What Is an Online Charging System?

The Online Charging System (OCS) is a real-time interactive charging system based on service usage and system. Online billing collects billing information during the course of the session to achieve real-time settlement. If the account runs out of money, business ceases. This is a completely real-time approach and a future trend. Such as: moving dynamic zone, Shenzhou line.

The Online Charging System (OCS) is a real-time interactive charging system based on service usage and system. Online billing collects billing information during the course of the session to achieve real-time settlement. If the account runs out of money, business ceases. This is a completely real-time approach and a future trend. Such as: moving dynamic zone, Shenzhou line.

Chinese name

Online billing system

Foreign name

Online Charging System

Explanation

Interactive charging based on service usage and system

development path

OfflineOn TimeReal Time

Purpose

Separate business domain and network domain

Short name

OCS

What is an online billing system

The Online Charging System (OCS) is a real-time interactive charging system based on service usage and system. Online billing collects billing information during the course of the session to achieve real-time settlement. If the account runs out of money, business ceases. This is a completely real-time approach and a future trend. Such as: moving dynamic zone, Shenzhou line.

OCS mainly refers to the charging system participating in the communication process control, which can solve the problems of real-time credit control for users, prepaid data services and real-time charging of value-added services.

OCS is one of the most important components in 3GPP network architecture. In order to better guide the construction of the billing support system in the 3G environment, the 3GPP organization proposed the reference structure of the online billing system (OCS) at 32.815, and provided an open and versatile real-time billing system framework. Unified charging for bearer, session and content events. This framework separates the device's traffic control function from the billing function, and establishes a direct interaction between the billing system and session / service control, enabling billing to fully participate in the service's use process, while users use services, OCS System side billing. Under such a system, both the powerful capabilities of an independent billing system can be used to provide flexibility close to a quasi-real-time billing system, and the real-time characteristics of participating in the use process can be used to minimize the cost of arrears. ^[1]

Development of Online Billing System Billing System

Offline charging. Generally speaking, the previous Chinese telecommunications industry used this model. At the beginning of each month, the charging system takes the usage information (bills) of all services from the previous month and performs charging calculations. And generate a bill.

The quasi real-time billing Hotbilling, the billing system uses a timing mode, such as 5 minutes, go to the network element side to fetch all bills for batch billing, and generate a relatively real-time balance through the balance processing of this account.

Traditional intelligent network real-time billing.

Online Charging System, a real-time charging mode, before the service is used, the network element will perform OCS message authentication, and the account, balance, and corresponding tariff information will be approved by the charging system. After the network element obtains the corresponding usage amount, the user can use the corresponding service.

Advantages of online billing system

Based on the purpose and principle of separating the business domain from the network domain, coupled with the traditional intelligent network billing, it can only support basic voice, SMS, or other VAS services, so the OCS is separated;

OCS guarantees the unification of the charging engine in the entire network; because it exists in the form of a network element;

OCS is based on message charging.

Implementation principle of online billing system

OCS enables multi-network, full-service converged billing and cross-bundling benefits, and supports online billing for voice, data, and value-added services. OCS can achieve the following network online charging:

• 2G (The 2nd Generation Mobile Communications)

• 3G (The 3rd Generation Mobile Communications)

• Fixed network: Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Soft Switch (SS)

• IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem)

• WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)

• Broadband

OCS is connected to the following network entities to complete online charging of corresponding services:

• Connect with SACP (Service Access Control Point) to complete online charging of voice services.

• Connect with SMSC (Short Message Service Center) to complete online charging of point-to-point short message service.

• Connect with GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) to complete online charging of data services.

• Connect with VAC (Value-added service Authentication Center) to complete online charging of value-added services.

When the service is created, the OCS informs the core network of the quota (such as duration and traffic threshold) that the service can use. Once the quota threshold is reached, the core network immediately terminates the user service.

OCS, as a charging system, does not replace the intelligent network, but separates the charging function of the intelligent network. The access and control of services still need to be processed by the intelligent network platform. OCS separates the charging function of the intelligent network and separates the charging from the network side and integrates it into the BSS (Business Support System).

When an OCS user makes or receives a call, the MSC (Mobile Switching Center) / SSP (Service Switching Point) first determines whether the user triggers signaling to SACP based on the service key of the user's subscription information. If not, For offline charging users, the call is triggered to the SACP to which the user belongs according to the GT (Global Title) value. The SACP sends a DCC (Diameter Credit Control) message to the user's home OCS for authentication and charging.

In order to enable the MSC / SSP to trigger user calls to the home SACP, the CRM (Common Resource Management, Common Resource Management) sends an instruction to the HLR (Home Location Register, home location register) when setting up an account to set the user's subscription information. The signing information refers to the CAMEL (Customized Applications for Mobile Network Enhanced Logic) information stored in the HLR by the user, and this information includes the corresponding home SACP address (that is, the SACP GT address) of the user, Service keys (referred to as PPS (Prepaid Service), VPN (Virtual Private Network), CAMEL version, etc.)