Charging method and apparatus and system

A charging method, wherein the method is applied to network function virtualization (NFV) architecture-based charging, and the method comprises:

• sending, by a charging system, a quota to a network function virtualization orchestrator (NFVO);
• receiving, by the charging system, charging information from the NFVO, wherein the charging information carries usage information of the quota, and the charging information comprises charging information from a virtual network function manager (VNFM) and charging information from a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM);
• and
• performing, by the charging system, charging based on the received charging information.

A charging apparatus, the apparatus being applied to network function virtualization (NFV) architecture-based charging, and comprising

• a computer-readable storage medium configured to store programming instructions;
• and
• a processor coupled to the computer-readable storage medium, the programming instructions causing the processor to be configured to:
• receive a quota from a charging system;
• when a trigger event occurs, obtain charging information from a virtual network function manager (VNFM) and charging information from a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM), wherein the trigger event comprises an internal trigger event or an external trigger event, occurrence of the internal trigger event being detected by the processing module, occurrence of the external trigger event being actively reported by the VNFM or the VIM to the processing module, and the charging information from the VNFM comprising usage information of the quota;
• and
• send the charging information from the VNFM and the charging information from the VIM to the charging system.

A charging apparatus, the apparatus being applied to network function virtualization (NFV) architecture-based charging, and comprising:

• a computer-readable storage medium configured to store programming instructions;
• and
• a processor coupled to the computer-readable storage medium, the programming instructions causing the processor to be configured to:
• send a quota to a network function virtualization orchestrator (NFVO);
• receive charging information from the NFVO, wherein the charging information carries usage information of the quota, and the charging information comprises charging information from a virtual network function manager (VNFM) and charging information from a virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM);
• and
• perform charging based on the received charging information.