Access Device Application Identifier Charging for Social App Traffic
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing charging technologies fail to accurately count traffic generated by users when accessing content through social applications, as not all content accessed is provided by the same service provider, leading to incomplete traffic package billing.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that identify content requests triggered by applications, determine the traffic generated, and send charging requests to charge the traffic as generated by the application, ensuring accurate traffic packaging and service quality control by updating accumulated traffic records.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the telecommunications operator counts traffic by analyzing IP addresses or URLs to determine content provider sites, then traffic generated by content provider sites can be accurately counted into the traffic package, but traffic generated by social applications accessing content from external providers cannot be counted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the traffic identification process into two parts: first identifying the application identifier from the content request to determine which application triggered the request, then using this application identifier to count traffic into the appropriate traffic package. This segmentation allows the system to track application-level traffic patterns while maintaining compatibility with existing content provider identification methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the access device acts as a mediator between the user terminal and the charging device. The access device receives content requests, extracts application identifiers, determines corresponding traffic packages, and forwards charging requests with appropriate identifiers to the charging device. This intermediary role enables comprehensive traffic counting without requiring changes to the underlying content delivery infrastructure.
2Reliability
If the system only counts traffic pointing to service provider sites, then charging device can accurately bill traffic package usage, but user experience deteriorates as traffic generated within the application ecosystem is not covered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-establishing relationships between application identifiers and traffic packages. When a user subscribes to a traffic package for a specific application, the system stores the mapping between the application identifier and the traffic package identifier in advance. This allows the charging device to quickly and accurately determine whether a content request should be counted into the traffic package without complex real-time analysis, thereby improving both billing accuracy and user convenience.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the telecommunications operator develops separate traffic packages for content providers and social applications, then specialized charging can be implemented, but the complexity of traffic package management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal charging mechanism that can handle both content provider traffic and application traffic through a unified framework. The charging device receives charging requests containing either content provider identifiers or application identifiers, and processes both types of requests using the same traffic package lookup and billing logic. This universal approach allows the system to maintain specialized traffic packages for different purposes while using a single, simplified charging processing path, thereby reducing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments disclose a charging method and device. In present embodiments, according to an application identifier carried in a content request, an application indicated by the application identifier is learned, and it is learned that the content request is triggered by using the application. In this way, according to the embodiments of the present embodiments, a charging request indicating traffic generated by requested content and the foregoing application may be sent to a charging device.