1. A bill deposit and withdrawal apparatus including a depositwithdrawal unit, the depositwithdrawal unit having a bill-receiving space, a separator for dispatching a bill from the bill-receiving space, and a stacker for stacking a bill in the bill-receiving space, the apparatus comprising:
a shutter for opening and closing the bill-receiving space;
a first plate for forming a front wall of the bill-receiving space and guiding transfer of a bill input into the bill-receiving space;
a second plate spaced apart by a predetermined distance from the first plate to define the bill-receiving space;
a third plate provided between the first and second plates to partition the bill-receiving space into two spaces; and
a fourth plate provided below the bill-receiving space to transfer the bill stacked in the bill-receiving space toward the separator.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a fifth plate for pressing the bill, which has been transferred toward the separator by the fourth plate, toward the first plate.
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first plate is pivotably installed inside the bill deposit and withdrawal apparatus so as to open the top of the separator upon dispatch of the bill.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the third plate moves in a forward direction in which the third plate presses the bill input into the bill-receiving space toward the first plate, or in a reverse direction, and the forward movement is carried out by the second plate.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the third plate is automatically spaced apart from the second plate by the bill stacked by the stacker, and the bill stacked in the spaced space is transferred toward the first plate by the second plate.
6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first plate is pivotably installed inside the bill deposit and withdrawal apparatus so as to open the top of the separator upon dispatch of the bill.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the third plate moves in a forward direction in which the third plate presses the bill input into the bill-receiving space toward the first plate, or in a reverse direction, and the forward movement is carried out by the second plate.
8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the third plate is automatically spaced apart from the second plate by the bill stacked by the stacker, and the bill stacked in the spaced space is transferred toward the first plate by the second plate.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A policy control rules server (I) for generating control rules based on service information received from application devices (3a, 3b, 3c) and for installing said control rules in a policy enforcement device (2) responsible for guaranteeing a bandwidth Quality of Service \u201cQoS\u201d for media associated with authorized services, the policy control rules server having:
a receiver (12) arranged for receiving from application devices (3a, 3b, 3c) a number of previous service authorization requests and a subsequent service authorization request for a subscriber, each service authorization request respectively indicating associated media and bandwidth QoS required for the associated media;
an authorizer (101) for authorizing the previous and subsequent service authorization requests;
a rules generator (102) for generating control rules for the previous and subsequent service authorization requests respectively; and
a sender (11) arranged for submitting towards the application devices respective authorization responses for the previous and subsequent service authorization requests, and for submitting towards a policy enforcement device (2) respective control rules;
and characterised by:
storage (13) for storing a selective authorization criterion per subscriber, the selective authorization criterion selectable from a group of selective authorization criteria including: service incompatibilities, subscribed bandwidth QoS per subscriber, pre-emption priority value per each service allowable for each subscriber, and combinations thereof;
a selector (103) for selecting amongst the previously authorized services those which may be inactivated as a result of applying the selective authorization criterion for the subscriber;
the authorizer (101) being arranged for putting on hold the selected previously authorized services; and
the sender being arranged for submitting towards the respective application device (3b) a notification indicating those selected previously authorized services to be put on hold.
2. The policy control rules server (I) of claim 1, wherein the sender (11) is arranged for submitting towards the policy enforcement device (2) a notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for those selected previously authorized services.
3. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 1, wherein the receiver (12) is further arranged for receiving from the application devices (3b) a confirmation intended to put on hold the selected previously authorized services.
4. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 2, wherein the notification submitted from the sender (11) towards the policy enforcement device (2) is responsive to a confirmation received from the application devices (3b) intended to put on hold the selected previously authorized services.
5. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 1, wherein the selector (103) includes an arithmetical unit (1031) for determining a cumulative bandwidth QoS as the total sum of bandwidth QoS consumed by the media associated with the previously authorized services plus the bandwidth QoS required for the subsequent service, the cumulative bandwidth QoS exceeding the subscribed bandwidth QoS; and search means (1032) for fetching amongst the previously authorized services those with lower pre-emption priority value than the subsequent service and, amongst these, those which consumed bandwidth QoS, discounted alone or in combination from the cumulative bandwidth QoS, make the cumulative bandwidth QoS lower than the subscribed bandwidth QoS for the subscriber.
6. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 1, wherein the selector (103) includes a compatibility module (1033) for determining amongst the previously authorized services those having service incompatibilities in the selective authorization criterion.
7. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 1, wherein the receiver (12) is further arranged for receiving from a subscription profile repository \u201cSPR\u201d (4), which holds subscription information for subscribers of a telecommunication network, either the selective authorization criterion, or any selective authorization criteria selectable from: service incompatibilities, subscribed bandwidth QoS per subscriber, pre-emption priority value per each service allowable for each subscriber, and combinations thereof.
8. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 2, wherein upon increasing the subscribed bandwidth QoS for the subscriber, the selector (103) is further arranged for selecting, amongst the previously authorized services still on hold, those which may be activated as a result of applying the selective authorization criterion for the subscriber; the authorizer (101) is further arranged for activating these selected previously authorized services still on hold; and the sender (11) is further arranged for submitting towards the application device (3b) a notification indicating said selected previously authorized services, still on hold, to be activated.
9. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 2, wherein upon termination of an authorized service, other than the previously authorized services still on hold, the selector (103) is further arranged for selecting, amongst the previously authorized services still on hold, those which may be activated as a result of applying the selective authorization criterion for the subscriber; the authorizer (101) is further arranged for activating these selected previously authorized services still on hold; and the sender (11) is further arranged for submitting towards the application device (3b) a notification indicating said selected previously authorized services, still on hold, to be activated.
10. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 8 or 9, wherein the selector (103) includes an arithmetical unit (1031) for determining a cumulative bandwidth QoS as the total sum of bandwidth QoS consumed by the media associated with currently authorized services, other than the previously authorized services still on hold, the subscribed bandwidth QoS exceeding the cumulative bandwidth QoS; and search means (1032) for fetching amongst the previously authorized services still on hold those with higher pre-emption priority value and, amongst these, those which consumed bandwidth QoS, added alone or in combination to the cumulative bandwidth QoS, still make the cumulative bandwidth QoS lower than the subscribed bandwidth QoS for the subscriber.
11. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 9, wherein the selector (103) includes a compatibility module (1033) for determining amongst the previously authorized services still on hold those which may be activated as a result of applying service incompatibilities in the selective authorization criterion.
12. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 9, wherein the receiver (12) is further arranged for receiving from the application device (3a) a termination request intended to terminate the authorized service, other than the previously authorized services still on hold; the authorizer (101) is further arranged for terminating the authorized service; and the sender (11) is further arranged for submitting towards the policy enforcement device (2) a termination request intended to terminate the control rules for the authorized service.
13. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 8 or 9, wherein the sender (11) is further arranged for submitting towards the policy enforcement device (2) a notification indicating respective control rules for said selected previously authorized services, still on hold, to be activated.
14. The policy control rules server (1) of claim 1 when used as an integral part of, or in co-operation with, a Policy and Charging Rules Function \u201cPCRF\u201d node in accordance with 3GPP Technical Specification \u201cTS\u201d 23.203.
15. A policy enforcement device (2) for installing control rules received from a policy control rules server (1) in order to guarantee a bandwidth Quality of Service \u201cQoS\u201d for media associated with authorized services; and having:
a receiver (22) arranged for receiving from a policy control rules server (1) control rules to apply for media associated with an authorized service, the control rules indicating the associated media and bandwidth QoS required for the associated media;
storage (23) for storing a number of control rules to be respectively applied to the media associated with a number of authorized services;
an inspector (201) for distinguishing media transported in a bearer per authorized service basis; and
a controller (202) for applying the control rules applicable to each media and for controlling the bandwidth QoS consumed by each media;
and characterised by:
the receiver (22) being arranged for receiving a notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for one or more previously authorized services; and
a holder (203) for inactivating those control rules applicable to the media associated with said one or more previously authorized services.
16. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 15, wherein the holder (203) is further arranged for keeping the inactivated control rules in the storage (23).
17. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 15, wherein the receiver (22) is arranged for receiving the notification from the policy control rules server (1).
18. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 15, wherein the receiver (22) is arranged for receiving the notification from an application device (3b) involved in service negotiation and responsible for submitting service information towards the policy control rules server (1).
19. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 15, wherein the receiver (22) is arranged for receiving from the policy control rules server (1) a service termination request intended to terminate the control rules for the authorized service, on hold or activated; and the controller (202) is further arranged for removing the corresponding control rules from storage, for releasing those resources consumed by the terminated service, and for terminating the transporting bearer once no corresponding control rule remains in the storage.
20. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 17, wherein the receiver (22) is arranged for receiving from the policy control rules server (1) a notification intended to activate respective control rules for one or more previously authorized services still on hold; and the holder (203) is arranged for activating these respective control rules applicable to the media associated with said one or more previously authorized services.
21. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 18, wherein the receiver (22) is arranged for receiving from the application device (3b) a notification intended to activate respective control rules for one or more previously authorized services still on hold; and the holder (203) is arranged for activating these respective control rules applicable to the media associated with said one or more previously authorized services.
22. The policy enforcement device (2) of claim 15, when used as an integral part of, or in co-operation with, a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function \u201cPCEF\u201d node in accordance with 3GPP Technical Specification \u201cTS\u201d 23.203.
23. An application device (3a, 3b, 3c) for submitting towards a policy control rules server (1) service information for a service that require control of bearer resources, the policy control rules server being responsible for generating control rules based on the service information that includes a bandwidth Quality of Service \u201cQoS\u201d for media associated with the service, the application device having:
a sender (31) arranged for submitting towards a policy control rules server (1) a number of previous service authorization requests and a subsequent service authorization request for a subscriber, each service authorization request respectively indicating associated media and bandwidth QoS required for the associated media;
a receiver (32) arranged for receiving from the policy control rules server (1) authorization responses for the previous and subsequent service authorization requests;
and characterised by:
the receiver (32) being further arranged for receiving from the policy control rules server (1) a notification indicating one or more previously authorized services to be put on hold; and
the sender (31) being arranged for submitting either a confirmation towards the policy control rules server (1) intended to Put on hold the one or more previously authorized services, or a notification towards a policy enforcement device (2) responsible for guaranteeing a bandwidth Quality of Service \u201cQoS\u201d for media associated with authorized services, the notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services, or both.
24. The application device (3b) of claim 23, wherein the confirmation submitted towards the policy control rules server (1) is responsive to a successful response from a user’s equipment (5a) in use by the subscriber; the sender (31) being thus further arranged for submitting towards the user’s equipment (5a) a notification indicating the one or more previously authorized services to be put on hold whilst the indicated subsequent service is running; and the receiver (32) being thus further arranged for receiving from the user’s equipment (5a) the corresponding successful response.
25. The application device (3b) of claim 23, wherein the receiver (32) is further arranged for receiving from the policy control rules server (1) a notification indicating the one or more previously authorized services, still on hold, to be activated.
26. The application device (3b) of claim 25, wherein the sender (31) is further arranged for submitting towards the policy control rules server (1) a confirmation indicating the one or more previously authorized services, still on hold, to be activated.
27. The application device (3b) of claim 26, wherein the confirmation submitted towards the policy control rules server (1) is responsive to a successful response from a user’s equipment (5a) in use by the subscriber; the sender (31) being thus further arranged for submitting towards the user’s equipment (5a) a notification indicating the one or more previously authorized services still on hold and to be activated; and the receiver (32) being thus further arranged for receiving from the user’s equipment (5a) the corresponding successful response.
28. The application device (3a, 3b, 3c) of claim 25, wherein the sender (31) is further arranged for submitting towards the policy enforcement device (2) a notification intended to activate respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services still on hold.
29. The application device (3a, 3b, 3c) of claim 28, wherein the notification submitted towards the policy enforcement device (2) is responsive to a successful response from a user’s equipment (5a) in use by the subscriber; the sender (31) being thus further arranged for submitting towards the user’s equipment (5a) a notification indicating the one or more previously authorized services still on hold and to be activated; and the receiver (32) being thus further arranged for receiving from the user’s equipment (5a) the corresponding successful response.
30. The application device (3a) of claim 23, wherein the sender (31) is further arranged for submitting towards the policy control rules server (1) a termination request intended to terminate any authorized service, on hold or activated.
31. The application device (3a, 3b, 3c) of claim 23, when used as an integral part of, or in co-operation with, an Application Function \u201cAF\u201d node in accordance with 3GPP Technical Specification \u201cTS\u201d 23.203.
32. A method for guaranteeing in a policy enforcement device (2) service requirements negotiated for a service through an application device (3a, 3b, 3c), the service requirements including a bandwidth Quality of Service \u201cQoS\u201d for media associated with the service, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving (S-015, S-045) at a policy control rules server (1), which is responsible for generating control rules based on service information received from an application device, a number of previous service authorization requests and a subsequent service authorization request for a subscriber from application devices (3a, 3b, 3c), each service authorization request respectively including service information indicating associated media and bandwidth QoS required for the associated media;
generating (S-025, S-100) respective control rules for the previous and subsequent service authorization requests;
installing (S-030, S-110) said respective control rules at a policy enforcement device (2); and
submitting (S-040, S-120) towards the application devices (3a, 3b) respective authorization responses for the previous and subsequent service authorization requests;
and characterised in that it also comprises the steps of:
storing (S-010) in a storage accessible to the policy control rules server (1) a selective authorization criterion per subscriber, the selective authorization criterion selectable from a group of selective authorization criteria including: service incompatibilities, subscribed bandwidth QoS per subscriber, pre-emption priority value per each service allowable for each subscriber, and combinations thereof;
selecting (S-055) amongst the previously authorized services at the policy control rules server (1) those which may be inactivated as a result of applying the selective authorization criterion for the subscriber; and putting on hold these selected one or more previously authorized services;
submitting (S-060) from the policy control rules server (1) towards the application devices (3b) a notification indicating those selected one or more previously authorized services to be put on hold;
receiving (S-080) at the policy enforcement device (2) a notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services; and
inactivating (S-085) at a policy enforcement device (2) those control rules applicable to the media associated with said one or more previously authorized services.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of receiving (S-080) at the policy enforcement device (2) the notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services includes a step of submitting from the application devices (3b) towards the policy enforcement device (2) a notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services.
34. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of receiving (S-080) at the policy enforcement device (2) the notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services includes a step of submitting from the policy control rules server (1) towards the policy enforcement device (2) a notification intended to put on hold respective control rules for the one or more previously authorized services.
35. The method of claim 32, further comprising a step of receiving (S-075) at the policy control rules server (1) from the application devices (3b) a confirmation intended to put on hold the selected one or more previously authorized services.
36. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of selecting (S-55) amongst the previously authorized services those which may be inactivated includes a step of determining a cumulative bandwidth QoS as the total sum of bandwidth QoS consumed by the media associated with the previously authorized services plus the bandwidth QoS required for the subsequent service, the cumulative bandwidth QoS exceeding the subscribed bandwidth QoS; and a step of fetching amongst the previously authorized services those with lower pre-emption priority value than the subsequent service and, amongst these, those which consumed bandwidth QoS, discounted alone or in combination from the cumulative bandwidth QoS, make the cumulative bandwidth QoS lower than the subscribed bandwidth QoS for the subscriber.
37. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of selecting (S-055) amongst the previously authorized services those which may be inactivated includes a step of determining amongst the previously authorized services those having service incompatibilities in the selective authorization criterion.
38. The method of claim 32, comprising further steps of:
selecting (S-140) at the policy control rules server (1), amongst the previously authorized services still on hold, those which may be activated as a result of applying (S-135) the selective authorization criterion for the subscriber;
submitting (S-145) towards the application device (3b) a notification indicating the selected one or more previously authorized services, still on hold, to be activated;
activating (S-165) at the policy control rules server (1) and at the application device (3b) these selected one or more previously authorized services still on hold;
receiving (S-175) at the policy enforcement device (2) a notification intended to activate respective control rules for the selected one or more previously authorized services still on hold; and
activating (S-180) at the policy enforcement device (2) those control rules applicable to the media associated with said selected one or more previously authorized services.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein these further steps are responsive to a previous step selected from a group of steps including:
increasing the subscribed bandwidth QoS for the subscriber; and
terminating (S-130) an authorized service, other than the previously authorized services still on hold.
40. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of selecting (S-140) amongst the previously authorized services on hold those which may be activated includes a step of determining a cumulative bandwidth QoS as the total sum of bandwidth QoS consumed by the media associated with currently authorized services, other than the previously authorized services still on hold, the subscribed bandwidth QoS exceeding the cumulative bandwidth QoS; and a step of fetching amongst the previously authorized services still on hold those with higher pre-emption priority value and, amongst these, those which consumed bandwidth QoS, added alone or in combination to the cumulative bandwidth QoS, still make the cumulative bandwidth QoS lower than the subscribed bandwidth QoS for the subscriber.
41. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of selecting (S-140) amongst the previously authorized services on hold those which may be activated includes a step of determining amongst the previously authorized services still on hold those which may be activated as a result of applying service incompatibilities in the selective authorization criterion.
42. The method of claim 32, further comprising a step of receiving from a subscription profile repository \u201cSPR\u201d (4) holding subscription information for subscribers of a telecommunication network either the selective authorization criterion, or any selective authorization criteria selected from: service incompatibilities, subscribed bandwidth QoS per subscriber, pre-emption priority value per each service allowable for each subscriber, and combinations thereof.
43. A user equipment usable (5a) by a subscriber of a telecommunication network, the user equipment having means for negotiating service requirements for a service through an application device (3a, 3b, 3c), the service requirements including a bandwidth Quality of Service \u201cQoS\u201d for media associated with the service, and characterised by a receiver arranged for receiving (S-065) from an application device (3b) a notification indicating one or more previously authorized services to be put on hold whilst a subsequent service is running, and a sender arranged for submitting (S-070) towards the application device (3b) a corresponding successful response.
44. A computer program, loadable into an internal memory of a computer with input and output units as well as with a processing unit, the computer program comprising executable software adapted to carry out the method steps according to any of claims 32 to 42 when running in the computer.
45. The computer program of claim 44, wherein the executable software is recorded in a carrier readable in a computer.