Method of tracing and monitoring a call in a mobile communication system

An apparatus comprising:

• an interface to an internet protocol network;
• and
• a means for tracing or monitoring a packet call of a mobile communication subscriber who has connected to the internet protocol network through the interface, wherein said means includes a processing circuit to:
• check if a target IP address is an effective address;
• if the target IP address is an effective address, determining if a packet call corresponding to the target IP address exists in a packet data protocol context database;
• if the target IP address does not exist in the packet data protocol (PDP) context database, setting a trigger flag for the target IP address and tracing or monitoring the packet call based on the set trigger flag, said processing circuit further deactivating the packet call tracing or monitoring after a predetermined period of time, said deactivating including:
• checking whether a tracing or monitoring operation for the packet call is in an active state,
• if the tracing or monitoring operation is in the active state, terminating activation and transmitting a result of the inactivation, and
• wherein if the tracing or monitoring operation is in an inactive state, checking whether a trigger flag for tracing or monitoring the packet call is set, and if the trigger flag is set removing the trigger flag and terminating tracing or monitoring of the packet call.

A method of tracing or monitoring a call in a mobile communication system provided with a network management center and a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), the method comprising:

• transmitting a target Internet protocol (IP) address subject to a request for tracing or monitoring to the network management center of the mobile communication system;
• requesting packet call tracing or monitoring of the target IP address to the SGSN;
• tracing or monitoring, in the SGSN, the packet call of the target IP address;
• and
• transmitting a result of the packet call tracing or monitoring to the network management center, wherein said tracing or monitoring includes:
• checking whether the target IP address is an effective IP address in a network to which a corresponding subscriber belongs;
• and
• if it is checked that the target IP address is the effective IP address, activating the call tracing or monitoring of the target IP address, said method further comprising:
• deactivating the packet call tracing or monitoring after a predetermined period of time, said deactivating including:
• receiving input of the target IP address subject to inactivation through the network management center;
• checking whether the packet call tracing or monitoring of the target IP address is in an active state;
• and
• if it is checked that the packet call tracing or monitoring of the target IP address is in the active state, terminating the activation and transmitting a result of the inactivation, and
• wherein:
• if it is checked that the packet call tracing or monitoring corresponding to the target IP address is in the inactive state, checking whether a trigger flag for the tracing and monitoring of the target IP is set;
• and
• if it is checked that the trigger flag is set, removing the trigger flag and terminating tracing or monitoring of the packet call of the target IP address.