Mary A Barnes

US Patent:

7092696, Aug 15, 2006

Filed:

Oct 4, 1999

Appl. No.:

09/412099

Inventors:

Akram M. Hosain - Richardson TX, US
Emad Qaddoura - Plano TX, US
Mary Barnes - Flower Mound TX, US
Haseeb Akhtar - Garland TX, US

Assignee:

Nortel Networks Limited - St. Laurent

International Classification:

H04M 11/00
H04Q 7/20
G06F 15/16

US Classification:

455405, 455406, 455422, 455432, 709201, 709224, 709217

Abstract:

An accounting framework is provided for a communications system having a plurality of service providers, including cellular service providers and/or data network service providers, e. g. , Internet service providers. Accounting units containing accounting information are exchanged between service providers to allow the service providers to charge for usage of services. The accounting units have a predetermined format to allow them to be exchanged between different service providers. Each accounting unit includes a plurality of fields, including a service type field, a usage of radio interface field, a usage of a visited or external network field, a usage of mobility management field, a quality of service field, a usage of a packet data protocol field, and other fields. Users may be charged for services based on these fields.