Charging schemes for multiservice networks

Usage-sensitive charging schemes aim to ensure that connection charges properly reflect the load imposed on the network. In multiservice networks the bandwidth and quality of service requirements of different connections can impose greatly differing loads. With usage-sensitive charging customers have an incentive to prioritise their traffic appropriately, and the network operator's revenue should match the investment required to provide capacity to carry the traffic. Several charging schemes have been proposed for the Internet and for ATM networks. The European ACTS project CA$hMAN (Charging and Accounting Schemes in Multiservice ATM Networks) is studying these issues. CA$hMAN aims to identify good candidates for ATM charging schemes, develop the necessary hardware and software facilities to implement them in user trials, and to use these trials to gain experience of implementation issues and to acquire user feedback. In this paper we discuss the important issues attached to usage-sensitive charging and summarise the research on this subject, review the effective bandwidth and present a charging scheme suitable for delay-sensitive connections, delay-tolerant traffic, a unified pricing model and how it is being implemented and trialled in project CA$hMAN.