Telecommunication management;Charging management;Packet Switched (PS) domain charging
The present document is part of a series of Technical Specifications (TSs) specifying charging functionality and charging management in Packet Switched networks (GSM/UMTS, EPS). The 3GPP core network charging architecture and principles are specified in TS 32.240 [1], which provides an umbrella for other charging management documents that specify:
- the content of the CDRs per domain / subsystem / service (offline charging);
- the content of real-time charging messages per domain / subsystem /service (online charging);
- the functionality of online and offline charging for those domains / subsystems / services;
- the interfaces that are used in the charging framework to transfer the charging information (i.e. CDRs or charging events).
The complete document structure for the charging TSs is defined in TS 32.240 [1].
The present document specifies the offline and online charging description for the Packet Switched (PS) domain based on the functional stage 2 description in TS 23.060 [201], TS 23.401 [208] and TS 23.402 [209].
The offline and online charging description for the PS domain encompasses also fixed broadband access in the convergent scenario deployment (i.e. both the fixed broadband access network and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) owned by a single operator) based on the functional stage 2 description in the corresponding Annex of TS 23.203 [215].
This charging description includes the offline and online charging architecture and scenarios specific to the PS domain, as well as the mapping of the common 3GPP charging architecture specified in TS 32.240 [1] onto the PS domain.
It further specifies the structure and content of the CDRs for offline charging, and the charging events for online charging. The present document is related to other 3GPP charging TSs as follows:
- The common 3GPP charging architecture is specified in TS 32.240 [1];
- The parameters, abstract syntax and encoding rules for the CDRs are specified in TS 32.298 [51];
- A transaction based mechanism for the transfer of CDRs within the network is specified in TS 32.295 [54];
- The file based mechanism used to transfer the CDRs from the network to the operator's Billing Domain (e.g. the billing system or a mediation device) is specified in TS 32.297 [52];
- The 3GPP Diameter application that is used for PS domain offline and online charging is specified in TS 32.299 [50].
Note that a CAMEL based prepaid function and protocol is also specified for the PS domain (TS 23.078 [206] and TS 29.078 [202]). CAMEL entities and functions are outside the scope of the present document.
All terms, definitions and abbreviations used in the present document, which are common across 3GPP TSs, are defined in TR 21.905 [100]. Those that are common across charging management in PS domains, services or subsystems are provided in the umbrella document TS 32.240 [1] and are copied into clause 3 of the present document for ease of reading. Finally, those items that are specific to the present document are defined exclusively in the present document.
Furthermore, requirements that govern the charging work are specified in TS 22.115 [101].