Method and apparatus for customer service management for a wireless communication network

1. A method for providing Customer Service Management (CSM) in a communication network, the communication network comprising a virtual network operated by a controller, the virtual network providing a network service to a plurality of UEs commonly associated with a same customer, the network service associated with a Quality of Experience (QoE) policy, the QoE policy applicable to the plurality of UEs when the plurality of UEs are accessing the network service, the method comprising:

a CSM function operative on the communication network receiving a report based on the associated QoE policy and adjusting a QoS policy across the virtual network to effect changes in the resources allocated to the virtual network to enforce the QoE policy for all of the plurality of UEs; and

a dynamic charging evaluator (DCE) function operative on the virtual network evaluating a dynamic charging state on the virtual network by evaluating a current traffic state on the virtual network based upon a pre-determined charging policy associated with the network service and the customer, and communicating the dynamic charging state to the CSM function to be submitted to the customer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CSM function further provides charging/billing for said network service, and wherein the method further comprises:

the CSM instructing the controller to configure a CMS charging element in at least one virtual node of the virtual network to collect and forward usage information relating to network usage charging for the plurality of UEs accessing the network service;

receiving the usage information from the controller;

evaluating the received usage information based upon a charging policy associated with that network service to generate a service-based charge; and,

forwarding the service-based charge to the customer.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the evaluating the received usage information further comprises evaluating the received usage information based upon the established QoE policy, and wherein the service-based charge is further based upon the evaluation of the received usage information.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

the CSM function receiving the dynamic charging state from the DCE function and instructing at least one of a device traffic controller or a network traffic filter to effect traffic management in relation to the network service based upon the dynamic charging state and the pre-determined charging policy associated with the customer and the network service.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the CSM function further carries out the steps of:

establishing a unique global user ID based on the customer and further based on each UE, and device context;

sharing the unique global user ID with a plurality of local CSM functions;

receiving context from at least one of the plurality of local CSM functions associated with the unique global user ID corresponding to behavior governed by that at least one local CSM function and associated with the unique global user ID;

maintaining the received context in association with the unique global user ID; and,

sharing the received context between the plurality of local CSM functions.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the CSM function further carries out the steps of:

establishing a unique global user ID based on the customer and further based on each UE, and device context;

sharing the unique global user ID with a plurality of local CSM functions;

receiving context from at least one of the plurality of local CSM functions associated with the unique global user ID corresponding to behavior governed by that at least one local CSM function and associated with the unique global user ID;

evaluating the received context based upon a charging policy associated with the unique global user ID to generate a bill; and,

charging the customer based upon the generated bill.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the received context is further associated with the network service, and wherein the charging policy is further associated with the network service; and, wherein the generated bill is charged based upon usage of the network service.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving further comprises receiving a plurality of reports from a corresponding plurality of reporting devices serving the network service between a central service and the plurality of UEs, each report based on an associated Quality of Experience (QoE) policy associated with the network service as measured at that corresponding reporting device, and wherein the QoS instructions are further in accordance with the plurality of received reports.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from at least one reporting device, a report based on an associated Quality of Experience (QoE) policy associated with the network service as measured at that reporting device, and wherein the QoS instructions are further in accordance with the report.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the QoE policy further comprises a combined QoS/QoE policy.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the at least one reporting device comprises at least one of:

a UE;

a v-s/u-SGW;

a node of the virtual network; and,

a customer server available on the virtual network.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the receiving the report further comprises receiving, from a plurality of feedback locations on the virtual network, a corresponding plurality of reports based on the associated QoE policy for that feedback location; and,

the QoS instructions are further in accordance with the plurality of received reports.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the CSM function:

receiving a subsequent report based on the associated QoE policy;

transmitting subsequent QoS instructions to the controller in accordance with the received subsequent report and the QoE policy to further adjust the QoS policy across the virtual network; and,

continuing to receive the reports and transmit the QoS instructions until a final report meets the associated QoE policy.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer comprises one of a computing device operative to act as a custodian for the UEs to receive the charging information, an M2M Service Provider (M2M SP), or another virtual service provider.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic charging state further comprises one or both of bandwidth consumption and cloud resource consumption, network load, network resource availability and conditions, resource reservation, network load state, and variable demand.

16. A system for providing Customer Service Management (CSM) comprising:

a communication network that comprises a virtual network operated by a controller, the virtual network providing a network service to a plurality of UEs commonly associated with a same customer, the network service having an associated Quality of Experience (QoE) policy;

a CSM function operative on the communication network to receive a QoE report associated with the network service and to adjust a QoS policy across the virtual network to effect changes in the resources allocated to the virtual network to enforce the QoE policy; and

a dynamic charging evaluator (DCE) function operative on the virtual network to evaluate a dynamic charging state on the virtual network by evaluating a current traffic state on the virtual network based upon a pre-determined charging policy associated with the network service and the customer, and communicating the dynamic charging state to the CSM function to be submitted to the customer.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the CSM function is further operative to:

instruct the controller to configure a CMS charging element in at least one virtual node of the virtual network to collect and forward usage information relating to network usage charging for the plurality of UEs accessing the network service;

receive the usage information from the controller;

evaluate the received usage information based upon a charging policy associated with the network service to generate a service-based charge; and

forward the service-based charge to the customer.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the received usage information is evaluated based upon the established QoE policy, and wherein the service-based charge is further based upon the evaluation of the received usage information.

19. The system of claim 16 , further comprising:

the CSM function further operative to receive the dynamic charging state from the DCE function and to instruct at least one of a device traffic controller or a network traffic filter to effect traffic management in relation to the network service based upon the dynamic charging state and the pre-determined charging policy associated with the customer and the network service.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the CSM function is further operative to:

establish a unique global user ID based on the customer and further based on each UE, and device context;

share the unique global user ID with a plurality of local CSM functions;

receive context from at least one of the plurality of local CSM functions associated with the unique global user ID corresponding to behavior governed by that at least one local CSM function and associated with the unique global user ID;

maintain the received context in association with the unique global user ID; and,

share the received context between the plurality of local CSM functions.

21. The system of claim 16 wherein the CSM function is further operative to:

establish a unique global user ID based on the customer and further based on each UE, and device context;

share the unique global user ID with a plurality of local CSM functions;

receive context from at least one of the plurality of local CSM functions associated with the unique global user ID corresponding to behavior governed by that at least one local CSM function and associated with the unique global user ID;

evaluate the received context based upon a charging policy associated with the unique global user ID to generate a bill; and,

charge the customer based upon the generated bill.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the received context is further associated with the network service, and wherein the charging policy is further associated with the network service; and, wherein the generated bill is charged based upon usage of the network service.

23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the CSM function is further operative to receive a plurality of reports from a corresponding plurality of reporting devices from the network service and the plurality of UEs, each report based on an associated Quality of Experience (QoE) policy associated with the network service as measured at that corresponding reporting device, and wherein the QoS instructions are further in accordance with the plurality of received reports.

24. The system of claim 16 , wherein the CSM function is further operative to receive, from at least one reporting device from the network service and the plurality of UEs, a report based on an associated Quality of Experience (QoE) policy associated with the network service as measured at the reporting device, and wherein the QoS instructions are further in accordance with the report.

25. The system of claim 16 , wherein the QoE policy further comprises a combined QoS/QoE policy.

26. The system of claim 24 , wherein the at least one reporting device comprises at least one of:

a UE;

a v-s/u-SGW;

a node of the virtual network; and,

a customer server available on the virtual network.

27. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the customer comprises one of a computing device operative to act as a custodian for the UEs to receive the charging information, an M2M Service Provider (M2M SP), or another virtual service provider.

28. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the dynamic charging state further comprises one or both of bandwidth consumption and cloud resource consumption, network load, network resource availability and conditions, resource reservation, network load state, and variable demand.