Design Of CDMA2000 Convergent Online Charging System

As the era of 3G arrives, the updating network technology enables operators to provide multiple services to users. This brings operators developing opportunities as well as challenges that require operators change the core of their operating system. Billing system, which is at the core of operating system, is the key for operators to construct.3G network technology makes a breakthrough in traditional operations focused on voice services. It can provide multiple-services including voice, data, and multi-media, and etc., which bring users variant enjoyment and experience. These services complicate the needs for charging, putting great pressure on present charging system. On one hand, the charging system should meet the requirement of binding variant service across platforms together and designating only one account for one user only; on the other hand, expense using fees increase the risks of defaulting accounts. In addition, the multi-media service bases charging on service contents instead of timing point. For the above reasons, the charging system at 3G era must own the capacity to charge, charge based on service contents as well as real-time billing and real-time control, so as to reduce operating risks.Online Charging System (OCS) is an open and generic reference model proposed by 3GPP for real-time online billing system. It provides real-time billing and real-time control mechanism, implements convergent billing on multi-platform and multi-service, and supports multiple billing trigger mechanism. It is significant for the operators to construct charging system in 3G era.CDMA2000 is one of 3G standard used in China. This paper starts from the current situation of development of this network and the operators to use existing equipment resources, discusses a solution of convergent billing system-- OCS + Hot Billing, which is a quasi-real-time billing system .This program can solute the convergence of prepaid and post-paid fees, and alleviates the difficulty of system development at the early stage of 3G-building,and will include all operations in the system when all is prepared, realizing"seamless"updates.It must exert impact to introduce OCS into present network. This paper makes analysis on the impact and provides alteration suggestions on present network.In response to practical demand, this paper makes practical alteration to 3GPP OCS reference model. Detailed design is given in overall framework, functions, workflow for the OCS system, which meets the requirement of real-time collection, real-time billing, real-time fee deduction and real-time control in the environment of 3G.. Finally, it introduces a shared database based on SID model, which is critical in the combination of OCS and Hot Billing. In that, the adoption of Main Memory Database will raise visiting efficiency of the database, thus improve the real-time of billing system.As 3G comes, online charging system should become a necessary choice for operators. The convergent online charging system designed in the paper actually follows the trend and contributes to the constructive solutions which are practical, extensive, and cost-effective.