University of Athens Communication Networks Laboratory C HARGING, A CCOUNTING & B ILLING I SSUES FOR N EXT G ENERATION M OBILE N ETWORKS

Definition of basic terms  CHARGING The Charging function collects information related to a chargeable event from specific network nodes, which are able to generate such kind of information. As a chargeable event can be considered any activity utilising network resources and related services that the operator charges for.  BILLING The Billing function processes the records coming from the charging functional entity according to the respective tariffs in order to calculate the charge for which the user should be billed.  ACCOUNTING In case of roaming the Accounting function is responsible to calculate the portion that is due to each operator. Additionally, it is reasponsible for sharing the incoming revenue between the players (network operators, application/service providers).  PRICING The Pricing function determines the necessary attributes for billing and accounting processes and defines the model that should be used for the calculation of charges and profits.

SGSN GGSN CGF BILLING SYSTEMBILLING SYSTEM MSC GMSC Charging Model in Current Network PS CS { {

USERUSER Configuration Messages Charging Information Bill OSA-like Interface Open Network Service for Reconfigurability CAB Gateway CAB Service Open Network Services Open Network Services OSA-like Interface Pricing Policies Open APIs Service Providers Domain Packet-Switched Core network CGF SGSN GGSN HSS Internet Multimedia Subsystem GGSN SGSN Metering Device MD Reconfiguration Manager Metering Device Open APIs Open APIs Function VAS Circuit-Switched Core network GMSC MSC MMS Relay/Server Service Domain Open Network Services Open Network Services Manager Reconfiguration Charging Function Service Manager Advanced Function MD VAS AAA VAS MD AAA LCS Charging Architecture Manager Roaming Users Billing Accounting I-CSCF AS S-CSCF BGCF MGCF MRFC P-CSCF CCF

PS CS IMS Service Domain HSS VASP SGSN GGSN MSC GMSC MMS Relay/ Server S-CSCF P-CSCF I-CSCF BGCF MRFC AS MD AAA Server { { { { CGF CCF SCCF CPCF MDC MD CHARGINGGATEWAYCHARGINGGATEWAY Event Charging Function Bearer Charging Function Session Charging Function { { LCS Proposed Charging Model

BSC & MSC Thesis  Specification of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) using the Specification and Description Language (SDL) and integration with the existing SDL platform UMTS IMS SDL Charging Issues  Charging Issues in an integrated 3G/wireless LAN network UMTS WLAN Interworking Architectures between them

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