Time Interval-Based Prepaid Charging of QoS-Enabled IP Services

Driven by the analysis of existing prepaid charging solutions with their limitations, a novel approach of prepaid charging for Internet Protocol (IP) services based on time intervals has been developed. This approach combines key advantages of hot billing with a tariff flexibility and the guarantee of minimal fraud for providers. The technical effort of real-time charging is reduced to a min imum and ensures economic efficiency as well as scalability in large-scale envi ronments for providers who achieve a better customer binding in prepaid cases.