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US 7,391,854 B2Granted
Method, system and computer program product for online charging in a communications network
AssigneeComptel Oy
InventorsMatti Salonen, Antti Romppanen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention is intended to create a online charging method for an end user session comprising at least one first charging session and at least one second charging session. The invention is based on using a combination pricing plan as response to a number of different charging requests, and determining the charging by said combination pricing plan, by using during the end user session different proxy components to identify service requests according to different service identification request rules, each proxy component using individual service identification rules.
Claims45
Method for managing online charging in communications networks, the method comprising:
- receiving at least one first charging request relating to a service of at least one first charging session in a first network element,
- receiving at least one second charging request relating to a service of at least one charging session in at least one second network element, and
- setting charging model for the first and second charging sessions, characterized by following steps performed online during an end user session comprising at least one first charging session and at least one second charging session,
- identifying a common user of the at least one first charging session, and the at least one second charging session,
- determining the authorization of the user to the services during the end user session, and for authorized users
- using at least one combination pricing plan for setting charging for the end user session,
- using the combination pricing plan as response to the first and the second received charging requests,
- determining the charging by said combination pricing plan, the charging being different from the charge determined by the first charging request(s) and the second charging request(s) added together, and
- determining being carried through by using during the end user session different proxy components to identify service requests according to different service identification request rules, each proxy component using individual service identification rules, and
- including a method for creating charging model in communications network, comprising the steps of
- receiving at least one charging request from the network layer including a subscriber identifier, information of whether the user has been authenticated or not, a service identifier referring either access data, service session or a piece of content service, and
- checking whether the system includes a pricing plan for the received charging request(s).
9 more elements
Means for managing online charging in communications networks, the means comprising:
- means for receiving at least one first charging request relating to a service of at least one first charging session in a first network element,
- means for receiving at least one second charging request relating to a service of at least one charging session in at least one second network element, and
- means for setting charging model for the first and second charging sessions, characterized by means for operating following means online during an end user session comprising at least one first charging session and at least one second charging session,
- means for identifying a common user of the at least one first charging session, and the at least one second charging session,
- means for determining the authorization of the user to the services during the end user session,
- and for authorized users
- means for using at least one combination pricing plan for setting charging for the end user session,
- means for using the combination pricing plan as response to the first and the second received charging requests,
- means for determining the charging by said combination pricing plan, the charging being different from the charge determined by the first charging request(s) and the second charging request(s) added together, and
- means for determining being carried through by using during the end user session different proxy components to identify service requests according to different service identification request rules, each proxy component using individual service identification rules.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.