Method and apparatus for user-designated priorities in online charging

A network node configured for operation in a charging system for a communication network, the network node comprising:

• communication interface circuitry;
• and
• processing circuitry configured to:
• receive, via the communication interface circuitry, a request for a grant of service units for authorizing consumption of a first communication service provided by the communication network to a user equipment (UE) that is associated with subscriber information maintained by or accessible to the network node;
• determine from the subscriber information that a subscriber associated with the subscriber information has designated the first communication service as a prioritized communication service;
• and
• apply a preferential granting scheme in which granting service units in response to the request is prioritized with respect to a competing request for a grant of service units for a second communication service that is not prioritized according to the subscriber information, wherein the prioritized communication service is communicated by the subscriber via a portal or an application, wherein the network node of a charging system exposes a list of service IDs/Rating Group IDs to the subscriber through the portal or application, wherein applying the preferential granting scheme comprises temporarily overriding an existing granting scheme that would be used absent the prioritized designation for the first communication service.

A network node configured for operation in a charging system for a communication network, the network node configured to:

• receive a request for a grant of service units for authorizing consumption of a first communication service provided by the communication network to a user equipment (UE) that is associated with subscriber information maintained by or accessible to the network node;
• determine from the subscriber information that a subscriber associated with the subscriber information has designated the first communication service as a prioritized communication service;
• and
• apply a preferential granting scheme in which granting service units in response to the request is prioritized with respect to a competing request for a grant of service units for a second communication service that is not prioritized according to the subscriber information, wherein the prioritized communication service is communicated by the subscriber via a portal or an application, wherein the network node of a charging system exposes a list of service IDs/Rating Group IDs to the subscriber through the portal or application, wherein applying the preferential granting scheme comprises temporarily overriding an existing granting scheme that would be used absent the prioritized designation for the first communication service.