Method and apparatus for billing over a network

• US 20040199472A1
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Published: 10/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ellacoya Networks, Inc. (NetScout Systems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Ellacoya Networks, Inc. (NetScout Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dobbins, Kurt A.
• Application Number:
  US10/673,151
• Publication Number:
  US 20040199472A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1482 involving use of telephony infrastructure for billing for the transport of data, e.g. call detail record [CDR] or intelligent network infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking

Abstract

Methods and systems for billing users of a public network for online transactions. Transactions can be identified by merchants or subscribers upon initiating a purchase, or in mid-transmission by a network access provider using a method or apparatus as described herein for identifying the transmission of a transaction request. Users can be provided with an interactive button allowing for transaction billing by their access provider, or transactions can be billed to access provider by default. Items of content to be purchased over the network can be tagged with transaction information when originated, so that regardless of the means of distribution, the access provider upon reading the tag will initiate the transaction, and route funds to the originator'"'"'s account as indicated in the tag.

Claims

1. A method of billing network transactions through a network service provider, the method comprising:

receiving a payment request from a content provider;

receiving a first part of a content;

receiving an indication of transport parameters, the indication being associated with the content;

receiving a second part of the content; and

transmitting the second part of the content in accordance with the transport parameters.

2. A transmission device comprising:

a data receiver configured to receive a first part of a content, and an indication of payment parameters required for exploiting that content;

a service logic for grouping the first part of the content and subsequent parts of the content as a communications flow;

a payment logic for determining the payment parameters of the content according to the indication of payment parameters;

a switching apparatus for transporting the first part and subsequent parts of the content to a communications port according to the communications flow determined by the service logic; and

a data transmitter to transmit a payment authorization request to a payment receiver.