Patent ID: 9173081
Filing Date: 2015-10-27
Classification: H04M,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of managing group-based charging for network usage and spending in a communications network, comprising: receiving in a processor of a server computing device that includes an offline charging system (OFCS) component a subscription request that includes a first charging attribute from a policy management system component; determining via the processor whether the received subscription request identifies a group of user equipments; determining via the processor the group of user equipments to which a first user equipment device associated with the received subscription request belongs in response to the processor determining that the received subscription request does not identify a group of user equipments, wherein the group of user equipments includes more than two user equipment devices; identifying via the processor a second user equipment device in the determined group of user equipments; determining via the processor a charging attribute state for the group of user equipments based on the first charging attribute included in the received subscription request and a second charging attribute associated with the identified second user equipment device; receiving a charging event that identifies a user equipment from a charging component; applying the charging event; determining whether the user equipment identified in the charging event is a member of the group of user equipments identified in the received subscription request; determining whether the charging attribute state of the group of user equipments has changed; and notifying the policy management system component of a new charging attribute state in response to determining that the charging attribute state of the group of user equipments has changed.