Billing Architecture
and Call Detail Records

The BPX Service Node includes a billing system architecture designed to collect and generate point-to-point SVC billing information which can be used by service providers as the basis for billing end customers. The billing architecture is designed to collect billing information in Call Detail Records (CDRs).

This billing system architecture addresses the following requirements:

Records point-to-point SVC billing data to support the formatting and segmentation of the data into Bulk Data Format (BFD) and Bellcore Automatic Message Accounting Format (BAF). This includes support for long duration calls, short duration calls, and unsuccessful call attempts.
Collection of the following data:
- Broadband bearer capability
- Quality of Service parameter (that is both forward and backward QoS)
- Origination and destination addresses (calling party number and called party number)
- Release and Release-complete cause values
- Cell counts (forward and backward CLP=0 and CLP=0+1)
- Frame counts (forward and backward DE=0 and DE=0+1)
- Connect time (for a successful call, this is the time when the CONNECT/CONNECT_ACK message is sent/received; for an unsuccessful call, this is the time when the RELEASE message is sent/received)
- Elapsed time (Time interval between receiving CONNECT message and RELEASE message with 1/10 seconds of timing resolution.)
- Study indicator
- Node ID, shelf number, slot number, port number, VPI/VCI (or DLCI) of the UNI interface
Make billing data available to an external Data Server (DS) within 2 minutes after the file collection interval.
Record cell/frame counts on a per rate period basis (rater periods are service provider configured parameters.) There can be a maximum of 6 different rates scheduled on a weekly basis and 4 different rates on a daily basis. (Rate periods must be provided by the external Data Server.)
Prevent the loss of billing date (including cell/frame counts) which are more than 15 minutes old.
Configure billing parameters on a per-BPX Service Node basis and on a per-UNI port basis.

Note Note that the per-BPX Service Node and per-UNI billing parameters are configured with the ESP Configuration Interface described in Chapter 7.

Support the provisioning of BPX Service Node timezone, tracer (audit) records, and default billing number. (In this release, timezone and tracer [audit] records must be provided by the external Data Server.)

Note The default billing number is the first address of a UNI port. When the calling party number is not included in the Setup message, the default billing number is used as the calling party number.

Disable/Enable SVC billing feature on a per-UNI port basis and on a per-BPX Service Node base. (A future release will provide the ability to disable/enable SVC billing on a per-Data Server basis, also.)

The SVC Billing feature allows AMS functionality to be supported by BPX Service Node networks. The concept of SVC billing is to collect billing information a per-call basis, correlated them into a single AMA record, and transport the AMA record to the Service Provider Billing System.

SVC Billing requires two types of billing information:

Call parameters, including time information
Cell and frame counts

Note Cell and frame counts are supported only on the BXM, AUSM, and FRSM cards. The ASI and BNI cards do not support cell and frame counts.

The BPX BXM and the AXIS ASC record the cell and frame counts at the connect delete time, and at pre-defined bucket intervals. In both cases these records are stored in the ESP as CDR files. Each call record is tagged with a 32-bit CDR number given by the ESP at call setup time. This CDR number is used as a key to correlate the different records generated during the call.

Billing System Architecture

To meet the billing system requirements, the billing system architecture is divided into several functions performed by different units of a BPX Service Node, plus several external systems, as shown in Figure C-1. This billing system architecture requires four major elements to operate:

The BPX Service Node: ESP, BPX and AXIS
The StrataView Plus Workstation
The Data Server
The Service Provider Billing System

Note that the Data Server and the Service Provider Billing System are not provided by Cisco StrataCom.

Figure C-1: Billing System Architecture

The logical flow of Figure C-1 follows the sequence indicated by the arrows:

The StrataView Plus Workstation interfaces with the Data Server to administrate billing parameters.
The StrataView Plus Workstation accesses the ESP (via Telnet) to configure per-UNI port billing parameters.
The ESP interfaces to the BPX/s BXM cards via the Comm Bus/ATM.
The ESP interfaces to the AXIS ASC via SNMP.
The AXIS AUSM cards deliver cell counts to the ASC.
The AXIS FRSM cards deliver frame counts to the ASC.
The AXIS ASC writes the cell and frame counts to the ESP via NFS over the Ethernet LAN.
The BPX BXM deposits cell counts into the ESP via NFS (that is, the Network File System, a commonly-used UNIX distributed file system) over the BXM management VCC.
The ESP Call Detail Record (CDR) function records call start and end information into the ESP files.
The Data Server retrieves CDR files via FTP (or IP over ATM if available) over the Ethernet LAN. (Since each Data Server can supports more than one ESP, it may be connected to the ESP LAN via routers.) The CDR files are stored in the /Billings directory on the ESP.

Note The maximum data rate between the Data Server and the ESP is 1.5 megabits per second and is limited by the bandwidth of the router and/or the service provider network. Therefore, the transferring of the billing data should not cause the Ethernet LAN to become congested.

The Data Server delivers AMS formatted data to the Billing System.
The Data Server telnets into the ESP to synchronize the two components.

CDR Record Format

There are 8 record formats which the Data Server should be aware of:

ESP Header record format, defined in Table C-1
ESP Start record format, defined in Table C-1
ESP End record format, defined in Table C-3
ESP Trailer record format, defined in Table C-4
BXM Header record format, defined in Table C-5
Cell Count record format, defined in Table C-6
AXIS Header record format, defined in Table C-7
Frame Count record format, defined in Table C-8

Tables C-1 through C-8 define these record formats. Each table lists the number of bytes (length of the field), the name of the field, the data format (character or binary), and a description of the field.

Table C-1: ESP Header Record Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	H = ESP header F = Flush header
2	Spare	Byte	Not Used
3-12	Date and time	Chars	yy/mm/dd/hh/min GMT
13-16	Node ID	Binary	ESP IP address

**Table C-2: ESP Start Record Format**
Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	1 = start record 2 = unsuccessful record
2	Origination/termination frame/cell indication	Binary	1 = ATM originating recording 2 = ATM terminating recording, 3 = ATM originating cell counts 4 = ATM terminating cell counts. 5 = Frame relay originating 6 = Frame relay terminating 7 = Frame relay originating frame counts 8 = Frame relay terminating frame counts
3	Slot number	Binary	1 - 14
4	Port number	Binary	1 - 32
5-8	Shelf number	Binary	BXM shelf number is always 0 for Axis it is the ASC IP address
9-12	CDR number	Binary	This is the key to correlate start/end/cell count/frame count records. Bit 1-16 is the LCN (1-65535) Bit 17 -32 is the sequence number (0 - 65535)
13-14	Channel number	Binary	LCN
15-16	DLCI number	Binary	This is for Frame Relay connections only
17-18	VPI	Binary	This is for ATM connections only
19-20	VCI	Binary	This is for ATM connections only
21-24	Connect timestamp (second)	Binary	Seconds since January 1, 1970
25-28	Connect timestamp (useconds)	Binary	Microseconds since January 1, 1970
29	Bearer class	Binary	1 = BCOB-A 3 = BCOB-C 16 = BCOB-X
30	Timing requirements	Binary	0 = no indication 1 = End-to-end timing required 2 = End-to-end timing not required
31	Traffic type	Binary	0 = no indication 1 = CBR 2 = VBR
32	Connection type	Binary	0 = point-to-point
33	Susceptibility to clipping	Binary	0 = Not susceptible to clipping 1 = Susceptible to clipping
34	QoS class forward	Binary	0 = QoS class 0 1 = QoS class 1 2 = QoS class 2 3 = QoS class 3 4 = QoS class 4
35	QoS class backward	Binary	0 = QoS class 0 1 = QoS class 1 2 = QoS class 2 3 = QoS class 3 4 = QoS class 4
36	Cause	Binary	As defined by the ATM forum
37	Study indicator	Binary	0 = Not set 1 = Set
38	Calling number status	Binary	1 = User provided--not screened 2 = User provided--failed screening 3 = User provided--passed screening 4 = Network provided (default)
39	Calling number type	Binary	1 = International, E164 2 = ATM End System address
40	Called number type	Binary	1 = International, E164 2 = ATM End System address
41-43	Forward peak cell rate (CLP=0)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
44-46	Backward peak cell rate (CLP=0)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
47-49	Forward peak cell rate (CLP=0+1)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
50-52	Backward peak cell rate (CLP=0+1)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
53-55	Forward sustainable cell rate (CLP=0)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
56-58	Backward sustainable cell rate (CLP=0)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
59-61	Forward sustainable cell rate (CLP=0+1)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
62-64	Backward sustainable cell rate (CLP=0+1)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
65-67	Forward maximum burst size (CLP=0)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
68-70	Backward maximum burst size (CLP=0)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
71-73	Forward maximum burst size (CLP=0+1)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
74-76	Backward maximum burst size (CLP=0+1)	Binary	msb bit 8 of the first octet; lsb bit 1 of the 3rd octet
77-78	Best effort indicator	Binary	0 = Not requested 1 = Requested
79-80	Tagging	Binary	0 = Forward/backward not requested 1 = Forward requested, backward not 2 = Backward requested, forward not 3 = Both forward and backward requested
81-100	Calling number	Binary	As defined by the ATM Forum
101-120	Called number	Binary	As defined by the ATM Forum

Table C-3: ESP End Record Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	3 = End record
2	Spare	Byte	Not used
3	Slot number	Binary	1-15
4	Port number	Binary	1-32
5-8	CDR number	Binary	This is the key to correlate star/end/cell count/frame count records. Bit 1-16 is the LCN (1-65535) Bit 17 -32 is the sequence number (0 - 65535)
9-16	Release timestamp	Binary	Microseconds since January 1, 1970
17-20	Shelf number	Binary	BXM shelf number is always 0; For AXIS it is the ASC IP address

Table C-4: ESP Trailer Record Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	T = Trailer
2	Spare	Byte	Not used
2-3	End of record marker	Binary	0xffffh

Table C-5: BXM Header Record Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	M = BXM header
2	Spare	Byte	Not used
3-12	Date and time	Chars	mm/dd/yy/hr/min GMT
13-16	Shelf number	Binary	BXM shelf number is always 0
17-24	Spare	Byte	Aligns header/cell_counts to have the same number of bytes

Table C-6: Cell Count Record Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	5 = Intermediate cell counts 6 = Final cell counts
2-4	Spare	Byte	Not used
5-8	CDR number (seconds/msec)	Binary	This is the key to correlate start/end/cell count/frame count records. Bit 1-16 is the LCN (1-65535) Bit 17 -32 is the sequence number (0 - 65535)
9-12	Backward total cells count	Binary	0-232
13-16	Backward high priority cells count	Binary	0-232
17-20	Forward total cells count	Binary	0-232
21-24	Forward high priority cells count	Binary	0-232

Table C-7: AXIS Header Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	A = AXIS
2	Spare	Byte	Not used
3-12	Date and time	Chars	mm/dd/yy/hr/min GMT
13-16	Shelf number	Binary	ASC IP address
17-24	Spare	Byte	Aligns header/cell_counts to have the same number of bytes
25-40	Spare	Byte	This is included only if it is a frame_count from an FRSM

Table C-8: Frame Count Record Format

Byte	Name	Format	Description
1	Record type	Chars	8 = Intermediate frame count 9 = Final frame count
2-4	Spare	Byte	Not used
5-8	CDR number	Binary	This is the key to correlate start/end/cell count/frame count records. Bit 1-16 is the LCN (1-65535) Bit 17 -32 is the sequence number (0 - 65535)
9-12	Receive total frame count	Binary	0-232
13-16	Receive DE=0 frame count	Binary	0-232
17-20	Transmit total frame count	Binary	0-232
21-24	Transmit DE=0 frame count	Binary	0-232
25-28	Receive total byte count	Binary	0-232
29-32	Receive DE=0 byte count	Binary	0-232
33-36	Transmit total byte count	Binary	0-232
37-40	Transmit DE=0 total byte count	Binary	0-232

Billing Tools

The BPX Service Node stores the billing records as binary files in the Billings directory. A typical Billings directory is shown in the following example:

(apslab2)/ #> cd Billings
(apslab2)/Billings #> ls
cdr_13.01.9706021200 cdr_13.04.9706022045 cdr_15.03.9706021230
cdr_13.01.9706021300 cdr_13.9706021045.00 cdr_15.04.9706021145
...
...
...
cdr_13.03.9706022015 cdr_15.02.9706021215 cdr_end.9706022245.00
cdr_13.04.9706021145 cdr_15.02.9706021315 cdr_start.9706022245.00
cdr_13.04.9706021245 cdr_15.02.9706022015 tmp/
(apslab2)/Billings #>

The ellipses (...) in the figure indicate that some CDR records have been removed to condense the file for illustration purposes.

Note APS was a former name for the ESP. When it appears in a billing record, it refers to the ESP.

As shown in the sample Billings directory, there are basically three types of CDR files:

cdr_start.*
cdr_end.*
cdr_xx.* (where xx is a number) When xx is 14 or less it is a BXM file, thus cdr_13.01.9706021200 is a BXM CDR file. When xx is 15 or greater it is a AXIS file; thus cdr_15.01.9706022215 is an AXIS file. The .01 following the cdr_13 or cdr_15 is control number and will have a value of 01, 02, 03, or 04.

The last 10 digits of every file name is the date and time stamp. For instance, 9706021200 is 1997, June 2nd at 1200 O'clock noon. Files with the extension .00 are for the current collection interval. At the end of the collection interval, they will be closed and saved without the extension.

These CDR files are in binary format and can be converted to flat file (ASCII format), which can be more easily interpreted, with the following tools:

DispStartFile
DispEndFile
DispBxmFile
DispAxisFile

Currently these read files are used to convert the CDR format to screen output, as will be illustrated in the following examples.

These tools are stored in the opt/aps/tools directory on the ESP.

To read a start file, follow these steps:

Step 1 Log onto the ESP as a UNIX user. Examine to the Billings directory to find the CDR file which you want to examine.

Step 2 Change directory to the /opt/aps/tools directory.

Step 3 Run DispStartFile using CDR file name as the argument as follows:

apslab5)/opt/aps/tools %> DispStartFile /Billings/cdr_start.04.9706130745 | more

Note that the pipe (| more) directs the output to the screen. The following example illustrates the output of a typical DispStartFile:

| ----------------------------------------------

| RecordType aDateTime ApsNodeAddr

| ----------------------------------------------

| H 9706130745 C0A8047B

| ----------------------------------------------

| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| R S P S T C D V V S ms B T T C S F B C S C C C f b f b f b f b f b f b b f

| e O l o h a h l p c e e a i f o u o a a i g g d p p p p s s s s b b b b e t

| c T N N N g N c i i c c c R T T C Q Q u n N T T c0 c0 c1 c1 c0 c0 c1 c1 c0 c0 c1 c1 r r

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| 1 3 05 08 C0A80483 145E940C 094 000 004 38059 33a15cfa 0002e844 16 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 00 00 10 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

| CgN=:451112131415161718191a1b0f222222a2558888: CdN=:451112131415161718191a1b0f111111a1aa1111:

| 1 4 10 01 C0A80481 283B940C 059 000 004 38059 33a15cfa 0002e844 16 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 00 00 10 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

| CgN=:451112131415161718191a1b0f222222a2558888: CdN=:451112131415161718191a1b0f111111a1aa1111:

The file header is defined in Table C-1, where Record Type is H, followed by date and time, and the Node ID. The body of the file is defined in Table C-1. The fields are arranged in columns, which read from left to right, separated by spaces. Each entry takes 2 lines. As defined in Table C-2, the first field, Rec is Record Type = 1 start record; OT is Origination/Termination, where for instance 3 = ATM originating cell counts; SLN is slot number...and so on until you get to the second line where CgN is the 20-byte Calling Number field, and CdN is the 20-byte Called Number field.

Step 4 Next run DispBxmFile using the CDR file name as the argument as follows:

(apslab1)/opt/aps/tools %> DispBxmFile /Billings/cdr_13.9706131530.00 | more

Note that the pipe (| more) directs the output to the screen. The following example illustrates the output of a typical DispBxmFile:

| ------------------------------------------------- |
| RecordType    DateTime      ShelfNumber
| M             9706131530    0
| ------------------------------------------------- |
| Rec  Tag      btcc      bhcc     ftcc    fhccc    |
| ------------------------------------------------- |
| 5    2C3B0A3B 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C3C0A3D 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C3F0A40 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C410A42 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C440A54 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C460A56 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C480A58 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C4A0A5A 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C4C0A5C 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C4E0A60 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C500A6C 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 5    2C520A6E 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |

The body of the file is defined in Table C-6. The fields are arranged in columns, which read from left to right, separated by spaces. The first field is Rec, which will be 5 for Intermediate Cell Counts or 6 for Final Cell Counts. The Tag is the CDR number used to correlate this to start/end records. The next four fields are: btcc (backward total cell count), bhcs (backward high priority cell count), ftcc (Forward total cell count), and fhccc (Forward high priority cell count).

Step 5 Next run DispAxisFile using the CDR file name as the argument:

(apslab5)/opt/aps/tools %> DispAxisFile /Billings/cdr_15.04.9706130745 | more

Note that | more pipes the output to the screen and will provide display an AXIS CDR record similar to the following example:

| ------------------------------------------------- |
| RecordType    DateTime      ApsNodeIpAddr
| A             9706130745    C0A80481
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Rec  Tag      btcc/     bhcc/    ftcc/   fhccc/   -        -        -        -        |
|               rtfc      rde0     ttfc    tde0     rtbc     rde0     ttbc     tde0     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 6    28389b55 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28539dd0 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28729b56 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    281d9dd2 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28699b57 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    285b9dd3 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28679b58 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    284b9dd4 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28229b59 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28769b6d 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    28669dd5 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |
| 6    286a9b5a 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 |

The AXIS CDR are used for both AUSM cell counts and FRSM frame counts. A cell count record includes the Rec (Record Type 5 for Intermediate, 6 for final, cell counts) the Tag (CDR number) and btcc (backward total cell count), bhcc (backward high priority cell counts), ftcc (forward total cell counts), and fhcc (forward high priority cell counts). The cell count record format is defined in Table C-6. A frame count record includes the Rec, tag, rtfc (receive total frame count), rde0 (receive DE=0 frame count), ttfc (transmit total frame count), tde0 (transmit DE=0 frame count), rtbc (receive total byte count), rde0 (receive DE=0 byte count, ttbc (transmit total byte count), tde0 (transmit DE=0 byte count); the frame count record format is defined in Table C-8.

Step 6 Next run DispEndFile using the CDR file name as the argument:

(apslab5)/opt/aps/tools %> DispEndFile /Billings/cdr_end.04.9706130745| more

Note that | more directs the output to the screen and will display an End CDR similar to the following example:

| ---------------------------------------------------- |
| RecordType    DateTime      ApsNodeIpAddr
| H             9706130745    C0A8047B
| ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Rec  Tag      Sec      Usrc     Shelf      Slot Port |
| ---------------------------------------------------- |
| 3    146493D7 33a15cfa 000058c1 c0a80483   005  008  |
| 3    283193D7 33a15cfa 000058c1 c0a80481   010  001  |
| 3    28569659 33a15cfa 0000fe47 c0a80481   010  008  |
| 3    14239659 33a15cfa 0000fe47 c0a80483   005  001  |
| 3    146693D8 33a15cfa 000237fc c0a80483   005  008  |
| 3    287593D8 33a15cfa 000237fc c0a80481   010  001  |
| 3    2860965A 33a15cfa 0002fa7f c0a80481   010  008  |
| 3    1456965A 33a15cfa 0002fa7f c0a80483   005  001  |
| 3    146B93D9 33a15cfa 00044632 c0a80483   005  008  |
| 3    282793D9 33a15cfa 00044632 c0a80481   010  001  |
| 3    286C965C 33a15cfa 0004ef01 c0a80481   010  008  |
| 3    147A965C 33a15cfa 0004ef01 c0a80483   005  001  |
| 3    2865965D 33a15cfa 0006b976 c0a80481   010  008  |

The End File format is defined in Table C-3. The Record Type H is the header. The next line Rec, Tag, Sec...is the actual End Record.

Table of Contents