Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A method of dynamic charging in a communication network, the method comprising:
upon initiation of a communication session, dynamically determining, by a network device, a charging rate for the communication session based on at least one of an estimated quality of service and a dynamically determined inter-network charging rate for the communication session;
initiating, by the network device, charging for the communication session based on the determined charging rate;
monitoring, by the network device, at least an actual quality of service for the communication session with respect to the estimated quality of service for a duration of the communication session; and
dynamically updating, by the network device, the determined charging rate based on the monitoring.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining the charging rate comprises:
determining an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session; and
determining an estimated duration of the communication session.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the estimated network condition for a network segment comprises:
accessing historical data and current data with respect to at least resource occupancy levels and congestion indications for the network segment; and
determining the estimated network condition for the network segment based on the historical data and the current data using a predictive model.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the estimated duration of the communication session comprises:
accessing historical data and current data with respect to at least one of a user characteristic, a session characteristic, or an event characteristic for the communication session;
determining an initial estimated duration of the communication session based on the historical data and the current data using a predictive model; and
determining the estimated duration of the communication session based on the initial estimated duration and the estimated network condition for at least one of the plurality of network segments.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising determining the estimated quality of service by:
accessing historical data with respect to at least one of network outages, a network condition, or a quality of service for at least one of the plurality of network segment, and historical data and current data with respect to at least one of a session characteristic and an event characteristic for the communication session;
determining estimated network outages for the estimated duration of the communication session and the estimated network condition for at least one of the plurality of network segment based on the historical data using a predictive model; and
determining the estimated quality of service for the estimated duration of the communication session, the estimated network condition, and the estimated network outages for at least one of the plurality of network segment based on the historical data and the current data using a predictive model.
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising dynamically determining the inter-network charging rate for the communication session by:
determining an initial inter-network charging rate at a destination network segment for the estimated duration based on at least one of allocated resources, the estimated quality of service, or the estimated network condition at the destination network segment;
determining a subsequent inter-network charging rate at a preceding network segment based on at least one of allocated resources, the estimated quality of service, the estimated network condition at the preceding network segment, the initial inter-network charging rate, or a factor proportional to a difference between the inter-network charging rate received from the succeeding network segment and the provisioned inter-network charging rate of the succeeding network segment; and
iterating determination of the subsequent inter-network charging rate for each of the plurality of preceding network segments till a source network segment.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining the charging rate for the communication session is further based on at least one of a base charging rate, and an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining the charging rate for the communication session comprises:
determining a base charging rate based on at least one of a user characteristic, a session characteristic, allocated resources for the communication session, or a quality of service required for the communication session; and
adjusting the base charging rate based on at least one of the estimated quality of service and the dynamically determined inter-network charging rate for an estimated duration of the communication session, and further based on an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session for the estimated duration of the communication session.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically updating the charging rate comprises dynamically determining a new charging rate for at least a part of an estimated duration of the communication session upon breaching a pre-provisioned threshold value for a difference between the actual quality of service and the estimated quality of service.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring further comprises monitoring at least one of:
an actual network condition with respect to an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session;
an actual duration with respect to an estimated duration of the communication session;
a session characteristic;
a user characteristic; or
an event characteristic.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein dynamically updating the charging rate comprises dynamically determining a new charging rate for at least a part of an estimated duration of the communication session upon breaching a pre-provisioned threshold value for at least one of:
a difference between the actual network condition and the estimated network condition;
a difference between the actual duration and the estimated duration of the communication session;
a change in the session characteristic;
a change in the user characteristic; or
a change in the event characteristic.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
initiating a learning process upon termination of the communication session; and
updating, based on the learning process, at least one of historical data with information about the communication session, a plurality of pre-provisioned threshold values for dynamic update of the charging rate, a base charging rate, or the inter-network charging rate for the communication session.
13. A system for dynamic charging in a communication network, the system comprising:
a network device comprising:
at least one processor configured to execute a set of instructions for providing:
a rating module for dynamically determining a charging rate for the communication session upon initiation of a communication session, based on at least one of an estimated quality of service and a dynamically determined inter-network charging rate for the communication session; and
a session based charging module or an event based charging module for:
initiating charging for the communication session based on the determined charging rate; and
monitoring at least an actual quality of service for the communication session with respect to the estimated quality of service for a duration of the communication session, wherein the rating module further dynamically updates the determined charging rate based on the monitoring; and
at least one computer-readable medium that stores the set of instructions, configuration data, session data, estimation data, and threshold data.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the rating module interfaces with:
a network condition estimation module for determining an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session; and
a service-session duration estimation module for determining an estimated duration of the communication session.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the network condition estimation module determines the estimated network condition for a network segment by:
accessing historical data and current data with respect to at least resource occupancy levels and congestion indications for the network segment; and
determining the estimated network condition for the network segment based on the historical data and the current data using a predictive model.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the service-session duration estimation module determines the estimated duration of the communication session by:
accessing historical data and current data with respect to at least one of a user characteristic, a session characteristic, or an event characteristic for the communication session;
determining an initial estimated duration of the communication session based on the historical data and the current data using a predictive model; and
determining the estimated duration of the communication session based on the initial estimated duration and the estimated network condition for at least one of the plurality of network segments.
17. The system of claim 14, wherein the rating module further interfaces with a service quality estimation module for determining the estimated quality of service by:
accessing historical data with respect to at least one of network outages, a network condition, or a quality of service for at least one of the plurality of network segment, and historical data and current data with respect to at least one of a session characteristic and an event characteristic for the communication session;
determining estimated network outages for the estimated duration of the communication session and the estimated network condition for at least one of the plurality of network segment based on the historical data using a predictive model; and
determining the estimated quality of service for the estimated duration of the communication session, the estimated network condition, and the estimated network outages for at least one of the plurality of network segment based on the historical data and the current data using a predictive model.
18. The system of claim 14, wherein the rating module further interfaces with a DOR module for dynamically determining the inter-network charging rate for the communication session by:
determining an initial inter-network charging rate at a destination network segment for the estimated duration based on at least one of allocated resources, the estimated quality of service, or the estimated network condition at the destination network segment;
determining a subsequent inter-network charging rate at a preceding network segment based on at least one of allocated resources, the estimated quality of service, the estimated network condition at the preceding network segment, the initial inter-network charging rate, or a factor proportional to a difference between the inter-network charging rate received from the succeeding network segment and the provisioned inter-network charging rate of the succeeding network segment; and
iterating determination of the subsequent inter-network charging rate for each of the plurality of preceding network segments till a source network segment.
19. The system of claim 13, wherein the rating module dynamically determines the charging rate for the communication session by:
determining a base charging rate based on at least one of a user characteristic, a session characteristic, allocated resources for the communication session, or a quality of service required for the communication session; and
adjusting the base charging rate based on at least one of the estimated quality of service and the dynamically determined inter-network charging rate for an estimated duration of the communication session, and further based on an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session for the estimated duration of the communication session.
20. The system of claim 13, wherein the rating module dynamically updates the charging rate by dynamically determining a new charging rate for at least a part of an estimated duration of the communication session upon breaching a pre-provisioned threshold value for a difference between the actual quality of service and the estimated quality of service.
21. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the session based or event based charging module further monitors at least one of:
an actual network condition with respect to an estimated network condition for each of a plurality of network segments involved in the communication session;
an actual duration with respect to an estimated duration of the communication session;
a session characteristic;
a user characteristic; or
an event characteristic.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the rating module further dynamically updates the charging rate by dynamically determining a new charging rate for at least a part of an estimated duration of the communication session upon breaching a pre-provisioned threshold value for at least one of:
a difference between the actual network condition and the estimated network condition;
a difference between the actual duration and the estimated duration of the communication session;
a change in the session characteristic;
a change in the user characteristic; or
a change in the event characteristic.
23. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the rating module, the session based charging module, or the event based charging module further:
initiates a learning process upon termination of the communication session; and
updates, based on the learning process, at least one of historical data with information about the communication session, a plurality of pre-provisioned threshold values for dynamic update of the charging rate, a base charging rate, or the inter-network charging rate for the communication session.

Dated this 6th day of October, 2017

SWETHA S.N
OF K & S PARTNERS
AGENT FOR THE APPLICANT
IN/PA-2123
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
This disclosure relates generally to communication network, and more particularly to a system and method for dynamic charging in communication networks.