Charging Function Per Service Flow Data Quota Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current converged charging systems in 5G networks lack the ability to provide data quota management and usage monitoring at a per service flow or service identifier level, leading to inefficient data usage tracking and billing, as they primarily manage data quotas based on rating groups rather than individual service flows.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a mechanism that allows data usage monitoring and quota management on a per service flow or service identifier basis by enhancing the interface between Network Functions (NF) and the Charging Function (CHF), using new data structures and functions to support usage monitoring thresholds at the service identifier level, enabling the CHF to track and manage data usage for specific service flows within a rating group.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If data quota management is performed based on rating groups, then system complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision and billing accuracy deteriorate because per-service-flow tracking is not possible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data usage tracking into multiple hierarchical levels: rating group level and individual service flow level. The CHF maintains both aggregate rating group quotas and granular service identifier-specific usage records, allowing operators to manage quotas at different granularities while achieving precise per-service billing accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If per service flow monitoring is implemented, then measurement precision and billing accuracy are improved, but device complexity and system complexity increase due to enhanced interface requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal data collection mechanism where the CHF receives standardized usage reports from multiple NF types (SMF, PCF, UDM, etc.) through a common interface. This multi-functional interface handles both rating group-level and service identifier-level data collection uniformly, reducing the need for separate specialized interfaces for each NF type.
Solution Approach 2:
The CHF acts as an intermediary between various NFs and the billing system. It consolidates usage data from multiple sources, performs normalization and aggregation, and presents unified quota management and billing information, thereby simplifying the overall system architecture despite the complexity of per-service monitoring.
3Measurement precision
If granular data usage tracking is performed, then billing accuracy is improved, but loss of time increases due to more frequent monitoring and reporting requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic reporting mechanisms where NFs submit usage data to the CHF at defined intervals rather than continuously. The system supports both real-time near-synchronous reporting and periodic batch reporting, allowing operators to balance billing accuracy requirements against time overhead by selecting appropriate reporting frequencies for different service types.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods described herein include receiving, at a network device, a message including an identifier associated with a subscriber and an identifier associated with a rating group associated with one or more data flows and determining a data quota and one or more usage monitoring thresholds associated with the subscriber. The data quota indicates a first amount of data associated with the rating group that the subscriber is authorized to use during a time period and the one or more usage monitoring thresholds indicate one or more second amounts of data associated with the rating group and one or more service flows that the subscriber is authorized to use during the time period. The network device transmits the data quota and the one or more usage monitoring thresholds, receives data usage information, and processes the data usage information.