Patent ID: 8694629

Claim:
A method performed by a policy and charging rules node (PCRN) for managing usage of a subscriber, the method comprising: defining a primary metering policy having a first applicability condition and a first quota; defining a secondary metering policy having a plurality of attributes including a second applicability condition and at least one inherited attribute that references an attribute of the primary metering policy; determining that the second metering policy is applicable when the first applicability condition and the second applicability condition are true; selecting the secondary metering policy as an active metering policy; and managing subscriber usage according to the attributes of the secondary metering policy, wherein the step of managing subscriber usage comprises charging usage to a policy based on an attribute of a different policy, wherein the step of managing subscriber usage comprises: measuring subscriber usage according to a rating factor of the secondary metering policy, the second metering policy further comprising a quota; and charging the measured subscriber usage against the quota of both the primary metering policy and the secondary metering policy.