Patent ID: 7940904
Filing Date: 2011-05-10
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
1. A converged charging system for offline charging and online charging in a communication network, the converged charging system comprising: a charging gateway function operable to transmit rated charging data records (CDR) to a billing system; an online charging system comprising an online charging function and a rating function, wherein the online charging function is operable to receive online charging information for a first call, to access the rating function to determine a rating for the first call, to generate a rated CDR for the first call based on the online charging information and the rating for the first call, and to transmit the rated CDR for the first call to the charging gateway function; and an offline charging system comprising a charging data function, wherein the charging data function is operable to receive offline charging information for a second call, to generate an unrated CDR for the second call based on the offline charging information, and to transmit the unrated CDR for the second call to the charging gateway function; wherein the charging gateway function is operable to transmit the unrated CDR for the second call to the online charging function; wherein the online charging function is operable to access the rating function to determine a rating for the second call, to generate a rated CDR for the second call based on the unrated CDR for the second call and the rating for the second call, and to transmit the rated CDR for the second call to the charging gateway function.