Converged offline charging and online charging

摘要

Converged charging systems and methods are described. A converged charging system includes an offline charging system, an online charging system, a common rating function, and a common charging gateway function. When in operation, the online charging system receives online charging information for a first call and accesses the common rating function to determine a rating for the first call. The online charging system then transmits a rated charging data record (CDR) for the first call to the common charging gateway function. The offline charging system receives offline charging information for a second call, and accesses the common rating function to determine a rating for the second call. The offline charging system transmits a rated CDR for the second call to the common charging gateway function. The common charging gateway function buffers the rated CDRs for both online and offline calls, and then transmits the rated CDRs to a billing system.