A billing system for aeronautical passenger communications via heterogeneous wireless networks. (19th November 2004) - Lorelli, Andrea
This paper proposes a business model and a billing architecture for a heterogeneous wireless network architecture on board commercial aircrafts to provide aircraft passengers and the cabin crew with wireless multimedia communications services. The model builds on the inter-relationships of all the actors involved including aircraft passengers, airlines, service providers and network operators of the satellite networks, the terrestrial backbone networks and the PSTN networks, taking into account the different requirements of individual actors, the services offered and different accounting service scenarios. A billing architecture is then derived in accordance with the business model to handle both pre-paid and post-paid services. In addition, the billing architecture adopts the IP standard protocol RADIUS for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) purposes to enable a convergent billing infrastructure for a diverse set of wireless networks.