Patent ID: 9356788
Filing Date: 2016-05-31
CPC Classification: H04L,H04M,H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method for use in an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) node in which a session control protocol is used to establish and manage sessions within the IMS using session control protocol messages, comprising the steps of: receiving, at the IMS node, a first session control protocol message carrying node-specific charging data for a first node required for charging purposes at a charging control system of the IMS; and, including, by the IMS node, both the received first node-specific charging data and additional node-specific charging data relating to the IMS node either in a second session control protocol message sent in response to the received first session control protocol message, or by modifying the received first session control protocol message, such that the second session control protocol message, or the modified first session control protocol message, comprises node-specific charging data relating to a plurality of different nodes, the plurality of different nodes including the first node and the IMS node, wherein node-specific charging data for each of the plurality of different nodes comprises a name or identifier of the node; and transmitting either the second session control protocol message or the modified received first session control protocol message to a single Charge Triggering Function (CTF) to generate charging data for both the first node and the IMS node.