Real time charging is crucial to telecom operators who base their return on investment on this type of billing that still seems both attractive and fair to customers. In the context of the shift of network technology to the all-IP paradigm under the IMS umbrella, and the consequent revolution in terms of services, the concept of real-time charging evolved as well to tackle the challenges of multimedia services and packet switching technologies. However, IMS adds the notion of service composition by the service session concept that adds further complexity to the charging task.In order to handle this complexity, the present contribution suggests a framework to model applications and real-time charging policies according to involved services and their characteristics. Also, it introduces the concept of multi-definition of the single service in IMS charging paradigm.

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This paper addresses the applicability and interoperation of standards and emerging technologies for the operation and management of ATM networks. The issue is tackled from a practical perspective based on experiences gained through the design, realisation and experimentation of a system developed by the ACTS AC208 REFORM project. Assuming an ATM-based network infrastructure offering a range of services with distinct QoS guarantees, the REFORM system encompasses the required functions for ensuring cost-effective network survivability and availability; fast-responding, reliable fault detection and selfhealing mechanisms, distributed dynamic routing functions with inherent load balancing capabilities, efficient VP layer design and dynamic network reconfiguration functions. A number of standards and emerging technologies were used for designing and realising the wide spectrum of the functionality incorporated within the REFORM system, including: ITU-T OAM I.610 and Q.2931, ATMF UNI 3.0 and PNNI version 1, OMG CORBA and Component Model, TINA NRA and ISO/OSI and ITU-T TMN. Based on the gained experience, the paper discusses and draws conclusions on the applicability, coexistence and interoperation of the adopted technologies. It is shown that these technologies can coexist, through careful design, to the benefits of network design and operation.

Abstract. The increasing complexity, heterogeneity and dynamism of networks, systems and services have made our informational infrastructure unmanageable and insecure. The last events in the European telecom operator and IT landscapes showed inherent limits of current network and systems management architectures with respect to availability, resiliency and QoS. This paper presents a new architectural vision, merging well working technologies to tackle the problem complexity of network services management. Particular attention is drawn on the multiple stakeholders environment, where realistically many parties collaborate to fulfill end-to-end service to end users.