Radio access technology (RAT) type usage differentiation for differential charging in 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) architecture deployments

A computer program product comprising:

• a non-transitory computer readable medium;
• instructions stored in the computer readable medium;
• the instructions being executable on one or more processors to operate a control plane function of a mobile network, for:
• obtaining usage report data from a user plane function node, the usage report data being based on traffic of a user equipment (UE) communicated via primary and secondary Radio Access Technologies (RATs) of the mobile network;
• obtaining secondary RAT usage report data from a second RAT usage report, the secondary RAT usage report data being based on traffic of the UE communicated via the secondary RAT and indicating a secondary RAT usage, a secondary RAT type of the secondary RAT, and an identifier of a flow or bearer associated with the secondary RAT usage;
• constructing a message which indicates a request for charging based on the usage report data and the secondary RAT usage report data, the message which indicates the request for charging indicating a plurality of rating groups respectively associated with a plurality of usage data of the UE, and a plurality of identifiers of flows or bearers associated with the traffic of the UE in respective association with the plurality of rating groups;
• and
• sending the message which indicates the request for charging to a charging server,
• wherein the message which indicates the request for charging includes the identifier of the flow or bearer associated with the secondary RAT usage.

A network node comprising:

• one or more interfaces to connect in a mobile network;
• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more memory elements for storing instructions executable on the one or more processors for operation as a control plane function of the mobile network, for:
• obtaining usage report data from a user plane function node, the usage report data being based on traffic of a user equipment (UE) communicated via primary and secondary Radio Access Technologies (RATs) of the mobile network;
• obtaining secondary RAT usage report data from a second RAT usage report, the secondary RAT usage report data being based on traffic of the UE communicated via the secondary RAT and indicating a secondary RAT usage, a secondary RAT type of the secondary RAT, and an identifier of a flow or bearer associated with the secondary RAT usage;
• constructing a message which indicates a request for charging based on the usage report data and the secondary RAT usage report data, the message which indicates the request for charging indicating a plurality of rating groups respectively associated with a plurality of usage data of the UE, and a plurality of identifiers of flows or bearers for communication the traffic of the UE in respective association with the plurality of rating groups;
• and
• sending the message which indicates the request for charging to a charging server,
• wherein the message which indicates the request for charging includes the identifier of the flow or bearer associated with the traffic of the UE communicated via the secondary RAT.