Patent ID: 8553862

Claim:
A system for determining a communication charge, comprising: a charging equation determiner configured to determine a charging equation based at least in part on a normalized set of inputs; an inflection point determiner configured to: determine an inflection point based at least in part on a charging structure database; and in the event that the inflection point is reached, determine the next inflection point by simulating a change in a parameter and determining at what value of the parameter the normalized set of inputs change, wherein the parameter comprises one or more of the following: time, dollars in an account balance, remaining minute balance, bytes, or call minutes, and wherein the simulating of the change in the parameter comprises determining a parameter value that the charging conditions will change under the condition of charging according to the current charging equation; and a charge determiner configured to determine a communication charge based at least in part on the charging equation and the inflection point.