The present invention provides methods and apparatus for notifying Quality of Service (QoS) information to User Equipment (UE), Users, and Application server. Embodiments of the present invention may analyze the network QoS and/or statistics of QoS parameters using one or more functions such as Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF). Embodiments may also provide control plane (CP) functions which may send the QoS information to the UE depending on the UE subscription, application and/or network slice.

A system and method in various embodiments implements a virtual spectrum band stacking technique facilitating spectrum sharing by converting and combining spectrum bands consisting of several different RF channels, common air interfaces, and radio channel protocols in the radio frequency channel domain to form IP Virtual Radio Channels (IP-VRCs) in the packet data domain. This virtual spectrum stacking technique combines the transmissions of contiguous and non-contiguous RF channels with differing physical layers into IP-VRCs. This technique enables simultaneous parallel high-speed wireless transmission; virtual radio channel hopping for enhanced security; and customized security schemes for different IP-VRC Groups. The deployment of the combination of IP-VRC Groups; Universal “Small Cell” Base Stations; and Universal Wireless End-Point Devices allows the aggregation of all available spectrum bands for use within a building environment. Some benefits of this deployment include expansion of spectrum utilization, service quality, security, applications and transmission throughput for wireless end-point devices.

A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes evaluating by a first network node a current level of congestion experienced by a session in a communications network; predicting a level of congestion that will be experienced by the session beginning at a next time boundary; sending a request message to a second network node, the request message comprising at least one rule corresponding to the current level of congestion and the predicted level of congestion, in which the rule has associated therewith an activation time and a deactivation time; and refraining from sending an additional request message to the second network node at the next time boundary.

A session management function (SMF) receives, from a wireless device, a protocol data unit (PDU) session establishment request message including a parameter indicating a request for synchronization of multiple data flows. The session management function sends, to a user plane function (UPF) and based on the parameter, a user plane rule indicating that the UPF performs synchronized forwarding of packets of the multiple data flows.

Provided are a method for reporting usage, an Intermediate-Session Management Function (I-SMF) entity, a CHarging Function (CHF) entity, a Session Management Function (SMF) entity, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The method for reporting usage may include: acquiring address information of a CHarging Function (CHF) entity and a session charging identifier, receiving usage information reported by a managed User Plane Function (UPF) entity, and reporting the usage information and the session charging identifier to the CHF entity according to the address information of the CHF entity, so that the CHF entity counts the usage information in a fee of a corresponding user according to the session charging identifier.

Systems, methods, and software that distribute accounting requests to a plurality of Charging Data Functions (CDFs). One embodiment comprises a distributor unit that connects to the CDFs, which register their queues with the distributor unit. When receiving an accounting request (e.g., interim or stop) for a session, the distributor unit extracts an identifier from the accounting request indicating a destination queue previously selected for the session. When the destination queue is not accepting new sessions or ongoing sessions, the distributor unit identifies a prioritized list for the session, identifies a position of the destination queue in the prioritized list, searches the prioritized list for an alternate queue having a lower priority than the destination queue, and having a status indicating that the alternate queue is accepting new sessions. The distributor unit then selects the alternate queue as an alternate destination queue for the session.

Apparatus and methods that offload charging from an Online Charging System (OCS). The OCS includes an offload controller that receives a online charging request from a policy enforcement element for a service, determines whether charging for the service is eligible to be offloaded from the OCS to an Offline Charging System (OFCS), and pushes a charging rule to the policy enforcement element to switch a charging mode for the service to offline charging. An online charging function within the OCS receives another online charging request for the service from the OFCS that reports a charging event detected by the policy enforcement element, and debits an account of an end user based on the online charging request from the OFCS.

There are provided measures for coordinated session charging in roaming scenarios. Such measures (of a first session management entity of a first mobile network in a roaming charging related scenario between said first mobile network and a second mobile network) exemplarily comprise transmitting a session creation request message to a second session management entity of said second mobile network, said session creation request message including information indicative of a first configuration utilized for mobile network related charging, and receiving a session creation response message from said second session management entity of said second mobile network, said session creation response message including information indicative of a second configuration utilized for mobile network related charging.

Systems and methods are provided for providing differential treatment to user traffic involving optimized reporting of start and stop traffic. The systems and method can include detecting, at a user plane function, an initiation of a type of traffic being performed at the user plane function, providing, by the user plane function, a start event trigger of the type of traffic detected by the user plane function to a session management function, and receiving, at the user plane function, a policy associated with the type of traffic from the session management function, the policy including instructions preventing submissions of subsequent event triggers to the session management function until an end of the type of traffic, the subsequent event triggers being associated with the type of traffic detected by the user plane function.

The disclosure provides a method for assisting an unregistered user device to access an end-to-end call service of a private network and a communication system. The method includes: determining whether the user device that is not registered on the private network wants to initiate a request of an emergency call; in response to determining that the user device that is not registered on the private network wants to initiate the request of the emergency call, assisting the user device to access the end-to-end call service without being registered on the private network.