Reverse Charging in the Internet, an Architecture for a new Accounting Scheme for Internet Traffic

Charging for traffic in the Internet is gaining importance, due to the introduction of different Quality of Service classes and the increasing access speeds of end-users. Current charging schemes are limited since they do not allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to charge customers of other ISPs for data that is transferred to these customers. This paper presents an architecture for reverse charging in the Internet, that does allow such payments to be made. Reverse charging enables new business scenarios for traffic flow in the Internet

Theory – General systems theory, Information theory

In the next years the market for low value online content, like music and videos, is expected to grow substantially. To allow “pay-per-use ” of such content, micropayment systems are expected to play an important role. Since there are already many competing micropayment systems on the market, customers and merchants are forced to use multiple systems. To overcome the problems associated with using multiple systems, the research presented in this paper builds upon the idea of payment gateways that interconnect these systems. We introduce a generally applicable interconnection method such that the interconnection of these systems can be easily realized in a systematic way. This approach consists of (de)enhancing the existing micropayment services towards a uniform service level before the interconnection takes place. This paper presents the main functional characteristics of existing payment systems, and proposes modification strategies for existing micropayment systems to provide the uniform payment service. The modifications are required before the interconnection can take place

Abstract Reverse Charging in the Internet 1 an Architecture for a new Accounting Scheme for Internet Traffic

Charging for traffic in the Internet is gaining importance, due to the introduction of different Quality of Service classes and the increasing access speeds of end-users. Current charging schemes are limited since they do not allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to charge customers of other ISPs for data that is transferred to these customers. This paper presents an architecture for reverse charging in the Internet, that does allow such payments to be made. Reverse charging enables new business scenarios for traffic flow in the Internet