The Charging Interworking Function (CHF-IWF) is a powerful enabler for fast and easy mediation of real-time control of calls in fixed and mobile networks using INAP, CAMEL, DIAMETER or HTTP2. The CHF-IWF supports real-time billing for users in home and roaming networks.
CHF IWF is built to connect to any billing system via DIAMETER or CAMEL interfaces in order to perform real-time checks of customer balances, calculate charges for consumed services (like phone calls, sms pr gprs sessions), and prevent any unauthorized usage or balance overdrafts. The CHF-IWF is commonly used to harmonize and mediate between the network elements and the online charging system (OCS).
What makes CHF-IWF unique is its support for simultaneous conversion of both technologies within the same CAMEL SCP, and unifying the converted signaling to the same billing server (OCS). This enables operators managing multitechnology and multi-generational networks to use one billing system for all of their different network infrastructures, saving huge expenditures on upgrading entire network infrastructures or purchasing entirely new billing systems.
Another features that make the CHF-IWF special is the ability to customize the scenarios and the interfaces involved in a specific call flow. For example, you could easily translate an IDP message (service request) into a DIAMETER request towards a third-party system.
This approach is much more flexible in comparison with traditional SCP architecture because the solution provider receives a powerful and flexible tool for creating new services without creating any constraint on the development environment he is familiar with. The manufacturer can dramatically decrease time to market while deploying innovative services that will enrich its offering and strengthen competitive standing.
There is currently no standard for converting CAMEL Application Part signaling to Diameter signaling. The CAMEL Gateway product can be used in ‘conversion mode’ to convert Mobile Network SS7 signaling transferred using CAMEL (CAP) to signaling based on the Diameter protocol, or the other way around, to convert from Diameter to CAP.
This sometimes-critical inter working function allows network elements which use different protocols to seamlessly communicate with each other. A critical use case for CAP-Diameter conversion is for real-time billing. When a mobile operator with a 3G infrastructure wishes to replace their 3G OCS, which uses CAMEL for signaling, to a 4G OCS that uses Diameter, it will need an interworking function to convert the signaling between the 4G OCS and the 3G MSC. It also works the other way around, if an operator deploys a 4G infrastructure but wants to lower their upgrade costs by keeping the old billing system, which works well. The CAMEL Gateway solves all of these types of problems.
Bridges and mediate the different chargin interfaces
| Software packaging | Docker image, RPM or DEB package. |
| SCTP stack | RFC2960 RFC3309 |
| M3UA stack | RFC3332 |
| SCCP stack | ITU-T Q.711 through Q.714 Connectionless Class 0 & 1 |
| TCAP stack | ITU-T Q.700 through Q.707, Q.781, Q.782, Q.791 |
| HTTP2 stack | RFC9113 RFC7541 |
| DIAMETER stack | IETF RFC 4006 Diameter Credit-Control Application IETF RFC 3588 / 6733 Diameter base Protocol 3GPP TS 32.299 Telecommunication management; Charging management; Diameter charging applications Ro interface Gy interface |
