Service Charging Interface for SIP Packet Extraction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing techniques for collecting service usage information to charge subscribers in communication networks are inefficient, particularly in extracting relevant data from Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) packets.

Innovation Solution

A service charging interface communicates service information from a SIP edge proxy to a charging/enforcement point, allowing the extraction of service details from SIP packets and enabling the charging/enforcement point to charge subscribers accurately, while also allowing for instructions to be sent from the charging/enforcement point to the SIP edge proxy for SIP operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If service information is extracted from SIP packets using existing techniques, then charging information can be obtained, but the process is inefficient and lacks precision

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice charging efficiencyVSAvoidservice information extraction accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

A service charging interface is introduced as an intermediary component between the SIP edge proxy and the charging/enforcement point. This interface specifically extracts service information from SIP packets and communicates it to the charging system, improving both the efficiency of information collection and the precision of service usage measurement without requiring the charging/enforcement point to directly parse SIP packets

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the charging/enforcement point directly extracts information from SIP packets, then service usage data can be obtained, but the charging/enforcement point cannot extract certain information that requires specialized processing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation extraction capabilityVSAvoidsystem architecture complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The service charging interface acts as a specialized intermediary that handles the complex task of extracting diverse service information from SIP packets. This allows the charging/enforcement point to obtain comprehensive service usage data without needing to implement complex SIP packet parsing capabilities itself, maintaining a clean separation of concerns in the system architecture

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The service charging interface is designed to extract multiple types of service information from SIP packets, including but not limited to service usage duration, data volume, and service type identification. This multi-functional extraction capability ensures that the charging system can handle various service types uniformly while maintaining the ability to capture specific service details

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS8923275B2Providing service information for charging a subscriber for a service

Publication Date: 2014.12.30 CISCO TECHNOLOGY INC

AI summary

Providing service information includes receiving session initiation protocol (SIP) packets from a SIP proxy. Service information is extracted from the SIP packets. The service information describes a service provided to an access terminal associated with a subscriber. The service information is sent to a charging/enforcement point operable to charge the subscriber for the service.