Telecommunication feature activation and billing support from a centralized server

• US 20040163131A1
• Filed: 01/31/2003
• Published: 08/19/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Benco, David S.
• Application Number:
  US10/356,005
• Publication Number:
  US 20040163131A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/132
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Feature activation has historically been performed exclusively at the system that will provide the features to subscribers and/or users. The features have been built in as a part of a system software package. Even though the features have been built in, they were only available for use by the system to the extent that licenses for those features had been purchased. When the proper licensing fee is paid, an ON/OFF bit was set to ON in a feature activation table. Features that have numerical use values instead of ON/OFF use multiple bit entries in the feature activation table. The feature activation table was encrypted by the software provider to discourage tampering with or misappropriation of telephone service features. With such an arrangement, feature changes could only be made by sending software provider personnel to the system to load a new feature activation table, which also can with the latest version of the system software. The invention provides a method and apparatus for feature changing from a server, which can be remote and centrally located. With this invention feature changes are made quickly without sending personnel to the system location to effect the change. The system owner can change features as its subscribers change the features they want. The software provider can license features for lines in finer granularity and for short time periods to offer different types of licenses to obtain more revenue.

Claims

1. A method of activating a feature of a service provider system, comprising the steps of:

sending a message requesting activation of the feature that is available within a service software application from a service provider system to a server;

receiving the request message by the server;

processing the request message into a service activation message by the server, sending the feature activation message from the server to the service provider system;

receiving the feature activation message at the service provider system and

activating the feature provided by the service provider system according to the service activation message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the request message contains encrypted data regarding a status of a feature provided by the service provider system when the request message is sent.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the processing of the request message includes decrypting the encrypted status data.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the request message has hardware identification numbers for each processor of the requesting system to be used to provide the feature, and the software has identification number for identifying the software to be used to provide feature for which activation is requested.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the server has stored data of the identification numbers of the processors and the identification number of the software for which license terms have been obtained;

and if the requested service features on the requested processors agree with the stored data, an activation message for the feature is returned from the server;

6. The method of claim 5, if the requested feature on the requested processors do not agree with the stored data, an activation message is sent from the server but the message will only activate the feature on those processors for which the request message and the server stored data agree.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the server does not activate a feature on a processor if the stored data of the server and the status of the request message do not agree.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of offering to activate the requested feature for the requested number of processors beyond the number of processors in the stored data is sent in the activation message.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of:

accepting the offer ;

and

receiving activation of the feature for those processors for which the offer was made.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the request message is sent at system boot-up time.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the request message is sent periodically.

12. A network apparatus comprising:

a system for providing a telecommunication service feature;

the system is bi-directionally attached to a network;

an activation server that is also bi-directional attached to the network;

the activation server and the system communicate at least once so the activation server can compare a status of hardware and software of the system that is stored at activation server with a status message from the system; and

if a hardware and software status that is stored at the activation server agrees with the hardware and software status communicated by the system, then the server stores data in the system to activate the service feature thereof.

13. The network apparatus of claim 12 wherein the system is a cellular system.

14. The network apparatus of claim 12 wherein the system is a radio network controller.

15. The network apparatus of claim 12 wherein the system is a telecommunication switch.

16. The network apparatus of claim 12 wherein if the hardware and software status that is stored at the activation server does not agree with the hardware and software status communicated by the system, then the server does not store data in the system to activate the service feature thereof.

17. The network apparatus of claim 16, wherein the system communicates to the server at system boot up.

18. The network apparatus of claim 16, wherein the system communicates the request message to the server periodically.

19. The network apparatus of claim 18, wherein the request message includes a processor identification number and a software identification number, both of which are unique.

20. The network apparatus of claim 16 wherein the request message is encrypted in part and the server activation message is encrypted in part.