System and Method for Providing Application-Specific On-Line Charging in a Communications Environment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing on-line charging in a network environment, comprising:
- a policy server operable to interact with an application that is selected by an end user, the policy server being further operable to interact with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules, wherein the policy server performs on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An architecture for A method for providing on-line charging in a network environment is provided that includes interacting with an application that is selected by an end user, and with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules. The method also includes performing, via a policy server, on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled. In more particular embodiments, the policy server understands which application is interacting with it by use of application tokens, source, or service identifiers. Also, the application element can query the policy server indirectly to grant network resources and the policy server examines an end user'"'"'s policy profile or a network-wide profile (or both) and recognizes that on-line charging applies to the selected application.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing on-line charging in a network environment, comprising:
a policy server operable to interact with an application that is selected by an end user, the policy server being further operable to interact with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules, wherein the policy server performs on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for providing on-line charging in a network environment, comprising:
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interacting with an application that is selected by an end user, and with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules; and performing, via a policy server, on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Software for providing on-line charging in a network environment, the software being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising code such that when executed is operable to:
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interact with an application that is selected by an end user, and with a policy enforcement point to install corresponding policies that are inclusive of charging rules; and perform, via a policy server, on-line charging interactions on behalf of the selected application itself such that application-specific on-line charging for the application is enabled. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification