JP2002315057A - Mobile communication network system, method and system for charging mobile device applied, and movement device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile communication network system which can bestow favor on the user of a mobile device by efficiently utilizing the resource of the system by leveling traffics in the system, and to provide a method and system for charging mobile devices applied to the system and a movement device. SOLUTION: The mobile communication network system, which controls the communication between the mobile device and other communication terminals is provided with a communicating state monitoring means, which generates information on communicating states by measuring communication traffics in the system, and a communication state notifying means which notifies the mobile device of the information on communicating states generated by means of the monitoring means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mobile communication network system and a charging method for a mobile station applied to the system, and more particularly, to a mobile communication system according to communication traffic measured in the mobile communication network system. The present invention relates to a mobile communication network system for charging a mobile device, a mobile device charging method and system applied to the system, and a mobile device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of charging a mobile device, for example, a PDC (Personal) to which circuit switching is applied
2. Description of the Related Art In a digital cellular type mobile communication system, a distance-based time-based calling side charging method in which a caller is charged based on a distance between a calling party and a calling party and a talk time is adopted. In this distance-based time-based calling-side charging method, a charge is calculated based on a charging index corresponding to the distance between incoming and outgoing calls and the call time. Also,
PDC-P (Personal Digita) to which packet switching is applied
(l) In a mobile communication system of the Cellular-Packet type, a fee is calculated based on the amount of packets received by a mobile device user.

[0003]

As described above, in the mobile communication system of the PDC system to which the above-described circuit switching is applied, communication in a mobile communication network system (for example, a circuit switching network) in the system. Since the system is not charged depending on the traffic congestion status, the user of the mobile device bears the same communication fee regardless of whether the communication traffic is congested or not.

[0004] Further, the congestion state of the communication traffic in the above-mentioned mobile communication network system is usually not known on the mobile device user side. Therefore, even in a situation where the inside of the mobile communication network system is in a congested state and it is difficult to connect the telephone, the mobile device user once,
Unless a telephone call is made, it is impossible to determine whether the mobile communication network system is hardly connected due to congestion, or whether a device in the mobile communication network system is hardly connected due to some kind of failure. For this reason, calls are made on a daily basis without being particularly aware of the congestion of communication traffic of the mobile communication network system. As a result, even if the communication traffic of the mobile communication network system is in a congested state, there is a possibility that a call is issued from many mobile device users, and in such a case, congestion in the mobile communication network system is promoted. There is a risk of doing it.

Further, in the case of a mobile communication system (circuit switching) of the PDC system, even when a voice communication user tries to reconnect in a congested state in the mobile communication network system, the circuit switching is not connected. However, in the case of the PDC-P type mobile communication system (packet switching), if the connection of the packet switching is completed and the page acquisition is progressing, billing is generated, and thus the burden on the user of the mobile device occurs.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to promote traffic leveling in a mobile communication network system and to efficiently utilize resources of the mobile communication network system to provide a mobile device that can benefit mobile device users. An object of the present invention is to provide a communication network system, a charging method and system for a mobile device applied to the communication network system, and a mobile device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication network system for controlling communication between a mobile station and another communication terminal. Communication status monitoring means for measuring communication traffic in the mobile communication network system to generate communication status information, and communication status notification means for notifying the mobile device of the communication status information generated by the communication status monitoring means It is comprised so that it may have.

In such a mobile communication network system, communication traffic is measured in the mobile communication network system, and information indicating a state of the measured communication traffic, that is, communication state information is generated. Then, the generated communication status information is transmitted from the mobile communication network system and notified to the mobile device via the base station.

The user of the mobile station can grasp the degree of traffic congestion in the mobile communication network system from the notified communication status information. for that reason,
Refrain from calling when communication traffic is heavy,
Make a call when the traffic is relatively free,
It is possible to select whether or not to perform communication immediately after seeing the degree of traffic congestion. For example, if the mobile user makes a call when the traffic is free, the probability of a call loss is small because there is not much traffic being processed in the mobile communication network system. As a result, the mobile device user can reliably perform communication (telephone / data) with a relatively small number of accesses.

[0010] In addition, when the traffic is heavily congested, it is expected that the number of mobile device users who refrain from making calls will increase. Therefore, even if the inside of the mobile communication network system is in a congestion state, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a call that promotes the congestion due to the weight of the call of the mobile device user as described above. As a result, it is possible to avoid a high load on traffic in the mobile communication network system. On the other hand, when the traffic is free, the opportunity for the user to make a call increases, so that the traffic leveling in the mobile communication network system can be advanced. As a result, traffic load in the mobile communication network system can be distributed, and resources in the system can be used efficiently.

[0011] Based on communication traffic in the mobile communication network system, a rank corresponding to the measured traffic is determined from a plurality of predetermined ranks, and the determined rank is used as communication status information, thereby improving visibility. In view of the fact that good communication status information can be provided to a mobile device, the present invention provides the mobile communication network system, wherein the communication status monitoring means is based on communication traffic. It is configured to determine a rank corresponding to the measured traffic from a plurality of predetermined ranks and generate the determined rank as communication status information.

In view of the fact that a billing amount can be determined according to the degree of congestion of communication traffic, the present invention provides a billing system based on the traffic of a mobile station in a mobile communication network system. In the charging method for performing the processing, the charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device is determined based on the communication status information generated by the communication status monitoring means.

In such a billing method, a billing amount for the communication volume of the mobile station is determined based on communication status information indicating a degree of congestion of communication traffic in the mobile communication network system. For example, a communication fee for a mobile device that has performed communication when traffic in the mobile communication network system is relatively small is set to be a charge that is lower than a normal fee. Thereby, the user of the mobile device can reduce the burden of the communication fee.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the billing method for performing a billing process based on the traffic of a mobile device in the mobile communication network system, the charge amount may be set to start communication of the mobile device. Sometimes, the charge amount for the communication amount of the mobile station is determined based on the communication state information generated by the communication state monitoring means.

[0015] Further, as set forth in claim 5, in the billing method, the billing amount for the communication amount of the mobile station increases as the communication traffic represented by the communication status information increases. It is configured to determine.

[0016] Further, as set forth in claim 6, in the charging method, as the communication traffic represented by the communication status information decreases, the charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device decreases. It is configured as follows.

From the viewpoint that a communication rate can be calculated by setting a charging rate when the charging amount is determined, the present invention provides the above-mentioned charging method, Based on the communication status information, a charging rate used to determine a charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device is set.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the present invention,
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in a billing system for performing a billing process based on a communication volume of a mobile device in a mobile communication network system, the billing system is based on communication status information generated by the communication status monitoring means. And a charging processing unit for determining a charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the present invention,
According to the present invention, in a mobile device in which communication with another communication terminal is controlled in a mobile communication network system, the present invention represents communication traffic notified from the mobile communication network system. It is configured to include communication status acquisition means for acquiring communication status information, and display control means for controlling display of predetermined information on the display means based on the communication status information acquired by the communication status acquisition means.

In such a mobile device, communication status information transmitted from the mobile communication network system is obtained, and predetermined information is displayed. For example, the predetermined information indicating the communication status information is displayed on a standby screen of the mobile device. The predetermined information is, for example, information visually representing communication status information, and the mobile device user can visually know the degree of traffic congestion by means of a picture display or the like.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile station according to the thirteenth aspect, wherein the mobile station can determine the rank corresponding to the degree of traffic congestion. A rank determining unit that determines a rank corresponding to the communication status information obtained by the communication status obtaining unit from a plurality of predetermined ranks based on the communication status information representing the traffic, and the display control unit includes: The display control of the predetermined information is performed according to the rank determined by the rank determining means.

In such a mobile device, the rank of the communication status information notified from the mobile communication network system is determined by the mobile device. Therefore, it is possible to arbitrarily set the number of ranks when setting ranks in the mobile device. For example, if the user of the mobile device wants to know the degree of traffic congestion, the number of ranks may be set higher. As a result, it is possible to provide more value-added services to mobile device users.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A system to which the billing method for a mobile station according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. This system is, for example, a PDC (Pers
onal Digital Cellular) mobile communication system.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile communication system includes:
A plurality of mobile devices 10a and 10n capable of performing communication within the service area of each base station;
It is configured with a mobile communication network system that performs communication by setting a communication line with 10n. The mobile communication network system includes a base station 20 for making a wireless connection with the mobile units 10a and 10n, an exchange 30 for performing call setting, call control, and radio line control, and communication processed by the exchange 30. Monitoring control unit 4 that monitors traffic and the like
0 and a billing server 50 that performs billing processing and the like. In the description of the present embodiment, an example in which the above-mentioned radio channel control function is provided in the exchange 30 in the mobile communication network system will be used. In addition, when the radio channel control function is allocated to the base station 20 side, In some cases, a device having a wireless channel control function is installed alone.

In the mobile communication system as described above, the mobile units 10a and 10n (cellular telephones) perform radio communication with the base station 20 and perform voice communication with other terminals (cellular telephones and the like) via the exchange 30. Non-call communication can be performed. The monitoring control unit 40 measures the communication traffic (both speech and non-speech) processed by the exchange 30 and detects congestion. In this example, the description will be given by taking as an example a case where the communication traffic is measured by the monitoring control unit 40 and the degree of congestion of the communication traffic is detected (or congestion is detected) from the measured communication traffic. Of course, a specific piece of hardware provided in the exchange 30 may measure the communication traffic.

The mobile units 10a and 10n used in the mobile communication system are configured, for example, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the mobile unit 10a (hereinafter, referred to as a mobile unit 10a)
The mobile device 10a is described as a representative of the mobile device) includes a transmission / reception unit 11, a transmission / reception signal processing unit 12, an audio signal processing unit 1,
3, a control unit 14, a storage unit 15, a display / operation unit 16, and a handset 17. The transmission / reception unit 11 performs transmission of a voice signal and transmission / reception of data with the base station 20. The transmission / reception unit 11 performs frequency conversion and demodulation processing of the received wireless signal, and the transmission / reception signal processing unit 12 assigns various data (eg, audio signals) received by the transmission / reception unit 11 to a predetermined frame format. Processing is performed. The audio signal processing unit 13 processes the audio signal sent from the transmission / reception signal processing unit 12 according to a predetermined algorithm (decoding process or the like). Then, the audio signal processed by the audio signal processing unit 13 is supplied to the handset 17 and output as audio.

On the other hand, the user's voice fetched from the handset 17 is input to the voice signal processing unit 13 and subjected to processing (eg, code processing) according to a predetermined algorithm. The audio signal processed by the audio signal processing unit 13 is supplied to the transmission / reception signal processing unit 12, converted into a predetermined frame format, and then supplied to the transmission / reception unit 11. And
Modulation and frequency conversion processing is performed in the transmission / reception unit 11, and the signal is transmitted to the base station 20 as a radio signal. The display / operation unit 16 has a display panel for displaying various information and an operation panel (such as numeric keys) for inputting various information. The storage unit 15 includes programs to be executed by the control unit 14, It has a function of storing various types of received data and personal information of the user. The control unit 14 controls the transmission / reception signal processing unit 1
2. Display information on the display panel of the display / operation unit 17 based on the data processed in
The processing is performed based on the operation from the operation panel.

As described above, the supervisory control unit 40 in the mobile communication system measures the communication traffic processed by the switching center 30 and obtains communication status information. The communication status information is, for example, information indicating a rank determined corresponding to the measured communication traffic. In the monitoring control unit 40, a rank determination process for obtaining information indicating the rank is performed according to, for example, a procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the monitoring control unit 40 measures communication traffic processed by the exchange 30 in the mobile communication network system (for example, measures a load factor, a line utilization ratio, and a bus utilization ratio of a call processing CPU). ) (S1),
A rank determination (= ranking) is performed by comparing the measurement result with a predetermined standard (S2). For example, assuming that the rank is 5 levels, the call processing C
When the load factor of the PU is applied, the above-mentioned predetermined criterion used when performing the rank determination is “rank 1” when the load factor of the call processing CPU is 50% to 60%, and 60% to 70%.
Is "Rank 2", 70% to 80% is "Rank 3", 80% to 90% is "Rank 4", 90%
The case of １００100% is determined as “rank 5”. In the rank determination (S2), for example, when the communication traffic at a certain time indicates “85”% in terms of the load factor of the call processing CPU, the rank determination (S2)
Then, "rank 4" is ranked. In this case, the load ratio increases as the rank increases. In other words,
It means that congestion becomes intense as the rank rises. In the case of the above-mentioned predetermined criterion, a congestion state is assumed when the load factor of the call processing CPU is 50% or more.

As described above, when the rank determination (S2) for the communication traffic is performed, a table as shown in FIG. 4 (hereinafter, referred to as a rank table) is generated by the monitoring control unit 40, for example.

In FIG. 4, this rank table contains:
Includes the rank determined in the communication traffic measurement time (hour: minute: second), the communication traffic load ratio at the communication traffic measurement time. In the figure, for example, the communication traffic measurement time is 09: 00
At the time of minute: 00 seconds, the communication traffic load factor is 50% and rank 3 is set. When the communication traffic measurement time is 09: 20: 20: 20, the communication traffic load ratio increases to 88%, and rank 5 is set. Further, when the communication traffic measurement time is 10: 00: 20: 25, the communication traffic load ratio is reduced to 35% and the rank is reduced to 2. Thus, in the rank table of FIG. 4, the rank corresponding to the degree of congestion of communication traffic at a certain time is specified.

When the rank is assumed to have 10 levels, the predetermined criterion used for determining the rank is such that the load factor of the call processing CPU is changed from 0% to 10% to “rank 1” by 10%. 20% to "rank 2"
It can be defined to be ranked in% intervals.
In this case, the ranks are determined in ten stages, so that the ranks from the degree of empty traffic (rank 1 to rank 5) to the degree of congestion (rank 6 to rank 10) of the exchange device 30 are obtained. Note that this rank can be set freely from 1 to n stages. Hereinafter, in this example, a five-stage rank (rank 1 to rank 5) is assumed, and the call processing C
The description will be given by taking as an example a case in which a PU load factor (0 to 100%) divided into five at 20% intervals is used as the criteria for determining the rank. In this case, the rank criterion is C
PU load ratio of 0 to 20% is "rank 1", 20% to 40
% As “Rank 2” and 40% to 60% as “Rank 3”, 6
0% to 80% is “Rank 4”, and 80% to 100% is “Rank 5”.

When finishing the rank determination as described above (S2), the monitoring control unit 40 generates rank information (S2).
3) and send it to the exchange 30 (S4). The generated rank information includes information representing ranks 1 to 5. The rank information sent from the monitoring control unit 40 is sent to the base station 20 via the exchange 30 and is notified from the base station 20 to the mobile station 10a on a predetermined radio channel and waiting. You.

Upon receiving the rank information from the base station 20, the mobile station 10a performs processing according to, for example, the procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, the mobile station 1 in the standby state
0a first determines whether or not the rank information has been received (S11). In this determination (S11), when it is determined that the rank information has been received (YES in S11),
After displaying the received rank information in a predetermined area of the standby screen (S12), the mobile device 10a returns to the standby state. On the other hand, if it is determined in the above determination (S11) that the rank information has not been received (NO in S11), the mobile device 10
In a, the standby state is maintained. In this way, the mobile device 10a always checks the reception of the rank information (S1).
1) When the rank information is received, the corresponding rank information is displayed (S12).

The rank information displayed on the predetermined screen of the mobile device 10a as described above is displayed, for example, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a standby screen of the mobile device 10a. (Picture) in the standby screen is a rank information display, that is, a display example showing the congestion degree of the communication traffic of the exchange 30. As described above, the rank information (= communication status information) is generated in real time by the monitoring control unit 40 and transmitted to the mobile device 10a. In this example, it is assumed that the rank information generated in real time is displayed in synchronization with a clock (in the standby screen). Further, in this example, when the pattern is displayed on the standby screen (in the case of rank 1), it indicates that the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is free, and when the pattern is displayed (in the case of rank 1). 5) indicates that the traffic of the exchange 30 is heavily congested. This example is 5
Since the rank of rank (rank 1 to rank 5) is assumed, it is possible to display the congestion degree of the communication traffic of the exchange 30 in five stages in the mobile station 10a.

For example, rank 1 communication traffic is vacant rank 2 communication traffic is relatively vacant rank 3 ordinary communication traffic rank 4 communication traffic is congested rank 5 communication traffic is severely congested 5 The rank display of the stages can be realized by the mobile device 10a.

As described above, the congestion degree of the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is visually displayed on the user's mobile unit 10a. Therefore, when the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is severely congested (at the time of rank 1), the user waits once, and the communication traffic congestion of the exchange 30 is eliminated (for example, rank 4 or 5). The user can make a selection such as making an access such as a call. As a result, the chances of the mobile device user performing communication while checking the available communication traffic increase, so that the user can establish the communication with relatively few accesses. In other words, the switching center (in this case, the switching center that performs circuit switching) 30 accepts a call when it is not in a congestion state, so that the probability of a call received at that timing being a call loss is low. As a result, the user can efficiently communicate (voice communication). Further, by notifying the user of the mobile device 10a of the degree of communication traffic congestion, the user can refrain from calling when the congestion is severe. In other words, the call volume of the user when the congestion is severe is suppressed by the weight of the user's call. As a result, it is possible to prevent the load of the communication traffic applied to the exchange 30 from becoming high.

On the other hand, when the user attempts packet communication connection without knowing congestion in the PDC-P type mobile communication system (packet exchange) when performing packet communication, conventionally, the packet exchange connection is not established. There is a problem that the mobile device user is charged when the page acquisition is completed and the page acquisition is advanced. However, according to the present invention, since the user can always grasp the congestion state, as described above, the charge is generated as described above. The outgoing packet communication that is likely to be performed comes under its own weight. As a result, the user does not have to pay a useless fee. Further, for the communication carrier, the load of communication traffic on the switching center 30 that processes the packet call can be reduced by the weight of the packet call from the user.

In the above description, a passive example in which the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is displayed on the standby screen of the mobile device 10a has been described. However, the example of displaying the congestion is not limited to this. Not done. For example, the mobile device 10
a It is of course possible for the user to know the degree of congestion of the communication traffic by performing a predetermined operation. In this case, when the user of the mobile device 10a operates a predetermined function key or the like, the degree of congestion (rank information) of the communication traffic is changed along with the time information (information representing the month, day, hour, and minute) of the mobile device 10a. It is displayed on a predetermined screen.

As described above, the user of the mobile device 10a
The timing at which a call or packet communication is performed can be freely selected in consideration of rank information displayed on a predetermined screen of the own mobile device 10a. At this time, the charging process when the user of the mobile device 10a performs predetermined communication based on the rank information is performed by the charging server 50 according to, for example, a procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, the exchange 30 has a mobile station 1
When a call from 0a is accepted and a predetermined call control is performed and communication is started, a log of the communication is taken at the time of starting the communication (S21). This communication log is sent to the accounting server 50 via the monitoring control unit 40. At this time, the format of the data stored in the communication log is, for example, a format as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, the information stored in the data format is the subscriber number of the caller (to be charged), communication start time, communication end time, and communication time.

Returning to FIG. 7, upon receiving this communication log, the charging server 50 receives a table necessary for calculating the fee (in this case, the rank table shown in FIG. 4 is used).
Is read out and a billing process is performed (S22).

The charging server 50 first checks the communication start time from the communication log, and obtains rank information at the communication start time with reference to the rank table shown in FIG. For example, if the communication start time is 10:20:25,
The billing server 50 obtains rank information “2” from the rank table. Next, the charging server 50 calculates a fee using the rank information obtained from the rank table and the communication time obtained from the communication log. This charge is calculated by multiplying the charge calculated based on the communication time by a coefficient corresponding to the rank. That is, by using the above coefficient as a coefficient for calculating the charge, the charge is reduced for the communication when the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is vacant, and conversely, the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is congested. For the communication at the time, the switching center 30 sets the charge somewhat higher.
It is possible to easily set a charge according to the degree of congestion of the communication traffic. The coefficient is set, for example, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 9, the coefficients are set for each rank. In this example, in the case of rank 1, the coefficient = 0.9,
In the case of rank 2, the coefficient = 0.95, in the case of rank 3, the coefficient = 0, in the case of rank 4, the coefficient = 1.05, and in the case of rank 5, the coefficient = 1.1. The symbol A in FIG.
Represents a charge per unit time (normal charge). Therefore, when calculating the communication fee for rank 1, the communication fee is calculated by multiplying the rank 1 coefficient “0.9” by the normal fee “A”. For example, in the case of communication of rank 1, 10% is discounted from the normal charge. On the other hand, in the case of communication of rank 4, since the coefficient is 1.05, the communication fee is 1.05 A, which is 5% higher than the normal fee. Also,
In the charging rate table in this example, the charging coefficient for rank 3 is “0”, that is, the normal charge A is applied. That is, the rank 3 is an intermediate state in which the congestion state of the exchange 30 is neither crowded nor vacant, and the normal charge A
Is applied.

The coefficient provided for each rank described above is usually determined by the communication carrier. At this time, if the coefficient when the communication carrier is rank 1 is set to “0”, the charge for the communication connected when the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is free is free. In this case, the telecommunications carrier can actively appeal to the user of the mobile device 10a for the use of a call when the communication traffic is vacant. As a result, the effect of having the user of the mobile station 10a minimize the use during communication traffic congestion can be obtained, so that the saturation of the communication traffic on the exchange 30 can be avoided. When the coefficient at the time of rank 1 is set to “0”, calls from many users of the mobile device 10a are naturally predicted, but in such a situation, the rank naturally rises. (For example, from rank 1 to rank 4).

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the coefficient of the charging rate is set to five levels (rank 1 to rank 5). However, if the rank is set to ten levels, the coefficient is also set to ten levels. Since the setting can be made, more detailed charge setting can be performed.

Further, as an example of charging the communication called when the communication traffic is congested, a charging method such as adding a fixed amount to the communication may be used.

Further, according to the present invention, non-immediate information such as advertisements is stored in advance in an information server or the like in a mobile communication network system, and the information is stored only when communication traffic of the exchange 30 becomes available. It is also possible to perform information distribution of the stored advertisement. In such a case, information can be cheaply distributed to the content creator.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user of the mobile station 10a makes a call when the communication fee is low, that is, when the communication traffic is free, thereby reducing the monthly call burden. be able to. On the other hand, the telecommunications carrier sets the charges as described above (for example, sets the coefficient of rank 1 to “0”), and informs the user that he / she wants to make a call when the communication traffic is free. By making the appeal, it is possible to reduce the congestion of the communication traffic in the exchange 30 (the circuit exchange and the packet exchange).

As described above, according to the present invention, the degree of communication traffic congestion of the exchange 30 is notified to the user's mobile station 10a. Therefore, if the user makes a call all at once when the communication traffic of the exchange 30 is free, the exchange 30 may be in a congested state.
However, such a problem is caused by a problem in the mobile station 1 that the communication carrier can make a call or the like by knowing the congestion degree of the exchange 30.
This can be solved by differentiating the 0a user (user A) and the normal mobile device 10a user (user B) in terms of fee. For example, a monthly basic fee may be set lower for the user A, and a normal monthly basic fee may be set for the user B to differentiate the charges. With such differentiation, it is expected that more subscribers will be added to the rate plan to which user A has subscribed.
0a It is possible to obtain the effects described above for both the user side and the communication carrier side.

In the above example, the communication traffic monitoring function of the monitoring controller 40 corresponds to the communication status monitoring means, and the communication status information notifying function generated by the communication status monitoring means corresponds to the communication status notification means. Further, the charging processing function of the charging server 50 corresponds to a charging processing unit. Further, the mobile device 10
The transmission / reception functions of the transmission / reception units 11a and 10n correspond to communication status acquisition means, and the control function of the control unit 14 and the display function of the display / operation unit 16 correspond to display control means for performing display control of predetermined information.

[0057]

As described above, claim 1 or claim 2
According to the described invention of the present application, information indicating the degree of congestion of communication traffic measured by an exchange in a mobile communication network system is generated, and the generated information is notified to a mobile device. Therefore, the mobile device can obtain information indicating the degree of congestion of the communication traffic when necessary.

According to the present invention described in claims 3 to 7,
Billing can be performed according to the degree of congestion of communication traffic in the mobile communication network system. Therefore, the charge for the mobile device user when performing communication when the communication traffic is vacant is discounted from the normal charge, so that the user can save the communication charge. Further, when communication traffic is congested, the call volume from the mobile device user is suppressed, and when the communication traffic is free, the call volume from the mobile device user can be expected to increase. The communication traffic load in the system can be leveled, and the resources of the system can be used efficiently.

According to the present invention described in claims 8 to 12, it is possible to provide a charging system for performing the above charging.

Further, according to the present invention as set forth in claims 13 to 15, it is possible to provide a mobile device capable of displaying the congestion degree of the communication traffic with predetermined information.

[0061]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile device in the mobile communication system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of rank determination processing of a rank indicating a degree of congestion of communication traffic.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table indicating rank information generated by a monitoring control unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process of displaying rank information in a mobile device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of rank information displayed on a predetermined screen of a mobile device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a charging process in a charging server.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication log acquired by an exchange.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a setting example of a charging rate according to a rank used in a charging server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10a mobile device 10n mobile device 11 transmission / reception unit 12 transmission / reception signal processing unit 13 voice signal processing unit 14 control unit 15 storage unit 16 display / operation unit 17 handset 20 base station 30 switching center 40 monitoring control unit 50 charging server

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04B 7/26 109H (72) Inventor Daichi 2-1-1 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo N Co., Ltd.・ TTI Docomo (72) Inventor Motoharu Miyake 2-1-1, Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan NTT Docomo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinji Kobayashi 2-chome, Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 11 F-term in NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (reference) 5K025 AA05 BB07 DD06 JJ02 JJ10 JJ12 JJ18 5K030 HB08 HC09 JT09 MA01 MB09 5K067 AA12 AA29 BB04 CC00 EE00 EE02 EE10 EE16 H12 H03 KK LL12 NN18 NN21 NN48 PP03

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A mobile communication network system for controlling communication between a mobile device and another communication terminal, wherein communication status monitoring means for generating communication status information by measuring communication traffic in the mobile communication network system. And a communication status notifying means for notifying the mobile device of the communication status information generated by the communication status monitoring means. 2. The mobile communication network system according to claim 1, wherein said communication status monitoring means determines a rank corresponding to the traffic measured from a plurality of predetermined ranks based on the communication traffic, and the determination is made. A mobile communication network system configured to generate a given rank as communication status information. 3. A billing method for performing a billing process based on a communication volume of a mobile station in the mobile communication network system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the billing method is based on communication status information generated by the communication status monitoring means. Charging method for determining a charging amount for the communication volume of the mobile device. 4. A charging method for performing a charging process based on the communication volume of a mobile device in the mobile communication network system according to claim 3, wherein the communication status monitoring means generates the communication status monitoring means when the mobile device starts communication. A charging method for determining a charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device based on the communication status information. 5. The charging method according to claim 3, wherein the more the communication traffic represented by the communication status information, the larger the charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile station. 6. The charging method according to claim 3, wherein the lower the communication traffic represented by the communication status information, the smaller the charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile station. 7. The charging method according to claim 3, wherein a charging rate used for determining a charging amount for a communication amount of the mobile station is set based on the communication status information. 8. A billing system for performing a billing process based on a communication volume of a mobile device in the mobile communication network system according to claim 1 or 2, based on communication status information generated by said communication status monitoring means. An accounting system having accounting processing means for determining an accounting amount for a communication amount of a mobile device. 9. A charging system for performing charging processing based on the communication volume of a mobile device in the mobile communication network system according to claim 8, wherein said charging processing means is provided for said communication status monitoring means when communication of said mobile device is started. A billing system for calculating a billing amount for the communication amount of the mobile device based on the communication status information generated as described above. 10. The charging system according to claim 8, wherein the charging processing means determines the charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device as the communication traffic indicated by the communication status information increases. . 11. The charging system according to claim 8, wherein the charging processing means determines the charging amount for the communication amount of the mobile device as the communication traffic represented by the communication status information decreases. . 12. The charging system according to claim 8, wherein said charging processing means is configured to determine a charging amount for a communication amount of a mobile station based on said communication status information. Set up a billing system. 13. A mobile device in which communication with another communication terminal is controlled in a mobile communication network system, wherein a communication status acquisition for obtaining communication status information indicating communication traffic notified from said mobile communication network system. And a display control means for controlling display of predetermined information on a display means based on the communication status information obtained by the communication status obtaining means. 14. The mobile device according to claim 13, wherein when the communication status information notified from the mobile communication network system is any one of a plurality of ranks predetermined based on communication traffic, the display control means includes: A mobile device that controls display of the predetermined information in accordance with the rank obtained as communication status information by the information status obtaining means. 15. The mobile station according to claim 13, wherein said communication status information obtained by said communication status obtaining means from a plurality of predetermined ranks based on communication status information indicating communication traffic of a mobile communication network system. A mobile terminal having a rank determining means for determining a rank corresponding to the predetermined information, wherein the display control means performs display control of the predetermined information according to the rank determined by the rank determining means.