WO2015197130A1

WO2015197130A1 - Data charging in wireless communication network

Info

Publication number: WO2015197130A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/063663
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xiaohui Wang
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2014-06-27
Filing date: 2014-06-27
Publication date: 2015-12-30

Abstract

Control of charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway is described. A method comprises receiving (201), from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service. Establishment of a bearer for the requested data service is initiated (203) between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway. A determination (205) is made whether or not the bearer has been established and, as a consequence of a determination that the bearer has been established, a charging instruction is sent (207) to a charging system.

Description

DATA CHARGING IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate to a wireless communication system, and more specifically to controlling charging of data traffic in a wireless communication system.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems, i.e. systems that provide communication services to wireless communication devices such as mobile phones, smartphones etc., have in many geographical areas and markets evolved into systems that are considered by users only as "bit pipes" for "over the top", OTT, applications that enable more or less fast conveying of data bits from the device to another wireless device or internet connected entity. The operators of the wireless communication networks charge the users in terms of the amount of data ("number of bits") that is conveyed by the network on behalf of the users. In other words, existing charging methods are based on the conventional user behavior of consuming amount of time or volume for their activities when using the wireless communication network.

From a point of view of a network operator, such user behavior may in some scenarios be seen as a problem in that some types of OTT applications in the wireless communication devices behave in a very "chatty" manner, i.e. sending and receiving intermittent short bursts of data. Such behavior is typically detrimental to the network in that the overhead in terms of signaling for these data bursts is large. In some situations such "chatty" behavior of many concurrent users may even be detrimental to the quality of experience, QoE, for other users of the wireless communication network. For example, so-called messaging applications running in a wireless communication device may utilize network services such as short messaging service, SMS, for conveying the messaging data, resulting in a very heavy load on the SMS service in the network, sometimes resulting in undesired delays for messages.

Consequently, there is a need for network operators to improve the ways in which to control how "chatty" wireless communication device applications utilize the wireless communication network. This can be done by ways of applying an improved charging model for the use of communication resources in the network. An example of this can be found in EP2453609 where so-called group charging is described, which is applicable for machine to machine, M2M, communications. It describes measuring the number of packet data protocol, PDP, context activation requests and reporting to a charging system.

SUMMARY

In view of the above there is a need for improving the ways in which a wireless

communication network operator can handle charging in a wireless communication network. An object of the present disclosure is to provide embodiments of how to accomplish this object.

Hence, in one aspect there is provided a method, performed by a node in a wireless communication system, for controlling charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway. The method comprises receiving, from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service. Establishment of a bearer for the requested data service is initiated between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway. A determination is made whether or not the bearer has been established and, if it is determined that the bearer has been established, a charging instruction is sent to a charging system.

In other words, charging of network use is done, not by time used or data volume used, but by the number of service requests that result in a successful establishment of a bearer in the network. An advantage of such a method is that it improves the ways in which to control how "chatty" wireless communication device applications utilize the wireless communication network. For example, it enables network operators to optimize how to fairly charge for the network resources needed to serve typical OTT applications.

The bearer may be a third generation partnership project, 3GPP, evolved packet system, EPS, bearer and, in case the wireless communication device requests the service from a GERAN or UTRAN, a 3GPP packet data protocol, PDP, context (noting here that GERAN is an abbreviation for global system for mobile communications, GSM, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution, EDGE, radio access network and that UTRAN is an abbreviation for universal terrestrial radio access network).

Some embodiments involve an uplink situation where the method comprises, prior to the reception of the request for a data service from the wireless communication device, receiving, from the data traffic gateway, an indication that the data traffic gateway has received data intended for reception by the wireless communication device. A paging message is then, in response to the reception of the indication from the data traffic gateway, transmitted to the wireless communication device, the paging message comprising an indication that data intended for reception by the wireless communication device is available. Embodiments include those where the charging instruction is a 3GPP charging data record, CDR, which may be in the form of a mobile originated, S-SMO, CDR as well as a mobile terminated, S-SMO, CDR.

In some embodiments, the determining of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises determining of whether or not the bearer has been established in a radio base station with which the wireless communication device is connected, and in some embodiments determining whether or not the bearer has been established in the data traffic gateway.

The present disclosure is applicable for networks where so-called on-line charging is possible. In such embodiments, a determination is made whether or not online charging is to be applied. The sending of charging instruction to the charging system is then further conditioned such that, as a consequence of a determination that online charging is not to be applied and as a consequence of a determination that the bearer has been

established, sending the charging instruction to the charging system.

In some of these embodiments, the number of times a bearer has been established is recorded as a consumed amount. Moreover, as a consequence of a determination that online charging is to be applied, if the consumed amount is greater than or equal to a quota threshold, the consumed amount is reported to the charging system and, if the consumed amount is less than the quota threshold, an amount that is equal to the quota threshold is reported to the charging system. An advantage of such embodiments relating to on-line charging is that users that do not use OTT applications will not notice any differences (in terms of the charging of their network use) whereas the frequent OTT application users will be charged for the bearer establishments related to the services they have used in the network.

In another aspect there is provided a node where the node comprises input/output circuitry, a processor and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the node is operative to control charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway in a wireless communication system by receiving, from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service. Establishment of a bearer for the requested data service is initiated between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway. A determination is made whether or not the bearer has been established and, if it is determined that the bearer has been established, a charging instruction is sent to a charging system.

In another aspect there is provided a computer program, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor in a node, cause the node to carry out the method as summarized above. In another aspect there is provided a carrier comprising such a computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal and a computer readable storage medium.

These aspects provide the same effects and advantages as summarized above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 schematically illustrates a wireless communication system,

figures 2a and 2b are flow charts of methods,

figure 3 is a signaling diagram,

figure 4 is a flowchart of a method,

figure 5 schematically illustrates a node, and

figure 6 schematically illustrates a node.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 shows a wireless communication device (here denoted user equipment, UE) 106 that is connected to a wireless communication system 100. Generally, the wireless communications system 100 may be any 3GPP wireless communication system, such as a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) network, a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), or the like. The wireless communication system 100 may be an evolution of any one of the aforementioned systems or a combination thereof, such as a system that includes a long term evolution (LTE) system. In fact, as the skilled person will realize, the exemplifying system 100 in the present disclosure comprises a combination of nodes of a third generation partnership project (3GPP) evolved packet system (EPS). As such, these EPS nodes are well known to the skilled person and therefore no attempt will be made to describe in detail how the nodes interact via various interfaces and communication protocols in order operate. Only specific details will be described that are needed to show the skilled person how nodes in the system 100 operate and communicate between each 5 other in order to control charging of data traffic between the UE 106 and a data traffic gateway 108 for the purpose of at least mitigating drawbacks with the prior art, as discussed above.

The system comprises a radio base station in the form of an enhanced NodeB (eNB) 1 10 that connects the wireless communication device 106 via an air interface 1 1 1 . The eNB 10 1 10 is connected to a mobility management entity (MME) 102 and connected to a serving gateway (S-GW) 104.

The MME 102 is connected to a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) 1 14 that connects the EPS system 100 to other wireless communication systems such as GERAN and UTRAN systems 126. The MME 102 is also connected to a 15 home subscriber server (HSS) 1 18 that comprises information regarding subscriptions relating to wireless communication devices such as the UE 106. As indicated in figure 1 , the MME 102 and the SGSN 1 14 may be separate logical nodes of one single node 150.

The S-GW 104 is connected to a packed data network gateway (PDN-GW) 108 that is an interface between the EPS system 100 and an internet protocol (IP) network 122 such as 20 the internet. As indicated, the S-GW 104 and the PDN-GW 108 may be combined as two logical nodes in one single physical node 160.

A charging system 1 12 and a billing system 120, both of which may be co-located in one node 170, is connected to the PDN-GW 108. The charging system 1 12 receives charging instructions from other nodes in the system 100. The charging system 1 12 processes the 25 received charging instructions and communicates information regarding, e.g. amounts of data that users have received and transmitted in the system 100, with the billing system 120. In turn, the billing system 120 generates billing information related to the users and data amounts that has been processed by the charging system 1 12.

Turning now to figures 2a and figure 3, and with continued reference to figure 1 , control 30 of charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway will be exemplified in some more detail. A wireless communication device 306, which may correspond to the wireless communication device 106 in figure 1 , is in use by a user that wishes to use a data service such as an IP based service, e.g. a messaging service, in connection with an entity connected to an IP network, e.g. the IP network 122 in figure 1. Communication takes place with a radio base station, here an evolved NodeB 310, a node 302 in the form of a MME, a gateway node 360 that comprises an S-GW and 5 a PDN-GW, and a charging system 312. The MME 302, eNB 310, gateway node 360 and charging system 312 may correspond to the MME 102, eNB 1 10, gateway node 160 and charging system 1 12, respectively, in figure 1 .

The user starts attempts to use the service by performing suitable interactions with a user application that executes in the wireless communication device 306. Any details regarding 10 such interactions and any details regarding the execution of the application is outside the scope of the present disclosure. As a consequence of these user interactions, a sequence of actions and signalling takes place as illustrated in the flow chart in figure 2a and in the signalling diagram in figure 3.

In the following, actions will be exemplified by being performed in a node in the form of the 15 MME 302 in figure 3. However, it is to be noted that these actions may also be performed in other nodes in the network, such as the joint MME SGSN node 150 or in the joint S-GW PDN-GW node 160 shown in figure 1.

Action 201 and signals 301 a, b

The node, in the form of MME 302, receives, from the wireless communication device 20 306, a request for a data service, for example in the form of a Service Request message 301 a, 301 b over a LTE-Uu interface between the wireless communication device 306 and the radio base station 310 and via a S1 -MME interface between the radio base station 310 and the MME 302.

Action 203 and signals 303a, b

25 The node, in the form of MME 302, initiates establishment of a bearer for the requested data service between the wireless communication device 306 and the data traffic gateway, here exemplified with the PDN-GW in the gateway node 360. This action is realized by way of signalling 303a Radio Bearer Setup Request message, using the S1 - MME interface, from the MME 302 to the radio base station 310 and signalling 303b

30 Radio Bearer Setup Response message from the radio base station 310 to the MME 302.

Action 205 and signals 303c, d

The node, in the form of MME 302, then communicates with the gateway node 360 via a S1 1 interface. A Modify Bearer Request message 303c is sent from the MME 302 to the gateway node 360 and a Modify Bearer Response message 303d is returned from the gateway node 360 to the MME 302. A determination is made whether or not the bearer has been established. As illustrated by signals 303c and 303d, this determination is performed in the communication with the gateway node 360. However, this determination may also be performed in the communication with the radio base station 310 using an appropriate S1 -MME message (although this is not illustrated with any signals in figure 3).

Action 207 and signal 305

If a determination is made (i.e. as a consequence of a determination), in action 205, that the bearer has been established, a charging instruction 305 is sent from the MME 302 to the charging system 312. The charging instruction 305 may be a 3GPP charging data record, CDR, for example any of a mobile originated, S-SMO, CDR and a mobile terminated, S-SMO, CDR.

The above actions are described in a context where the bearer is an EPS bearer. As an alternative embodiment, the bearer may be a part of a PDP context where a wireless communication device is connected to the GERAN or UTRAN network 126. In such a case, the SGSN 1 14 plays the same role as the MME 102 for LTE.

Whereas figure 2a illustrates a situation in an "uplink context", i.e. where the request for a data service originates from the wireless communication device 306, figure 2b illustrates an example in a "downlink context", i.e. where a request for a data service originates from an entity connected to, e.g., the IP network 122 in the form of a user of a computer (not shown in the figures) wishing to communicate via a data service with the wireless communication device 306.

Action 211 and signal 311

In this example, the MME 302 receives, from the PDN-GW in the gateway 360, a downlink data notification that the PDN-GW has received data intended for reception by the wireless communication device 306.

Action 213 and signal 313

In response to the reception of the indication from the data traffic gateway, the MME 302 then performs a paging process by transmitting a paging message 313 to the wireless communication device 306. The paging message 313 comprises an indication that data intended for reception by the wireless communication device 306 is available. The wireless communication device 306 reacts to the paging message 313 by performing a service request as described above.

Turning now to figure 4, and with continued reference to figures 1 and 3, a further example of controlling charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway will be presented. The method in figure 4 is in a context of so- called on-line charging where a user of a wireless communication device has a subscription that has a limited credit, typically pre-paid, available and that the limited credit is reduced in proportion to the amount of data the user communicates via the system 100. In such a case, the information regarding the limited credit is stored in the HSS 1 18 and the MME 102 interacts with the HSS in order to obtain information that is needed in the handling of on-line charging.

The user starts attempts to use the service by performing suitable interactions with a user application that executes in the wireless communication device 306. Any details regarding such interactions and any details regarding the execution of the application is outside the scope of the present disclosure. As a consequence of these user interactions, a sequence of actions and signalling takes place as illustrated in the flow chart in figure 2a and in the signalling diagram in figure 3.

As illustrated by an action 440, the number of times a bearer has been established is continuously recorded as a consumed amount during communication by the wireless communication device 306.

Action 401 and signals 301 a, b

The node, in the form of MME 302, receives, from the wireless communication device 306, a request for a data service, for example in the form of a Service Request message 301 a, 301 b over a LTE-Uu interface between the wireless communication device 306 and the radio base station 310 and via a S1 -MME interface between the radio base station 310 and the MME 302.

Action 403 and signals 303a, b

The node, in the form of MME 302, initiates establishment of a bearer for the requested data service between the wireless communication device 306 and the data traffic gateway, here exemplified with the PDN-GW in the gateway node 360. This action is realized by way of signalling 303a Radio Bearer Setup Request, using the S1 -MME interface, from the MME 302 to the radio base station 310 and signalling 303b Radio Bearer Setup Response from the radio base station 310 to the MME 302.

Actions 405, 407 and signals 303c,d

The node, in the form of MME 302, then communicates with the gateway node 360 via a 5 S1 1 interface. A Modify Bearer Request 303c is sent from the MME 302 to the gateway node 360 and a Modify Bearer Response 303d is returned from the gateway node 360 to the MME 302. A determination is made whether or not the bearer has been established. The same determination is also performed in the communication with the radio base station 310 (although this is not illustrated with any signals in figure 3).

10 Action 409

If it is determined (i.e. as a consequence of a determination), in action 405, that the bearer has been established in the gateway node 360 and, in action 407, that the bearer has been established in the radio base station 310, a determination is then made in action 409 whether or not on-line charging is to be applied.

15 Action 411

If it is determined, in action 409, that on-line charging is not to be applied, a charging instruction 305 is sent from the MME 302 to the charging system 312. The charging instruction may be a 3GPP charging data record, CDR, for example any of a mobile originated, S-SMO, CDR and a mobile terminated, S-SMO, CDR.

20 Actions 413, 415 and 417

If it is determined, in action 409, that online charging is to be applied, reporting takes place as follows. As illustrated in action 440, a record is being kept of the number of times a bearer has been established. This number is defined as a consumed amount. If this consumed amount is greater than or equal to a quota threshold, as illustrated in action 25 413, the consumed amount is reported to the charging system in action 415. On the other hand, if the consumed amount is less than the quota threshold, an amount that is equal to the quota threshold is reported, in action 417, to the charging system. With regard to the quota threshold, it may be a parameter that is specified by an operator of the system 100 and not necessarily a parameter that is part of subscription data kept in the HSS.

30 Turning now to figure 5, a node 500 will be described. The node may be a MME as well as a gateway node such as a combined S-GW and PDN-GW 160, 360 as well as an individual S-GW 104 or PDN-GW 108, as exemplified in figures 1 and 3. The node 500 comprises input/output circuitry 506, a processor 502 and a memory 504. The memory 504 contains instructions (e.g. software as will be described below) executable by the processor 502 whereby the node 500 is operative to control charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway in a wireless communication system by:

- receiving, from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service,

- initiating establishment of a bearer for the requested data service between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway, and

- determining whether or not the bearer has been established and,

- if it is determined that the bearer has been established, sending a charging instruction to a charging system.

The bearer may be a third generation partnership project, 3GPP, evolved packet system, EPS, bearer and, in case the wireless communication device requests the service from a GERAN or UTRAN, a 3GPP packet data protocol, PDP, context. The node 500 may be operative to control the charging of data by, prior to the reception of the request for a data service:

- receiving, from the data traffic gateway, an indication that the data traffic gateway has received data intended for reception by the wireless communication device, and

- transmitting, in response to the reception of the indication from the data traffic gateway, a paging message to the wireless communication device, the paging message comprising an indication that data intended for reception by the wireless communication device is available.

The charging instruction may be a 3GPP charging data record, CDR, which may be in the form of a mobile originated, S-SMO, CDR as well as a mobile terminated, S-SMO, CDR. The node 500 may be operative to control the charging of data such that the determining of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises:

- determining whether or not the bearer has been established in a radio base station with which the wireless communication device is connected.

The node may be operative to control the charging of data such that the determination of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises:

- determining whether or not the bearer has been established in the data traffic gateway. The node 500 may be operative to control the charging of data by:

- determining whether or not online charging is to be applied, and

- further conditioning the sending of the charging instruction to the charging system such that, if it is determined that online charging is not to be applied and as a

consequence of a determination that the bearer has been established, sending the charging instruction to the charging system.

The node may be operative to control the charging of data by:

- recording the number of times a bearer has been established as a consumed amount, and operative to, if it is determined that online charging is to be applied:

- reporting, if the consumed amount is greater than or equal to a quota threshold, to the charging system, the consumed amount, and

- reporting, if the consumed amount is less than the quota threshold, to the charging system, an amount that is equal to the quota threshold.

The instructions that are executable by the processor 502 may be software in the form of a computer program 541 . The computer program 541 may be contained in or by a carrier 542, which may provide the computer program 541 to the memory 504 and processor 502. The carrier 542 may be in any suitable form including an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal or a computer readable storage medium.

Figure 6 illustrates a node 600 may be a MME as well as a gateway node such as a combined S-GW and PDN-GW 160, 360 as well as an individual S-GW 104 or PDN-GW 108, as exemplified in figures 1 and 3. The node 600 is operative to control charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device and a data traffic gateway in a wireless communication system. The node 600 comprises:

- a receiving module 602 configured to receiving, from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service,

- an initiating bearer module 604 configured to initiate establishment of a bearer for the requested data service between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway, and

- a determination module 606 configured to determine whether or not the bearer has been established and a sending module 608 configured to, if it is determined that the bearer has been established, send a charging instruction to a charging system.

The node 600 may comprise further modules that are configured to operate in a similar manner as the node described above in connection with figure 5. As used herein, the term "processing module" or "module" may refer to a processing circuit, a processing unit, a processor, an Application Specific integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or the like. As an example, a processor, an ASIC, an FPGA or the like may comprise one or more processor kernels. In some examples, the processing module may be embodied by a software module or hardware module. Any such module may be a determining means, estimating means, capturing means, associating means, comparing means, identification means, selecting means, receiving means, transmitting means or the like as disclosed herein. As an example, the expression "means" may be a module, such as a determining module, selecting module, etc.

As used herein, the expression "configured to" may mean that a processing circuit is configured to, or adapted to, by means of software configuration and/or hardware configuration, perform one or more of the actions described herein.

As used herein, the term "memory" may refer to a hard disk, a magnetic storage medium, a portable computer diskette or disc, flash memory, random access memory (RAM) or the like. Furthermore, the term "memory" may refer to an internal register memory of a processor or the like.

As used herein, the term "computer readable medium" may be a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, a DVD-disc, a Blu-ray disc, a software module that is received as a stream of data, a Flash memory, a hard drive, a memory card, such as a Memory Stick, a Multimedia Card (MMC), etc.

As used herein, the term "computer readable code units" may be text of a computer program, parts of or an entire binary file representing a computer program in a compiled format or anything there between. As used herein, the terms "number", "value" may be any kind of digit, such as binary, real, imaginary or rational number or the like. Moreover, "number", "value" may be one or more characters, such as a letter or a string of letters, "number", "value" may also be represented by a bit string.

As used herein, the expression "in some embodiments" has been used to indicate that the features of the embodiment described may be combined with any other embodiment disclosed herein. Even though embodiments of the various aspects have been described, many different alterations, modifications and the like thereof will become apparent for those skilled in the art. The described embodiments are therefore not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1 . A method, performed by a node (102, 104, 150, 160, 302, 500, 600) in a wireless communication system (100), for controlling charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device (106, 306) and a data traffic gateway (108, 360), the method comprising:

- receiving (201 ,401 ), from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service,

- initiating establishment (203) of a bearer for the requested data service between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway,

- determining (205) whether or not the bearer has been established and,

- if it is determined that the bearer has been established, sending (207) a charging instruction to a charging system (1 12).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bearer is a third generation partnership project, 3GPP, evolved packet system, EPS, bearer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bearer is a part of a 3GPP packet data protocol, PDP, context.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, comprising, prior to the reception of the request for a data service:

- receiving (21 1 ), from the data traffic gateway, an indication that the data traffic gateway has received data intended for reception by the wireless communication device, and

- transmitting (213), in response to the reception of the indication from the data traffic gateway, a paging message to the wireless communication device, the paging message comprising an indication that data intended for reception by the wireless communication device is available.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the charging instruction is a 3GPP charging data record, CDR.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the CDR is any of a mobile originated, S-SMO, CDR and a mobile terminated, S-SMO, CDR.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the determining of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises: - determining (405) whether or not the bearer has been established in a radio base station (1 10) with which the wireless communication device is connected.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the determining of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises:

- determining (407) whether or not the bearer has been established in the data traffic gateway.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, comprising:

- determining (409) whether or not online charging is to be applied, and

consequence of a determination that the bearer has been established, sending (41 1 ) the charging instruction to the charging system.

10. The method of claim 9, comprising:

- recording (440) the number of times a bearer has been established as a consumed amount, and wherein, if it is determined that online charging is to be applied:

- reporting (415), if the consumed amount is greater than or equal to a quota threshold, to the charging system, the consumed amount, and

- reporting (417), if the consumed amount is less than the quota threshold, to the charging system, an amount that is equal to the quota threshold.

1 1. A node (102, 104, 150,160, 302, 500, 600), comprising input/output circuitry (506), a processor (502) and a memory (504), said memory containing instructions executable by said processor whereby said node is operative to control charging of data traffic between a wireless communication device (106, 306) and a data traffic gateway (108, 360) in a wireless communication system (100) by:

- receiving (201 ), from the wireless communication device, a request for a data service,

- initiating establishment (203) of a bearer for the requested data service between the wireless communication device and the data traffic gateway, and

- determining (205) whether or not the bearer has been established and,

12. The node of claim 1 1 , wherein the bearer is a third generation partnership project, 3GPP, evolved packet system, EPS, bearer.

13. The node of claim 1 1 , wherein the bearer is a part of a 3GPP packet data protocol, PDP, context.

14. The node of any of claims 1 1 to 13, where the node is operative to control the charging of data by, prior to the reception of the request for a data service:

15. The node of any of claims 1 1 to 14, wherein the charging instruction is a 3GPP charging data record, CDR.

16. The node of claim 15 depending on any of claims 1 1 to 13, wherein the CDR is any of a mobile originated, S-SMO, CDR and a mobile terminated, S-SMO, CDR.

17. The node of any of claims 1 1 to 16, where the node is operative to control the charging of data such that the determining of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises:

- determining (405) whether or not the bearer has been established in a radio base station (1 10) with which the wireless communication device is connected.

18. The node of any of claims 1 1 to 17, where the node is operative to control the charging of data such that the determination of whether or not the bearer has been established comprises:

19. The node of any of claims 1 1 to 18, where the node is operative to control the charging of data by:

- determining (409) whether or not online charging is to be applied, and

- further conditioning (205) the sending (207) of the charging instruction to the charging system such that, if it is determined that online charging is not to be applied and as a consequence of a determination that the bearer has been established, sending (41 1 ) the charging instruction to the charging system.

20. The node of claim 19, where the node is operative to control the charging of data by:

- recording (440) the number of times a bearer has been established as a consumed amount, and operative to, if it is determined that online charging is to be applied:

21 . A computer program, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor in a node, cause the node to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

22. A carrier comprising the computer program of claim 21 , wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal and a computer readable storage medium.