The present invention is directed toward networks and more particularly to a method and system for providing information related to context-oriented billing in such networks.
Machine to Machine (M2M) systems networks are utilized to provide communications between machines. In an M2M system, typically one or more machines using network resources communicates with a remote application infrastructure for the purposes of monitoring and controlling either the “machine” itself or the surrounding environment. There is a desire to accurately utilize the billing information associated with networks of this type and to provide a context-oriented billing arrangement. The present invention is directed to such a need.
In one or more embodiments, a computer implemented method is disclosed. The computer implemented method comprises categorically correlating network data into one or more billing events and providing one or more billing invoices in relation thereto. The computer implemented method also comprises rating categorized data for billing invoice processing. Further, the computer implemented method comprises providing billing invoices in response to one or more of a customer's network elements which have been correlated with detailed network data, classified into one or more billing event categories, and rated in accordance with a predetermined hierarchy.
The present invention is directed toward networks and more particularly to a method and system for providing information related to billing in such networks.
The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiments and the generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
Base station controllers (BSCs) 114 control a number of base transceiver stations (BTSs) 116 that control the actual radio towers and interact with the handsets 192. Packet control units (PCUs) 114 transfer packets bound for the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network to a local service GPRS support node (SGSN) 102. Home location registers (HLRs) are a function on both the GSM and GPRS network, and essentially serves to identify mobile stations/end-points with specific account information. The SGSN establishes the packet data protocol (PDP) context with the Gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 10. Upon activation packets bound for external networks (e.g., the Internet 108 or corporate private data networks (PDNs) 106) pass through the mobile packet gateway. Each mobile network gateway contains a number of virtual and physical access point nodes (APNs) 104 that define the specific external network, whether public or private, to which the packet is destined.
Mobile packet gateways like GGSNs along with HLRs are two of the most critical network elements relative to M2M service deliver in the mobile network. Mobile packet gateways provide security, Quality of Service (QoS) enforcement, and interaction with charging and billing systems for mobile data service. Mobile packet gateways are also central to interconnecting the mobile infrastructure with 3rd-party networks, most importantly ASPs in the case of the M2M market. HLRs are critical to service creation and management of remote devices in the field.
As used herein the term M2M communication is understood to include methods of utilizing various connected computing devices, servers, clusters of servers, wired and/or wirelessly, which provide a networked infrastructure to deliver computing, processing and storage capacity as services where a user typically accesses.
The BAS 202 provides for receiving data input from the NEs and also provides for calculating and determining billing and related administrative information for customer accounts in relation to the NE devices being used on the associated network; the calculated billing and related administrative information is provided as input to the invoice and reporting function. The invoice and reporting function 204 provides for generating an invoice based on an arrangement between the network operator and the customer, typically in the form of a billing relating information about expenses arising from the NEs activity associated with the operator's network. Once input data is processed by the invoice and reporting function, billing details and routing of invoices, as one example, are then output to the customer function 206 in accordance with customer account details.
The customer function 206 provides for interaction with the customer and includes providing for arranging billing to the customer as well as receiving input from the customer (such as with discrepancies, account updates, device updates, other communications, etc.). Updates and requests from the customer function are input to the accounting and sales function 208. The accounting and sales function 208 may update, add, subtract and otherwise modify information associated with a customer's account, including device updates and billing plans, such that the BAS processing more accurately reflects the activities and administrative aspects of the customer account. The accounting and sales function 208 will output information to the Price Plan system including modifications to a customer's pricing plan and updated pricing plans available to the customer to better reflect a customer's needs. The Price Plan system 210 provides for information concerning the available billing, usage, device activity and associated network operations information concerning a customer's account. The pricing plans of a Price Plan system 210 may change from time to time to better reflect customer and market needs. The Price Plan system 210 outputs updates of the Price Plan as input to the BAS 202.
From
From
Data received by the BAS 390 from a typical NE, for example, may include caller information, usage information, network access times, one or more dates of access, geographical information, origination and destination of communication information, etc.
Detailed Network Data (DND) 305, such as internet protocol (IP) data, is provided to the BAS 304 at 305. The DND 305 may include customer data, operator data, and other sourced data (such as that from a firewall 303A or router 303B) which reflects specific activities of devices which have a network activity associated with the network. A correlator 310 within the BAS provides for correlating the data of the NEs received by the BAS with the data of the DND to create correlated bit metadata reflecting activity of NEs on the network. Correlated data is passed from the correlator 310 to the classifier 320 wherein the classifier processes data to be arranged in one or more classifications; similarly, the classifier may also act to categorize the correlated data to be in one or more categories defined by the operator, customer, or similar.
The classifier 320 may have a diversity of predetermined classifications 325 arising from the operator, customer or pre-set based values based on the type of activity. For instance, in one embodiment, three event-based categories of activities are defined to include: 1) Billable Event (e.g., opening a door) at 312; 2) Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) event (e.g., telematic engine data) at 314; and, 3) Third Party Billable event (e.g, media utilization) at 316. Data is then categorized into one of the three categories.
From
Preferably, in one or more embodiments, the arranged invoices provide billing information to the customer in a manner and arrangement which minimizes the need for customer feedback, improves the clarity of invoiced information to the customer, and advantageously enhances customer experience by providing event-based invoicing over subscription-centric invoicing. It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention, in one or more embodiments, provides for adjusting billing details, such as invoicing, in advance of the customer receiving the billings using the billing system architecture of the present invention.
In one embodiment, the present invention comprises one or more NEs (402A, 402B, 402C) and a correlating BAS 490 having a correlator 410, a classifier 420 and a ranking engine 430 or generating one or more invoices in response to a predetermined method of correlating, classifying and ranking billable events associated with the network. The present invention further comprises a customer function 450, an accounting and sales department 460, and a Price Plan System 470.
From
From
System Overview
Memory elements 504a-b can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times the code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution. As shown, input/output or I/O devices 508a-b (including, but not limited to, keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) are coupled to the data processing system 500. I/O devices 508a-b may be coupled to the data processing system 500 directly or indirectly through intervening I/O controllers (not shown).
In
From
Any theory, mechanism of operation, proof, or finding stated herein is meant to further enhance understanding of the present invention and is not intended to make the present invention in any way dependent upon such theory, mechanism of operation, proof, or finding. It should be understood that while the use of the word preferable, preferably or preferred in the description above indicates that the feature so described may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary and embodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope of the invention, that scope being defined by the claims that follow.
Similarly, it is envisioned by the present invention that the term communications network includes communications across a network (such as that of a M2M but not limited thereto) using one or more communication architectures, methods, and networks, including but not limited to: Code division multiple access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) (“GSM” is a trademark of the GSM Association), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 4G LTE, wireless local area network (WIFI), and one or more wired networks.
Accordingly, a system and method in accordance with one or more embodiments presented above overcomes the challenges of existing practices and provides a more robust and convenient architecture enabling improved information and billing details to be provided to a customer, operator or other. The present invention also provides for more accurate and aligned accounting of a user's revenues or expenses for an M2M or similar network. Furthermore such a system may minimize the need for customer feedback and concerns. Additionally, such a system and method in accordance with an embodiment can be utilized to identify new billing opportunities in such a network.
Embodiments described herein can take the form of an entirely hardware implementation, an entirely software implementation, or an implementation containing both hardware and software elements. Embodiments may be implemented in software, which includes, but is not limited to, application software, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.
The steps described herein may be implemented using any suitable controller or processor, and software application, which may be stored on any suitable storage location or computer-readable medium. The software application provides instructions that enable the processor to cause the receiver to perform the functions described herein.
Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The medium may be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, semiconductor system (or apparatus or device), or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include DVD, compact disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM), and compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W).
Although the present invention has been described in accordance with the embodiments shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that there could be variations to the embodiments and those variations would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Many other embodiments of the present invention are also envisioned.
This Application is the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C § 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/US14/29528, filed Mar. 14, 2014; which claims priority to U.S application Ser. No. 13/945,571, filed Jul. 18, 2013; and U.S. provisional Application No. 61/784,999, filed on Mar. 14, 2013, and is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 13/945,645 filed Jul. 18, 2013, entitled “M2M BILLING RECONCILIATION”, and U.S. application Ser. No. 13/945,689, filed Jul. 18, 2013, entitled “ADAPTIVE M2M BILLING,” both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2014/029528 | 3/14/2014 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2014/153191 | 9/25/2014 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6266401 | Marchbanks | Jul 2001 | B1 |
7945240 | Klock et al. | May 2011 | B1 |
20020156749 | Sardy | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20020160748 | Rahman | Oct 2002 | A1 |
20050053211 | Bevente et al. | Mar 2005 | A1 |
20060085301 | Leahy | Apr 2006 | A1 |
20060265302 | Schmalenberger et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20080059346 | Schweitzer | Mar 2008 | A1 |
20080191045 | Harter | Aug 2008 | A1 |
20080204792 | Frost | Aug 2008 | A1 |
20090098854 | Park | Apr 2009 | A1 |
20100274588 | Choulbey | Oct 2010 | A1 |
20110016321 | Sundaram | Jan 2011 | A1 |
20110087550 | Fordyce, III | Apr 2011 | A1 |
20110268047 | Nath et al. | Nov 2011 | A1 |
20110307932 | James | Dec 2011 | A1 |
20120046991 | Bai | Feb 2012 | A1 |
20120143733 | Kappauf | Jun 2012 | A1 |
20120231828 | Wang | Sep 2012 | A1 |
20120306613 | De La Rue | Dec 2012 | A1 |
20120329424 | Gudlavenkatasiva et al. | Dec 2012 | A1 |
20130003609 | Ballot et al. | Jan 2013 | A1 |
20130132854 | Raleigh et al. | May 2013 | A1 |
20130196626 | Zalmanovitch | Aug 2013 | A1 |
20140006237 | Chang | Jan 2014 | A1 |
20150280765 | Lowery | Oct 2015 | A1 |
20150326736 | Lehane | Nov 2015 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2001037528 | May 2001 | WO |
WO 0137528 | May 2001 | WO |
WO 2001037528 | May 2001 | WO |
Entry |
---|
The International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority for International Application No. PCT/US2014/029528, dated Nov. 21, 2014. |
Supplementary European Search Report dated Nov. 10, 2016, 9 pages. |
International Search Report and Written Opinion form International Application No. PCT/US14/029528 dated Nov. 21, 2014. |
Supplementary European Search Report dated Nov. 10, 2016. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20160044483 A1 | Feb 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
61784999 | Mar 2013 | US |