Establishing a Communication Session

A method of operating a Policy and Charging Rules Function associated with a first user to control the establishment of a communication session between the first user and a second user at a required Quality of Service, the method comprising:

• receiving a Quality of Service authorisation request, the Quality of Service authorisation request including said required Quality of Service required by the first user;
• determining if a subscription of the first user allows sufficient Quality of Service for the required Quality of Service;
• and
• if the subscription of the first user does not allow sufficient Quality of Service for the required Quality of Service, determining an additional Quality of Service required by the first user in order to achieve said required Quality of Service, and responding to the Quality of Service authorisation request with an indication that the requested Quality of Service has not been authorised and including the additional Quality of Service required by the first user.

An apparatus configured to operate as a Policy and Charging Rules Function associated with a first user for establishing a communication session between the first user and a second user at a required Quality of Service, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive a Quality of Service authorisation request, the Quality of Service authorisation request including said required Quality of Service and an additional Quality of Service required by the second user;
• a processing unit configured to determine if a subscription of the first user allows sufficient Quality of Service for both the required Quality of Service and the additional Quality of Service;
• and
• a transmitter configured to respond to the Quality of Service authorisation request with an indication that the required Quality of Service and the additional Quality of Service have been authorised.

An apparatus configured to operate as a Policy and Charging Rules Function associated with a first user for controlling the establishment of a communication session between the first user and a second user at a required Quality of Service, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive a Quality of Service authorisation request, the Quality of Service authorisation request including said required Quality of Service;
• a processing unit configured to determine if a subscription of the first user allows sufficient Quality of Service for the required Quality of Service, and, if the subscription of the first user does not allow sufficient Quality of Service for the required Quality of Service, to determine the additional Quality of Service required by the first user in order to achieve said required Quality of Service;
• and
• a transmitter configured to respond to the Quality of Service authorisation request with an indication that the required Quality of Service has not been authorised and including the additional Quality of Service.