Multicast extension of unicast charging for QoS services

In order to successfully deploy multicast services in QoS-aware networks, pricing architectures must take into account the particular characteristics of multicast sessions. With this objective, we propose a charging scheme for QoS multicast services, assuming that the unicast cost of each interconnecting link is determined and that such cost is expressed in terms of quality of service (QoS) parameters. Our scheme allows determining the cost distribution of a multicast session along a Cost Distribution Tree (CDT), and basing such distribution in those pre-existing unicast cost functions. The paper discusses in detail the main characteristics of the problem in a realistic inter-domain scenario and how the proposed scheme would contribute to its solution.