The present disclosure relates to a method for managing a charging operation in a communication network. The present disclosure also relates to a controller and to a computer program and a computer program product configured, when run on a computer to carry out a method for managing a charging operation in a communication network. Examples provide a method of managing a charging operation in a communications network, the method including: determining a low balance condition of a user of the network during a network service provided to the user by the network; determining a prioritized provider and transferring a credit to the user from the prioritized provider to the user in order to continue the network service; wherein the prioritized provider is determined from a plurality of providers based on respective connectivity parameters between the user and each provider and a respective credit parameter of each provider.

A method and system for transferring access to cellular services from a postpaid subscriber account to a prepaid subscriber account are disclosed. A central postpaid system receives a request to transfer cellular services from the postpaid subscriber account to the prepaid subscriber account. The cellular services are transferred to a central prepaid system for the prepaid subscriber account. The amount of the transferred cellular services is deducted from the postpaid subscriber account stored in the central postpaid system. A monetary amount from the prepaid subscriber account is credited to the postpaid subscriber account for the transferred amount of cellular services.

Dynamic adjustment of consumption limits governing the consumption of credit units from a “provider account” (24) offers numerous advantages in the context of Online Charging (OC), both to the involved communication network operator(s) and to the users or applications associated with the UEs (12) that use communication services subject to credit availability in the provider account (24). Specifically, two or more “consumer” accounts (26), each associated with one or more UEs (12), consume credit units from the provider account (24), for authorizing communication-usage by the associated UE(s) (12), subject to a respective consumption limit, which may be regarded as defining an allocated share of the credit units in the provider account (24), for use by the consumer account (26). Adjusting the consumption limits one or more times during the validity period of the credit units offers the opportunity to rebalance the credit allocations, such as in view of aggregate rates or amounts of consumption or consumption imbalances.

An example method for lockless communications network resource quota sharing occurs at a first charging node of a distributed charging system comprising multiple charging nodes. The example method comprises: receiving, from a requesting entity, a first communications network resource quota request for requesting a first resource amount from the shared resources plan; without confirming that the shared resources plan has enough available resources to allot the first resource amount, providing, to the requesting entity, a first communications network resource quota for the first member, wherein the first communications network resource quota indicates a second resource amount less than the first resource amount and/or wherein the first communications network resource quota is associated with a validity time indicating when the first communications network resource quota expires; and sending, to a second charging node, a first resource reservation request for reserving resources of the shared resources plan.

A charging method includes: determining, by a control plane function entity (CP), that a data flow that is transmitted by user equipment (UE) on a first data session needs to be migrated to a second data session; charging, by the CP, the data flow on the first UP through a first charging session between the CP and a charging system; obtaining, by the CP, charging information of the data flow before the migration that is counted by the first UP; and determining, by the CP, a quota that is used for the data flow after the migration is necessary to be delivered to the second UP, and delivering the quota to the second UP, thereby charging a service data flow of a user in a case of migration between user planes.

An example method for lockless communications network resource quota sharing occurs at a first charging node of a distributed charging system comprising multiple charging nodes. The example method comprises: receiving, from a requesting entity, a first communications network resource quota request for requesting a first resource amount from the shared resources plan; without confirming that the shared resources plan has enough available resources to allot the first resource amount, providing, to the requesting entity, a first communications network resource quota for the first member, wherein the first communications network resource quota indicates a second resource amount less than the first resource amount and/or wherein the first communications network resource quota is associated with a validity time indicating when the first communications network resource quota expires; and sending, to a second charging node, a first resource reservation request for reserving resources of the shared resources plan.

A method for transferring funds to a second electronic computing device includes establishing a first pre-paid payment account on a first electronic computing device. The first pre-paid payment account is used to establish one or more second pre-paid payment accounts. The one or more second pre-paid payment accounts have a value that is less than or equal to the first pre-paid payment account. A first account identifier is obtained for one of the second pre-paid payment accounts. The first account identifier is sent to the second electronic computing device. The sending of the first account identifier to the second electronic computing device results in a transfer of ownership of the one more second pre-paid accounts from a first user at the first electronic computing device to a second user at the second electronic computing device.

A charging method includes: determining, by a control plane function entity (CP), that a data flow that is transmitted by user equipment (UE) on a first data session needs to be migrated to a second data session; charging, by the CP, the data flow on the first UP through a first charging session between the CP and a charging system; obtaining, by the CP, charging information of the data flow before the migration that is counted by the first UP; and determining, by the CP, a quota that is used for the data flow after the migration is necessary to be delivered to the second UP, and delivering the quota to the second UP, thereby charging a service data flow of a user in a case of migration between user planes.

The present invention relates to a server, a method and a system for allowing a user terminal to receive and use a data capacity shared by a donor terminal, and provide a reward that is as much as the data capacity shared by the donor terminal and provide, to the user terminal, charging information corresponding to the use of data, thereby enabling a fair and meaningful compensation system.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a credit control method, a policy and charging enforcement function entity, and an online charging system. The method includes: if an OCS determines that a service borne by a second bearer may share a credit pool with a service borne by a first bearer, sending a second quota allocated to the second bearer and a credit pool identifier corresponding to the first bearer to the PCEF, so that the PCEF stores the second quota and a first quota in a same credit pool, so that the second bearer and the first bearer use the same credit pool, thereby implementing sharing of the credit pool between IP-CAN bearers and even between IP-CAN sessions, and ensuring smoothness of a service.