Charging Trigger Function String Filters for IMS Charging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) charging architectures require the creation of new Diameter Attribute ValuePairs (AVPs) for each new piece of charging-related information, which is time-consuming and costly, and impacts encoding and decoding processes.
Innovation Solution
Configuring the Charging Trigger Function with string filters to identify and include information in a generic AVP for sending to the Charging Data Function (CDF) or Online Charging System (OCS), eliminating the need for new specific AVPs and allowing flexible output of SIP headers or Diameter AVPs as charging information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If new Diameter AVPs are created for each new piece of charging-related information, then charging information can be captured comprehensively, but the process becomes time-consuming and costly, and impacts encoding and decoding processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by introducing a generic AVP (Attribute Value Pair) that can serve multiple functions for different charging-related information types. Instead of creating separate dedicated AVPs for each information type (e.g., call duration, data volume, event timestamps), the system uses a single generic AVP that can accommodate various charging parameters through configurable string filters, thereby eliminating the need for time-consuming AVP creation processes while maintaining comprehensive charging information capture
2Loss of information
If new Diameter AVPs are created for each new piece of charging-related information, then charging information can be captured comprehensively, but device complexity increases due to encoding and decoding processes
Solution Approach 1:
The generic AVP structure provides a universal container that handles multiple charging information types through a single standardized interface. The string filter mechanism within the generic AVP allows flexible configuration of what information to capture without requiring changes to the core encoding/decoding logic, thus maintaining comprehensive charging information capture while avoiding the complexity increase that would result from creating multiple specialized AVPs
3Adaptability or versatility
If string filters are used to identify information in messages, then flexible charging information can be extracted without new AVPs, but the Charging Trigger Function must process and filter messages
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies preliminary action by pre-configuring string filters in the Charging Trigger Function before actual charging information extraction is needed. The filters are set up in advance based on the specific charging information requirements, allowing the function to simply execute matching operations during message processing without requiring complex real-time decision logic. This pre-configuration approach enables flexible charging information extraction while keeping the processing complexity manageable
Data Source
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AI summary
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of operating a Charging Trigger Function to collect session and/or event related information from an IP Multimedia Subsystem. The method comprises configuring the Charging Trigger Function with one or more string filters for identifying matching strings, determining if messages passing through the Charging Trigger Function include one or more matching strings, and, if a message does include one or more matching strings, sending a reporting message to a charging control entity, the reporting message comprising data associated with each matching string.