Title: A Generic Accounting Configuration Architecture for Multi-Service Mobile Networks
Author: Peter Racz
e-mail: racz@ifi.uzh.ch
Partner: UniZH
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Burkhard Stiller
Committee: Prof. Dr. Burkhard Stiller, Prof. Dr. Aiko Pras
Year of start: 2003
Year of end: 2008
Funding institution: University of Zurich

The primary goal of this thesis is to develop an accounting architecture, enabling the dynamic configuration of the accounting process in a heterogeneous, mobile, multi-service network environment. Since accounting can have various objectives, the accounting architecture has to support a tailored accounting configuration according to these objectives. This will enable a flexible accounting process according to user profiles, service profiles, or diverse charging schemes and will reduce the accounting overhead, resulting from metering effort and accounting record transfer and storage.

This thesis has the following objectives:

• Development of a role model for a multi-service, multi-provider, mobile network environment, identifying participating entities, accounting and charging related relationships, and interactions.
• Development of a service model, which classifies services into access, transport, and application services and introduces the concept of a user-level service, allowing the hierarchical combination of access, transport, and application services.
• Development of an accounting model, identifying key functional accounting components and their interactions, where mobility, multi-service, and multi-domain support are considered in detail.
• Development of a generic accounting configuration architecture for a multi-domain, mobile environment, enabling a user and service-specific accounting configuration for composed services. Specification of an accounting configuration protocol as an extension to the Diameter protocol.
• Prototypical implementation and evaluation of the architecture.

1. P. Racz and B. Stiller. A Service Model and Architecture in Support of IP Service Accounting. 10th IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium (NOMS 2006), Vancouver, BC, Canada, April 3-7, 2006.
2. F. Eyermann, P. Racz, B. Stiller, C. Schaefer, and T.Walter. Diameter-based Accounting Management for Wireless Services. IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC 2006), Las Vegas, NV, USA, April 3-6, 2006.
3. F. Eyermann, P. Racz, B. Stiller, C. Schaefer, and T.Walter. Service-oriented Accounting Configuration Management based on Diameter. 1st IEEE International Workshop on Performance and Management of Wireless and Mobile Networks (IEEEperf 2005), Sydney, Australia, November 15, 2005.
4. F. Eyermann, P. Racz, B. Stiller, C. Schaefer, and T.Walter. Generic Accounting Configuration Management for Heterogeneous Mobile Networks. Third ACM International Workshop on Wireless Mobile Applications and Services on WLAN Hotspots (WMASH2005), Cologne, Germany, September 2, 2005.