WO2016070926A1

WO2016070926A1 - Handling of quality of service modification triggered by charging entity

Info

Publication number: WO2016070926A1
Application number: PCT/EP2014/073936
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paula Hannele SIREN; Tuomo Juhani PELTOLA; Jarmo Johannes Virtanen
Original assignee: Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Priority date: 2014-11-06
Filing date: 2014-11-06
Publication date: 2016-05-12

Abstract

The present invention provides apparatuses, methods, computer programs, computer program products and computer-readable media regarding handling of Quality of Service modification triggered by charging entity. The present invention comprises receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity, composing, by the first network element, a message including an information element indicating that the quality of service modification is initiated by the charging entity, and forwarding, by the first network element, the message including the information element to a second network element.

Description

DESCRIPTION

TITLE

Handling of Quality of Service modification triggered by charging entity

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to apparatuses, methods, systems, computer programs, computer program products and computer-readable media regarding handling of Quality of Service modification triggered by charging entity.

Background of the invention

The Quality of Service (QoS) represents the overall performance of a telephony or computer network, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network. The Quality of service comprises requirements on all the aspects of a connection, such as service response time, loss, signal-to-noise ratio. The Quality of service also is the ability to provide different priority to different applications, users, or data flows, or to guarantee a certain level of performance to a data flow.

A Tracking Area (TA) is a logical concept of an area where a user can move around without updating the Mobility Management Entity (MME). The network allocates a list with one or more TAs to the user. In certain operation modes, the user equipment (U E) may move freely in all TAs of the list without updating the MME.

As defined in 3GPP (3^rd Generation Partnership Project) TS 23.401 , a stand-alone Tracking Area Update (TAU) (with or without S-GW (Serving Gateway) change, as described in clauses 5.3.3.1 and 5.3.3.2 TS 23.401 , respectively) occurs when a GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) attached or E-UTRAN (evolved UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) Terrestrial Radio Access) attached UE experiences any of the following conditions:

- UE detects it has entered a new TA that is not in the list of TAIs (Tracking Area Identities) that the UE registered with the network;

- the periodic TA update timer has expired;

- UE was in UTRAN PMM_Connected state (e.g. URA_PCH) when it reselects to E-UTRAN; - UE was in GPRS READY state when it reselects to E-UTRAN;

- the TIN (Temporary Identity used in Next update) indicates "P-TMSI" when the UE reselects to E-UTRAN (e.g. due to bearer configuration modifications performed on GERAN/UTRAN);

- the RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection was released with release cause "load re-balancing TAU required";

- the RRC layer in the UE informs the UE's NAS (Non-Access Stratum) layer that an RRC connection failure (in either E-UTRAN or UTRAN) has occurred;

- a change of the UE Network Capability and/or MS (Mobile System) Network Capability and/or UE Specific DRX (Discontinuous Reception) Parameters and/or

MS Radio Access capability (e.g. due to GERAN radio capability change or CDMA 2000 Radio Access Technology Capability change) information of the UE.

- for a UE supporting CS (Circuited Switched) fallback, or configured to support IMS voice, or both, a change of the UE's usage setting or voice domain preference for E- UTRAN.

- for a SR-VCC capable UE, a change of MS Classmark 2 and/or MS Classmark 3 and/or Supported Codecs.

- UE manually selects a CSG cell whose CSG ID and associated PLMN is absent from both the UE's Allowed CSG list and the UE's Operator CSG list.

- UE receives a paging request from the MME while the Mobility Management back off timer is running and the UE's TIN indicates "P-TMSI".

For further details in this regard, reference is made to the documents TS 23.401 and TS 24.301 .

An example of a Tracking Area Update procedure with S-GW change is illustrated in Fig. 1 , and a short overview of the TAU procedure will be explained in the following based on document TS 23.401 . For details in this regard, reference is made to this document. In step 1 , the procedure is started by one of the above described triggers. In step 2, the

UE initiates the TAU procedure by sending, to the eNodeB, a TAU Request, and the eNodeB forwards the TAU Request message to the new MME in step 3. In step 4, the new MME differentiates the type of the old node, i.e. MME or SGSN, derives the old MME/S4 SGSN address, and sends a Context Request (old GUTI, complete TAU Request message, P-TMSI Signature, MME Address, UE validated) message to the old MME/old S4 SGSN to retrieve user information. In step 5, the old MME /old S4 SGSN responds with a Context Response message.

In step 6, an authentication/security procedure involving the UE, new MME and HSS is performed. In step 7, the new MME determines to relocate the Serving GW and sends a Context Acknowledge (Serving GW change indication) message to the old MME/old S4 SGSN, which indicates that a new Serving GW has been selected. If the MME selected a new Serving GW it sends a Create Session Request (IMSI, bearer contexts, MME Address and TEID, Type, the Protocol Type over S5/S8, RAT type, Serving Network, UE Time Zone) message per PDN connection to the selected new Serving GW in step 8. The Serving GW informs the PDN GW(s) in step 9 about the change of for example the RAT type that e.g. can be used for charging, by sending the message Modify Bearer Request (Serving GW Address and TEID, RAT type, Serving Network, PDN Charging Pause Support Indication) per PDN connection to the PDN GW(s) concerned. User Location Information IE and/or UE Time Zone IE and/or User CSG Information IE are also included if they are present in step 8.

If dynamic PCC (Policy and Charging Control) is deployed, and RAT type information needs to be conveyed from the PDN GW to the PCRF, then the PDN GW shall send RAT type information to the PCRF by means of an IP-CAN Session Modification procedure as defined in document TS 23.203.

The PDN GW (also referred to as P-GW) does not need to wait for the PCRF response, but continues in the next step. If the PCRF response leads to an EPS bearer modification the P-GW should initiate a bearer update procedure.

In step 10, the PDN GW updates its bearer contexts and returns a Modify Bearer Response (MSISDN, Charging Id, PDN Charging Pause Enabled Indication (if PDN GW has chosen to enable the function)) message. The MSISDN is included if the PDN GW has it stored in its UE context. The Serving GW updates its bearer context and returns a

Create Session Response (Serving GW address and TEID for user plane and control plane and PDN GW TEIDs (for GTP-based S5/S8) or GRE keys (for PMIP-based S5/S8) for uplink traffic and control plane) message to the new MME in step 1 1 . The new MME verifies whether it holds subscription data for the UE and if there are no subscription data in the new MME for this UE, then the new MME sends an Update Location Request (MME Identity, IMSI, ULR-Flags, MME Capabilities, Homogeneous Support of IMS Voice over PS Sessions, UE SRVCC capability, equivalent PLMN list, ME Identity (IMEISV)) message to the HSS in step 12. In step 13, the HSS sends the message Cancel Location (IMSI, Cancellation Type) to the old MME with Cancellation Type set to Update Procedure and the old MME acknowledges with the message Cancel Location Ack (IMSI) in step 14. When old S4 SGSN receives the Context Acknowledge message and if the UE is in lu Connected, the old S4 SGSN sends an lu Release Command message to the RNC in step 15 and the RNC responds in step 16 with an lu Release Complete message.

In step 17, the HSS acknowledges the Update Location Request message by sending an Update Location Ack (IMSI, Subscription Data) message to the new MME. The old MME/old S4 SGSN releases any local MME or SGSN bearer resources and additionally the old MME/old S4 SGSN deletes the EPS bearer resources by sending the Delete Session Request (Cause, Operation Indication) messages in step 18 to the old Serving GW if it received the Serving GW change indication in the Context Acknowledge message in step 7. The Serving GW acknowledges in step 19 with Delete Session Response (Cause) messages. In step 20, the MME sends a TAU Accept (GUTI, TAI list, EPS bearer status, NAS sequence number, NAS-MAC, IMS Voice over PS session supported, Emergency Service Support indicator, LCS Support Indication) message to the UE and the UE acknowledges the received message by returning a TAU Complete message to the MME in step 21 . A similar kind of functionality for P-GW and PCRF is stated also for the case of Tracking

Area Update without S-GW change, as described in TS 23.401 .

Further, it is described in TS 23.401 that the target MME calculates UE-AMBR. If the local UE-AMBR provided by the MME is different from the corresponding derived UE-AMBR, or the APN-AMBR mapped from the subscribed MBR is different from the subscribed APN-

AMBR, or the mapped subscribed QoS profile of the default bearer is different from the EPS Subscribed QoS profile received from the HSS, the new MME shall initiate Subscribed QoS Modification procedure. Thus, based on the above mentioned specifications, there are two network elements that trigger a QoS modification simultaneously based on their own criteria (this applies also to 2G/3G network elements (SGSN/GGSN)). However, the MME/SGSN does not know whether the modification will be triggered by the PCRF and hence, it is likely that the MME/SGSN initiates an "HSS initiated subscribed QoS modification" procedure after TAU. This leads to unnecessary signaling and collision situations as both network elements initiate QoS modification simultaneously.

Since collision handling is purely implementation specific it typically leads to IOT problems. From procedure point of view this means delayed completion of the procedure or in the worst case a dead-lock situation (both network elements refuse to continue until the response is received to the procedure initiated by itself).

Summary of the Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned problems and to provide apparatuses, methods, systems, computer programs, computer program products and computer-readable media regarding handling of Quality of Service modification triggered by charging entity.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a method comprising: receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity,

composing, by the first network element, a message including an information element indicating that the quality of service modification is initiated by the charging entity, and

forwarding, by the first network element, the message including the information element to a second network element.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method comprising: receiving, at a management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway,

evaluating, at the management entity, an indication included in the message whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service,

adopting, by the management entity, the quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity if it is determined that it has priority over the subscribed quality of service.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for use in a first network element, comprising:

at least one processor, and at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, by the first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity,

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for use in a management entity, comprising:

at least one processor, and at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed by the processor, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving, at the management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway,

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus, comprising: means for receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity,

means for composing, by the first network element, a message including an information element indicating that the quality of service modification is initiated by the charging entity, and

means for forwarding, by the first network element, the message including the information element to a second network element.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus, comprising: means for receiving, at a management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway,

means for evaluating, at the management entity, an indication included in the message whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service,

means for adopting, by the management entity, the quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity if it is determined that it has priority over the subscribed quality of service. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer program product comprising code means adapted to produce steps of any of the methods as described above when loaded into the memory of a computer.

According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product as defined above, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer- readable medium on which the software code portions are stored.

According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product as defined above, wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the processing device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

These and other objects, features, details and advantages will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of aspects/embodiments of the present invention which is to be taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an overview of an example of a tracking update procedure;

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method according to example versions of the present invention

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of another method according to example versions of the present invention ;

Fig. 4 is block diagram illustrating an example of an apparatus according to example versions of the present invention.

Detailed Description In the following, some example versions of the disclosure and embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings. For illustrating the present invention, the examples and embodiments will be described in connection with a cellular communication network based on a 3GPP based communication system, for example an LTE/LTE-A based system. However, it is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to an application using such types of communication systems or communication networks, but is also applicable in other types of communication systems or communication networks, like for example 2G and 3G communication networks and the like.

The following examples versions and embodiments are to be understood only as illustrative examples. Although the specification may refer to "an", "one", or "some" example version(s) or embodiment(s) in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same example version(s) or embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single example version or embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments. Furthermore, words "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consist of only those features that have been mentioned and such example versions and embodiments may also contain also features, structures, units, modules etc. that have not been specifically mentioned.

The basic system architecture of a communication network where examples of embodiments of the invention are applicable may comprise a commonly known architecture of one or more communication systems comprising a wired or wireless access network subsystem and a core network. Such an architecture may comprise one or more communication network control elements, access network elements, radio access network elements, access service network gateways or base transceiver stations, such as a base station (BS), an access point or an eNB, which control a respective coverage area or cell and with which one or more communication elements or terminal devices such as a

UE or another device having a similar function, such as a modem chipset, a chip, a module etc., which can also be part of a UE or attached as a separate element to a UE, or the like, are capable to communicate via one or more channels for transmitting several types of data. Furthermore, core network elements such as gateway network elements, policy and charging control network elements, mobility management entities, operation and maintenance elements, and the like may be comprised.

The general functions and interconnections of the described elements, which also depend on the actual network type, are known to those skilled in the art and described in corresponding specifications, so that a detailed description thereof is omitted herein. However, it is to be noted that several additional network elements and signaling links may be employed for a communication to or from a communication element or terminal device like a UE and a communication network control element like a radio network controller, besides those described in detail herein below.

The communication network is also able to communicate with other networks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet. The communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services. It should be appreciated that BSs and/or eNBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access node etc. entity suitable for such a usage.

Furthermore, the described network elements and communication devices, such as terminal devices or user devices like UEs, communication network control elements of a cell, like a BS or an eNB, access network elements like APs and the like, as well as corresponding functions as described herein may be implemented by software, e.g. by a computer program product for a computer, and/or by hardware. In any case, for executing their respective functions, correspondingly used devices, nodes or network elements may comprise several means, modules, units, components, etc. (not shown) which are required for control, processing and/or communication/signaling functionality. Such means, modules, units and components may comprise, for example, one or more processors or processor units including one or more processing portions for executing instructions and/or programs and/or for processing data, storage or memory units or means for storing instructions, programs and/or data, for serving as a work area of the processor or processing portion and the like (e.g. ROM, RAM, EEPROM, and the like), input or interface means for inputting data and instructions by software (e.g. floppy disc, CD-ROM, EEPROM, and the like), a user interface for providing monitor and manipulation possibilities to a user (e.g. a screen, a keyboard and the like), other interface or means for establishing links and/or connections under the control of the processor unit or portion (e.g. wired and wireless interface means, radio interface means comprising e.g. an antenna unit or the like, means for forming a radio communication part etc.) and the like, wherein respective means forming an interface, such as a radio communication part, can be also located on a remote site (e.g. a radio head or a radio station etc.). It is to be noted that in the present specification processing portions should not be only considered to represent physical portions of one or more processors, but may also be considered as a logical division of the referred processing tasks performed by one or more processors.

According to some example versions of the present invention, regarding the Tracking Area Update procedure shown in Fig. 1 , if the PCRF modifies the QoS, it will be done within the Create Session / Modify Bearer procedure (or Update PDP Context procedure in case of 2G/3G network) (cf. steps 8 to 1 1 in Fig. 1 ). This will prevent hazardous collision scenarios as described above completely and will reduce unnecessary signaling (overall reduction is 50 % in comparison to the case when PCRF triggered QoS modifications are handled in standalone procedures).

In such a case, according to some example versions of the present invention, the P-GW needs to wait for the PCRF response before sending the Modify Bearer Response / Update PDP Context Response message to the MME/SGSN. That is, referring to Fig. 1 , the Modify Bearer Response message in step 10 is sent to the SGW after the PCRF response, indicated by the procedure in step 9a, has been received by the P-GW.

Thus, according to some example versions of the present invention, a new Information

Element (IE) for the QoS is added to the Modify Bearer Response message. That is, the new IE indicates the parameters for the QoS of the QoS modification initiated by the PCRF. Then, when the MME/SGSN receives the Create Session Response or Modify Bearer

Response message or when the SGSN receives the Update PDP Context Response message, the MME/SGSN takes the QoS indicated by the IE in these messages into use. According to some example versions of the present invention, it is further proposed to include an indication in the Create Session Response / Modify Bearer Response / Update PDP Context Response messages to inform the MME/SGSN if the QoS provided by the PCRF prevails the subscribed QoS, i.e. to indicate which QoS has priority, and takes the QoS indicated by the IE into use if it has priority over the subscribed QoS.

In the following, a more general description of certain embodiments of the present invention is made with respect to Figs. 2 to 4. Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method according to example versions of the present invention.

According to example versions of the present invention, the method may be implemented in a network element like a serving gateway, a packet data network gateway or the like. The method comprises receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity in a step S21 , composing, by the first network element, a message including an information element indicating that the quality of service modification is initiated by the charging entity in a step S22, and forwarding, by the first network element, the message including the information element to a second network element in a step S23.

According to some example versions of the present invention, the first network element is a packet gateway and the second network element is a serving gateway, and the message including the indication of the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity is received from the charging entity.

According to some example versions of the present invention, the first network element is a serving gateway and the second network element is a management entity and the message including the information element is received from a packet gateway.

According to some example versions of the present invention, the management entity is a mobility management entity or a serving general packet radio service support node.

According to some example versions of the present invention, the messages further include an indication whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a method according to example versions of the present invention.

According to example versions of the present invention, the method may be implemented in a management entity, like a MME or SGSN or the like. The method comprises receiving, at a management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway in a step S31 , evaluating, at the management entity, an indication included in the message whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service in a step S32, and adopting, by the management entity, in a step S33 the quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity if it is determined that it has priority over the subscribed quality of service.

According to some example versions of the present invention, the management entity is a mobility management entity or a serving general packet radio system support node.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of an apparatus according to some example versions of the present invention.

In Fig. 4, a block circuit diagram illustrating a configuration of an apparatus 40 is shown, which is configured to implement the above described aspects of the invention. It is to be noted that the apparatus 40 shown in Fig. 4 may comprise several further elements or functions besides those described herein below, which are omitted herein for the sake of simplicity as they are not essential for understanding the invention. Furthermore, the apparatus may be also another device having a similar function, such as a chipset, a chip, a module etc., which can also be part of an apparatus or attached as a separate element to the apparatus, or the like.

The apparatus 40 may comprise a processing function or processor 41 , such as a CPU or the like, which executes instructions given by programs or the like. The processor 41 may comprise one or more processing portions dedicated to specific processing as described below, or the processing may be run in a single processor. Portions for executing such specific processing may be also provided as discrete elements or within one or further processors or processing portions, such as in one physical processor like a CPU or in several physical entities, for example. Reference sign 42 denotes transceiver or input/output (I/O) units (interfaces) connected to the processor 41 . The I/O units 42 may be used for communicating with one or more other network elements, entities, terminals or the like. The I/O units 42 may be a combined unit comprising communication equipment towards several network elements, or may comprise a distributed structure with a plurality of different interfaces for different network elements. The apparatus 40 further comprises at least one memory 43 usable, for example, for storing data and programs to be executed by the processor 41 and/or as a working storage of the processor 41 .

The processor 41 is configured to execute processing related to the above described aspects. In particular, the apparatus 40 may be implemented in or may be part of a network element like a serving gateway, a packet data network gateway or the like, and may be configured to perform a method as described in connection with Fig. 2. Thus, the processor 41 is configured to perform receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity, composing, by the first network element, a message including an information element indicating that the quality of service modification is initiated by the charging entity, and forwarding, by the first network element, the message including the information element to a second network element. According to some example versions of the present invention, the apparatus 40 may be implemented in or may be part of a management entity like an MME or SGSN or the like, and may be configured to perform a method as described in connection with Fig. 3. Thus, the processor 41 is configured to perform receiving, at a management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway, evaluating, at the management entity, an indication included in the message whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service, adopting, by the management entity, the quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity if it is determined that it has priority over the subscribed quality of service For further details regarding the functions of the apparatus 40, reference is made to the description of the methods according to some example versions of the present invention as described in connection with Figs. 2 and 3.

In the foregoing exemplary description of the apparatus, only the units/means that are relevant for understanding the principles of the invention have been described using functional blocks. The apparatus may comprise further units/means that are necessary for its respective operation, respectively. However, a description of these units/means is omitted in this specification. The arrangement of the functional blocks of the apparatus is not construed to limit the invention, and the functions may be performed by one block or further split into sub-blocks.

When in the foregoing description it is stated that the apparatus (or some other means) is configured to perform some function, this is to be construed to be equivalent to a description stating that a (i.e. at least one) processor or corresponding circuitry, potentially in cooperation with computer program code stored in the memory of the respective apparatus, is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least the thus mentioned function. Also, such function is to be construed to be equivalently implementable by specifically configured circuitry or means for performing the respective function (i.e. the expression "unit configured to" is construed to be equivalent to an expression such as "means for").

For the purpose of the present invention as described herein above, it should be noted that

- method steps likely to be implemented as software code portions and being run using a processor at an apparatus (as examples of devices, apparatuses and/or modules thereof, or as examples of entities including apparatuses and/or modules therefore), are software code independent and can be specified using any known or future developed programming language as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved;

- generally, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the aspects/embodiments and its modification in terms of the functionality implemented; - method steps and/or devices, units or means likely to be implemented as hardware components at the above-defined apparatuses, or any module(s) thereof, (e.g., devices carrying out the functions of the apparatuses according to the aspects/embodiments as described above) are hardware independent and can be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or any hybrids of these, such as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic), etc., using for example ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field- programmable Gate Arrays) components, CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components;

- devices, units or means (e.g. the above-defined apparatuses, or any one of their respective units/means) can be implemented as individual devices, units or means, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device, unit or means is preserved;

- an apparatus may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of an apparatus or module, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as software in a (software) module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution/being run on a processor;

- a device may be regarded as an apparatus or as an assembly of more than one apparatus, whether functionally in cooperation with each other or functionally independently of each other but in a same device housing, for example. In general, it is to be noted that respective functional blocks or elements according to above-described aspects can be implemented by any known means, either in hardware and/or software, respectively, if it is only adapted to perform the described functions of the respective parts. The mentioned method steps can be realized in individual functional blocks or by individual devices, or one or more of the method steps can be realized in a single functional block or by a single device.

Generally, any method step is suitable to be implemented as software or by hardware without changing the idea of the present invention. Devices and means can be implemented as individual devices, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed fashion throughout the system, as long as the functionality of the device is preserved. Such and similar principles are to be considered as known to a skilled person.

Software in the sense of the present description comprises software code as such comprising code means or portions or a computer program or a computer program product for performing the respective functions, as well as software (or a computer program or a computer program product) embodied on a tangible medium such as a computer-readable (storage) medium having stored thereon a respective data structure or code means/portions or embodied in a signal or in a chip, potentially during processing thereof.

It is noted that the aspects/embodiments and general and specific examples described above are provided for illustrative purposes only and are in no way intended that the present invention is restricted thereto. Rather, it is the intention that all variations and modifications which fall within the scope of the appended claims are covered.

Abbreviations:

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate APN Access Point Name

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

CS Circuit Switched

CSG Closed Subscriber Group

CSG ID Closed Subscriber Group Identity DRX Discontinuous Reception

EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution

EPS Evolved Packet System

E-UTRAN Evolved UMTS Radio Access Network GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

GSM Global System for Mobile communication

GUTI Globally Unique Temporary ID

HSS Home Subscriber Server

IP Multimedia Subsystem

International Mobile Subscriber Identity

IP Internet Protocol

LCS Location Service

MAC Medium Access Control

Mobility Management Entity Mobile System

NAS Non Access Stratum

PCC Policy and Charging Control

PCRF Policy and Charging Rules Function

PDN Packet Data Network

P-GW PDN Gateway

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PMM Packet Mobility Management

P-TMSI Packet Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity

PS Packet Switched

QoS Quality of Service

Radio Access Technology

RRC Radio Resource Control SR-VCC Single Radio Voice Call Continuity

S-GW Serving Gateway

SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

TA Tracking Area

Tracking Area Identity

Tracking Area Update

Tunnel Endpoint Identifier

TS Technical Specification

UE User Equipment

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

Claims

1 . A method, comprising :

receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity,

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the first network element is a packet gateway and the second network element is a serving gateway, and the message including the indication of the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity is received from the charging entity.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

the first network element is a serving gateway and the second network element is a management entity and the message including the information element is received from a packet gateway.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein

the management entity is a mobility management entity or a serving general packet radio service support node.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein

the messages further include an indication whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service.

6. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway, evaluating, at the management entity, an indication included in the message whether a quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity has priority over a subscribed quality of service,

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein

the management entity is a mobility management entity or a serving general packet radio system support node.

8. An apparatus for use in a first network element, comprising:

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the first network element is a serving gateway and the second network element is a management entity and the message including the information element is received from a packet gateway.

1 1 . The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 1 1 , wherein

13. An apparatus for use in a management entity, comprising:

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

15. An apparatus, comprising: means for receiving, by a first network element, a message including an indication of a quality of service modification initiated by a charging entity,

16. An apparatus, comprising: means for receiving, at a management entity, a message including an information element indicating that a quality of service modification is initiated by a charging entity from a serving gateway,

means for adopting, by the management entity, the quality of service according to the quality of service modification initiated by the charging entity if it is determined that it has priority over the subscribed quality of service.

17. A computer program product including a program for a processing device, comprising software code portions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 7 when the program is run on the processing device.

18. The computer program product according to claim 1 7, wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable medium on which the software code portions are stored.

19. The computer program product according to claim 1 7, wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the processing device.