Patent ID: 9374737
Filing Date: 2016-06-21
CPC Classification: H04L,H04M,H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method of operating a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) responsible for enforcing Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules for an internet protocol (IP) Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session established for a user, the method comprising: enforcing first PCC rules for the IP-CAN session; for traffic sent over the IP-CAN session, identifying the type of traffic; notifying a Quality of Service (QoS) selection function of an identity of the user and the type of traffic; notifying the user, from the QoS selection function, of a plurality of QoS levels that can be provided to the user for the identified traffic type and a charging rate associated with each QoS level; receiving from the user, at the QoS selection function, a user-selected QoS level among the plurality of QoS levels; notifying a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), from the QoS selection function, of the identity of the user, the user-selected QoS level, the associated charging rate and the identified traffic type; receiving, from the PCRF, second PCC rules for the user that apply the user-selected QoS level and the associated charging rate for the identified traffic type; and enforcing the second PCC rules for the IP-CAN session, and in accordance with the second PCC rules, allowing the user-selected QoS level for the identified traffic type and notifying a charging server that the associated charging rate is applicable for the identified traffic type.