The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 14, 2022
Filed:
Sep. 18, 2018
Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ), Stockholm, SE;
Kiran Jadhav, Karlskrona, SE;
Ove Karlsson, Emmaboda, SE;
TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL), Stockholm, SE;
Abstract
A charging trigger function (CTF) in a communication network () advantageously uses pre-allocated usage units to authorize the use of a communication service by a user, when a pre-allocated usage unit is available with respect to the involved communication service and user. A pre-allocation function (PAF) provides the one or more pre-allocated usage units directly to the CTF () or indirectly via an online charging function (OCF). The pre-allocated usage units are determined, for example, according to predicted usage information, user account information, and configured rules. A usage prediction function (UPF) in the network () uses user-related information, such as historical usage data or other activity by the user, to generate the predicted usage information. Among its other advantages, authorizing the use of the communication service based on pre-allocated usage units obviates or reduces the need for usage authorization signaling going between the CTF and OCF.