Patent ID: 8498391

Claim:
A non-transitory, computer accessible memory medium storing program instructions for accessing a prepaid communication service, said program instructions comprising a prepaid client, wherein said prepaid client is executable by a processor to: transmit a first resource request for prepaid resources to a prepaid server, wherein the first resource request contains an attribute having a field settable to a first value to indicate support for data volume-based accounting, and to a second value to indicate support for time-based accounting; receive a first resource response responsive to the first resource request from the prepaid server specifying a first quota of prepaid resources no greater than a prepaid account balance of a prepaid service subscriber and a resource usage threshold at which the prepaid client is required to provide notification, wherein the resource usage threshold is less than the first quota of prepaid services; count an amount of prepaid resources consumed in a prepaid packet data session; in response to determining that the resource usage threshold of prepaid resources has been reached but before the first quota of prepaid resources has been consumed, transmit a notification to the prepaid server indicating that the resource usage threshold of prepaid resources has been reached; and receive a second resource response, responsive to the notification, specifying a second quota of prepaid resources for said prepaid packet data session; wherein the prepaid client is further executable to set the field in the attribute contained in the first resource request to a first value to indicate support for data volume-based prepaid accounting and set the field in the attribute contained in the first resource request to a second value to indicate support for time-based prepaid accounting.