Patent Application
20080040481
The features of the system, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The embodiments herein, can be understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the embodiments of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the method, system, and other embodiments will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present method and system are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the embodiments of the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the embodiment herein.
The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The term “processing” can be defined as number of suitable processors, controllers, units, or the like that carry out a pre-programmed or programmed set of instructions. The terms “program,” “software application,” and the like as used herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. A program, computer program, or software application may include a subroutine, a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, an executable application, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, a shared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. The term “infrastructure mode” can be defined as an ad hoc network comprising at least one mobile device that is not more that one hop from a mobile node, an access point, or base station. The term “peer mode” can be defined as an ad hoc network wherein mobile devices communicate with other mobile devices without central control and are at least one hop from a mobile node, an access point, or base station.
Briefly, embodiments of the invention are directed to a method and system which encourages users and service providers to cooperate with each other by providing incentives based on the actual resources utilized for providing communication support. In one aspect, credits can be provided to devices essential for network connectivity, and nodes within the ad hoc network can decide routes based on an actual cost (e.g. credit charged by other nodes) incurred. Devices can exchange credits with each other or other service providers for roaming between different networks without a subscription. Devices can exchange credits with other devices operated by other service providers for receiving or providing a service. The devices can report actual resources used by the other devices and report the resource use to their service provider. The service providers can exchange credits with one another to allow mobile device of different service providers to operate on their networks. Credits can be based on whether a device is operating in infrastructure mode or peer mode. In another embodiment, service providers are compensated for allowing their infrastructure equipment and devices to be used in an ad hoc network. The allows a service provider to generate revenue from an ad hoc network when device are used in either ad hoc or infrastructure mode.
Referring to
As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the nodes 102, 106 and 107 are capable of communicating with each other directly, or via one or more other nodes 102, 106 or 107 operating as a router or routers for packets being sent between nodes, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/897,790, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,807,165 and 6,873,839.
As shown in
Each node 102, 106 and 107 further includes a memory 114, such as a random access memory (RAM) that is capable of storing, among other things, routing information pertaining to itself and other nodes in the network 100. A display 118 can also be included for presenting routing information and costs associated with using the routes. As further shown in
In one aspect, the controller 112 can query mobile wireless user terminals 102-n in the ad hoc network for communication capabilities, select routes within the ad hoc network based on a quality of service and packet forwarding in view of the query, and determine one or more routes based on at least one of a battery life of the mobile wireless user terminal, a communication interference of the mobile wireless user terminal in the ad hoc network, a security of the mobile wireless user terminal in the ad hoc network, or a throughput of the mobile wireless user terminal in the ad hoc network.
Ad hoc networks require the participation of many nodes for providing efficient and optimized networking. Value can be created through cooperative ad hoc networking capabilities made available by participating nodes. That is, an ad hoc network relies on the contribution of other nodes within the network to share resource loads, such as forwarding data packets. As an example, if the ad hoc network is used in a military or rescue scenario, all the nodes are generally motivated to cooperate as they have common cause. Various protocols are available which provide methods for route optimization and increase ad hoc network efficiencies. However, many users may not want to join the ad hoc network for certain reasons. For example, a user may not want to let their device, such as a mobile phone, be used to forward packets for another user. Understandably, this may reduce the battery life of the mobile device. The users are often not enticed to join an ad hoc network due to battery longevity, interference, security concerns, sharing concerns, or misinformation of device capabilities. Moreover, in commercial usage, users typically would like to gain maximum benefits from the network while paying a minimum fee. The users may not be motivated to forward packets for others as it consumes energy and drains the limited battery power. Thus, an incentive can be given to the user to encourage cooperation and forward packets for other users.
Referring to
At step 310, at least one resource a device uses can be determined for communicating data between nodes in an ad hoc network. For example, a network resource can include a battery life, a throughout, or a security, but is not limited to these The method step 310 can determine a forwarding capacity for the mobile wireless user terminals 102-n and identify costs of resources associated with one or more routes. Briefly referring to
At step 320, a user can be credited for allowing the device to be used to provide communication assistance for other nodes in the ad hoc network. The credit can be considered an incentive to the user for allowing their device to be used in the ad hoc network. By providing an incentive to users, routes can be decided based on credits provided to users. For example, a device can query other nodes in the network to determine a cost associated with using the resources of that device. For example, multiple routes may exist through the network, with each route having an associated cost of use. The cost may be in the form of battery credits, throughput credits, or security credits though is not herein limited to these. The cost can be a service fee, a cash payment, or any other suitable form of monetary or financial compensation. The cost of use may be controlled by the user or the service provider. Moreover, credits can be exchanged between users for allowing a use of their device. For example, certain users may be willing to let their device be used at a lower cost than another user's device. Accordingly, a cost of routes can be generated which identifies paths through the ad hoc network. For example, some routes may cost less because the throughput is less and the delay is longer. Some routes may be more expensive because they have low delay and can send large quantities of data. Notably, the cost can be a credit charged by a device for using the device in the ad hoc network. Moreover the routes and the associated costs can be presented to users to allow them to select a route through the network.
As an example, at step 330, the step 320 for crediting the user can include providing a micro-payment to intermediary and destination nodes involved in relaying packets within the ad hoc network. The micro-payment can be attached to a packet, sent with the packet, collected by the intermediary and destination nodes, and reported to the service provider. At step 321, the method can end.
In one aspect the compensating the user optimizes a packet routing efficiency in the ad hoc network. The method 300 can allocate credits to devices within the ad hoc network which can be redeemed for various awards, such as air-time credits, cash, or trade. In one aspect, credits can be categorized based on value, wherein a value is time-based, location-based, or context-based for providing route optimization. In another aspect, a packet routing optimization in the ad hoc network can be determined based on message types. Moreover, feedback can be provided for identifying cooperation and participation of devices in the ad hoc network. As an example, a compensation may include adjusting a billing rate to the user based on a participation of the device in the ad hoc network or adjusting an air-time value credit to the user to encourage participation in the ad hoc network and optimize the packet routing. Notably, providing incentives fosters the creation of ad hoc communities that make collaborative decisions in the ad hoc communities.
It should also be noted that service providers provide equipment for mesh/ad hoc networks. In certain cases, they may provide the equipment at a discount (or free) to subscribers for fostering ad hoc community growth. Understandably, the providers also have an incentive in receiving compensation for use of the equipment and services. In general, the cost for providing the equipment is incurred by charging a periodic service fee to the users. However, if the users form peer group communities and compensate each other for forwarding traffic there will be limited involvement or oversight from the service providers. That is, there can be cases where the users form independent networks such as peer groups and operating in peer mode without paying any fee to the service provider. Thus, service providers may not be able to recapture costs when the users operate in a peer mode.
Referring to
The compensation to the service provider can account for network resources utilized by the device for communicating within the ad hoc network. The network resources can include equipment that is operated, owned, leased, rented, borrowed, shared by the service provider, or shared by the service provider, or equipment provided to users, or is equipment owned by a user that is provided on a contract basis by the service provider. As an example, the equipment can be a radio, cell phone, base station, router, access point, server, or other infrastructure equipment. A determination as the resources used can be accounted for. As an example, a mobile device can monitor a number of packets forwarded by a device.
At step 420, network resources utilized can be determined for providing communication among nodes in the ad hoc network. Service providers can be charged or credited based on an amount of resources used by devices operated by the service providers. As one example, service providers can exchange credits for allowing mobile devices of one service provider to operate in a network of another service provider. The service providers can exchange the credits with other service providers in the ad hoc network as compensation. In one arrangement, a mobile device can determine a number of packets forwarded and originated on behalf of other mobile device. For example, a first mobile device may provide communication assistance to a second mobile device. The first mobile device can determine the number of packets forwarded for the second device and report the useage to a service provider. A user of the second device can be charged based on a number of packets delivered to the second device by the first device. In one aspect, forwarding packets can result in credits offered to a user device and originating packets can result in credits provided from the user device.
The compensation based method 400 can be used to allow a user to roam between networks based on actual resources used and which also provides compensation to the service provider. That is, the method 400 can be extended to allow a user to roam to different networks in the ad hoc network without a service subscription to the different networks based on a credit system. Such an arrangement compensates the user based on the resources the device actually uses in the different networks, and compensates a service provider in the different networks for providing infrastructure support to the device that delivers packets in the ad hoc network.
Referring to
In certain cases, mobile device 519 may leave the coverage area of ISP A and enter another service provider area. For example, mobile device 519 may enter an area operated by ISP B. Access Point 530 belonging to ISP B provides communication coverage to mobile device 519 through wireless router 531. Mobile device 519, though not a subscriber to ISP B, can still receive service through wireless router 531 of ISP B. In some cases, mobile device 539, which is a subscriber to ISP B, may not be in proximity to receive service from wireless router 531 of it's ISP B. Notably, mobile device 539 is a subscriber of ISP B though cannot receive connectivity because it is out of range. However, mobile device 519 can provide connectivity for mobile device 539 to receive communication from the wireless router 531 of ISP B. That is, mobile device 519 provides communication assistance to mobile device 539 for connecting to ISP B. Notably, mobile device 519 is a subscriber of ISP A, and is offering assistance to a mobile device 539 of ISP B.
Mobile device 519 can monitor services offered to mobile device 539 and report a usage of those services to Access Point 510 controlled by ISP A. For example, mobile device 519 can store information regarding the number of bytes forwarded to mobile device 539. Access Point 510 can then inform Access Point 530 of the resources offered by mobile device 519 and used by mobile device 539. In particular, ISP A can charge ISP B for the actual resources used by mobile device 539 based on resource information usage reported by mobile device 519. That is ISP A can charge ISP B because one of ISP A's mobile devices was involved in providing service to one of ISP B's mobile devices. Communication between ISP B and ISP A can exist over the internet protocol (IP) cloud 550. In one aspect, ISP A and ISP B can exchange credits based on the number of mobile devices supported in each of the respective networks. For example, an arrangement or agreement can be determined wherein a user of resources is accounted for using a credit and debit system. In another aspect, mobile device 539 can provide a micro-payment to mobile device 519 for using resources. The micro-payment may or may not be reported to the Access Point 510.
Referring to
Referring to
Mobile device 518 and mobile device 519 can monitor the actual resources used by the non-subscriber mobile devices 538 and 539, and report the usage to Access Point 510. Consequently, ISP A can charge ISP B for resources used by mobile devices 538 and 539 operating in a service area of ISP A. Notably, ISP A and ISP B can enter an agreement for exchanging credits for resources utilized. Moreover, embodiments of the invention are not limited to the number or types of components shown. More or less than the number of system components can be included in the ad hoc network 950 for providing communication assistance to non-subscriber mobile devices. In one aspect, mobile devices 538 and 539 can provide a micro-payment to mobile devices 518 and 518 for using resources. The micro-payment may or may not be reported to the Access Point 510.
Referring to
The method 800 can include charging (812) users based on a data capacity usage. For example, devices can be charged based on number of packets they generate or receive. As one example, referring to
The method 800 can include crediting (814) users based on a rate of packets generated or forwarded. For example, referring to
Moreover, the users can trade air-time credits through an ad hoc bartering system available to the community of users within the ad hoc network. For example, units may group together and create an ad hoc method to barter incentives. Units may barter, volunteer, or trade incentives based on defined or negotiated context covering capability, battery life, airtime value ‘credit etc’ with other individual units or groups of units. For example, a first user may trade battery usage on the first user's device for air-time credits accumulated by a second user. That is, the first user can trade a communication resource for an incentive provided by a second user. As another example, one unit may be designated as the bartering ‘clearing house’. Alternatively, the method for bartering may be spread amongst a group of units or the entire community of units. For example—fire and police can barter incentives to share and optimize a delivery of packets within route. An incentive may be the sharing of battery life between units based on a location of the units and a second incentive may be the speed of delivery through the network. Understandably, the bartering of resources is not for a personal or financial gain, but for a collective incentive to share resources that provide a collective benefit to the bartering community.
In another arrangement, groups may form to collect credits to entice use of other groups or individuals to join their ad hoc system. In certain cases these communities may be grouped by message type, battery life, or capability—thus, creating an economic strata of communities that barter based on their value. As one example, low value groups can collect credits to barter with high value groups to create optimum routes for low value messages. Credits may also be provided to one unit that is holding out. For example, the entire community can assemble together and offer credits to one unit to entice the unit to join the community. For instance, the entire system may collect left over credits, credits volunteers, or ‘assessed’ credits to entice an important unit to join the ad hoc system. That is, the entire system can assess all units for credits to be redistributed to entice certain units to join for providing maximum benefit to the ad hoc community as a whole.
In one arrangement, a display can be included on a device screen which shows the number of nodes using the device for forwarding packets. For example, referring to
Referring back to
For example if the device forwards packets in infrastructure mode, the user may receive credit which may be used in infrastructure mode. Similarly, the user can receive credit for operating the device in peer mode which may be used in peer mode. The service provider can also set an exchange rate for different credits. As one example, the credit given can be provided in the form of additional bytes which the user can exercise to send or receive data. As one example, an exchange system can be embedded within the transceiver 106 (See
As another example, a billing rate can be adjusted depending on whether the mobile device, also referred to as unit, acknowledges ad hoc participation or not. For example, at initialization, a user can be billed if the user allows their mobile device to be a shared ad hoc communication resource. The billing rate can be adjusted in accordance with an actual usage of resources used on the unit. For example, the billing rate can be based on the number of packets forwarded by the unit. As another example, units may be billed at a higher rate in areas where the units are not participating in ad hoc networks (a pseudo ‘anti-roaming’ charge). Units may also join the network with contexts levels defined in their profiles. For example, contexts may determine the metrics (incentive/dis-incentives) the unit uses during collaboration in the ad hoc environment. In one aspect, the units may join the network with a predefined contexts levels for default contexts and negotiate the metrics dynamically. The method of determining these contexts and metrics can be predefined or dynamically defined and negotiated using a centralized or distributed approach.
Notably, the method 800 provides a means for generating continuous revenue to the service provider, helps make the network self-healing and self-balancing, and extends the range of the mesh by encouraging users to leave their devices in ad hoc mode (e.g. infrastructure mode or peer mode) even if the user is not using the device.
Briefly referring to
Moreover,
It should also be noted that another method for providing compensation to users and service providers can include micro-compensation. For example, just as credits can be offered based on a usage of resources or for forwarding packets, micro-compensation payment schemes can be implemented that provide users an alternate form of credit. In particular, micro-payment compensation can offer payments for resource usage in the form of cash. As one example, credit card companies can offer micro-payments to users for allowing their devices to be used as part of an ad hoc network. Micro-payments enable users and providers in an ad hoc network to provide compensation to other users. Moreover, micro-payments provide advantages over simple credit and debit schemes, since each user pays only for the amount of communication resources that he or she utilizes. In fact, users that primarily provide assistance to other users and rarely utilize resources themselves could accumulate a surplus of micro-payments that could be redeemed for cash, thus providing an incentive for them to continue to provide assistance to others.
Accordingly, embodiments of the invention are also directed to a method of micro-payment for compensating users and service providers. For example, briefly referring to
The method 820 can start in a state wherein multiple devices are communicating within an ad hoc network and a node is attempting to deliver a packet. In practice, the method 820 can be utilized within a pure ad hoc network consisting only of mobile nodes. For example, referring to
At step 821, routes within the ad hoc network can be determined based on a supply and demand of network resources. For example, the determination can be made based on credits charged by devices providing delivery support in the ad hoc network. For instance, a source node can request a route to a destination, wherein the cost of using the route is based on an accumulation of the costs for using each relay along the path. For example, the method step 814 of
At step 822, a route can be selected based on an accumulation rate for using intermediary nodes along the route. Briefly referring back to
At step 824 micro-payments can be provided to intermediary and destination nodes along the route for receiving and transmitting data packets. For example, the source node can attach a header to a data packet identifying a compensation to be provided to intermediary nodes. The compensation may be a micro-payment that can be redeemed for cash, or an air-time credit that can be used for air-time. In another arrangement, the user may manually select the desired route, based on the cost and other factors. Selection of the route could also be performed autonomously by the source node device based on a user profile, e.g., lowest cost route, route with best match to desired throughput, route with best match to desired latency, and the like. Notably, each intermediate node receives the appropriate micro-payment(s) when relaying the packet(s) to the destination. Note: The source node is the preferred provider of micro-payments, but other alternatives are also possible such as micro-payments provided by the destination node, (analogous to a “collect call” in telephony).
In the foregoing, the addition of a single access provider to the pure ad hoc network previously described is considered; that is, a hybrid ad hoc network. For example, referring to
In the foregoing, a hybrid ad hoc network with multiple access points is considered. For example, referring to
Accordingly, aspects of the method 800 can be further extended to include costs through all intermediary nodes. That is, costs can be included to account for communication with the destination node including selected routes through a wireline network, a second AP, and other intermediate nodes. Again, given multiple routes to the destination, the total costs of multiple routes to the destination are accumulated based on the individual costs of relaying between intermediate nodes, access points, and network services, and micro-payments are received by the intermediaries for relaying the packet(s). As one example, if the destination node is served by a wireless network operator based on a subscription service, then the costs of communication through that wireless network are typically borne by the destination node and are excluded from the total micro-payment cost of utilizing that route.
Where applicable, the present embodiments of the invention can be realized in hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein are suitable. A typical combination of hardware and software can be a mobile communications device with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, can control the mobile communications device such that it carries out the methods described herein. Portions of the present method and system may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein and which when loaded in a computer system, is able to carry out these methods.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the embodiments of the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present embodiments of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
