Patent ID: 8630925

Claim:
A method performed by a network node for operating an online charging system to control service traffic in a communication network, wherein the network node comprises a computing device, the method comprising steps of: receiving, by the computing device, a request for service traffic control, the request including at least data identifying a first communication network account; determining, by the computing device, based on the received data and a predefined set of rules, a first network traffic policy profile associated with the first account; transmitting, by the computing device, to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) a first policy control command including an identifier identifying the first network traffic policy profile stored in an network traffic policy profile entity, to be applied in controlling the service; receiving, by the computing device, from a Packet Gateway a request for credit control of a service including a second subscriber identity; determining, by the computing device, using the second subscriber identity, a second account to charge for the service; determining, by the computing device, that the request for service traffic control and the request for credit control relate to the same service instance by matching the first and second subscriber identities; determining, by the computing device, that the second account to charge differs from the first account; determining, by the computing device, based on the received data and the predefined set of rules, a second network traffic policy profile associated with the second account; and transmitting, by the computing device, to the PCRF a second policy control command including an identifier identifying the second network traffic policy profile stored in a second network traffic policy profile entity, to be applied in controlling the service.