WO2004062255A1

WO2004062255A1 - Method of paying the multi-media message to the receiver by the third party

Info

Publication number: WO2004062255A1
Application number: PCT/CN2004/000024
Authority: WO
Inventors: Zhiming Li
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2003-01-07
Filing date: 2004-01-07
Publication date: 2004-07-22
Also published as: CN1516486A; CN1302671C

Abstract

The invention discloses a method of paying the multi-media message to the receiver by the third party. The third party signs the agreement about paying with value-added Service Provides (VASP), the network operator or the receiver. In the billing system of the operator network, the third party account is set and the 3rd-party-payment rule and associated information is kept. The sender sends the multi-media message (MM) to the sender multi-media message service relay/server (MMS Relay/Server). The sender MMS Relay/Server gets the 3rd-party-payment rule and associated information. If the MM to the receiver is paid by the 3ird party, then the 3rd-party-payment rule and associated information are sent to the receiver. The sender MMS Relay/Server inform the billing system of the net work operator that the MM is paid by the 3ird party. The billing system of the network operator deducts the associated charge. The invention resolves the problem that the receiver cannot know whether the received MM is paid by the 3ird party.

Description

Method for third party to pay for receiving multimedia message by receiver

Technical field

The present invention relates to a service payment problem in a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method for a third party to pay a receiver for receiving a multimedia message in a mobile communication system. Background of the invention

Based on the second-generation (2G) short message service, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) is introduced in the third-generation mobile communication system. MMS enables user terminals to send and receive multimedia in various media forms including images, sound, text, and animation. Message, to realize the information transfer between mobile phones and mobile phones, mobile phones and the Internet.

For MMS, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) organization has formulated its service requirements and basic implementation framework. In the 3GPP MMS Phase 2 (TS23.140) standard, the MMS network framework is shown in Figure 1. The interface between the MMS Relay Server / Server 101 and the sender MMS User Agent 102 is the MM1 interface; the interface between the Relay Server 103 and the server 104 is the MM2 interface The external server (External Server) 105 may be a server for sending E-Mail, fax, or Unified Messaging Platform (UMS), and the interface between the MMS Relay / Server 101 and the external server 105 is an MM3 interface; the MMS Relay / Server The interface between 101 and MMS Relay / Server 106 in different multimedia service environment (MMSE) is MM4 interface; the interface between MMS Relay / Server 101 and Home Location Register (HLR) 107 is MM5 interface; MMS Relay / Server 101 The interface with MMS User Database 108 is MM6 interface; the interface between MMS Relay / Server 101 and value-added application service provider (VASP) 109 is MM7 interface; MMS Relay / Server 101 and billing system (Billing System) The interface between 110 is MM8 interface.

If the user wants to send a multimedia message (MM), first edit it through the MMS User Agent 102, and then submit or upload the edited MM to the MMS Relay / Server 101 through the MM1 interface, and the MMS Relay / Server 101 sends the HLR 107 through the MM5 interface Query the address of the MMS Relay / Server where the receiver is located. Since the receiver can be a mobile phone user or an external server, different processing needs to be done for different situations. For the case where the receiver is a mobile phone user, if the receiver and the sender are in an MMS Relay / Server in a different MMSE, the MM is sent to the MMS Relay / Server 106 where the receiver is located through the MM4 interface, and it is sent through the MM 1 interface Send the MM to the receiver MMS user agent 111; if the receiver and the sender are in the MMS Relay / Server of the same MMSE, the MM is directly sent by the MMS Relay / Server to the receiver MMS user agent 111 through the MM1 interface. If the receiver is an external server, the MMS Relay / Server where the receiver is located sends the MM to the external server 105 through the MM3 interface, and then the external server 105 presents the MM edited by the sending user to the receiving user.

If VASP is used as the sender or receiver, since the interface between VASP and MMS Relay / Server is MM7, the MM1 interface corresponding to the receiver in the above process needs to be changed to MM7 interface '.

In the MMS Functional Description Phase 1 (TS22.140) standard, a third party that has a contract with VASP, an operator, or a receiver can pay for the receiver to receive the MM, but in the MM1 / MM7 interface, it is not given how the receiver is It is known that the third party has paid for itself, so the receiver cannot directly know whether the received MM has been paid by the third party. Invention's content

In view of this, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a third party The method of MM payment, so that when a third party pays for the receiver to receive the MM, the receiver can directly know that the third party has paid for the multimedia message received by the third party.

To achieve the above objective, the technical solution of the present invention is implemented as follows: A method in which a third party pays for a receiver to receive a multimedia message, the method includes the following steps:

a. The MMS network sets and saves third-party payment rules and information according to the type of third-party payment, and sets a third-party account in the billing system;

b. The sender sends the MM to the sender MMS Relay / Sever by submitting a request message. The sender MMS Relay / Sever obtains the rules and information of third-party payment, and judges whether the third party receives the MM payment for the receiver according to the rules. If not, end the process, otherwise, go to step c;

c The sender MMS Relay / Sever sends the third-party payment information and MM to the receiver user agent (UA) according to the receiver's address via the receiver MMS Sever / Relay; d. the sender MMS Relay / Sever notifies the billing system of the MM The third party pays, and the billing system deducts the relevant fees from the corresponding third party account.

The step c includes the following steps:

cl. The sender's MMS Relay / Sever searches the receiver's MMS Relay I Sever at the receiver's address, and determines whether the sender's MMS Relay / Sever and the receiver's MMS Relay / Sever are in the same MMSE. If so, proceed to step c3, Otherwise, go to step c2;

c2. The sender MMS Relay / Sever sends the third-party payment information and the MM to the receiver UA through the receiver MMS Relay / Sever, and proceeds to step d;

c3. The sender MMS Relay / Sever directly sends the third-party payment information and MM to the receiver UA, and proceeds to step d.

In the step a, the third-party payment information includes at least: information for notifying the receiver of the received MM free information. The third-party payment information further includes third-party identification information.

The third-party payment information further includes additional description information of the third party.

In step b, the submission request message further includes third-party payment information; after the sender MMS Relay / Sever obtains the third-party payment rules and information, and determines whether the third party is the receiver according to the rules Before receiving the MM payment, the method further includes: The sender MMS Relay / Sever determines whether the third-party payment information in the submission request message is correct according to the third-party payment rules and information obtained by the sender. Steps for the three parties to receive the MM payment for the receiver; otherwise, set the third party payment information in the submission request message to the third party payment information obtained by itself, and execute a rule to determine whether the third party receives the MM payment for the receiver A step of.

In step b, the submission request message further includes third-party payment information; after the sender MMS Relay / Sever obtains the third-party payment rules and information, and determines whether the third party is the receiver according to the rules Before receiving the MM payment, the method further includes: the sender MMS Relay / Sever determines whether the third-party payment information in the submission request message is correct according to the third-party payment rules and information obtained by the sender; The step of receiving payment for the receiver by the MM; otherwise, return a message to the sender that the third party payment information in the submission request message is incorrect, and end this process.

In step a, the third-party payment type is a payment type agreed between the third party and the operator, or a payment type agreed between the third party and the receiver, or a payment type agreed between the third party and VASP.

In step a, the third party payment regulations and information are stored in the home location register of the operator network; or stored in the home subscription server of the operator network; or stored in the MMS user database of the operator network; Or save it in VASP. The sender may be a mobile terminal or VASP; the receiver may also be a mobile terminal or VASP.

The method of the present invention uses a third party to sign a third-party payment agreement with an operator, a receiver, or a VASP, so that when the sender sends the MM paid by the third party to the receiver, the operator network uses the third-party payment information to notify the receiver that the MM is free. Let the receiver know the payer of the MM and the specific description of the payer. Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network framework of an MMS in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of MM sending and receiving for third party payment according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of message flow for third party receiving MM payment for receiving party in the present invention. Mode of Carrying Out the Invention

The solution of the present invention is based on the network framework provided by the TS23.140 standard in 3GPP, and adds information related to third-party payment to the messages sent and received by the original sending and receiving MM processing flow.

In the solution of the present invention, if a third party wants to pay the receiver for the expenses incurred by the receiver to receive the MM, the third party can sign a third-party payment agreement with the operator, the receiver, or VASP. There are third-party accounts in the billing system. For signing a payment contract, if the sender is a mobile terminal, a third party may sign with the operator or receiver; if the sender is a VASP, the third party may sign with VASP, the operator, or the receiver.

Specifically, if a third party has signed a third-party payment agreement with the operator or the receiver, when the sender sends the MM to the receiver, the operator's network informs the receiver that the MM is free. The operator's network can also Notify the receiver through the identification information of the third party that the MM is Who pays, and can also send additional descriptions of the third party to the recipient. If the third party has signed a third-party payment agreement with VASP, when VASP sends the MM to the receiver through the operator network, if the VASP stores the payment information, the VASP can directly notify the receiver that the MM is free. MM is free if the payment information is saved in the operator's network. In both of these notification methods, the receiver's identification information can be used to further inform the receiver who paid for the MM, and additional description information of the third party can be sent to the receiver.

The rules for the third party to pay for the recipient are stipulated by the third party payment contract, and the relevant information is proposed or derived by the third party payment contract according to the rules. Because there are many possible situations in which a third party pays for the receiver, there are many types of third-party payment contract rules signed by the third party. Specifically, according to different payment situations, the corresponding third-party payment rules for the receiver And related information may have the following types: one is that all MMs received by the receiver are paid by a third party for rules and related information; one is that the receiver receives the MM sent from a specific sender and paid by a third party Corresponding rules and related information, the relevant information needs to have the identity of the specific sender; there is another rule that the receiver receives the MM sent from the specific sender within a specific period of time and the rules and related information corresponding to the payment by a third party Information, the relevant information needs to have the identity of the specific sender and time period information. The above-mentioned several rules are just examples, and may be a combination of the above-mentioned various rules, or other rules, that is, not limited to the above-mentioned rules. In addition, if the receiver is also informed that the MM is paid by a third party, the corresponding third party's payment information for the receiver also needs to include the identification and description information of the third party.

The technical solution of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

First, the sender can be a mobile terminal or a VASP. These two cases are described separately below.

If the sender is a mobile terminal, the third party can communicate with the operator or the receiver The signing of a third-party payment contract is the same in both cases. When a third party signs a third-party payment agreement with the operator or the receiver, it must ensure that a third-party account exists in the operator's billing system. The operator stores the rules and related information for the third party to pay for the receiver in the MMS User Database or HLR / HSS for billing and authentication.

If the sender is VASP, a third party may sign a third-party payment agreement with VASP, the operator, or the receiver. If a third party signs a third-party payment contract with an operator or a receiver, these two situations are similar to the processes corresponding to the third-party payment contract with a carrier or a receiver when the sender is a mobile phone user. In the original process, the MM1 interface corresponding to the sender is changed to the MM7 interface, and messages are sent and received through the MM7 interface.

If the sender is VASP and the third party signs a third-party payment agreement with VASP, there are rules and related information for third-party payment in VASP. In this case, it must also ensure that there is a third-party payment in the operator's billing system. Account, but third party payment rules and related information may or may not be stored in the MMS User Database or HLR / HSS. If the MMS User Database or HLR / HSS stores the rules and related information of third-party payment, the processing method corresponding to the third-party payment contract signed by the third party with the operator or the receiver is exactly the same. The information about the third-party payment is operated by the operator. The business network informs the receiver. If the MMS User Database or HLR / HSS does not store the rules and related information of third-party payment, when the VASP as the sender sends the MM to the receiver, the third party needs to be judged according to the rules and related information of the third-party payment stored therein Whether the corresponding receiver should be paid for the MM. If it should be paid by a third party, when the VASP sends the MM7 submission request message to its MMS Relay / Server, it needs to add third party payment information to the message, that is, VASP tells the receiver that the MM is free through the MMS Relay / Server. It can also use the identification information of the third party to inform the receiver who paid for the MM. At the same time, additional description information of the third party can be sent to the receiver. The remaining steps in this process are the same as in the previous case. Similarly, if the receiver is also VASP, The corresponding MM1 interface of the receiver is changed to the MM7 interface, and messages are sent and received through the MM7 interface.

The receiver can be a mobile terminal or a VASP. In both cases, the process of sending and receiving an MM is similar. The difference is that the mobile terminal and the MMS Relay / Server send and receive messages through the MM1 interface, and the VASP and MMS Relay / Server sends and receives messages through the MM7 interface.

In the following, the sender and receiver are both mobile terminals and the mobile terminal is a mobile phone user. Figure 2 shows the process of sending and receiving MM after the third party signs a third-party payment agreement with the operator or receiver when the sender and receiver are both mobile phone users. This process corresponds to the following steps:

Step 201: The operator stores the third-party payment rules and related information in the MMS User Database or HLR / HSS according to the third-party payment agreement.

Step 202: The sender user agent (UA) submits or uploads the MM to be sent to the MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located, and the MMS Relay / where the sender is located through the submission request message (MMl_SUBMIT_REQ) of the MM1 interface. The server returns a MMl_SUBMIT_RES message to the sender UA. The MM1_SUBMIT_REQ message may include third party payment information.

Step 203: After receiving the MM1-SUBMIT-REQ message at the MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located, obtain the third-party payment rules and related information from the HLR / HSS or MMS User Database.

If the third-party payment information and payment rules are stored in the HLR / HSS, the third-party payment information and payment rules are obtained through the MM5 interface. If they are stored in the MMS User Database, the third-party payment information and payment rules are obtained through the MM6 interface. .

Steps 204 to 205: The sender MMS Relay / Server first determines whether the third party needs to pay for the receiver corresponding to the MM according to the obtained third party payment information and payment rules, such as If not required, go to step 211; if necessary, further determine whether the receiver meets the payment rule determined by a third party; if not, then go to step 211; if yes, skip to step 206.

If the MMl_SUBMIT_REQ message includes third party payment information, first determine whether the third party payment information in the MMl_SUBMIT_REQ message is correct according to the third party payment information and payment rules obtained from the HLR / HSS or MMS User Database. If it is correct, the judgment in step 204 is performed; if it is incorrect, the third-party payment information in the MMI_SUBMIT_REQ message may be updated to the obtained third-party payment information, and then the judgment in step 204 may be performed, or Return the third party payment information error message to the sender UA, and end the current process. Of course, after receiving the message, the sender UA can resend the MM.

Step 206: The MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located determines whether the receiver is in the MMS Relay / Server of the same MMSE according to the address of the receiver. If so, skip to step 209, otherwise proceed to step 207.

Step 207: The MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located sends an MM4 forward request message (MM4—Forward—REQ) containing the third-party payment information to the MMS Relay / Server where the receiver is located.

Step 208: The MMS Relay / Server where the receiver is located notifies the receiver UA of the MM through an MM1 — Notification_REQ message containing third-party payment information, and the receiver UA feeds back a notification response message after receiving the MM1 — Notification — REQ message (MM1 — Notification — RES), and request an MM from the MMS Relay / Server where the receiver is located through the MM1 retrieval request message (MMl_RETRIEVE_REQ), and the MMS Relay / Server where the receiver is located retrieves the response message through MM1 containing third-party payment information ( MM1_RETRIEVE_RES) sends the MM to the receiving UA, and skips to step 210. Step 209: The MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located notifies the receiver UA of the MM 1—Notification—REQ message containing the third-party payment information. The receiver UA sends back the MM l_Notification_RE after receiving the message, and requests it through the MMl—RETRIEVE_REQ message. The MM is obtained from the MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located, and the MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located sends the MM to the receiver UA through an MMl_RETRIEVE_RES message containing third-party payment information.

Step 210: The MMS Relay / Server where the sender is located informs the billing system that the fees for the MM are paid by a third party, and the billing system deducts the relevant fees from the third party account, thereby completing the settlement of the fees for the MM.

Step 211: Send the MM according to the existing method for sending the MM, and end the process.

Figure 3 shows the message sent and received by the MM after the third party signs a third-party payment and contract with the operator when the sender and receiver are mobile phone users, and the sender and receiver are in different MMS Relay / Servers of the MMSE. Flow timing diagram.

The method of the present invention can ensure that the receiver knows that the received MM is free of charge while enabling the third party to pay for the receiver's MM, and can allow the receiver to know the payer of the MM and the specific description information of the payer.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the solution of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claim

1. A method for a third party to pay a receiver for receiving a multimedia message, which is characterized by including at least the following steps:

a. Multimedia messaging service The MMS network sets and saves third party payment rules and information according to the type of third party payment, and sets up a third party account in the billing system;

b. The sender sends the multimedia message MM to the sender's multimedia message service relay server / server MMS Relay / Sever by submitting a request message, and the sender MMS Relay / Sever obtains the rules and information of third-party payment, and judges whether the The third party pays for the receiver to receive the MM, if not, the process ends, otherwise, go to step c;

c The sender MMS Relay / Sever sends the third-party payment information and MM to the receiver user agent UA via the receiver MMS Sever / Relay according to the receiver's address; d. the sender MMS Relay / Sever notifies the billing system Three parties pay, and the billing system deducts related fees from the corresponding third-party account.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step c comprises the following steps:

cl. The sender MMS Relay / Sever searches for the receiver MMS Relay I Sever according to the receiver address, and determines whether the sender MMS Relay / Sever and the receiver MMS Relay / Sever are in the same multimedia service environment MMSE. If so, enter Step c3, otherwise, go to step c2;

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step a, the third party payment information includes at least: information for notifying the receiver that the MM received is free.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the third-party payment information further includes third-party identification information.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the third-party payment information further includes additional description information of a third party.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step b, the submission request message further includes third-party payment information;

After the sender MMS Relay / Sever obtains the third-party payment rules and information, and before determining whether a third party receives the MM payment for the receiver according to the rules, the sender MMS Relay / Sever further obtains: The third-party payment rules and information determine whether the third-party payment information in the submission request message is correct. If the third-party payment information is correct, directly perform the step of determining whether the third party receives the MM payment for the receiver according to the rules; otherwise, cancel the submission request. The third-party payment information is set to the third-party payment information obtained by itself, and the step of determining whether a third party receives the MM payment for the receiver according to the rules is performed.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step b, the submission request message further includes third-party payment information;

After the sender MMS Relay / Sever obtains the third-party payment rules and information, and before determining whether a third party receives the MM payment for the receiver according to the rules, the sender MMS Relay / Sever further obtains: The third-party payment rules and information determine whether the third-party payment information in the submission request message is correct. If the third-party payment information is correct, perform the step of determining whether the third party receives the MM payment for the receiver according to the rules; otherwise, return the submission to the sender. The third party payment information in the request message is incorrect, and the process ends.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step a, the third-party payment type is a payment type agreed between a third party and an operator, or a payment agreed between a third party and a receiver. Or the type of payment agreed between the third party and the value-added application service provider VASP.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that in said step a, said third party payment regulations and information are stored in a home location register of the operator's network; or stored in a home subscription server of the operator's network Or stored in the MMS user database of the operator's network; or stored in VASP.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sender is a mobile terminal or VASP; and the receiver is a mobile terminal or VASP.