Network interface utilization dependent charging determination

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a connection between a network and a neighboring network for transiting a transmission session,

obtaining connection state parameters based on at least one of said connection, said network, and said neighboring network,

generating a charging information message based on said connection state parameters, said connection state parameters comprising a roaming indication parameter indicative of usage of roaming for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, a connection direction parameter indicative of connection direction with respect to said network, a trust parameter indicative of a trust state between said network and said neighboring network, and an address parameter indicative of said neighboring network,

setting said trust parameter to trusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is trustable, and setting said trust parameter to untrusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is not trustable,

and transmitting the charging information message to a network entity to generate charging data records (CDR).

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

said obtaining comprises at least one of:

setting said roaming indication parameter to non-roaming, if roaming is not used for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, setting said roaming indication parameter to roaming, if roaming is used for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, and setting said roaming indication parameter to roaming loopback, if roaming is used for said connection between said network and said neighboring network and if said connection is returned to or from said neighboring network, and

setting said connection direction parameter to inbound, if said connection is incoming with respect to said network, and setting said connection direction parameter to outbound, if said connection is outgoing with respect to said network, and

setting said address parameter to an IP address of said connected neighboring network.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

said generating comprises aggregating at least said connection state parameters to said charging information message.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

said establishing is performed between said network and two neighboring networks for transiting said transmission session from one of said two neighboring networks to the other of said two neighboring networks,

said obtaining is performed with respect to any of said two neighboring networks, and

said generating comprises aggregating at least said connection state parameters with respect to any of said two neighboring networks to said charging information message.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising

transmitting said charging information message.

6. A method comprising:

receiving a charging information message related to a connection between a network and a neighboring network for transiting a transmission session,

storing connection state parameters based on said charging information message, said connection state parameters comprising a roaming indication parameter indicative of usage of roaming for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, a connection direction parameter indicative of connection direction with respect to said network, a trust parameter indicative of a trust state between said network and said neighboring network, and an address parameter indicative of said neighboring network, and

generating charging data records (CDR) to account for said transmission session based on said connection state parameters,

wherein said trust parameter is set to trusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is trustable, and said trust parameter is set to untrusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is not trustable.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a connection controller configured to establish a connection between a network and a neighboring network for transiting a transmission session, and

a control circuit configured to obtain connection state parameters based on at least one of said connection, said network, and said neighboring network, and to generate a charging information message based on said connection state parameters, said connection state parameters comprising a roaming indication parameter indicative of usage of roaming for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, a connection direction parameter indicative of connection direction with respect to said network, a trust parameter indicative of a trust state between said network and said neighboring network, and an address parameter indicative of said neighboring network,

wherein said control circuit is further configured to set said trust parameter to trusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is trustable, and to set said trust parameter to untrusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is not trustable, and

wherein the connection controller is configured to transmit the charging information message to a network entity to generate charging data records.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said control circuit is further configured to

set said roaming indication parameter to non-roaming, if roaming is not used for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, to set said roaming indication parameter to roaming, if roaming is used for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, and to set said roaming indication parameter to roaming loopback, if roaming is used for said connection between said network and said neighboring network and if said connection is returned to or from said neighboring network, or

set said connection direction parameter to inbound, if said connection is incoming with respect to said network, and to set said connection direction parameter to outbound, if said connection is outgoing with respect to said network, or

set said address parameter to an IP address of said connected neighboring network.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said control circuit is further configured to

aggregate at least said connection state parameters to said charging information message.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said control circuit is further configured to

establish said connection between said network and two neighboring networks for transiting said transmission session from one of said two neighboring networks to the other of said two neighboring networks,

obtain said connection state parameters with respect to any of said two neighboring networks, and

aggregate at least said connection state parameters with respect to any of said two neighboring networks to said charging information message.

11. The apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising

a transmission controller configured to transmit said charging information message.

12. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein

the apparatus is operable as or at an inbound network interface connected to a neighboring network, or

as or at an outbound network interface connected to a neighboring network, or

as or at an inbound network interface connected to one of two neighboring networks and as or at an outbound network interface connected to the other of said two neighboring networks.

13. An apparatus comprising

a receiving controller configured to receive a charging information message related to a connection between a network and a neighboring network for transiting a transmission session,

a storing circuit configured to store connection state parameters based on said charging information message, and

a control circuit configured to generate charging data records (CDR) to account for said transmission session based on said connection state parameters, said connection state parameters comprising a roaming indication parameter indicative of usage of roaming for said connection between said network and said neighboring network, a connection direction parameter indicative of connection direction with respect to said network, a trust parameter indicative of a trust state between said network and said neighboring network, and an address parameter indicative of said neighboring network,

wherein said trust parameter is set to trusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is trustable, and said trust parameter is set to untrusted, if said connection to said neighboring network is not trustable.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein

the apparatus is operable as or at an offline charging system.

15. A computer program product comprising computer-executable computer program code embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium which, when the program is run on a computer, is configured to cause the computer to carry out the method according to claim 1 .

16. The computer program product according to claim 15 , wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the processor.