WO2017084722A1

WO2017084722A1 - Charging system node and method performed by a charging system node for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network

Info

Publication number: WO2017084722A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/077260
Authority: WO
Inventors: Benny Gustafsson; Jens KARLSSON; Hans DEBORG
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2015-11-20
Filing date: 2015-11-20
Publication date: 2017-05-26

Abstract

A charging node and a method performed by a charging node (50) is provided for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network (20), wherein the provisioning network provides the services to user devices (10) belonging to the users. The charging node (50) controls the provisioning of the services and the charging node is communicatively connected to the provisioning network. The method comprises receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network, and when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level of the first service promised to the first user, determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level. This determined difference may then be used to modify a set level of a second provided service based on the determined difference, and sending to the provisioning network an indication of the modified level of the second service.

Description

CHARGING SYSTEM NODE AND METHOD PERFORMED BY A CHARGING SYSTEM NODE FOR HANDLING SERVICES PROVIDED TO USERS OF A

PROVISIONING NETWORK

Technical field

[0001 ] The present disclosure relates generally to a charging system node and a method performed by a charging system node for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network.

Background

[0002] A provisioning network is a network providing services to users of the provisioning network. A provisioning network may be a communication network that provides telecommunication and/or data communication services to

communication devices belonging to the users. The services may be e.g. data transmission amount per month, in e.g. GB/month or data transmission capacity, in e.g. megabytes per second, mbps. Another example of a provisioning network is an electrical power distribution network. Examples of services in an electrical power distribution network is distributed amount of electrical energy per month, in e.g. kWh/month, and distributed electrical power, in e.g. kW.

[0003] The user of the provisioning network may have bought a certain level of service, also referred to as a service-related product, which defines how much of the service the user is allowed to use or promised to use for a certain cost. As an example of a service-related product, a user of the communication network may have been promised 30 mbps for which the user pays a certain amount of money. To control the usage and the corresponding charging of the services provided by the provisioning network, there is a user managing system connected to the provisioning network. The user managing system may also be called a charging system.

[0004] In a scenario, a user of the provisioning network may have been promised a certain level of service but for some reason this service level cannot be provided by the provisioning network. In such cases, there is a need for the provisioning network to compensate for that loss of service in order to even out load in order to increase utilization efficiency. In today's user managing systems, there is an evaluation performed to determine whether the user received the promised level of service or not. The user managing system may then compensate the user for a possible loss of service level. For some services, however, a small deviation from the promised level of service is not a problem, but the larger the deviation, the larger the user problem. Also, large deviations may affect the utilization efficiency of the provisioning network negatively.

Summary

[0005] It is an object of the invention to address at least some of the problems and issues outlined above. It is possible to achieve these objects and others by using a method and an apparatus as defined in the attached independent claims.

[0006] According to one aspect, a method is provided performed by a charging system node for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network, wherein the provisioning network provides the services to the users and the charging system node controls the provisioning of the services. The charging system node is communicatively connected to the provisioning network. The method comprises receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to a first user of the provisioning network, and when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level promised to the user, determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

[0007] By determining the difference, i.e. extent of the difference, between a provided level and a promised level, it is possible to act on the difference to increase the utilization efficiency of the provisioning network. Also, it is possible to evaluate the difference and compensate a user according to the extent of the difference, e.g. a higher difference may result in a higher compensation. Also, the compensation, e.g. by an increase in another service or in the same service at another time point, may be adapted to the utilization degree of the network so as to increase the total utilization efficiency of the provisioning network. For example, the user may be compensated at a time point when the utilization efficiency is lower. Consequently, embodiments of the present invention makes it possible to evaluate delivered user service level to promised user service level in more detail than what is possible today. Further, it is an advantage that such a solution may be performed in real-time.

[0008] According to another aspect, a charging system node is provided, configured for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network, wherein the provisioning network is arranged to provide the services to user devices belonging to the users. The charging system is arranged to control the provisioning of the services and the charging system node is communicatively connected to the provisioning network. The charging system node comprises a processor and a memory. The memory contains instructions executable by said processor, whereby the charging system node is operative for receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network, and, when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level promised to the first user, determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

[0009] According to other aspects, computer programs and carriers are also provided, the details of which will be described in the claims and the detailed description.

[00010] Further possible features and benefits of this solution will become apparent from the detailed description below.

Brief description of drawings

[0001 1 ] The solution will now be described in more detail by means of exemplary embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[00012] Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a provisioning network and a charging system in which the present invention may be used. [00013] Fig 2 is a schematic block diagram a communication network and a charging system in which the present invention may be used.

[00014] Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method performed by a charging system node according to possible embodiments.

[00015] Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an OCS according to possible embodiments.

[00016] Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an OCS according to further possible embodiments.

[00017] Fig. 6 is an x/y-diagram illustrating an exemplary use case of

embodiments of the invention.

[00018] Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating the exemplary use case of fig. 6 from a network view.

[00019] Figs. 8-9 are schematic block diagrams of charging nodes according to different embodiments.

Detailed description

[00020] Briefly described, a solution is provided to be able to compensate users of a provision network, such as a communication network, for discrepancies between a promised service level and a delivered service level, better than what is possible today. This is achieved by detecting the difference, i.e. the quantitative difference, e.g. the exact difference, between the promised service level and the delivered service level, and compensating the user according to his detected difference.

[00021 ] Fig. 1 shows a provisioning network 20 connected to a user device 10 for providing services to the user device. The provisioning network may be any kind of distributed network providing services of a technical character to a user device, such as a communication network or a power distribution network. The user device may, in the communication network example be any communication device that has abilities to communication with a communication network, wirelessly or via wireline, such as a mobile phone, a laptop etc. The user device may, in the power distribution network example be a domestic power distribution unit situated in e.g. a home, receiving electrical power from an electrical power distribution network of a city and providing the received electrical power to domestic appliances of the home. The provisioning network 20 is further connected to a charging system 50 that supervises the usage of the services distributed by the provisioning network to the user device. One user may have more than one user device. It is possible that the charging system supervises the service usage for all devices of one user in common or for each device separately. The charging system charges the user for the used services according to the amount of usage and according to a an agreement of service provisioning between the operator of the provisioning network and the user. The agreement may be a subscription of a service level. There may be different subscriptions on different service levels, those different subscriptions may be called different service-related products.

[00022] In the following, the invention will be described in the context where the provisioning network is a communication network. Fig. 2 describes such a context comprising a communication network, which in this case is a wireless

communication network 20 comprising a radio access network 30 and a core network 40. The radio access network 30 provides wireless access to wireless communication devices 10 belonging to different users. The radio access network 30 comprises a number of base stations (not shown) each providing wireless access within a geographical cell. The RAN may further have other nodes such as a Radio Network Controller in 3G networks, a Base station Controller in GSM networks or a Mobility Management Entity, MME in Long Term Evolution, LTE, networks (also called 4G) for controlling the base stations and connecting the RAN to a core network. The core network 40 is connected to the radio access network 30 and provides services to the radio access network for further delivery of the services to the user devices 10. Further, the core network 40 is connected to the charging system 50. The core network 40 may have a Serving GPRS Support Node, SGSN, connected to the RAN 20 and to a Home Location Register, HLR or a Home Subscriber Server, HSS. The core network may further have a GGSN (3G) or Packet data network Gateway, PGW (4G) connected to the SGSN. The GGSN/PGW may be connected to the charging system 50. The charging system 50 may comprise an Online Charging System, OCS, 60 and a Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF 70. The functions of the OCS and the PCRF may either be arranged in separate units or integrated into the same unit.

[00023] The PCRF 70 is arranged for synchronizing a provisioned service to a requested use, e.g. that a certain QoS is requested when e.g. "a premium game" is used. The PCRF is further arranged for controlling the provisioning of the service, for example that the requested QoS for the "premium game" is actually delivered over a Gx interface between the PCRF and the core network.

[00024] The OCS 60 has a responsibility to determine a correct price for a specific service and charge according to the service usage. This is achieved by examining a set of network parameters and apply business rules on top of those parameters. One set of rules that is frequently used is thresholds. A threshold rule typically monitors accumulated service usage and the rule can trigger different actions, e.g. to switch rate, as a result of the threshold level being reached or not.

[00025] In today^'s OCS, the threshold rules are used to evaluate the actual provided service level with a set service threshold to determine whether the current service level is above or below the set service threshold. If the set service threshold is met, the rate and charge will be set accordingly. If the service threshold is not met, it might result in a sub-sequent action that could be a bonus to the user or just a notification to the user. This approach has proven to function well for normal phone calls, but it does not support more advanced real-time evaluation and compensation models. Scenarios exist where the service provider has promised a given level of service. This level of service could be defined as a simple threshold level, but for some services a small deviation from not reaching a threshold level is not a problem of magnitude even though the service level was not met by 100%. In this situation there exists today no way to dynamically calculate and compensate for a certain threshold deviation, depending on how big the deviation is.

[00026] As shown in this document, this may be achieved by measuring the actual deviation and depending on how big the deviation is, impact the criteria of the same or another threshold. This may be made in real-time. Thereby, a compensation model is achieved that is fair not only for the service provider, but also from the end user perspective.

[00027] Fig. 3 illustrates a method according to an embodiment. The boxes that are marked with dashed lines in fig. 3 are optional for this embodiment. The method is performed by a charging system node 50 for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network 20, wherein the provisioning network provides the services to user devices 10 belonging to the users and the charging system node controls the provisioning of the services. Further, the charging system node is communicatively connected to the provisioning network. The method comprises receiving 102, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network, and when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level of the first service promised to the first user, determining 104 a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

[00028] By determining the difference between the currently provided level of service to the promised level, i.e. to determine the size of the difference, and not just determine that there is a deviation between the current level of service and the promised one, it is possible to offer the user a compensation according to the determined difference. The compensation can be adapted to the size of the difference. "A promised level" may signify a level of the first service that the user was promised to receive by the operator of the provisioning network, e.g. when accepting the service, e.g. the user may have paid for this service in advance.

[00029] According to an embodiment, the method may further comprise modifying 106 a set level of a second provided service based on the determined difference, and sending 108 to the provisioning network an indication of the modified level of the second service. As a result, the provisioning network is instructed to provide the second service to the user at the new modified level. The first service and the second service may be the same service or different services. Consequently, it may either be the same service which level is modified or another service which level is modified. However, it may be more advantageous to modify a level of another service as compensation, since it may be difficult to provide the service that there is already a problem to provide at the promised level, at an even higher level. The indication sent to the provisioning network may, in the case of an OCS, be an OCS initiated request comprising parameter information indicating the modified level of the second service. The determined difference may be used to dynamically update, i.e. modify, another level of the same or another service.

[00030] According to an embodiment, when the currently provided level of the first service indicates a lower service degree than the promised level of the first service, the determined level of the second service is modified 106 to increase the service degree of the second service in accordance with the determined quantified deviation. An increased service degree may in the communication network example be e.g. a higher transmission rate or a lower delivery time. As an example, if the user has paid for a subscription promising 20 GB/month (first service) at 1 MB/sec (second service), and the currently provided level indicates 15 GB/month (even though the user wanted to download more), the user may be offered 2MB/sec transmission capacity the following month as compensation, or the user may be offered 20 GB the next coming 2 weeks. By compensating a user in such a way and for example provide the compensation to the user at non-busy hour may free capacity to other users during busy hour, which would result in a better utilization of the network resources of the provisioning network.

[00031 ] According to an embodiment, the method may further comprise sending 1 10, to the one or more user devices of the first user, information of the modified level of the second service. Thereby, the user is indicated via one of its

communication devices that it has received a new level for his second service. In the case when the provisioning network is a communication network, the information sent to the first user may be transmitted in a Short message peer-to- peer, SMPP, message via an email server.

[00032] According to another embodiment, the method may further comprise controlling 1 12 provisioning of the second service to a user device of another user than the first user. The another user may be e.g. a family member of the user. By such a feature it is possible to provide the compensation to e.g. another family member that e.g. has a subscription with lower service degree than the first user.

[00033] According to another embodiment, the provisioning network 20 is a communication network, and the charging system node is an OCS 60.

[00034] According to another embodiment, the indication of currently provided level of the first service is provided in a Credit Control Request Update, CCR-U, command from a core network 40 of the communication network to the charging system node. Further, the method comprises, as a result of receiving the CCR-U command, obtaining the promised level for the first user, based on an ID of the first user. The ID of the first user may be attached to the CCR-U command. The promised level may be obtained based on which policy counter that was activated.

[00035] According to another embodiment, the first service is a transmission rate in e.g. Mbps, and the second service is a transmission volume, e.g. GB/month.

[00036] According to another embodiment, the first service may be Quality of Service, QoS. As part of an OCS rate and charge session a provisioning network client e.g. a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, PCEF, in e.g. a core network, will measure the current QoS. The current QoS may be measured during a specific time period using a known algorithm, e.g. an average value of byte throughput during a five minute period. This QoS value is sent to the OCS.

[00037] Fig. 4 shows an exemplary OCS 400 having a deviation analyzing unit 402 and a compensation determining unit 404. The QoS value received from the PCEF is evaluated against a first balancing threshold, BT, in the deviation analyzing unit 402 in order to decide whether or not a first threshold value of a first service has been reached. Thereafter, when it was decided by the deviation analyzing unit 402 that the threshold value was not reached, the analyzing unit 402 determines the difference between the received QoS value and the threshold value. When this determination takes place, the first BT is set as a threshold being in 'Measurement' mode. A threshold that is set in Measurement mode can have sub-settings defining e.g. status of the threshold, such as 'Always active', or 'Active when the BT value has been reached'. This way it is possible to control during what circumstances a measured threshold difference is to be considered (Active status) or when the measured difference is not considered. A determined difference might optionally be re-calculated using rule engine logic and algorithms, to better match a desired type of compensation. A threshold that is only used for detecting whether the threshold has been reached or not, as in prior art, may be set to be in "deviation detection mode". A BT that is set in Measurement mode can be linked to one or multiple second BT(s) that is set in 'Floating' mode. Floating mode means that the second BT's own threshold value can be modified as a result of a previously measured (and optionally also re-calculated) difference at the first BT. The compensation determining unit 404 determines how the second BTs value is to be modified as a result of the difference for the first BT determined by the deviation analyzing unit 402.

[00038] To summarize, the deviation analyzing unit 402 determines a difference (also called degree of deviation) from a first BT value. This difference might have caused a negative end-user experience. As a result, the compensation

determining unit 404 triggers adjustment of a second BT's threshold value in a floating manner. The purpose of this adjustment should be to compensate the end- user in some way, for example to allow an increased monthly usage of a certain product. A first BT that is set in Measurement mode and a second BT that is set in Floating mode can be de-coupled from a function/service/product/subscriber perspective, i.e. they might be used to monitor different individual scenarios. This way it is only a matter of configuration to decide how the linking between a

Measurement BT and a Floating BT would look like, e.g. if a bad end-user experience of service A should be compensated by a modified threshold of service B. These steps are preferably executed in real-time, where the BTs can be made reservation aware.

[00039] According to an embodiment, a BT that is in measurement mode will be built on counter and threshold logic that is not only evaluated as true or false, but also to measure the degree of deviation from the given threshold value. The result can be used to impact other configuration values in real-time, here exemplified by a floating threshold value of a BT in floating mode.

[00040] Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of an OCS, described from a BT perspective rather than from a unit perspective as in fig. 4. A first BT 412 in measurement mode receives measurements of an actual service degree, evaluates the received measurements to a stored threshold value 414 in a threshold evaluator 416, to determine the difference (compare the threshold evaluator 416 to a deviation analyzing unit 402 of fig. 4) and sends results of the determined difference to a second BT 422 being set in floating mode, which using stored rule logic 426 recalculates its initial threshold value 424 to a new threshold value 428 based on the determined difference at the first BT. The box 432 represents another BT in measurement mode and the boxes 442, 452 represents other BTs in floating mode.

[00041 ] In the following, some possible characteristics, i.e. configuration options are shown for the different BTs: Threshold evaluation may be applied for requested and/or used units, such as provisioned volume, time, money; a BT may be reservation aware or not; a BT may be set in one or more of the following conditions: Above, Below, Passing, Limit, Direction; A BT may take one or more of the following actions: Modify units, modify status, trigger notification; A BT in measurement mode may report measured deviation in absolute value and/or in percentage value; A threshold of a BT in measurement mode may be linked to 0, 1 , or multiple BTs that are operating in Floating mode; A new floating threshold value may be valid temporarily or semi-permanent, e.g. the new value may be kept until a next Interrogation/measurement or for a whole session, or it may be kept even for following sessions. The Rule logic 426 may also be set in floating mode, i.e. different input may set in which way the measurement input should be enriched before adjusting the threshold value of the BT in floating mode.

[00042] Whether or not a charging session, e.g. a data call will trigger evaluation of BT(s) can be decided by a combination of subscriber data, class (group) data and selection tree configuration (branching on conditions like Location, TimeOfDay etc.) in the OCS. A call that triggers a measurement will also be able to update the applicable BT(s) that are operating in a floating mode. Evaluation of the new floating threshold value will then take place as a sub-sequent step, either within the same call or for a separate one.

[00043] In the following, an exemplary use case is shown, to further illustrate the invention. In this example, an operator has decided to compensate a subscriber that could not benefit from all the promised QoS by dynamically increasing the corresponding threshold for traffic volume consumption for the subscriber. This process of adapting thresholds to compensate low QoS with more traffic volume is illustrated with the graph of fig. 6. The x-axis symbolizes QoS and the y-axis time. QoS in controlled by a BT1 operating in measurement mode and Volume per day is controlled by a BT2 operating in floating mode. A PCRF grants 35 Mbps down link QoS to the subscriber's device. PCRF provisions this amount to the PCEF, over the Gx interface, and the PCEF enforces the provisioned amount, i.e. sees to that the subscriber receives this QoS. The OCS monitors the actually used QoS that is reported by PCEF to OCS over the Gy interface. As can be seen in fig. 6, the QoS is 10 Mbps at a first time point ti and 28 Mbps at a second time point t₂. The OCS internal logic makes use of a first BT that is operating in Measurement mode. The configured threshold value is 30 Mbps. This is the value that the operator considers to be a minimum acceptable QoS level, before some kind of compensation should apply. When the measured QoS goes below the threshold value, the exact difference is measured, in real-time, such as in the threshold evaluator 416 of fig. 5. The OCS internal logic makes use of a second BT that is running in Floating mode. The measured difference is used by a rule logic, such as the rule logic 426 of fig. 5, in order to enrich the input difference value, for example to multiply it with a factor. The outcome from the rule logic will adjust the BT2's daily Volume threshold value. The subscriber's initial volume limit (threshold) is 2Mb. As a result of the determined difference in time point ti, which is 20 Mbps, the daily volume will be increased with 10Mb, from the original 2 Mb. At the second time point t₂, the daily volume is increased with 1 Mb. The user can now surf for a longer time, i.e. download 1 1 Mb more content, before the daily volume limit is reached.

[00044] The sequence diagram of fig. 7 illustrates the same use case but from a network perspective, where interaction takes place between different entities of the provisioning network and the charging system. It reflects an already established ongoing session, where the BT logic will be triggered. At 1 .1 , a subscriber is playing an online game on his communication device. For this reason, an Rx session is established between the game running on an Application Function 502, and the PCRF 504. Further, a Gx session is established between the PCRF and the PCEF and a Sy session is established between the PCRF and a Gy/Sy server and notification client 508 of the OCS 514. Suddenly, the subscriber swap to a more advanced online game that is requiring increased performance in order to work properly. The application function 502 of the game provider indicates a need of high QoS for a premium game, by sending an Rx AA Request command 1 .2 towards the PCRF 504. The PCRF's 504 policy rule engine evaluates the request 1 .2 and invokes the OCS 514 by sending a Sy SLR-U command 1 .3 to the OCS. The PCRF orders status monitoring of a new policy counter ID for the premium game. The operator of the communication network should preferably make sure that applicable settings are aligned between PCRF, PCEF and OCS in order to achieve a system wide configuration. OCS then knows both how to charge for the premium game as well as what QoS that is expected. The OCS 514 then stores 1 .4 the policy counter ID as subscriber data in its Account Balancing &

Management Function, ABMF, 512. [00045] The PCRF 504 then provisions granted QoS, e.g. by activation of a PCC rule, towards PCEF using a Gx RAR command 1 .5 sent to the PCEF 506. The PCEF will then enforce the applicable QoS in the network. Thereafter, the PCEF 506 monitors both used Volume and QoS using a QoS sampler component. The used QoS might be less than what is granted, e.g. due to low capacity in the network. The PCEF 506 reports 1 .7 used Volume and QoS in a Gy CCR-U command towards OCS 514. The OCS 514 then fetches 1 .8 subscriber data to be used for rating purpose, based on a user-ID that is sent in the CCR-U command, from its internal ABMF 512. The operator has configured the rating structure in such way that the policy counter ID is branched on and linked to a first BT of a rating function, RF, 510, of the OCS. If the used QoS is below the defined BT threshold value of the first BT, then as a result the difference between the measured QoS and a defined BT threshold value is determined 1 .9 and forwarded to one or several second BTs, BT2, of the RF, that are working in floating mode. Then at the second BT, a proper volume compensation is calculated 1 .10 based on the QoS deviation. Thereafter, a determined volume compensation for the new interrogation period is granted and information of the determined new volume is sent 1 .1 1 to the PCEF 506. Compensation that is not used directly in the answer towards PCEF can be stored 1 .12 in the ABMF 512 as subscriber data. The OCS 514 might also notify 1 .13 the subscriber about the compensation, e.g. using SMPP towards a SMS-C or SMTP towards an E-mail server for further delivery to the subscriber's communication device.

[00046] Compensating Commercials with Increased Volume. According to another but similar use case, it may be analyzed if a rating group, i.e. one or more services that are to be handled in an equivalent way, or service identifier in Gy CCR belongs to commercials. Then the additional time that the subscriber has spent viewing short commercial movies can be compensated for, i.e. as long as a minimum time has been reached. This would stimulate more commercials to be played and as a result it will provide more income to the operator, i.e. from the sponsors of the commercials. [00047] The above presented BT solution makes it possible to provide a new type of OCS services, where threshold values are linked to each other and may be dynamically updated in real-time. This will make it possible to support new scenarios where more complex subscriber compensation models are required.

[00048] The solution may be used to compensate the end-user/subscriber when the communication network cannot for some reason provide an optimal service. As a result, it is plausible that the subscriber will feel satisfied and be more loyal to operator. By applying real-time analysis of network performance while a session is ongoing gives better utilization of hardware resources compared to processing network performance through data mining of historical data. Certain capacity limitation in one domain could be acceptable, if instant compensation is provided in different domain. This would allow unforeseen overload scenarios, without causing bad-will to the operator. To use the solution to compensate the subscriber when it is not possible to provide optimal service will bring goodwill to the operator of the communication network.

[00049] Fig. 8, in connection with fig. 1 , shows a charging system node 50 configured for handling services provided to users 10 of a provisioning network 20, wherein the provisioning network is arranged to provide the services to user devices belonging to the users and the charging system is arranged to control the provisioning of the services. The charging system node is communicatively connected to the provisioning network. The charging system node 50 comprises a processor 603 and a memory 604. The memory 604 contains instructions executable by said processor, whereby the charging system node 50 is operative for receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network, and, when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level promised to the first user, determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

[00050] According to an embodiment, the charging system node is further operative for modifying a set level of a second provided service based on the determined difference, and sending to the provisioning network an indication of the modified level of the second service.

[00051 ] According to another embodiment, the charging system node is further operative for modifying the determined level of the second service to increase the service degree of the second service in accordance with the determined quantified deviation, when the currently provided level of the first service indicates a lower service degree than the promised level of the first service.

[00052] According to another embodiment, the charging system node is further operative for sending, to the one or more user devices of the first user, information of the modified level of the second service.

[00053] According to another embodiment, the charging system node is further operative for controlling provisioning of the second service to a user device of another user than the first user.

[00054] According to another embodiment, the provisioning network is a communication network, and the charging system node is an OCS. Further, the indication of currently provided level of the first service may be provided in a Credit Control Request Update, CCR-U, command from a core network 40 of the telecommunication network to the charging system node. Also, the charging node may further be operative for obtaining the promised level for the first user, based on an ID of the first user, as a result of receiving the CCR-U command. Also, the first service may be a transmission rate in e.g. Mbps, and the second service may be a transmission volume, e.g. GB/month.

[00055] The charging node 50 may further comprise a communication unit 602, which may be considered to comprise conventional means for communicating from and/or to other nodes in the network, such as the provisiong network 20, e.g. a core network node 40 of a communication network. The communication unit 602 may comprise one or more communication ports for communicating with the other nodes in the network. The instructions executable by said processor may be arranged as a computer program 605 stored in said memory 604. The processor 603 and the memory 604 may be arranged in an arrangement 601 . The

arrangement 601 may be a micro processor and adequate software and storage therefore, a Programmable Logic Device, PLD, or other electronic

component(s)/processing circuit(s) configured to perform the actions, or methods mentioned above.

[00056] The computer program 605 may comprise computer readable code means, which when run in the charging node causes the charging node to perform the steps described in any of the described embodiments. The computer program may be carried by a computer program product connectable to the processor. The computer program product may be the memory 604. The memory 604 may be realized as for example a RAM (Random-access memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory) or an EEPROM (Electrical Erasable Programmable ROM). Further, the computer program may be carried by a separate computer-readable medium, such as a CD, DVD or flash memory, from which the program could be downloaded into the memory 604. Alternatively, the computer program may be stored on a server or any other entity connected to the communication network to which the charging node 50 has access via its communication unit 602. The computer program may then be downloaded from the server into the memory 604.

[00057] Fig. 9 describes another embodiment of a charging system node 50 configured for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network 20, wherein the provisioning network is arranged to provide the services to user devices 10 belonging to the users. The charging system is arranged to control the provisioning of the services and the charging system node is communicatively connected to the provisioning network. The charging system node 50 comprises a receiving module 702 for receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network, and a determining module 704 for determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level, when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level of the first service promised to the first user. The charging node 50 may further comprise a modifying module 706 for modifying a set level of a second provided service based on the determined difference, and a sending module 708 for sending to the provisioning network an indication of the modified level of the second service.

[00058] Although the description above contains a plurality of specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the concept described herein but as merely providing illustrations of some exemplifying embodiments of the described concept. It will be appreciated that the scope of the presently described concept fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the presently described concept is accordingly not to be limited. Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless explicitly so stated, but rather "one or more." All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the above- described embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed hereby. Moreover, it is not necessary for an apparatus or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the presently described concept, for it to be encompassed hereby.

Claims

1 . A method performed by a charging system node (50) for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network (20), wherein the provisioning network provides the services to user devices (10) belonging to the users and the charging system node controls the provisioning of the services, the charging system node being communicatively connected to the provisioning network, the method comprising:

receiving, (102) from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network,

when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level of the first service promised to the first user, determining (104) a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

2. Method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

modifying (106) a set level of a second provided service based on the determined difference, and

sending (108) to the provisioning network an indication of the modified level of the second service.

3. Method according to claim 2, wherein when the currently provided level of the first service indicates a lower service degree than the promised level of the first service, the determined level of the second service is modified (106) to increase the service degree of the second service in accordance with the determined quantified deviation.

4. Method according to any of claims 2 or 3, further comprising:

sending (1 10), to the one or more user devices of the first user, information of the modified level of the second service.

5. Method according to any of claims 2-4, further comprising:

controlling (1 12) provisioning of the second service to a user device of another user than the first user.

6. Method according to any of claims 1 -5, wherein the provisioning network (20) is a communication network, and the charging system node is an OCS (60).

7. Method according to claim 6, wherein the indication of currently provided level of the first service is provided in a Credit Control Request Update, CCR-U, command from a core network (40) of the telecommunication network to the charging system node, the method further comprising:

as a result of receiving the CCR-U command, obtaining the promised level for the first user, based on an ID of the first user.

8. Method according to claim 2-7, wherein the first service is a

transmission rate in e.g. Mbps, and the second service is a transmission volume, e.g. GB/month.

9. A charging system node (50) configured for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network (20), wherein the provisioning network is arranged to provide the services to user devices (10) belonging to the users and the charging system is arranged to control the provisioning of the services, the charging system node being communicatively connected to the provisioning network, the charging system node (50) comprising a processor (603) and a memory (604), said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby the charging system node (50) is operative for:

receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network,

when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level promised to the first user, determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

10. Charging system node according to claim 9, further being operative for modifying a set level of a second provided service based on the determined difference, and sending to the provisioning network an indication of the modified level of the second service.

1 1 . Charging system node according to claim 10, wherein when the currently provided level of the first service indicates a lower service degree than the promised level of the first service, the charging system node is operative for modifying the determined level of the second service to increase the service degree of the second service in accordance with the determined quantified deviation.

12. Charging system node according to any of claims 9-1 1 , further being operative for sending, to the one or more user devices of the first user, information of the modified level of the second service.

13. Charging system node according to any of claims 9-12, further being operative for controlling provisioning of the second service to a user device of another user than the first user.

14. Charging system node according to any of claims 9-13, wherein the provisioning network (20) is a communication network, and the charging system node is an OCS (60).

15. Charging system node according to claim 14, wherein the indication of currently provided level of the first service is provided in a Credit Control Request Update, CCR-U, command from a core network (40) of the telecommunication network to the charging system node, the node further being operative for obtaining the promised level for the first user, based on an ID of the first user, as a result of receiving the CCR-U command.

16. Charging system node according to any of claims 9-15, wherein the first service is a transmission rate in e.g. Mbps, and the second service is a

transmission volume, e.g. GB/month.

17. A computer program (605) comprising computer readable code means to be run in a charging system node (50), configured for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network (20), wherein the provisioning network is arranged to provide the services to user devices (10) of the users and the charging system is arranged to control the provisioning of the services, the charging system node being communicatively connected to the provisioning network, which computer readable code means when run in the charging system node causes the charging system node (50) to perform the following steps:

when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level of the first service promised to the first user, determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level.

18. A carrier containing the computer program (605) according to claim 17, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal or computer readable storage medium.

19. A charging system node (50) configured for handling services provided to users of a provisioning network (20), wherein the provisioning network is arranged to provide the services to user devices (10) belonging to the users and the charging system is arranged to control the provisioning of the services, the charging system node being communicatively connected to the provisioning network, the charging system node (50) comprising:

a receiving module (702) for receiving, from the provisioning network, an indication of a currently provided level of a first service to one or more user devices of a first user of the provisioning network, and

a determining module (704) for determining a difference between the provided level and the promised level, when the currently provided level of the first service according to the indication deviates from a level of the first service promised to the first user.