CHARGING IN IMS NETWORKS FOR SESSIONS THAT ARE TRANSFERRED BETWEEN ACCESS NETWORKS

摘要

IMS networks and methods are disclosed for charging for a session of a dual mode device that is transferred (seamless handover) from a first access network to a second access network. When a session is transferred between access networks, multiple charging identifiers (e.g., ICID) are assigned to the session. One or more network elements in the IMS network identify both an original ICID and a handover ICID for the session, and insert the original and handover ICID in a charging message that is transmitted to a charging system. The charging system then inserts the original ICID and the handover ICID in a CDR for the session. When the session ends, the charging system may use the original ICID and the handover ICID to correlate multiple CDRs for the session. Thus, even if CDRs for the same session have different ICIDs, the charging system is able to correlate the CDRs.