Design and implementation of Group Accounting System based on 3GPP Policy and Charging Control

3GPP defines the Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architecture to enforce network resources dynamically and to manage charging functions. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of Group Accounting System (GAS). GAS is based on the PCC architecture and is integrated with the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) of Chunghwa Telecom. GAS allows a group of people to share one or more accounts. Through a Java web-based graphical interface furnished by the GAS, the administrator can manage accounts and develop charging rules. When the group members purchase a product, the Online Charging System (OCS) will deduct the amount from users account managed by PCC according to dynamic PCC rules. Finally, the corresponding performance metrics (e.g., the signaling delays) can be obtained through the GAS.