Methods and apparatuses for control of usage of one or more services for a user

A method for control of usage of one or more services for a user, the method applying in a reporting device and comprising the steps of:

• receiving one or more monitoring keys from a control server and, for each of the one or more received monitoring keys, a monitoring quota and one or more related monitoring keys;
• monitoring the monitoring quota for each of the one or more received monitoring keys and, upon determining that the monitoring quota for at least one of the one or more received monitoring keys is exhausted, determining usage information for the at least one monitoring key whose monitoring quota has been exhausted, and usage information for the one or more related monitoring keys;
• and
• submitting to the control server the usage information for the at least one monitoring key, whose monitoring quota has been exhausted, and the usage information for the one or more related monitoring keys.

A control server for control of usage of one or more services for a user, the control server comprising:

• a processor adapted to identify one or more services for a user, to determine a service quota for each identified service, to identify one or more monitoring keys associated with each identified service, and to determine a monitoring quota for each identified monitoring key;
• the processor being further adapted to identify one or more related monitoring keys to be submitted together with at least one of the one or more identified monitoring keys;
• an interface being adapted to submit to a reporting device, for each of the one or more identified monitoring keys, the identified monitoring key, the determined monitoring quota and the identified one or more related monitoring keys;
• a further interface being adapted to receive from the reporting device usage information for at least one of the one or more identified monitoring keys, the monitoring quota for the at least one of the one or more identified monitoring keys having been exhausted, and usage information for the identified one or more related monitoring keys submitted together with the at least one monitoring key whose monitoring quota has been exhausted;
• and
• the processor being adapted to update the service quota, for each service associated with any monitoring key for which usage information has been received, by using the received usage information.

A reporting device for control of usage of one or more services for a user, the reporting device comprising:

• an interface adapted to receive one or more monitoring keys from a control server and, for each of the one or more received monitoring keys, a monitoring quota and one or more related monitoring keys;
• a processor adapted to monitor the monitoring quota for each of the one or more received monitoring keys and, upon determining that the monitoring quota for at least one of the one or more received monitoring keys is exhausted, the processor being adapted to determine usage information for the at least one monitoring key whose monitoring quota has been exhausted, and usage information for the one or more related monitoring keys;
• and
• a further interface being adapted to submit to the control server, the usage information for the at least one monitoring key whose monitoring quota has been exhausted, and the usage information for the one or more related monitoring keys.