives the third service data from the access network device; The terminal device sends target indication information to the user plane function UPF network element according to the preset target time period and at least one of the third service data, wherein the target indication information is used by the UPF network element to determine the fee corresponding to the data volume of the service data in the third service data; The terminal device receives fifth service data from the access network device, wherein the fifth service data is data received after the third service data, and a video encoding method of the fifth service data is determined based on the target indication information.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The terminal device sends target indication information to the UPF network element according to a preset target time period and at least one of the third service data, including: If the third service data meets the preset condition, the terminal device sends the target indication information to the UPF network element, wherein the preset condition includes at least one of the following: The number of data packets corresponding to the third service data is greater than or equal to the first data packet threshold; The data volume of the third service data is greater than or equal to the first data volume threshold.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that: The target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data before network decoding; Alternatively, the target indication information indicates the data volume or the number of data packets of the third service data after network decoding.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The target indication information indicates the data volume of the third service data after network decoding; the method further includes: The terminal device determines the data volume of the third service data before network decoding; The terminal device determines the data volume of the third service data after network decoding based on the redundancy rate and the data volume of the third service data before network decoding, wherein the redundancy rate represents the ratio of the number of bits after network decoding to the number of bits before network decoding.

13. A charging method, characterized in that: include: The user plane function UPF network element receives target indication information, wherein the data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data; the second service data is discarded by the access network device, and the third service data is data received by the terminal device; the service data in the second service data and the third service data both belong to the first service data; the first service data is data to be transmitted to the terminal device through the access network device; The UPF network element determines, according to the target indication information, a fee corresponding to a data volume of the service data received by the terminal device; The UPF network element determines the video encoding mode according to the target indication information; The UPF network element performs video encoding on the service data to be transmitted to the terminal device by adopting the video encoding method to obtain fourth service data; The UPF network element sends the fourth service data to the access network device.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The UPF network element receives target indication information, including: The UPF network element receives the target indication information from the access network device; The data indicated by the target indication information includes at least one of the second service data and the third service data; the second service data is data before network coding, or data after network coding; and the third service data is data after network coding.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The UPF network element receives target indication information, including: The UPF network element receives the target indication information from the terminal device; The data indicated by the target indication information includes the third service data; the third service data is data before network decoding, or data after network decoding.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that The data indicated by the target indication information is data after network coding; The UPF network element determines, according to the target indication information, a fee corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device, including: The UPF network element obtains a redundancy rate, wherein the redundancy rate represents a ratio of the number of bits before network coding to the number of bits after network coding; The UPF network element determines the amount of service data received by the terminal device according to the redundancy rate and the target indication information; The UPF network element calculates the fees corresponding to the amount of service data received by the terminal device.

17. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A unit for executing each step according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

18. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A processor is used to call a program in a memory so that the billing device executes the billing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

19. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to execute the billing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

20. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A unit for executing each step according to any one of claims 9 to 12.

21. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A processor is used to call a program in a memory so that the billing device executes the billing method described in any one of claims 9 to 12.

22. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to execute the billing method according to any one of claims 9 to 12.

23. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A unit for performing each step as claimed in any one of claims 13 to 16.

24. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A processor is used to call a program in a memory so that the billing device executes the billing method described in any one of claims 13 to 16.

25. A charging device, characterized in that: include: A processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to communicate with other devices, and the processor is used to execute the billing method described in any one of claims 13 to 16.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a program, and when the program is called by the processor, the billing method described in any one of claims 1 to 8 is executed, or the billing method described in any one of claims 9 to 12 is executed, or the billing method described in any one of claims 13 to 16 is executed.

27. A computer program product, comprising a program, characterized in that: When the program is called by the processor, the billing method described in any one of claims 1 to 8 is executed, or the billing method described in any one of claims 9 to 12 is executed, or the billing method described in any one of claims 13 to 16 is executed.

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