A prepaid service schiema for beyond 3G networks

Today a multitude of radio access technologies (RATs) exist and are continuously evolved to support higher bit rates, lower delays, lower cost, etc. In addition, new radio access technologies are developed to complement those of today. When using services in this environment with multiple RATs, end users expect mobility between the different RATs seamless. Network operators, in addition, look for efficient resource usage of different RATs and more cost efficient ways to deploy networks. In support of a commercially applicable system, the problem of distributed and flexible charging and accounting has to be solved to be able to determine which user has used which services at which operator´s network. In this work, we propose a prepaid approach for a technology and service-independent management of accounting and charging in a distributed, mobile, and multi-provider environment