Charging interval authorizations according to the techniques disclosed herein provide for credit reservation and charging of whole charging intervals across two or more credit containers(36) in or linked to a subscriber account (34), without the need for redefining the charging interval size, even where the types of credit units differ between or among the credit containers (36) used to authorize the charging interval. Among the various advantages, the disclosed techniques preserve the original charging interval size, which may be defined for reasons of signaling efficiency, while simultaneously allowing the reservation or consumption of credit units from credit containers (36) having insufficient remaining credit for authorization of the full charging interval.

A policy and charging rules function (PCRF) device includes a memory storage comprising instructions, at least one network interface, and at least one processor coupled to the memory and to the at least one network interface. The instructions are executed by the at least one processor to receive a policy request of a first user sent by a gateway device; determine, according to the policy request, that the first user needs to use a counter of a second user; acquire a current status of the counter of the second user using a session of the second user established between the PCRF device and a charging system; and generate a control policy of the first user according to the current status of the counter of the second user and send the control policy to the gateway device.

A policy and charging rules function (PCRF) device includes a memory storage comprising instructions, at least one network interface, and at least one processor coupled to the memory and to the at least one network interface. The instructions are executed by the at least one processor to receive a policy request of a first user sent by a gateway device; determine, according to the policy request, that the first user needs to use a counter of a second user; acquire a current status of the counter of the second user using a session of the second user established between the PCRF device and a charging system; and generate a control policy of the first user according to the current status of the counter of the second user and send the control policy to the gateway device.

A policy decision method is provided, including receiving, by a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) device, a first user policy request for a first user sent by a gateway device, determining, by the PCRF device, that the first user and a second user share a usage quota, and the second user is an owner user of the usage quota, acquiring, by the PCRF device, a current second user counter status of a second user counter of the second user, and generating, by the PCRF device, a first user control policy according to the current second user counter status and sending the first user control policy to the gateway device. The present invention can implement sharing of accumulated data among users, reduces processing pressure of the charging system, and decreases a performance loss of the charging system.

A policy decision method is provided, including receiving, by a policy and charging rules function (PCRF) device, a first user policy request for a first user sent by a gateway device, determining, by the PCRF device, that the first user and a second user share a usage quota, and the second user is an owner user of the usage quota, acquiring, by the PCRF device, a current second user counter status of a second user counter of the second user, and generating, by the PCRF device, a first user control policy according to the current second user counter status and sending the first user control policy to the gateway device. The present invention can implement sharing of accumulated data among users, reduces processing pressure of the charging system, and decreases a performance loss of the charging system.