Caller identification method, and billing system and method using the same in internet telephony

1. A method for identifying a caller for use in an Internet telephony system, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving authentication information of the caller from a caller terminal;

verifying the authentication information by using the received authentication information and a certificate of the caller, wherein the step of verifying the authentication information includes:

extracting a public key for the caller from the certificate;

dividing the received authentication information into signature data and a digital signature; and

producing a hash value for the signature data;

decrypting the digital signature by using the extracted public key; and

comparing the hash value with the decrypted value to output an authentication result; and

carrying out call setup if the verified authentication information and the certificate match,

wherein the authentication information is generated by using a caller identifier and a private key that are applied by the caller, with no dependency on the caller terminal, and

caller information corresponding to the caller identifier is transmitted to a callee terminal at the call setup.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the caller identifier and the private key are entered by inserting a portable storage medium into the caller terminal, when the caller identifier and the private key are stored in the portable storage medium.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the caller identifier and the private key are entered by entering a password from the caller, when the caller identifier and the private key are stored in the caller terminal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the authentication information is generated by:

producing signature data with the caller identifier;

producing a digital signature with the signature data and the private key; and

concatenating the signature data and its digital signature.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the certificate is obtained from a certificate authority.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of call setup includes:

requesting the caller for a callee identifier; creating an initial address message including the caller identifier;

sending the initial address message to the callee terminal;

extracting the caller identifier from the initial address message; and,

displaying the caller identifier on the display device of the callee terminal.

7. A method for caller-based billing for use in an Internet telephony system, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving authentication information of a caller from a caller terminal;

verifying the authentication information by using the received authentication information and a certificate of the caller, wherein the step of verifying the authentication information includes:

extracting a public key for the caller from the certificate;

dividing the received authentication information into signature data and a digital signature; and

producing a hash value for the signature data;

decrypting the digital signature by using the extracted public key; and

comparing the hash value with the decrypted value to output an authentication result; and

carrying out call setup if the authentication information and the certificate match; and

storing billing information for the caller when the call is ended,

wherein the authentication information is generated by using a caller identifier and a private key that are applied by the caller, with no dependency on the caller terminal, and

caller information corresponding to the caller identifier is transmitted to a callee terminal at call setup.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the billing information includes the caller identifier.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the billing information further includes call-start time and call-end time.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the authentication information is generated by producing signature data with the caller identifier, producing a digital signature with the signature data and the private key, and connecting the digital signature to the signature data.

11. A caller-base billing system for the Internet telephony, the system comprising:

a call-processing server for verifying authentication information that is received from a caller terminal by using the received authentication information and a certificate that is received from a certificate server, and carrying out call setup if the authentication information and the certificate match; and

a billing server for storing billing information for the caller, that is received from the call-processing server when the call is ended,

wherein the call-processing server includes:

a unit configured to extract a public key for the caller from the certificate;

a unit configured to divide the received authentication information into signature data and a digital signature;

a unit configured to produce a hash value for the signature data;

a unit configured to decrypt the digital signature by using the extracted public key; and

a unit configured to compare the hash value with the decrypted value to output an authentication result;

wherein the authentication information is generated by using a caller identifier and a private key from the caller with no dependency on the caller terminal.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the billing information includes the caller identifier.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the billing information further includes call-start time and call-end time.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the authentication information is generated by producing signature data with the caller identifier, producing a digital signature with the signature data and the private key, and connecting the digital signature to the signature data.

15. An Internet telephony terminal comprising:

authentication information generating means for generating authentication information of a caller to transmit to a call-processing server; and

call setup requesting means for requesting call setup from the call-processing server if the call-processing server determines that the authentication information and a certificate match,

wherein the call-processing server includes:

a unit configured to extract a public key for the caller from the certificate;

a unit configured to divide the received authentication information into signature data and a digital signature;

a unit configured to produce a hash value for the signature data;

a unit configured to decrypt the digital signature by using the extracted public key; and

a unit configured to compare the hash value with the decrypted value to output an authentication result;

wherein the authentication information is generated with a caller identifier and a private key that are entered by the caller with no dependency on the Internet telephony terminal, and caller information corresponding to the caller identifier is displayed on a callee terminal by the authentication information.

16. The Internet telephony terminal of claim 15 , further comprising portable storage medium inserting means for accommodating a portable storage medium, the portable storage medium stores the caller identifier and the private key are stored.

17. The Internet telephony terminal of claim 15 , storing the caller identifier and the private key and requesting the caller to enter a password.

18. The Internet telephony terminal of claim 15 , wherein the authentication information is generated by producing signature data with the caller identifier, producing a digital signature with the signature data and the private key, and connecting the digital signature to the signature data.

19. The Internet telephony terminal of claim 15 , wherein the authentication information generating means generates the signature data by connecting a random number from a random number generator and a timestamp from a timestamp generator to the caller identifier.